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The Mound People
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Ceremony
An Essential Part of the Human Story
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In the early morning, a mother leads her son down to the creek beside the village to fill their pots with the day's water supply. It's a winter morning and the air is cooler than the water. The breath of the creek rises as vapor. The boy will help her carry the pots back to their home.
In the distance, a priest sends a ribbon of smoke toward the rising sun. Everything in their world was significant.
Across from them (foreground), a student priest looks up from his morning ceremony. The embers of his smudge glow through the broken end of a whelk shell, through the spiral of life.
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Green Turtle Woman
Many of the Native American traditionally called America the "Green Turtle Island." They knew that they were not on the back of a green turtle. It was a symbol of a living thing. The land on which they lived was animated with the miracle of nurturing life.
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The woman above is my vision of Green Turtle Mother. Behind her, thousands of people gather in the temple plaza. Each family brings a pot with a little fire in it and a pot of fresh water. They wait for the sun to set. Chatting, laughing, and telling stories, they entertain any child who will sit down. Most of the small kids can't sit still. They race around in the open spaces. Their shrill voices are the prayers for tomorrow.
When it is dark, the priests will arrive in a procession to climb the temple's ramp. They will thank the Great Mystery for the coming of the mullet and the full nets of the people. Throughout the days of celebration, no nets will be set and many fish will escape.
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The ancient people can still teach. We've come so far from our connections with the Mother Earth that it will be a very long path back. Our coasts are littered with trash. Our water and our air is unhealthy. We need to reach out to a vision which will put our feet back on the path as caring people. We need to build a future which will be good for our children.
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I know of so-called "nature camps" where maintenance workers clean up each day after the kids. At the end of the day the childern just drop what they're doing and leave. Then, the workers clean up their mess. That's not what I mean by caring. We give our kids everything but a sense, that they too, need to care. We need them to be a vital part of our communities. Sold on a notion presented by the corporate world, we are taught that "gifts" are giving.
I give you the wonder behind this painting. It is called, The Embrace.
By the way, the natural world can be very uncomfortable and daunting. It's okay. It's a powerful teacher.
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When we break the connections with the earth, when we seperate ourselves from the meaning of our own body, something else developes. Breasts are no longer the symbols for nurturing. They've become the focus of lust, something that can be bought and sold by corporations.
The irony is, that in sacred time, breasts were not hidden. All over the world the image of nurturing was a powerful force.
In secul;ar time, everyhjing becomes an object. Its only value becomes what you can get for it. The wonder and joy of life is lost for the momentary high of toys and drugs. Everything has a price and yet you become less valuable. People and life itself becomes a commodity.
Drugs are a terrible substitute for the real magic show of life. It is essential that you look for the real thing.
So it is essential that you look for the "real thing."
It is the power of your true journey, your real value.
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