Anistara *)'s topics - tribe.net

The Waters!

anistara1 — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 04:37:31 GMT

On Saturday the 17th a huge gathering of people around the world joined in simultaneous prayer for peace at an event called Earthdance International. While the after party was fun, sorta, the party after the party was sweet, the dawn. I didnt find it condusive to the event overall, except proceeds musta been kind, and we figured that would be, so so we took action which turned out to be a blessed event. We had hoped it would be a bigger turn out, but all in all, I am so glad to have had the company, as smalla turnout for the earthdance prayer, it was very sweet. Thanks Sean, Sheryl, and Gail...
Sheryl found out there would be a water blessing and flute ceremony at one of the native american cultural centers in the northern Los Angeles forest (Flintridge/La Canada) and we decided to attend that. The event is the World Festival of Sacred Music, this was the opening of the festival that lasts 14 days, hosting global music all over L.A., very neat-o!
The water blessing was sacred to me for so many reasons. I do water ceremony with groups of japanese people who come to the southwest to experience native culture. Most of the folks are students or friends of Dr. Emoto, so I am blessed in my own way (the exchange is perfect) and we do other little workshop stuff, story telling, weaving and I teach ettiquette for those who havent been out to Hopi, so that they respect and understand the customs or traditions. I love it.
So this journey back to California for this one event and to see friends unfolded in a way I couldn't imagine. I am a California Indian and to us, and all indigenous people, water is treated with great respect. The water journey has led me to some of the greatest adventures, inculding Rosslyn Chapel, the gnostic quest of the holy grail, the goddess, the sacred waters and John the Baptist and my marriage. Further on down the line, I arrived to last Saturday, and I am sharing this because you can help further this progress of flow.
I went to the ceremony with some friends who I planned on going to the party with. They don't really know my native side (they know i am, but havent been to any ceremonies or gatherings with me, but im hoping that changes soon too) as I'm an urban indian (raised in the city for the most part). As the elder was calling on natives to represent their tribes in the greater L.A. basin, I was shocked and amazed that he called me to represent my nation for the water blessing. I didn't tell my family I was going (they live sort of far to attend things in l.a., they stick to central cali usually) nor did I know I was recognized by the elder as my fathers daughter, to represent! At that moment, realizing the event, I was put into a position that I've never had before without my family at my side. To me, this means-- the waters listen, and have gratitude. It also showed me that I am in an important role in a bigger mark than the usual, and I suppose sometimes, confirmation is valuable.
What just struck me as well is that 2 months ago, out of the blue, a friend (a japanese friend who runs the tours I work with) invited me out to Hopiland for the kachina water clan ceremony. Me, not being Hopi, usually stick to my own traditions and have spent little time at Hopi, but honor the land where I live. This consisted of 300 kachina dancers emerging from the kiva and performing ceremony from sunrise to sunset. A very beautiful experience. How the heck I got to that, I don't know. It must be the waters. I am so thankful and in gratitude by all this recent emergence of understanding that I had to share it somewhere. Thanks for glistening... *)

more to come in hopes...

Dr. Emoto is on a "current" U.S. tour, go see him if you get a chance--

www.hado.net/Seminar.html

posted in Anistara *) - 3 replies

Q.B.L.A

anistara1 — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 06:00:45 GMT

hey people-- i've had a few friends who are interested in qablah basics and thought i would start a new tribe, but i'm gonna trial here since its on already on and its pretty darn slow anywho-you.

please feel free to jump in and balance out the acts. i'm showing the approach i used that has been uselful as well as illuminating/magical. the system is primal/ancient and is a valuable lifetool. the hard part isnt hard, its minor daily applications tuned with intent and will. my objective is to help others achieve (aka "the hand up") balance while gaining more insight on my own. this is a system of equilibrium so it favors all involved in gaining the same element of balance.

i think jcldragon is pretty well versed in this as i imagine a few others are. do tell!

if you are familiar with the tarot, it will help you along quicker. i'm not quick with it, but i enjoy stregthening this system as a means of meditation and discipline. if you are interested in the endeavor with me, my suggestion for beginning is to envision the tree of life in front of your face. note the spheres and where they are balanced or placed and hold that vision. then we'll start!

many pieces to you! *)

posted in Anistara *) - 7 replies

mighty thunderbird!

anistara1 — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 22:44:31 GMT

even as much as we are in draught, its hard to believe. its been raining for 3 days, near solid!

3 days ago was dry. i spent an hour outside soaking the flowers and plants! as i walked around the corner, i saw it there! thunderbird apporaching, nearing descent, the dark clouds pitching the light toward the ground.

so loud! the earth trembles in mighty ways. thus commences the water clan ceremonies, prayers have been received, answers in abundance... aho!

