Excerpts from 'Spirit Talk': Spirit Plate

The Spirit plate makes out recognition and gratitude visible to the beings who are making a gift of their seed history, and when properly addressed they can become actively involved in an ongoing life path through other agents, namely ourselves. Their seed histories, with cultural family trees grounded in the natural world that make contributions of inestimable value and tensile strength to the DNA of any bonding entity, are at least as hugely long and venerable as ours.

Most of these connections and contributions are beyond our ken, but heartfelt gestures of gratitude and respect for these living things are ours to express through remembering our connections to the best of our abilities—where and when they lived and grew, who harvested them, how they were handled and for what purpose and by whom. The questions are always, what do we have to do that these things will live?

The Spirit plate is prepared by selecting very small and representative pieces of each feast food on the table ... mindfully collected with the left, offering hand, taken outside, and offered with a prayer of recognition and gratitude ... I like to raise the plate and turn it to the seven directions, lastly approaching the Mother Earth four times before lowering the plate to the earth ... Shewen dagzewin! A blessing is visited upon us this day!

From 'The Eagle Dance' by Woody Crumbo:

The Eagle Dance, like most American Indian dances, was inspired and conceived by one person through a dream or vision. Such a spiritual manifestation was considered a sacred gift of the gods. The blessed recipient of the dream would call about him his fraternal brothers or clan -- in some cases the entire tribe -- and demonstrate the dance while relating the significance as revealed to him by the "spirit world" ... in this, the Pottawatomi Eagle Dance, the ceremonial significance is to depict certain actions and evolutions the American Eagle. It was first revealed in a dream which came to one Kiowa, a Pottawatomi brave. 

Title: Eagle Dance

Artist: Woody Crumbo

Culture: Native American; Citizen Potawatomi

Date: mid-20th-Century

To the Stars Through Art: A History of Art Collecting in Kansas Public Schools, 1900-1950

Art Bytes: 'Moccasin Makers' by Archie Blackowl (MKBMA)

Potawatomi Autumn Vocabulary

Potawatomi Autumn Vocabulary:

Autumn = dgwaget

Basket = gokbenagen

Black = mkede

Blessing = bgosendagwzewen

Corn = ndamen (mdom-in)

Feast = wewesnakewin

Gourd = shishigwIn

Many = dso

Moon = tpukises

Pumpkin = wapkon

Squash = kwesmen (kwes-men)

Water = mbish

West = we’jbkeshmok (where the sun goes down)

Potawatomi Sacred Plants Vocabulary:

Cedar = kishki

Sage = wabshkebyek

Sweetgrass = wishkpemishkos

Tobacco = se’ma

Mother Cacao Ceremony

Historically, puro cacao or pure cacao went through harvest, fermentation, drying, roasting and stone grinding to attain the finest degree of smoothness when whipped into hot water. The cacao drink, melted into water without the addition of dairy or sweetener is a sacred libation. This libation strengthens and supports healing and health qualities of mind heart, body and spirit within the wholeness context of the medicine wheel teachings. The facilitator makes and offers prayers from beginning to end. There is much rarified and etheric support flowing from higher realms to lift us to new, higher frequencies and experiences ... and many proven and worthy helper ceremonies and Mother Cacao is one powerful heart opener.

A Mayan Cacao Ceremony took place at the Longhouse on November 4th to feed, renew and nourish our hearts with the ‘light of unconditional love’ that have been made emotionally sensitive with our honoring and release of those that have ‘walked on’. If you would like to do your own personal ceremony to honor the ancestors, you could light a candle, drum, sing, make a tobacco or spirit plate offering ...

In Lak’ech and bama mine,

Dawn Woman

Mother Cacao Ceremony

Historically, puro cacao or pure cacao went through harvest, fermentation, drying, roasting and stone grinding to attain the finest degree of smoothness when whipped into hot water. The cacao drink, melted into water without the addition of dairy or sweetener is a sacred libation. This libation strengthens and supports healing and health qualities of mind heart, body and spirit within the wholeness context of the medicine wheel teachings. The facilitator makes and offers prayers from beginning to end. There is much rarified and etheric support flowing from higher realms to lift us to new, higher frequencies and experiences ... and many proven and worthy helper ceremonies and Mother Cacao is one powerful heart opener.

A Mayan Cacao Ceremony took place at the Longhouse on November 4th to feed, renew and nourish our hearts with the ‘light of unconditional love’ that have been made emotionally sensitive with our honoring and release of those that have ‘walked on’. If you would like to do your own personal ceremony to honor the ancestors, you could light a candle, drum, sing, make a tobacco or spirit plate offering ...

In Lak’ech and bama mine,

Dawn Woman

Mother Cacao Ceremony

Historically, puro cacao or pure cacao went through harvest, fermentation, drying, roasting and stone grinding to attain the finest degree of smoothness when whipped into hot water. The cacao drink, melted into water without the addition of dairy or sweetener is a sacred libation. This libation strengthens and supports healing and health qualities of mind heart, body and spirit within the wholeness context of the medicine wheel teachings. The facilitator makes and offers prayers from beginning to end. There is much rarified and etheric support flowing from higher realms to lift us to new, higher frequencies and experiences ... and many proven and worthy helper ceremonies and Mother Cacao is one powerful heart opener.

A Mayan Cacao Ceremony took place at the Longhouse on November 4th to feed, renew and nourish our hearts with the ‘light of unconditional love’ that have been made emotionally sensitive with our honoring and release of those that have ‘walked on’. If you would like to do your own personal ceremony to honor the ancestors, you could light a candle, drum, sing, make a tobacco or spirit plate offering ...

In Lak’ech and bama mine,

Dawn Woman

Mother Cacao Ceremony

Historically, puro cacao or pure cacao went through harvest, fermentation, drying, roasting and stone grinding to attain the finest degree of smoothness when whipped into hot water. The cacao drink, melted into water without the addition of dairy or sweetener is a sacred libation. This libation strengthens and supports healing and health qualities of mind heart, body and spirit within the wholeness context of the medicine wheel teachings. The facilitator makes and offers prayers from beginning to end. There is much rarified and etheric support flowing from higher realms to lift us to new, higher frequencies and experiences ... and many proven and worthy helper ceremonies and Mother Cacao is one powerful heart opener.

There will be a Mayan Cacao Ceremony on November 4th to feed, renew and nourish our hearts with the ‘light of unconditional love’ that will have been made emotionally sensitive with our honoring and release of those that have ‘walked on’. Join us by drumming, singing, lighting a candle, and/or making a tobacco or spirit plate offering.

I look forward to sitting in ceremony/spirit with you.
In Lak’ech and bama mine,

Dawn Woman