The Earthkeepers

The National Audubon Society compiled a list of ways to improve our planet. Based on conversations with America’s top scientists, the society is encouraging individuals to make simple changes in daily routines to minimize human influence on the Earth’s environment. “If each person who reads Audubon (magazine) does just one of the resolutions, that will be 450,000 people who will have acted in some way to preserve what we have and they will be more aware of how their actions (or inactions) affect the planet,” says Audobon’s Lisa Gosselin. Below are Audobon’s top 10 recommendations. Read carefully; some of the suggestions may surprise you.

1. Say “no” to exotics. To help the plight of endangered species, don’t house exotic pets or purchase products that are made using animals at risk.

2. Go veggie. Vegetarian diets put less strain on the environment. Livestock guzzles nearly 50 percent of all water consumed in the United States and eats nearly 16 pounds of grass and grain for each pound of beef produced. Eat vegetables for personal health and the health of the environment.

3. Coffee in the shade. Buying shade-grown coffee supports the preservation of rain forests and safeguards the habitat of many species.

4. Be picky, not fishy. When choosing fish to eat, avoid over-fished species such as swordfish.

5. Be heard. Voice your opinion by supporting local and federal legislation to protect the environment and its endangered species. Every person at your town’s planning-board meetings can make a big difference.

6. Pay your dues. Some states offer the option of contributing part of your income tax to fund the protection of non-game species. Look for this option on your next form.

7. Buy the plate that pays. Some states donate revenue from special license plates to wildlife conservation programs. License plates with a conservation theme also help spread an important message.

8. Conserve energy. Buying energy-efficient appliances can significantly decrease energy use at home. If every US household was equipped with the most energy-efficient refrigerator available today, 10 power plants would quickly become obsolete.

9. Don’t be afraid of the dark. Electricity used to generate light produces a large amount of carbon dioxide, which in turn contributes to global warming. Use timers or movement sensors to minimize electricity use. Fluorescent light bulbs outlast incandescent bulbs and yield significantly lower levels of carbon dioxide.

10. Stay cool. Make sure your furnace is working at optimal efficiency and keep the temperature as low as possible. Decreasing the temperature by even a few degrees lowers carbon dioxide emissions by hundreds of pounds over the course of a year.

Earthkeeper Blue Heron People Fire Dreaming Ceremony

We come together near sunset following the Appreciation of Mother Earth monthly ceremonial round. The Firekeepers, who are the ones of proven faith, have prepared the fire in a ceremonial way, honoring the tall ones who have come to help with the prayers, visions and dreams. We began by entering a purification circle. The songs we sing call the spirits of the trees to speak to us. We ask for the good feeling and peace of the land to calm us and give us strength so we can wait for the trees to speak. We ask for guidance from Creator.

And we remember the words of Hollis Littlecreek who shared,

“When you sit together, listen to the fire. It is sacred. It is the spirit of the wood, the days of the Sun, the days of the wind, the days of the rain and sleet and hail, it is the sacred Earth brought to us to give us those days back. There is history in those flames. There are stories of the Earth, which will not be told again in the same way. The spirit of the tree is giving its body and is leaving the Earth now. Watch the fire, there are people there. Some you know, some are spirits you have never known. They are there to explain things to you. They are the messengers of the spirits of the trees. They must send them to you, because we don’t have the patience to understand the way trees speak, the way they form their words and the gestures they make are too foreign and might frighten you. So they send their messengers. Feel and understand their meaning.”

And as another Midewiwin Elder shared, “There will be one who will catch the way on the wind and offer the Fire Dreaming Ceremony in the traditional way.  This ceremony is only offered by the Ancestors every 100 years and will be made available on one ocassion, to those who answer the call.” 

After our purification ceremony, we wrap ourselves in our shawls, shields, and blankets and move to the Sacred Circle to sit in silence and watch the fire until dawn. During the evening we may fill and pass our Chooch’s (sacred pipes) to offer our prayers of gratitude. We may sometimes drum and rattle quietly to pay tribute to the tall ones, land and fire. One by one we wait and honor what the trees bring to us.

The fire is tended, in such a way that when the fire reaches its peak, no more wood is placed on the fire. And we watch as it moves to embers towards morning.

At dawn the Firekeepers move the embers to the purification circle and we join them. The songs we sing honor the spirits of the trees who came to help with the prayers, visions and dreams. We give thanks for their words and honor their journey back to Creator. We share the messages they presented to us. And as we leave the circle, we offer tobacco prayers to the embers as a symbol of thanksgiving.

The Fire Dreaming Ceremony will be offered only this once, and only in 2010.  If you plan on participating in a Fire Dreaming ceremony, it is a commitment to participate fully in the traditional ceremony.  All who attend are in the ceremony from dusk to dawn (of course using the bathroom during the evening is a given).  

Fire Dreaming ceremony – starts Saturday, July 24, 2010 at Dusk and goes to Dawn, Sunday, July 25th, 2010

• Place: (location available upon request - youncedjt@verizon.net )

The ceremony will be in Northwest Indiana.  Bring:

A bathroom will be available during the evening as needed. We may go into purification circle during the evening as needed.