(here come da bugs)

posted in Anistara *) - 2 replies

Visions of Lore

anistara1 — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 05:52:36 GMT

I have scattered posts all over tribe. Sometimes they are heart-felt and sometimes they just show my mood. I am not in hiding. I have tangents to produce the thunder in the hearts and minds, or just to release. Whatever your path is, I honor that, so long as it is honorable. This isn't a judgment call so much as it is a request to honor thyself as an absolute being. Not an idea, not a fragment, but as the whole of you. This makes for the perfect thunder, the allocation of a possibility manifest. I admit I am not always in my best suit, still, the order is present. I know this because here I am. We're co-creating and abolishing intent at all times. As each of us is in our right houses, so is the flower blooming in the garden.

posted in Anistara *) - 0 replies

The Flower & the Tree

jcldragon — Fri, 13 May 2005 01:00:29 GMT

A professor of advanced mathematics had a garden.

Says the flower to the tree, "I've been growing on this planet for millions of years, and I've finally taught one of the animals about Fractal Geometry!"

posted in Anistara *) - 3 replies

What would you like normal to be?

jcldragon — Sun, 08 May 2005 12:12:51 GMT

The world has a habit of conforming to our collective expectations. So it might be a good idea for us to examine what we consider normal. If we expect the world to be a dark, dangerous, and violent place, we most certainly will get it. If people expected peace, prosperity & progress to be normal, they could get that, too.

I look at the world this way, and it seems to be in a state of aberation. There's nothing normal about it, but I would like it to be. That motivates me to do things, which will change that. As a child you might have had this notion of what was normal : that it was normal for a person to die quietly in their sleep, after a long & fulfilling life. Anything different would either be an accident or a tragedy.

The world is having wars, disease, poverty, & overpopulation. If people view that as normal, it most certainly will stay that way. If people view that as insanity, then they will think up ways to make it different. It all has to do with what people choose to accept as being normal. I remember when segregation was considered normal by most people. The Civil Rights movement changed that vision of what was normal, and for the most part, we don't have segregation anymore. What is left of segregation now, exists because some people, (a very few these days), still cling to it.

Don't let anybody tell you what normal is. Decide that for yourself. Don't let anybody tell you what other people believe, because they are in no better position than you are to know what that is. The more that people adopt the attitude that peace, prosperity, & progress are normal, the faster those things will become normal. Don't let the bullies & dream-killers rule the world with their nightmare versions of what is normal. Expose the nightmares for what they are : nightmares. Nightmares end when you wake up. Remind people of that, and give them a better vision of what normal is supposed to be. The world could wake up from the nightmare it is having, but that is not going to happen before people adopt a better Vision.

What would you like normal to be?

posted in Anistara *) - 7 replies

Dreams come true...

anistara1 — Sat, 14 May 2005 00:24:01 GMT

Tomorrow is my our one month anniversary! Rob and I got married April 14 in Dalkeith, Scotland. We spent the duration of our holiday (mine and my daughters, and Robs) in the magical united kingdom. We had a blast! Our main stay was in North Wales, where we got to know Robs family, we were well received and for that, I am truly happy to be a part of his!
We went to the mystical grove of Avebury and Glastonbury, including the Tor, Glastonbury Abbey, and the Chalice Well.
The following week we headed out for Scotland where we were married in Dalkeith and spent the afternoon at Rosslyn Chapel. A mind blowing experiene, very magical considering it's legend/lore and our union. It's like a dream come true!

We now look forward to an adventurous journey ahead and beyond!

I love you my dear husband...

posted in Anistara *) - 2 replies

A Message From the Hopi Elders

anistara1 — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 20:05:16 GMT

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

Here are the things that must be considered:

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know our garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of
the river,
keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

See who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all
ourselves!
For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lonely wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

The Elders,
Oraibi, Arizona
Hopi Nation

posted in Anistara *) - 2 replies

Who are you?

anistara1 — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 04:38:33 GMT

We are the ones we've been waiting for, what does this mean to you?

Most of you on my list are people I know, or we have a friend in common, or we've spoken word.

You are beautiful people, shining ones! What are you up to?

Wishing well...

posted in Anistara *) - 9 replies

Chaco

anistara1 — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 16:05:47 GMT

I went out with Shama to Chaco Canyon last month. It was cold and snowy but was quite beautiful. Last year I watched a film on it that was quite transcending, then last night i watched a video that i thought was the one I watched last year (was hoping as there were wome things I wanted to review from last years tele-journey. However, the film last night was not the same one but an even more in-depth look at Chaco Canyon and the butte. It's completely mind blowing, moreso than anything I've come across, even moreso than the pyramids.

