There is only One Giver. All comes from the Creator. Great Spirit is the Source of all good things. So we are given the example as to how to be generous. We can never out-give the One That Gives All Things. It was given to be given away and renewed.
The Principle of wealth is activated by first giving. All teachers repeatedly remind us to give and receive. We receive as we measure in giving: To give our all and to have it come around to measure as we have measured.
Once a Grandfather was asked by a wealthy man, while we were sharing with some people, why he had made such a display of honoring and praying for a man who had given him fifty-six dollars, when the wealthy man had given Grandfather a great deal more than that amount of money. Grandfather sat in a moment of silence. Then he said, "You have given much more in numbers of dollars to me and I am happy to have it. I need it to help my people. This man has given me almost all he has to live on for a long time. What you gave me is insignificant to the amount you have in total. The acknowledgement I showed is not mine to decide it is a Principle that will reward him a thousand times over. I am very grateful to not only receive the money, but to have it come to me in the hands of one so generous and pure in heart and strong in faith. Creator will know this as well and he will be pleased that his Son is trustworthy. All good fortune will befall him. This is how it works, I did not make the law, I am always in awe of it."
Native Peoples know this Principle well. We are neither selfish nor hoarders. We know this creates scarcity and poverty. Poverty is evidence of no faith in the Source, being Creator; or that you deserve it. No faith. This creates illness and imbalance.
The people always gave the extent of what they were asking for. No one had to tell what the "fees" were. They gave in value what they expected in return. What is the cost of health, love, happiness and peace of mind? A woman gave Grandfather Will thirty-five dollars after he did a healing of her breast cancer. She was driving a Mercedes convertible, her home was valued at two hundred thousand, and she said she didn't have any more money because she had to pay her dentist for new caps on her teeth, which cost her four hundred a piece! I felt disbelief and was shocked that she did this.
Grandfather sat patiently while she did her song and dance, and he gently handed her back her money and said she sounded as if she needed it more than him. She insisted he take it, laid it on the table and left, acting very humble.
As we watched her go, someone asked Grandfather, "Why are they like that?"
He just kept watching her and said, "She is a dead woman, she knows that in the intelligent part of her Being. She knows value and she just measured herself thirty-five dollars of life. She will die with pretty white teeth, that is very important to her. She will go slowly and in much pain. I would have been happy to do more if she had placed more value for her life."
When we could no longer see her car, I turned to give him a hug, and there were tears on his cheeks. "Great Spirit, life is worth what to our non-native Sisters and Brothers?" he asked softly, and said to me to pray for her before she lost what her money cannot give her. I did. I asked that all mainstream People stop taking from my People and that their ignorance not destroy our Earth!
Some people say there should be no charge for Spiritual service and that one needs to bring only tobacco and/or Corn Pollen when they come to ask an Elder for… whatever. The Native Peoples would say that because they understand how to show respect and be generous. They give Tobacco and Corn Pollen to an Elder because they understand the Sacred Principles that these bring. This is saying you acknowledge them as honorable and noble Elders. The Tobacco or Corn Pollen is not the measure of the time and consulting that you ask for. They expect you will determine what you get in value by what you give in return. Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth….pretty simple if your really think about it. An Elder is not "expecting" anything; they just trust your generosity and fairness and do their service.
Among the People the Spiritual Elders and Medicine People are given to very generously. They are normally the wealthy families because of the People's gratitude and generosity.
When we ask for life changing assistance, we give the best and most of all we have. In most cases we give everything to it. When we ask an Elder for the trust and honor of living and learning with them the Wisdoms and Medicines of our ways, we bring everything we have to them and give it to them as the value of what is being asked for. We live with them and give them everything we make in what you would call an income. That is why Natives know non-native Brothers and Sisters do not really know what they are asking for.
Another difference is in the church peoples saying giving a tithe to your spiritual source. They also send a collecting basket around at the service in addition to your tithe. This is the way it affords to keep in cooperation. We give fifty percent and know we will get it back a thousand times over.
When this causes fear, we begin to fault find and say it is manipulations to say people are to give. These same people are 'takers'. They will grab up whatever is given, and they do not consider that even 'free'. It is not free. Someone takes a loss somewhere, so the loss is usually us. As the Europeans came here to our homelands, we gave and gave and taught them how to work the land and grow food; we gave them all we had.
We taught them how to hunt honorably and to ride horses. Today many do not know that from the beginning North America had large herds of wild horses and ponies. There are archeological reports of horse bones as old as six thousand to ten thousand years old, at the bottom of canyons where they were run over the edges of bluffs and cliffs, then butchered for food.
We healed newcomers from the dysentery and illness of being out to sea in unclean ships, without good food. The Cherokees and other Eastern Woodlands People were given a disease that we had never encountered before their arrival. They brought a bacteria that was foreign to us here in North America and it almost killed all the Natives of these homelands. What we got in return was not good.
The Newcomers did not know generosity and were filled with greed and selfishness. So they could only take. They took our homes and assimilated most of the people into their ways and Religions. They killed whoever refused. But little did they know that our Old Ones had been forewarned in Visions of all that came to pass.
