Hau kola na tiyospaye (Hello friends & extended family),
Welcome to all new Circle members! Each section of the Circle of Nations newsletter is written 'facing' one of the four sacred winds, beginning with the east, then the south, west and finally the north. This is to honor the old ways. It is to teach and to help us to focus and find the center. I have designed the Native Circle website in the same spirit. I welcome you all to the Circle....
EAST - Wiyohinyanpata - Yellow (Four Winds)
Frank Fools Crow once said that those who complain the most about ‘giving away medicine secrets’ are always the ones who know the least. Strong words from a man who lived long enough and sought the spirit diligently enough to know what he was talking about. When you think of a ‘medicine person’ or a ‘holy man’, what images or ideas come up in your mind? Do you see an old elder in a loin cloth sitting on a mountain with a pipe and a buffalo skull? Or maybe you have an image of a white haired person with a rattle, singing a song and administering an herbal remedy? Perhaps what comes to mind is a strong, stoic individual with two braids and a medicine bundle around their neck, with a smudge bowl and an eagle feather in hand? Or do you see an average regular looking person, maybe even frumpy at times, wearing a t-shirt and jeans and a ball cap, watching TV and drinking a Pepsi? Did any of these images come to mind? Allow me to let you in on a little secret - all of these are accurate images of what and who a medicine person is. And in today’s world, the latter of the four examples is likely the most common! True medicine people are not bound by appearances. The heart of something is what matters. Medicine is not something you do, it is something you are. You exist in it. And so everything is part of it. Eating a good meal.... Laughing at a naughty joke.... Dealing with life’s ups and downs.... Each moment, even those seemingly unimportant mundane, everyday moments, is sacred, and is connected to the medicine. Life is the medicine. Anyone with spiritual gifts understand what their respective gifts are and how to walk honorably in them. And walking honorably with your gifts means being fully alive in each moment, especially those seemingly ‘less spiritual’ moments. So I guess what I am saying is that a real medicine person is usually the person who can and will take their time with life.... with people.... and with each moment. Medicine people are real, and honest. Medicine people enjoy life, and love to have a good time. They don’t care too much if they look ‘unspiritual’ to others. Medicine people love football games, soda pop and french fries as much as they love praying. Medicine people understand that Spirit is in everything, and so medicine can move anywhere at any time. This is simply the way of it, and ‘simply’ is the imperative word. In closing, real medicine people are defined much less by what they look like and what they do, but rather by who they are....
SOUTH - Itokagata - Red (Red Earth)
A word from Peggy....
Hello friends,
It seems like a long time since our last newsletter, a long time since I have reached out to so many of you. What is on my mind this morning is how fleeting and fragile life really is. It is on my mind because as I am getting older, I see more and more of my parent’s generation and even my own pass on to the other world. At my current age I have outlived my father and my mother in law and many other close friends. I think the realization of how tissue thin life is can in some ways really help us to enjoy and appreciate each day and each moment. I for one really enjoy life, even as I sit hear physically feeling pretty poorly. What do I love about life.... well my grandkids and babies and sunsets and blueberry pancakes and just the thrill of not knowing what may be around the next corner (which can also be a fear). I don't expect life to be all roses, my past has not taught me that, so when I get a rose or two or one and a half it is a special blessing. Since I have touched the spirit deeply from time to time, I have a strong feeling that this time here is just the introduction into the really good stuff. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. But even if it is an introduction, I want it to be the best damn introduction you ever saw. I see so many people spending their few days here fussing and fighting. It is ok to believe in a cause and to put a positive energy toward changing the world, but the world is only gonna change as much as you change, because it is your world. So bring some peace and some light into this moment. Try to forget for a moment the cause, the hurt, the problem, the enemy. Because those things are not going anywhere... but you, can fly on wings of joy in moments of peace, which will in turn effect the whole world.
love ya much,
Peggy
Red Earth
On Friday, March 30th from 7pm to 9pm at the Crescent Hotel Conservatory in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, for the first time ever, Two-Hawks & Bastiaan will perform music from their sensational Touch the Wind CD! Hear the music, meet the artists and enjoy hors d’oeuvres! Tickets are only $12 for this very special event, and can be purchased online at:
JTH Event Tickets
WEST - Wiyohpeyata - Black or Blue (We are STILL Here!)
I recently watched a troupe of female Chinese acrobats do their amazing routine. It was incredible to watch these tiny women, who at first glance seemed so delicate, lift themselves up with one arm and bend and twist their bodies in unimaginable ways, all while balancing on that one arm. When they completed their show, I came away marveling at how strong those girls were. You see, the greatest strength lies in our ability to flex and bend. The hickory is not so strong as is the willow. When any adversarial force presses against us, the key to survival and triumph is flexibility. Another key is to resist resisting. Watch the willow in the wind. It will sway with the force of the wind, not against it. This does not mean that you just give up when troubles come. Check the trunk of the willow as the wind blows hard on it.... it is firmly planted in the ground. So too, can you be planted firmly, yet allow yourself to flex and bend and flow with the forces and energies that come into your world. If you try to go in a certain direction with anything, and something just seems to be resisting, just flow with it and you will find another way. The more flexible and bendable you get, the stronger you will be, and the more balanced you will be. Who knows, maybe one day you will find yourself balancing on one hand....
NORTH - Waziyata - White (Words of Wisdom)
A few thoughts of my own which may or may not be considered 'words of wisdom'....
The truly humble, never ever know they are humble
Don’t be so smart that you cannot be wise
Independence is an illusion of grandeur
The poke of the needle is never so bad as the fear of it
May Wakantanka encircle you and yours with faith to believe, hope for the future, and love for all....
As always, in the spirit of mending the sacred hoop of the nations of the world
Your Oglala Lakota friend and brother,
John Two-Hawks
http://www.nativecircle.com
http://www.johntwohawks.com
Reprinting of this Circle of Nations newsletter is encouraged! All I ask is that it be printed in its entirety, with no changes, and that I be given proper credit, unless I have otherwise okayed it. Wopila (great thanks)!
Found here 27 Feb 2008 with no formatting or links. I made some educated guesses.
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