Circular houses seem to be the fit...

posted in Anistara *) - 1 reply

Infinate Analemma

anistara1 — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 04:54:17 GMT

I found this last year some time- enjoy!

http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Solar-Analemma.htm

posted in Anistara *) - 0 replies

Photos added

Shama — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 22:45:18 GMT

I put some more up...just remember I'm seeing green and purple...so if some are too dark or too light or just plain funky lookin...just delete them : ) ... Be Well

posted in Anistara *) - 0 replies

The Four Agreements - Toltec Wisdom

anistara1 — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 04:18:53 GMT

Rules of The House!

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

posted in Anistara *) - 1 reply

The Hopi and Kogi Tribes

anistara1 — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 23:43:15 GMT

The Hopi and the Kogi are only two among many indigenous cultures that have ancient prophecies of man's destruction of nature as well as present evaluations of our global crisis. These two in particular foretold not only nature's destruction at this time, but specifically identified, as we saw above, the inventive, technological branch of humanity as responsible because it fails to heed the sacred Earth knowledge and wisdom so vital to indigenous peoples. Yet neither the Hopi nor the Kogi tell us that technology is bad in itself, that we should abandon it and "go back to nature" living as they do. Both Hopi and Kogi validate technology as an important aspect of humanity, simply warning us that it must be brought into harmony with the sacred natural world.

How did these indigenous peoples know the crisis technology would bring on? Why is it that the science on which our technological world is based--the science which so prides itself on its ability to predict--failed to predict its own consequences while indigenous cultures saw where it would lead?
The failure of industrial society's scientists to predict the consequences of the technology they spawned is directly related to their mechanical/materialist worldview, so fundamentally different from the organic worldviews of indigenous peoples. In the worldview shared by indigenous peoples everywhere, despite many differences in its formulation, the universe, nature, is alive and sacred, all beings in it are related and interdependent: the stars, the rocks, the waters, the winds, the creatures, the people, the spirits and so on. The human role within nature is to hold it sacred and to live in a balanced way within it, to give back as much as is taken while pursuing social and spiritual development. There is no concept of waste and no waste accumulation...

In sharp contrast, the mechanical scientific worldview, as we have seen, has held, at least until now, that the universe is fundamentally lifeless, that life happened by accident on the surface of this planet, that everything in nature including humans and their societies can be understood as "natural mechanisms" composed of mechanical parts. In this view which we have deeply explored, the role of science is to study nature objectively--as though from outside--and reduce its machinery to basic parts in order to understand it. The purpose of this science is to gain control over nature, to exploit it for human purposes by converting it to food production and the manufacture of goods to improve life. Development is thus focused on material production.

In one worldview nature is fundamentally alive and sacred, often represented by the symbol of a circle: the unbroken sacred hoop of life. In this worldview the basic laws of nature were formulated in accordance with what we now call sustainability: laws of balance, harmony, mutual sustenance, of returning in equal measure for whatever you take. By contrast, in the mechanical worldview, one of the basic laws of nature is the law of entropy discussed in Chapter 14, a law stating that everything in nature is running down, a law of unsustainability. We will look at this contrast again in the next chapter.

Understanding the world as a single, interconnected and interdependent living system, the Hopi and Kogi knew that the consequences of the White or Younger Brother's destructive ways would necessarily be disastrous. Within the linear (cause/effect) worldview, you take resources from your environment, produce things and throw away wastes. You do not notice the circularity of nature: that the wastes actually close the loop, becoming part of your environment, poisoning it if the wastes are poisonous. In the "sacred hoop" view, there is no concept of waste and whatever is put back into the environment is useful to other species--an excellent life insurance policy for any species; one followed by the species of mature ecosystems. No wonder indigenous people noticed the White Brother's failure to restore what he destroyed, and were able to predict the consequences thereof.

Indigenous people tend to be humble about their place in nature, while industrial society was founded on the conviction that European man was master of all nature and would bring about a Golden Age by conquering, subduing and transforming material nature to his own ends. Its founding philosopher John Locke clearly stated "the negation of nature is the road to happiness" and indigenous people were negated like the rest of nature. Only now, when we are in danger of our own species' extinction, do we look back to understand the history of the White/Younger Brother's destruction of indigenous cultures as well as whole ecosystems to build his technological world--a world in which nature has been seen only as a supply base and a dumping ground, a polluted world which testifies to the White Brother's failure to respect the Red Brother's sacred Earth wisdom. A world we now recognize as unsustainable.
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Will the White Brother listen in time?

The image of indigenous peoples as backward and ignorant stands in the way. Their philosophies are largely ignored, though there are signs of change, such as the Rockefeller Family's reevaluation of their philanthropy a few years ago, during which the president of the Rockefeller Foundation repeatedly cited Iroquois philosophy for its guiding principles to a better world.

