| Around the fire on
a hillside high over the Ohio Valley, looking across the Serpent Mounds
of the Ancient Peoples, she wraps her blanket across her back and pulls
us all close under its warmth, the smell of Sacred Smoke blessing, strong
and sweet in its fabric. With a smile, her voice is trance-inducing as
she begins to hum and rock us while brushing the hair from our faces with
her warm and assuring touch. She chants and sings to us of the Great Spirit’s
love of us and heals our disbelief with her patience and faith. This is
the way of a Grandmother, a title used when referring to a wise and loving
Elder of Great Spirit’s work.
Many come filled with disbelief and determination to discredit her, only to be profoundly transformed by her unending Joy and Courage. We are all transparent before her, and she us. She touches our spirits and awakens the love that lays hidden beneath all of our fears. She is simple and clear intelligence. She introduces us to trust, and consistently demonstrates the reality of it. Her arms and heart are open to all. Her voice is the wind that moves through the Great Canyons, and the sound of the birds on the new day. She sings and my spirit is set free to fly! She whispers and darkness is broken with the flooding of Light. All Fear is released with her humor and laughter. The Sun shines through the overcast of thick moodiness as she plays and shares with us her eternal child. When people call themselves her enemy, she watches with respect and compassion. As a target for hate she is transparent, allowing it to pass through, not engaging, but disarming it by not taking a defensive stand. Instead she lays her heart and body upon the Earth Mother and then stands to Father Sky and lifts her arms in giving Great Thanksgiving. In the face of prejudice and racism she sits with dignity, courage and compassion. The Sun, Stars, Clouds and all the Sky interact with her and her life of pure service. Her energy is endless! I have stood beside her in the great waters and watched as they have come to greet and interact with her in complete cooperation and open communication. After her prayers on a cloudless day, I have felt the rain touch our faces and kiss our hands. The Eagle and Hawk fly in formation above her when she asks for their guidance. I have observed pure astonishment on people’s faces as lightning dances with the direction of her fingers. I have seen food for only a few fill many people’s hunger after her blessing of Great Thanksgiving.
People have said she has power. She replies, “No, there is only One Power, Love. I have respect for and live within the One.” When she works with the Forces, she says,“They do not come because I am more powerful than they are. They come as do all who are in service to The One. They assist me and I assist them.We are of the Same”. All the forest and its inhabitants are truly family to her. Here by the Fire she begins to sing to us her “Heart Song,” which I have watched touch many. She has shared that “Before I took up this body, my people sang this song to call me from the Mother Universe, it is my Heart Song. The Heart Song is the music of a person’s Spirit. We can pass it on to others as we sing, so I pass it to all of you who wish to walk into my soul and journey to the Center of the All That Is in All Things.” As she sings, the Sky Nations become more profound and visible, with shooting stars coming from all directions. I begin to feel as though I will burst with love and appreciation of it all. She has said to me, “Look up at the fire of our Ancestors in the skies and remember you are all of these things. Father Sky wraps his Great Arms of love around our Earth Mother and we are in a safe place, so we can grow and be as children again.” Her singing continues as her words weave in and out of its melody. “You are loved! You were created in the likeness that you see there in the Sky.”
Her every word empowers me to keep going and helps me know that her faith in me today is birthing my faith in Mankind and also in myself. As I watch her I find myself praying silently and extending my trust once again. I thank God for her, and all my Elders. I vowed to protect them and the purity of the Love they emanate. In our life walk together she has often called me “Little Papa” because I get so serious and treat her as a child at times, yet it is with complete joy in my Spirit that she is my Mother, my true Friend as well as my Elder of Pure Love. O n the dawn of my birth, she returned me to the Sun, and announced to all Creation that I was born free and that she would always protect that freedom to grow of my own message and be the manifestation of my purpose to the One, and that she accepts me totally as I am. This is life alongside Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha! Bullhead. ©1995 ys
THE MAN-CHILD TOUCHING UPON THE FEMININE/MOTHER She held the child under her blanket close to her heart, warm and safe. The child’s eyes were watching the flames of their fire, she sang softly and then began to speak of life, and tell stories carried for generations of her Grandmothers and Grandfathers. She would say to the child, “My thoughts will alwaysbe within your thoughts. Be gentle to all life and give of yourself wisely.”When she spoke of times to come, the child listened. She said, “Hold on to what is pure, respect the Earth. Hold onto the Wisdom, it is a tree whose roots are deep and can stand through the storm. In each of us lives the child, we will always be learning and understanding how to be human. Remember these things I tell you, we are all connected. We are all of the Circle, the Circle is the Great Wheel of Life.”