Hugs, Tracy ~ each person is responsible to find the ways they came to learn on Earth. We share what has come to us. Take what you want…leave the rest…we share because it is time.

The summer solstice arrives this week.  As the summer begins, the arctic ice is again melting very quickly after a slow beginning in spring. The NSIDC has more.

I offer a few words John wrote years ago about the summer solstice:

Summer Solstice

The Solstice time is a time of intensity and passion. It is a time of extremes.            

The summer solstice is the Midsummer’s Night energy. It is the longest day of the year. Sensuous, even oppressive energy of the Sun. Unrelenting. It is a time when the planet is bursting with power. Overflowing with lifeforce. This is a time for celebration and release.

Many of the Sun dances occur around this time. The power of the Sun being strongest. In lower latitudes they are held earlier.

The Long Dance is good to be held around this time. 

One ceremony we have done over the years is a nature’s Spirit Dance, where everyone dresses up as a plant or animal. Strong drumming, passionate songs, and lots of clowning are appropriate.

An equinox is a balancing point in time for the yearly movement of the Sun. It is a time of balancing the darkness and the light. This does not mean balancing good and evil, but means the balancing of the internal and external. The darkness is the interior, introspective mind set. The light is the exterior or outgoing aspect of life.

The winter is a time of interior thinking, self examination and introspection. The Summer is the outgoing, the active. This mirrors the power of the Sun. Balancing the two takes place in different ways at different latitudes.

At the equinox, day and night are perfectly balanced at the equator. It is the time when the Sun is directly over the Equator at true noon. In effect, it is the time when the Sun appears to be entering or leaving our hemisphere (our half) of the planet. 

Because of this, it is a time to begin to shift into a different mode of action. In the Fall we begin to prepare ourselves for the darker days and colder weather. We make plans to make sure we are safe. In the Spring we begin to make bold steps toward new activities, new ideas. 

The ceremonies at this time should reflect these changing times. The Fall is usually a harvest ceremony celebrating the abundance of the earth and the goodness of the gift of life. It celebrates the storage of the power of the Sun contained in the food we store. This power carries us through the time when things are not so strong. It is, in some places, one of the last outdoor ceremonies until spring. Grieving or letting go ceremonies or ceremonies honoring the ancestors and the departed loved ones are good at this time.

(In the tropics this pattern is somewhat reversed. This time is a celebration of cooler weather. A time for work and productivity. The unrelenting sun begins to wane.) 

The Spring ceremony is usually one of emergence. It is a clean sweep ceremony often emphasizing putting the past aside and making a new start. Forgiveness ceremonies are good at this time. Also cleansing and fasting, visioning, and Sweat Lodges for cleansing are all good activities around this time. Affirmation work is also a good thing.

Here’s what John had to say about his involvement and adaptation of native ceremonies:

In keeping with the prophesy of the millennium and the tradition of the Twisted Hairs, this site honors our Sacred Earth in the same spirit Native Americans, Aborigines, Indigenous, and First Peoples around the world have honored the Earth for many generations. The teachings of these people have been adapted to sacred ceremonial celebrations of prayer for the people of today’s world. The ceremonies involve the Sacred Pipe, the medicine song, drumming, Vision Quest, Medicine Wheels, Sweat Lodges and sacred spirit dance . 

These ceremonies are done with respect, and with the intention of serving all the people of the world. Those of us who practice the EarthDance Way hope that today’s people will take courage from the ancient memories these ceremonies awaken and become environmentalist from not only their minds but from their hearts and spirits as well. 

We honor the Great Mystery, Great Spirit, and God in the many names and forms it/she/he takes in different cultures around the world.

Recently, three people died during a Sweat Lodge “event” at Angel Valley Ranch near Sedona. It was led by a charismatic life success guru called James Ray, who charged over $9000 for his weeklong experience. That’s Nine Thousand Dollars.  Looking at pictures of the lodge, I noticed it had been constructed using tarps, which do not allow the lodge to breathe as it must. What were these people thinking? Also, I understand over 60 people were in the lodge. I wonder how could the lodge leader have been able to track the well being of all these people, as is his responsibility.

Truly, I don’t know what to believe about this. Those I’ve spoken to, who are ”in the know,” say these ceremonies, like the sweat lodge, belong to the native peoples and the spirits that inhabit these ways. I’m told that this tragedy is perhaps the result of not recognizing who these ways really belong to, what their true purpose is, and how they must be honored.

And yet, I’m touched very deeply by what John wrote. I am one of the people too. I’m not a native american, nor was John. We created and participated in many ceremonies intended to respect and honor Mother Earth, including sweat lodges. I saw and still believe John’s work touched and enriched the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people. I trust that he honored the earth in a good way and that the spirits had no beef with him. Have the Spirits “let us slide?”

I don’t know what James Ray’s relationship to sweat lodge is.  How did Ray reconcile charging $9000 for a retreat that includes a lodge with the Spirits or those who carry these ways? Why would he allow 60 people into a lodge under any circumstances? What did these people think they knew about constructing a lodge that led them to cover it with tarps?

I have no answers, I see three people dead, a new age guru who seems awfully arrogant, accepting no culpability for this tragedy, and traditionalists saying he had it coming. One thing is certain, something went dreadfully wrong that day.