Unfortunately, indigenous histories are generally known not through their peoples' own telling, but by anthropological reports. It has been widely assumed that non-technological peoples, many of whom have no written language, do not know their own histories and were not smart enough to develop technologies. A case in point is that even the "relatively advanced" Mayans, Aztecs and Inkas were seen as backward on the grounds that they did not even invent the wheel. In fact these cultures did understand the possibilities of wheels and used them on children's toys, though never for transport. Perhaps burdened slaves were seen as more appropriate to the task of transport. Perhaps the sacred hoop of life was forbidden as a mundane technology. It is instructive to recall that ancient Greeks, even when inventing technology under duress, as in the case of Archimedes' war machines, did not write down the plans. Technology, based as it is on geometry, was considered to be God's sacred art and was forbidden to man, though the Greeks obviously exempted the wheel.

It is difficult for people born into technological culture to imagine anyone preferring a simple, non-technologically developed lifestyle in a natural setting, with few possessions. Yet, most indigenous people, from the stone age, as Marshall Sahlins points out in Stone Age Economics, to now, work very few hours for a living. To prefer the leisure time granted by choosing not to be a consumption oriented society is seen by our own consumer society as laziness; to do without material wealth is seen as deprivation...

Such a lifestyle was truly rewarding as long as its natural simplicity was an integral part of a spiritually rich culture. For most remaining indigenous communities, the old values and communal lifestyles are no longer intact and the allure of modern culture pulls strongly, especially to the young. The conflicts within indigenous communities over this issue are heated as efforts to revive traditional lifestyles compete with the trend to assimilation and modernization. One can only hope the traditional values will be incorporated into whatever lifestyles result.
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After colonialism disrupted and often destroyed the indigenous cultures of Africa, the Americas, Australia, Asia and the Arctic, their remnants were judged as though they represented the original cultures. This has led to much misunderstanding. When communities are broken up and/or dislocated, their social integrity, traditions, ecological practices and health are disrupted as well.

In North America, as in other parts of the world, the indigenous survivors of colonial policies were forced onto reservations and deprived of their natural economic bases. In Canada, some Indians could get title to their lands, but only if they "improved" it by stripping it of trees. In the United States, bulldozers ripped out the pinion trees that provided the sustenance of the Shoshone and the animals of Dine'h (Navajo) shepherds are destroyed even today in efforts at forced relocation of people in order to mine their lands. Native peoples' religious practices were outlawed until 1978 in a country founded on religious freedom; their traditional governments were dismantled, outlawed and replaced by Tribal Councils designed by the U.S. government. In consequence, many native nations are divided by conflicts between such councils and traditional, if "illegitimate," leadership.

1992, the Quincentennial Celebration year of Columbus' first voyage to the Americas and the year of the Rio Earth Summit with its worldwide meeting of indigenous peoples in addition to the world's governments and non-governmental organizations, brought indigenous issues into the public eye as never before. The systematic destruction of native people and cultures is now well documented, though not yet widely known. Precisely because it is still not common knowledge, confusion still exists about what real indigenous cultures were. It is as inappropriate to judge indigenous cultures by the worst behavior we find among their abused and impoverished survivors as it is to glamorize them, to sell their ceremonies, their portraits and their art for profit, with few exceptions giving little or no return to their creators. The point is not to romanticize indigenous people, who have been and are as human as all others, but to acknowledge and learn from their traditional best--from their deeply spiritual respect for and scientific knowledge of nature.
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To be respected by the dominant culture of the White Brother, knowledge must be scientific. For this reason it is important to show that indigenous people indeed have scientific knowledge.

Science is defined by Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition, 1993) as "the state of knowing" or "a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study." This definition certainly includes indigenous knowledge. The American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (3rd edition, 1992) defines science as "the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation and theoretical explanation of phenomena." A bit more precise, yet a good description of what indigenous people do that is appropriately dignified with the label "science." As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, science is "the state of knowing", or "knowledge as opposed to belief or opinion," knowledge, that is, "acquired by study." The OED continues explaining that science is "in a more restricted sense: a branch of study which is concerned either with a connected body of demonstrated truths or with observed facts systematically classified and more or less colligated by being brought under general laws, and which include trustworthy methods for the discovery of new truth within its own domain." Detailed as this definition is, there is nothing in it to exclude indigenous science.

While native scientists do not do science in laboratories, they do systematically acquire scientific knowledge through observation, experiment and theoretical explanation in a framework of natural law. Dr. Greg Cajete, a Tewa Indian from the Santa Clara Pueblo and author of Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education, observes that the white man does science in a "low-context environment," isolating phenomena to study them outside their natural context, in a laboratory. The red man does science in a "high-context environment," studying phenomena within their natural context. He explains that the reason for this difference has to do with the purpose of science in the two cultures. While both do science in pursuit of knowledge based on real observation and experiment, the white man removes phenomena from their natural context to study them because he seeks knowledge enabling him to control nature for his own purposes, while the red man seeks knowledge that will permit him to integrate himself harmoniously into nature. Indigenous scientists have always known the "participatory universe," while the industrial culture's scientists only recently discovered it, now understanding that the pure objectivity considered so fundamental to doing good science is illusory. Indigenous science is thus participatory, fostering dialogue between humans and the rest of nature. It is taught to all people, not as something learned in limited years of schooling, but as a lifelong task, though its specialists, such as medicine people who are both researchers and practitioners, spend many years in formal and rigorous training...