My mother said, “Like you, there is a child in me traveling by the way of the Sun, towards the East I roam, with the Eagle I fly, and it taught me to see far and clear. I lift my eyes unto the mountains until I find a reflection of what lives deep inside of me. The Eagle tells me to rise above my small world and look toward the Sky Nations. Find a high place and let your eyes feast upon the beauty of the Earth Mother, the meadows of flowers and the laughter of the brooks and streams that play close to her heart. She is the true Mother and her love and Beauty is boundless. To be her child is the blessing of an Awakened Life. Seek your vision and rise above all obstacles, embrace freedom.” “There is a child in me that is traveling South. I walk with the Wolf, I live in right-relationship with all Life. I will grow old as I move to completion and the fruits of my deeds ripen. There is a time for relating and family, to see what is in front of my nose. To experience the dance and joy of each day and its gifts, no matter how small or large.”
“The Child in me travels to the West with the Bear, which teaches me to look inside and know my shadow. There is a time to be alone so that you become what you are. Not the ‘wanna be’ of someone else, but you and who that is. There is a time for being joyful of who you are and love yourself.” "The child in me travels North and seeks the Great Buffalo who teaches me Wisdom. A time to be quiet and know the Silence. To know that life begins while beneath the snow. That what appears barren is full of life and new growth. That the frozen lakes reflect the Sun as the rainbow, the promise of ancient-future. In the moment, and the moment is now. To understand that death begins with birth, and birth begins at death. There is no beginning or end, all returns to where it began. There are no dark times, only people without a vision,” When she finished speaking, all I could feel was the warmth and her gentle strength. She whispered to me, “My son, my son I am a woman. I am half the Sky. I am a daughter of the Earth Mother, womb of life, and the rainbow is the shawl around my shoulders. Look in my eyes, the universe is there. I am Woman, Mother of Mankind on the Great Mother Earth. To deny the value of Woman, is to deny the value of your life. I am half and you are half, remember this. I encourage you to explore all your visions and dreams. Respect all life and all beings. We are interconnected - destroy one and we all die. We are one. Hold onto what is good, and you will never be lost.” That was years ago, more than I want to recall. My mother is ageless, yet ancient. Today she is my Elder as well, therefore I also call her Grandmother. What will always remain as part of me are the memories of her and our wonder-filled moments of life, in front of a fire or together in the wee hours of a night, sunny afternoons on the edge of a stream, the excitement of a rain storm.
And the tenderness of a raindrop at the end our prayers. Most of all, our time in her home, the forest, where she spoke and all listened. Where her laughter was a signal and every part of nature came to greet us. I am sure that the world will return to balance because of Woman and her relentless beauty way. Her endurance is her strength and she keeps the gifts. A man’s life begins in the arms of a woman, his first love of woman is his mother, her values live in him also. I remember my Mother saying, “I now live inside your thoughts, we are one. Respect all life and hold on to what is good. Take hold of my hand when you need me, even when you cannot see me, I am there.” Old woman, old woman, it was always you there in the Eagle’s eyes, your voice on the Winds. You in the majestic grace of the Deer, and the warmth of laughter in the play of the Wolf, your heart in the Bear, your faith and wisdom in the Buffalo. It was you, even when I was blind with tears behind my eyes that moved in my spirit and helped my feet find the way. My life is full, and I am wealthy in beauty and joy because you live in my thoughts and beside me. You are Woman, the Womb of Man, the promise of life to the yet unborn. " Sin no wa. Grey Hawk is the second born child and son of Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha. © 1992 ys |