The Wisdom Keepers had the Original instructions, and we knew that this time would come and we welcomed the Newcomers with love and friendship. It is the way of The People to greet people with kindness and compassion. We were told by our Old Ones we would become a Rainbow People living in Harmony. We have tried over and over again to keep the Peace.
There were loved Peace Keepers from the New Comers as well. It has taken us all this time to listen and learn The Way of the Heart. We were taught as children to keep the Original Ways pure until this time, and then to give all people the pure truths. So we come forward now to share these ways, and assist all to go past prejudice and bitterness, and to come together as People of One Fire and live in harmony with Nature and the Principles again. Creator is always present in all that takes place and we need to find the good in all things.
It is important that you know how our people think, our cultural traditions are different. We do not like to say a price for something. We would rather you give what you have without withholding the best for yourselves. Then so many come and say what would be honorable? Read carefully the stories I have shared here and find their message.
I say to you all, what do you want to make it worth? What do you expect from it? What you give up makes room for what you are asking for. What do you pay a psychologist for an hour of their time? Well, our Elders are even greater than that, so give at least that much!
A minister at St. Paul's Church said that the people in his parish still live in the dark. And only a few understand prosperity principles… Howard Hughes, the riches man in the world, died with more money than he could ever spend. Wealth and money is not a guarantee that you will have good health and live long. That is in our actions. Hughes tried to give to many others in his final state, but it was a bit late.
We give because we have it to give. We need to extend to others what we value. We have outlasted all who tried to kill us off, due to that generosity that was innate in Natives from the beginning. All who live in honor of the Mother Earth and know how to live in and of Nature know the Principle of Giving.
Takers take and keep buying to try and fill the emptiness inside them. They realize sooner or later that material stuff does not fill the Spirit. Service and nurturing is the food of the Heart and Spirit. To give that others are honored and to express your faith in yourself and Creator is demonstration of the unlimited love we are created of. Which means you walk your talk.
Native People always balanced what they took with what they gave. The term "Indian Giver" was a positive statement originally. The Native People had superior furs and their tanning was better quality as well, and they got very little in trade, because they were thought of as "ignorant savages". The People would always bargain generously. After seeing the difference the traders would pay the Mountain Men and non-native trappers. Some Natives went back and took back what they felt was not traded fairly. They left the amount that had been traded for the same as the trappers and went home. So pricing and fees are not the way we feel is always fair.
When someone says to an Elder, "please be with me…" on certain matters and to pray for them, they are asking for a service that takes a great deal of the Elder's time. Time which is very important and valuable, and Wisdom that has been learned that is priceless, in-as-much as there is not enough money to pay the value of it. If you need a guideline to consider, check the cost that psychologists and M.D.'s get for their services, or consultants in whatever field of services you are requesting of the Elder. Most Elders do not get time for family visits and sleep, let alone social time.
If you are asking for wealth, then demonstrate it. If you do not give with the little you say you have, neither would you be generous with a huge fortune!! Altars that Elders do by request for almost everything take their whole day or days. They do service and pray four times a day at these Altars… making Medicine and focusing on the request and fulfilling what has been given to do. Medicine Women and Men are the richest people in our Nations and Clans. They give their income to assist others who need assistance.
Consultations with a Elder for us are very valuable. We give half of what we have in worth. You pay a therapist $150 to $200; it is a decent beginning. Sacred Shields are doorways to other places and dimensions, one thousand to ten or twenty thousand. Not more than you see art priced at without than resources that a Shield gives.
These are examples as to how we value time and people as resources. So as Natives we do not need to have fees set. We expect you have a good understanding of the values of an Elder.
The following are some sliding scales to assist the people to be understanding and honoring of your Elder.
If not a total offering, (coming forward with all you have) for learning and beginning again the Original Covenant, demonstrate your purity of intent with as close as fifty percent of all you are valued at. A cup full of itself, cannot be filled. Giving is making space and time for the Wisdom and Love to come in.
What stuff are you stuffing yourself with to fill that emptiness? Look around at all you have. How much of it is worth your happiness and enlightenment? What will you be able to take with you to the next life? What will give you assurance and peace in your final moments? How much of your time is "spent" caring for it all? Investments are values that last.
If you decide you will not give fifty percent of all that comes to you during your day, put aside at least ten percent. Tithe on all money and value of gifts daily. The longer you hold it the more the mind child will be tempted and the denials start. Also the sooner you give it the sooner the effects of the principle flow into your life. But do not get trapped by doing it only to get more. Give to be generous and demonstrate to Creator your faith. You tithe on the gross, (before taxes and insurance, social security, etc). Get it to your Elder as you receive it so you can begin to receive the abundance that follows generosity.
Each time you take your Elder's time, give a love offering, that is usually just a minimal honorarium if you are tithing or doing faith giving of fifty percent already. If not doing either, consider the scale from an hourly amount of two hundred dollars at least.
If this brings up fears of scarcity and hoarding, see it as a choice you need to make. No Elder is looking or trying to "take" your money, it needs to be given with joy, and because it feels right to you. This is the traditional value we live by. So fees are not necessary to us, we already would have given the fair cost and value. The People/Native People have always been generous and it has sustained us in the face of all. Creator is the Source and there is never a limit or end to the Creator's storehouse!!!!
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