The point of this discussion is not to show one science or cultural pattern superior to another, but to recognize that there can no more be one true science than one true religion. In Chapter 12 we discussed the impossibility of any single true worldview. Science itself is a mapping activity--its theories are testable maps to the underlying reality filtered into our minds through our limited senses. We make many different kinds of actual maps, all valid. We do not expect a pilot to fly by a road map, a driver to drive by a weather map, or a weather forecaster to predict weather from a topographical map. We make our maps for different purposes, just as indigenous and industrial scientists make their scientific descriptions of the world for different purposes.

What matters is which sciences we consider when we want to achieve these varied purposes. Indigenous science will offer little to an engineer designing new communications technologies, which this book has discussed as essential for a harmonious human future. On the other hand, it may be extremely useful if we want to know how to survive as a healthy part of nature. In Chapter 21 we will see that sustainable agriculture, for example, may better be based on indigenous and traditional techniques than on costly and destructive hi-tech farming.
By the categories of our mainstream culture's science, indigenous sciences include biology, geology, astronomy, navigation, meteorology, botany, medicine/pharmacology, psychology, agricultural engineering, plant genetics, ecology, social and political sciences, all based on as much as thousands of years of observations and experiments. Such sciences have contributed enormously to modern knowledge. Jack Weatherford, in his book Indian Givers, has documented many examples of the very widespread fruits of indigenous science in our modern civilization, from aspirin and freeze-dried potatoes to the political science of our own constitutional democracy...
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Because we are accustomed to equating science and technology with mechanical instruments, machinery and all the material products of our culture, it is difficult for us to grasp the enormous scientific and technological prowess of peoples who consciously and deliberately kept their material goods to a minimum in order to live in ecologically sound ways. An Amazon Indian child may learn to distinguish literally hundreds of species of bees by their appearance and behavior. A trained medicine person would have as detailed knowledge of anatomy, physiology, psychology, traumas, illnesses and medicines as any technological society doctor, though this knowledge is orally and experientially acquired and its practice does not depend on hospitals with their technological support systems.

Manuel Cordoba, a Brazilian rubber tapper kidnapped as a boy early this century, learned the medicine he practiced all his life from Amazon Indians. When all doctors failed to cure the chairman of the Medical School at the University of Lima of a terminal illness , Cordoba succeeded, using only indigenous knowledge and medicines. He was offered a professorship at the university, but declined, as reported by Bruce Lamb in Rio Tigre and Beyond.

Indigenous navigators of the Pacific Ocean have traversed its waters for thousands of years without benefit of compass. These navigators knew astronomy (navigation by stars), had sophisticated knowledge of currents, weather patterns and fish and bird migrations to guide their swift, elegant outrigger canoes over vast stretches of ocean; they were also trained to detect magnetic fields directly in their bodies to give them "compass" directions and to sense their proximity to land. The latter has been described as "standing tall in one's canoe, to see where land is." Thirty indigenous Pacific nations have recreated their traditional sea-going vessels in recent years in order to retrace ancient voyages using the same techniques.

Invisible "technology" appears magical to those not trained to use it, especially in the realm of healing. Many Amazon medicine men use the hallucinogen known as ayahuasca, made from several varieties of Banisteriopsis vine, to diagnose in detail the physiological problems of their patients. In the hands of trained practitioners, it can be used to unite minds and bodies such that detailed knowledge can be transferred directly among people and other species. U.S. physicist Fred Wolf directly experienced its power, as reported in his book, The Eagle's Quest. To the indigenous people engaging in such practices they are not magical but scientific. To Wolf, they were demonstrating what every theoretical physicist, if not every scientist, knows at least in theory: that "how we see the world is how we intend to see it, because intent is the key." We might add, that much knowledge and practice are required as well, to do it scientifically, in any science...

Much indigenous science is based on centuries and even millennia of observation passed on through time, generating laws of relationship. Hopi observations in geology and meteorology, for example, led to the understanding that underground copper deposits in the Southwest draw down lightning, bringing life-giving rains to the desert. They know that mining can change weather patterns as surely as the Kogi know that deforestation and mining are drying the climate around them so their mountains no longer have adequate snow to feed the rivers on which their crops and lives depend. Both cultures have observed the destruction while the white man saw only the copper and the gold that would bring him wealth.
The Kogi Indians, as we saw, observe the relationship between increasing deforestation and decreasing cloud cover over their mountains. Without clouds there is no rain, the rivers are not filled, the land they live on dries up. They fear their own end, and ours, is near....

