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.

Tut, tut….for the first time it looks like wonderful rain for our Earthkeeper Dance which is such a blessing. Saturday’s weather, as predicted by The Weather Channel on line, calls for early morning showers and Thunderstorms through-out the day.

As difficult as it is to make the call, we are changing the start time for our September 18, 2010 Earthkeepers Dance ceremonies. Please arrive at 10:00 am at the Duneside Shelter in the Indiana Dunes State Park, (north of Chesterton, Indiana on Highway 49), for a meeting to determine how we want to go forward with our prayers for this year’s dance.

It has been suggested that we do prayers in the shelter with a Chooch ceremony, Ancestor Feast, Give-away blanket and final Chooch ceremony to honor the prayers.

We look forward to seeing you and praying with you in whatever way the community determines.

Again we thank John Many Voices Armbruster for the vision of the Earthkeeper Dance.

Hugs, Tracy, Dave and Janisse

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.

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.

I was asked at the Earthkeeper Dance in Appreciation of Mother Earth, what does it take to be the ceremonial leader of the Blue Heron People. And I smiled as I think we are all our own ceremonial leader if we chose the work. I said,

“Well, traditionally, one is chosen to be a ceremonial leader (as John surprisingly did with me). And yes, years of experience and wisdom help. But the most important part is…you have to be willing to do the work”.

It’s a 365 day walk which includes praying with the sacreds, supporting the Elders, doing sweat lodges, clearing the land, getting firewood & stones, Chooch ceremonies, talking circles, prayer ties, teaching circles, daily prayers, various ceremonies, dance rounds, dealing with issues, and being on call 24/7…to name a few…lol. And John Many Voices always sressed that,

“Earthkeeper ceremonial practice is not just a sweatlodge, or a drumming circle, or an encampment, or a dance, or a talking circle, or a web of life council, or a medicine wheel ceremony, or a pipe ceremony. It is a way of life.”

The Elders share,

“The Red Road is not for the faint of heart or spirit as it’s the hardest way you will ever love. Only those who are serious about the ways should enter the Red Road. Walking the Red Road is a metaphor for living within Creator’s Ways — a life of truth, friendship, respect, Spirituality, and humanitarianism. Walking the Red Road is mainly in our heart. It’s a way of walking with the earth instead of upon it.”

And we add,

“It is packed full of lessons and often a lonely path. If you commit to the ways, you no longer can just stay at home or show up and have another do the work.

However, I have found the blessings that come from Creator are well worth the effort.

Thank you Creator for these Ways. Thank you to those who kept them alive. Thank you John and Grandma.

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

…and the blessings come…

The day after this post, as we were doing ceremony with the sacred bundles from the Dance in Appreciation of Mother Earth, a Hawk landed on the railing of our porch. He held a vigil there until we finished the prayers, staying long enough after the ceremony for Janisse to snap a photo. Such a wonderful honoring of the prayer ties of the Blue Heron dancers and people. Thank you Creator. Thank you Mother Earth. Thank you Winged-ones. 

Dave said it was probably John checking up on our work…lol.