Sunday, July 27, 2025

Heart of Mother Earth

The Heart of Mother Earth loves and cares for us all, all ways, all days ... now and forever more. 
AHO!
Grandmother

Excerpt from 'Spirit Talk': The Mother Earth and all beings that live upon and within her body have their own unique medicine ways and it is of these ways that we seek to learn the languages, uses, and songs. Our Mother is a sentient being with an evolutionary path of her own, and when sufficiently sensitized it is possible for us to feel her heartbeat through the soles of our feet and entire being.

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Meaningful Teachings of the Drum

Let us sit beside our inner fires, warm ourselves and listen to the heartbeat 
and song of Sekmekwe - Heart Beat of the Mother Earth.
-- Dawn Woman
Meaningful Teachings of the Drum
As First Nation’s People, we have always been told that the first drum beat we hear, is when we are inside our mother. That drumbeat we hear is known as the heart of our mom. In cultures all over the world, there is known to be a drum that is significant to them.

Drums have always been a part of human life since the beginning and have great importance in First Nation culture. There are many stories as to how the drum came to be but for now, we will focus on just a few for today.

Drum Teachings with Howard Walker:

Cree Elder Howard Walker Speaks About The Drum.

Monday, July 21, 2025

Summer Star Knowledge

Bozho Nikan,

Ni je na jayek ...

As we BodĂ©wadmin relatives travel and gather, in Shawnee or by word of our “talking paper” the Hownikan, our personal medicine wheels are broadened and gladdened. Our minds, hearts, bodies and spirits come forward to sit in a circle to learn, have some fun and dance.

We look up into the summer night sky and remember our AnishnabĂ© Creation Story which tells us many stories of our relations, the Star Beings. Our Creation Story tells us of how our ancestors, the first people, were “lowered down” as the star people or hot rocks. That is why some of us learn this story by the ceremony of the sweat lodge. This is also a place where we can go into the lodge, sit with the Creator, pray, be purified and renewed as we sit and remember who we are and from whence we came. AHO!

To read full article: Summer Star Knowledge (CPN)

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Excerpt from 'Spirit Talk':

 

Excerpt from 'Spirit Talk':

Let us now assemble the honoring gifts once again, the high and personal inner gifts of qualities which only we can know, and the gifts of the known and understood common tradition such as tobacco, water or candles; chocolate … fruits … flowers; special drinks or nectars; ritual paintings, foods, cornmeal … and gifts of inspiration and the moment … 

Open the soles of your feet and invite them to ‘pick up on’ the Mother Earth as she vibrates and breathes through our bodies and connects with the upward solar rays of her lover. They are our elemental parents. 

Go outside and lie first facedown, then turn onto your back … Draw an arm’s-length circle with a stick around you, think a little introductory offering … and sit there as unmoving as possible, except for the eyes, for at least twenty minutes … Notice and follow the breath until something else engages your attention. The natural world soon comes to accept our presence … It is best if no food/water/phone enters the circle or is in sight/smell/earshot … and the sitting is best done in complete solitude … Then, when you are ready, stand up, or crawl out, noticing which direction you entered, faced, and departed. Try to make them the same. Then, make grateful farewells, and go.

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Honoring Plant People -- Excerpts from 'Spirit Talk':

The plant people go a long way toward offering and providing us, the two-leggeds and others, with the physical materials we need to live life ‘in a good way’. Plant fiber provides assorted fibers for the weaving of clothing, nets, mats, basketry, footwear, hammocks, housing … plant people share their bodies that our own might live, and their medicines by which we may maintain, heal, and restore health and balance. 

The green beings hold all wisdom and knowledge. Mother Earth and all beings that live upon and within her body have their own unique medicine ways and it is of these ways that we seek to learn the languages, uses, and songs. Our Mother is a sentient being with an evolutionary path of her own, and when sufficiently sensitized it is possible for us to feel her heartbeat through the soles of our feet and entire being.