This book has taken the optimistic position that it is not too late to learn from the ways of nature and the scientific Earth knowledge of indigenous peoples, with their deeply ecological wisdom. Cooperation between indigenous and industrial society, based on mutual respect, can help us identify destructive technologies and make useful technologies ecologically sound. The White Brother's inventive genius is enormous and capable of solving the greatest problems we face, if it is augmented by the Red Brother's deep knowledge and wisdom.

copyright ©1995 by Elisabet Sahtouris

twm.co.nz/Saht_indig_way.html#prophecies

posted in Anistara *) - 0 replies

The Sacred Waters

anistara1 — Sun, 28 Nov 2004 17:37:24 GMT

A Commentary by Vernon Masayesva,
Executive Director of Black Mesa Trust

Sean Patrick Reily's article "Gathering Clouds" in the June 6, 2004, issue of the L.A. Times is an excellent account of the struggle of Hopi and Navajo grassroots people to save the N-aquifer, which underlies Black Mesa in Arizona, for future generations of our children. The importance of the aquifer to Hopi and Navajo cultural and spiritual life, as well as to our basic physical survival, cannot be overstated.

But protecting water from corporate exploitation is not just our struggle. It will soon be yours as well as you seek to ensure a safe and affordable water supply for your children and grandchildren. It is already yours because almost two-thirds of the electricity generated at Mohave- -using coal slurried with N-aquifer water from Black Mesa to Nevada--is bought by California ratepayers.

Since 1922, Arizona has fought vigorously to bring its share of Colorado River water to its growing urban centers. Having won the right to use that water in Arizona v. California (1963), Senator Carl Hayden led the battle to get funding for the Central Arizona Project (CAP), designed to bring water through a system of pipelines and canals stretching over 300 miles from the river to the cities.

Enormous amounts of electricity would be needed to pump CAP water, which had to be moved uphill over long distances.

The initial idea was to build a series of dams in the Grand Canyon to provide hydroelectric power. This plan was abandoned when the Sierra Club and other environmental groups mounted a successful campaign and killed the project. A compromise was born--the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), located in Page and owned by Arizona Public Service Company, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and Salt River Project.

NGSI though, would require its own fodder: Hopi and Navajo mineral resources in the form of coal. Enter Peabody Coal Company.

In 1966, Peabody, the world's largest coal mining company, purchased the right to mine over 380 million tons of coal underneath Black Mesa, The co-owners of another power plant, the Mohave Generating Station (MGS) in Laughlin, Nevada, also made sweetheart deals to buy Black Mesa coal. MGS is currently owned by Southern California Edison, Nevada Power Company, Salt River Project, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

In order to make coal production economical for Peabody in the remote area that is our ancestral homeland, the U.S. government approved the sale of Navajo-Hopi water to be used in the mining and coal slurry operations at the absurd price of $1.67 per acre-foot (an acre-foot of water is 326,000 gallons).

Further, the federal government, which had and continues to have a trust responsibility in relation to Native Americans, agreed that Peabody would pay the tribes only one-half the amount coal companies were required to pay for coal mined on federal lands. Records recently uncovered show that John Boyden, former attorney for the Hopi Tribe, who singlehandedly negotiated the Hopi coal lease with Peabody, was also working for Peabody.

Peabody uses over 1.3 billion gallons of non-renewable pristine water annually for coal slurry preparation and transportation. Black Mesa Pipeline is the only coal slurry pipeline in the United States, and in no possible future will there ever be another here--such a proposal would never survive an Environmental Impact investigation.

Today, we Hopis and Navajos are noticing our seeps and springs drying up. Sinkholes near the mine are beginning to appear.

Hopi hydrologists predict that wells in the village of Moencopi will begin running dry by 2012, and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has confirmed the concerns and observations of Hopis and Navajos who walk the land daily.

NRDC's study, Drawdown: Groundwater Mining on Back Mesa, October 2000, reviewed data reported by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Office of Surface Mining and concluded that there are compelling indications that the aquifer is being overdrawn. At what point "overdrawn" becomes "permanently and irreparably damaged," no one knows. But there are those who have such blatant disregard for the survival of the Hopi and Navajo cultures that they are willing to find out.

The truth is that political power in the American Southwest lies far from Black Mesa--it lies in the major metropolitan centers of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Colorado. These areas desperately need more water, water for the unnatural seas of grass, artificial lakes and golf courses in a land never designed to sustain a high density population, and electricity to light its massive: concrete canyons.

This use of more than a billion gallons a year of the small amount of potable water on Earth reflects a water ethic that has not been considered in all of its implications and that cannot possibly be sustainable.

