Saving the World
(Sun Dance, Tuesday, 6 August 2013)
It's the fourth day of purification at Sun Dance, Tree Day, when we go for the Wocoka, the Grandfather Sacred Tree. We had rain overnight, pretty much the "regular kind". But it's stopped and seems to betraying to blue up. Probably a good day. But if you have the right sort of mind, they're all good days. "Creator gave us these Good red and blue days," according to Black Elk. Everything is going very smoothly this year and the new camp on the new site is beautiful and everyone is going to some effort to make it so. There has been an emphasis this year on "make it beautiful," and it shows. It feels right.
Having reached this age, fifty-four, the past few years I have gotten much more political and aware of global issues, sustainability, resource depletion, environmental degradation, climate change, our nation's horrifyingly skewed economy, politics and priorities - and very obviously willing the bend the ear of anyone polite enough to let me blather the frak on. I was wondering whether or not this sort of preoccupation was appropriate for the prayerful mind and sacred space of Sun Dance. But these things do very much concern me. After all, it is the fate of our people, our nation, our planet. Just a few little things.
But our Dance Chief, Matonijahan expressed in one of the dance meetings that this Way of The Pipe, the Chanka Luta will save humanity. Note, I did not say, "save the world." The world, despite our locust-like devouring civilization, will be just fine without us. George Carlin once said, if we push the Earth far enough, "the planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas." Huah. There is that. I realized that these big issues, all this Big Stuff, ARE my prayers. I've been crawling around this world long enough now to see some real changes in this world and many of them are not good. Some of it, if you pay attention are the sort of things to make a stout-hearted man a bit fearful of the future he's delivering his sons and future generations into. I want it to be better.
So at this dance, will put this, and of course other personal prayers, in my Pipe, my prayer ties, offerings and songs. But I'll try to remember the other things too. The dancers, the supporters, fire keepers, cooks, singers, our teachers, this community-our tiospaye, more than deserve some health and happiness, and gods know, some prosperity for the people.
This of course also informs our decision to leave the NYC region, to not only land ourselves in a more affordable region, but also a more sustainable lifestyle, and closer to both the Standing Bear folks, Four Quarters, and the Land. This is in some ways, particularly career-wise, something of an experiment. We're going to make some poor realtor batshit crazy with the search for broadband, that I went over in an earlier post. It certainly won't be boring. When I went to pick up Padawan One at Four Quarters, I drove up through the Eastern Panhandle of WV and through Berkeley Springs, one of our target communities, and looked over the neighborhood a bit. Interesting. No matter not the dominoes line up and fall down, again-won't be boring!
Well anyway, the sky is turning bluer, we've got breakfast. Fry bread and sausage gravy. Life is good. Things to do today. Hoka hey!
I'm also exploring a journal at Dreamwidth. http://samuraiartguy.dreamwidth.org
It's the fourth day of purification at Sun Dance, Tree Day, when we go for the Wocoka, the Grandfather Sacred Tree. We had rain overnight, pretty much the "regular kind". But it's stopped and seems to betraying to blue up. Probably a good day. But if you have the right sort of mind, they're all good days. "Creator gave us these Good red and blue days," according to Black Elk. Everything is going very smoothly this year and the new camp on the new site is beautiful and everyone is going to some effort to make it so. There has been an emphasis this year on "make it beautiful," and it shows. It feels right.
Having reached this age, fifty-four, the past few years I have gotten much more political and aware of global issues, sustainability, resource depletion, environmental degradation, climate change, our nation's horrifyingly skewed economy, politics and priorities - and very obviously willing the bend the ear of anyone polite enough to let me blather the frak on. I was wondering whether or not this sort of preoccupation was appropriate for the prayerful mind and sacred space of Sun Dance. But these things do very much concern me. After all, it is the fate of our people, our nation, our planet. Just a few little things.
But our Dance Chief, Matonijahan expressed in one of the dance meetings that this Way of The Pipe, the Chanka Luta will save humanity. Note, I did not say, "save the world." The world, despite our locust-like devouring civilization, will be just fine without us. George Carlin once said, if we push the Earth far enough, "the planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas." Huah. There is that. I realized that these big issues, all this Big Stuff, ARE my prayers. I've been crawling around this world long enough now to see some real changes in this world and many of them are not good. Some of it, if you pay attention are the sort of things to make a stout-hearted man a bit fearful of the future he's delivering his sons and future generations into. I want it to be better.
So at this dance, will put this, and of course other personal prayers, in my Pipe, my prayer ties, offerings and songs. But I'll try to remember the other things too. The dancers, the supporters, fire keepers, cooks, singers, our teachers, this community-our tiospaye, more than deserve some health and happiness, and gods know, some prosperity for the people.
This of course also informs our decision to leave the NYC region, to not only land ourselves in a more affordable region, but also a more sustainable lifestyle, and closer to both the Standing Bear folks, Four Quarters, and the Land. This is in some ways, particularly career-wise, something of an experiment. We're going to make some poor realtor batshit crazy with the search for broadband, that I went over in an earlier post. It certainly won't be boring. When I went to pick up Padawan One at Four Quarters, I drove up through the Eastern Panhandle of WV and through Berkeley Springs, one of our target communities, and looked over the neighborhood a bit. Interesting. No matter not the dominoes line up and fall down, again-won't be boring!
Well anyway, the sky is turning bluer, we've got breakfast. Fry bread and sausage gravy. Life is good. Things to do today. Hoka hey!
I'm also exploring a journal at Dreamwidth. http://samuraiartguy.dreamwidth.org