Putting two Indigenous American cultures at such risk cannot be what California ratepayers want. It is not what they should want, for us or for themselves, because it is our water ethic that has allowed us to survive and thrive in one of the most arid areas on planet Earth.

It is the knowledge and teachings of our elders that have sustained us. This water ethic that has been handed down to us by our ancestors we are eager to share with everyone who will be facing water shortages--and according to some studies, water wars--in the next few decades.

When the water is gone from Black Mesa, so will be the traditional cultures that could have taught the world so much about living successfully with less.

On April 28, 2004, Japanese researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto spoke at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, as a guest of Black Mesa Trust. He talked about his work with water crystals over the past decade. Dr. Emoto has discovered that water--the basic component of life--is directly affected by human words, thoughts, and actions, and that water will show those effects when it is frozen into ice. He has also formulated a new interpretation of Albert Einstein's theory of energy and matter: E = MC2.

In Dr. Emoto's interpretation, M = a number of people, and C2 = the speed of light or consciousness.

For Hopis this concept translates into one with which we are very familiar: resonance. Hopis have a saying that if only one person upholds our traditions, then there is still energy or hope. If another person joins, their combined consciousness will generate more energy. Thereafter the energy grows exponentially.

So, we ask that you consciously think about the sacredness of water--all water. If we all bear in our minds and hearts our need for and gratitude for water, we can generate hope and the energy that can inform the decisions that we will have to make to save our planet and ourselves from environmental degradation. This is what we at Black Mesa Trust hope to convey to our people and peoples throughout the world.

For more information and update on the work of Black Mesa Trust, visit our web site or call 928.213.9009 (Flagstaff office) or 928.734.9255 (Hopi office).

BMT is a non-profit organization controlled by independent Hopi trustees. It is not affiliated with the Hopi Tribal Council.

© Vernon Masayesva can be contacted at, 928.734.9255 (Hopi office); 928.213.9009 (Flagstaff office) P.O. Box 33, Kykotsmovi, Arizona, 86039

This article was originally published in News From Indian Country June 28, 2004

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Spirit Ranch- Home of the White Buffalo

anistara1 — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 01:41:15 GMT

If you are vernturing to Northern Arizona, make sure you stop off at the White Buffalo Ranch just north of Flagstaff.

The White Buffalo Legend:

The White Buffalo are sacred to many Native Americans. The Lakota (Sioux) Nation has passed down the The Legend of the White Buffalo--a story now approximately 2,000 years old--at many council meetings, sacred ceremonies, and through the tribe's storytellers. There are several variations, but all are meaningful, and tell of the same outcome. Have communication with the Creator through prayer with clear intent for Peace, Harmony and Balance for all life living in the Earth Mother.

Spirituality among Natives Americans and non-Native Americans has been a strong force for those who believe in the power of the Great Spirit or God. It matters not what you call the Creator. What matters is that you pray to give thanks for your blessings and trust the guidance given to you from the world of Spirit. Many truths about Spirit are told and handed down from one generation to the next.

The legend of the White Buffalo Calf Woman tells how the People had lost the ability to communicate with the Creator. The Creator sent the sacred White Buffalo Calf Woman to teach the People how to pray with the Pipe. With that Pipe, seven sacred ceremonies were given for the people to abide in order to ensure a future with harmony, peace, and balance.

Legend says that long ago, two young men were out hunting when from out of nowhere came a beautiful maiden dressed in white buckskin. One of the hunters looked upon her and recognizing her as a wakan, or sacred being, lowered his eyes. The second hunter approached her with lust in his eyes desiring her for his woman. White Buffalo Calf Woman beckoned the lustful warrior to her, and as he approached a cloud of dust arose around them causing them to be hidden from view. When the dust settled, nothing but a pile of bones lay next to her. As she walked toward the respectful young hunter, she explained to him that she had merely fulfilled the other man's desire, allowing him, within that brief moment, to live a lifetime, die and decay. White Buffalo Calf Woman instructed the young man to go back to the People and tell them to prepare for her arrival to teach them of the way to pray. The young hunter obeyed. When White Buffalo Calf woman arrived with the sacred bundle (the prayer pipe) she taught the People of the seven sacred ways to pray. These prayers are through ceremonies that include the Sweat Lodge for purification; the Naming Ceremony for child naming; the Healing Ceremony to restore health to the body, mind and spirit; the adoption ceremony for making of relatives; the marriage ceremony for uniting male and female; the Vision Quest for communing with the Creator for direction and answers to one's life; and the Sundance Ceremony to pray for the well-being of all the People.

When the teaching of the sacred ways was complete, White Buffalo Calf Woman told the people she would again return for the sacred bundle that she left with them. Before leaving, she told them that within her were the four ages, and that she would look back upon the People in each age, returning at the end of the fourth age, to restore harmony and spirituality to a troubled land. She walked a short distance, she looked back towards the people and sat down. When she arose they were amazed to see she had become a black buffalo. Walking a little further, the buffalo laid down, this time arising as a yellow buffalo. The third time the buffalo walked a little further and this time arose as a red buffalo. Walking a little further it rolled on the ground and rose one last time as a white buffalo calf signaling the fulfillment of the White Buffalo Calf prophecy.

The changing of the four colors of the White Buffalo Calf Woman represents the four colors of man--white, yellow, red and black. These colors also represent the four directions, north, east, south and west. The sacred bundle that was left to the Lakota people is still with the People in a sacred place on the Cheyenne River Indian reservation in South Dakota. It is kept by a man known as the Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe, Arvol Looking Horse.

The legend of the White Buffalo Calf Woman remains ever promising in this age of spiritual enlightenment and conscious awareness. In today's world of confusion and war many of us are looking for signs of peace. "With the return of the White Buffalo it is a sign that prayers are being heard, that the sacred pipe is being honored, and that the promises of prophecy are being fulfilled. White Buffalo signals a time of abundance and plenty."
(Sams and Carson, Medicine cards)

Though harsh as the world we live in may be throughout recorded history there have been spiritual leaders teaching peace, hope and balance (synergy) amongst all life. This was taught by great teachers such as Jesus, Buddha, the Dali Lama's, and Native American leaders. Chief Crazy Horse, Chief Seattle, and Chief Red Cloud are a few of the visionary leaders who committed their lives to bring peace, and internal happiness to all who they touched. They were tangible signs of goodwill toward all men, women and children.

White Buffalo at Spirit Mountain Ranch

Included with the tangible signs for world peace and harmony are six sacred White Buffalo located at Spirit Mountain Ranch in Flagstaff, Arizona. The birth of a white buffalo is a rare occurance indeed. Only one in 10 million buffalo is born white. The Creator has blessed the world and all its inhabitants with a family of White Buffalo. At Spirit Mountain Ranch these White Buffalo include Miracle Moon, Rainbow Spirit, Arizona Spirit, Mandela Peace Pilgrim, Sunrise Spirit and Spirit Thunder.

Miracle Moon--our first White Buffalo and now a mother--was born on April 30, 1997. Miracle Moon gave birth to Rainbow Spirit (female) on June 8, 2000, to Mandela Peace Pilgrim (female) on July 18, 2001, and to Arizona Spirit (male) on July 1, 2002. All these babies were fathered by Willy Wonka--a brown North American Bison. And now the babies are having their own white babies.

On May 22, 2004, Mandela Peace Pilgrim gave birth to Sunrise Spirit (female). Five days later on May 27, 2004, Rainbow Spirit gave birth to Spirit Thunder (male). Both these white buffalo babies were fathered by BlackJack--a brown Canadian Bison.

These beautiful, divine energies touch all who come see them. People come to the ranch to pray and leave gifts for the sacred White Buffalo. All hearts are touched. Some weep, some marvel, and others are led to the ranch not knowing about the White Buffalo and its promise of peace and abundance. We believe the spirit of the White Buffalo calls out to the hearts of these people and directs them to experience the peace and tranquility carried within the White Buffalo family.

Now, more than ever recent events that are taking place worldwide are a wake-up call to seek connection to the divine Great Spirit or God that resides within us. The return of the White Buffalo is another physical sign from the world of Spirit, ready and waiting to help us walk in our world with wisdom, knowledge, peace and love. Regardless of our race, color or form, we are all brothers and sisters who live on the same Earth mother. It is time to respect and honor each individual as we ourselves would like to be respected.

NATIVE AMERICAN QUOTES

I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of a nation. We do not want riches, but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love. -- Red Cloud (MAKHIPIYA-LUTA) Sioux Chief

From Wakan-Tanka, the Great Mystery, comes all power. It is from Wakan-Takan that the holy man has wisdom and the power to heal and make holy charms. Man knows that all healing plants are given by Wakan-Tanka, therefore they are holy. So too is the buffalo holy, because it is the gift of Wakan-Tanka. - Flat Iron (MAZA BLASKA) Oglala Sioux

"Upon suffering beyond suffering: the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the light within your eyes where the whole Universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am that place within me, we shall be one." - Chief Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux (This statement was taken from Crazy Horse as he sat smoking the Sacred Pipe with Sitting Bull for the last time, four days before he was assassinated.)

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Sedona Tours

anistara1 — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 05:42:02 GMT

Anistara Pilgrimages are the name of the tours I run here in Sedona. My format is based in native teachings in sacred spaces in and around Sedona and the Verde Valley, Arizona.

posted in Anistara *) - 2 replies