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Poetry and Writings
Winter Earth Sauna Sacred Gathering-2003-Camp Tuckabatchee
She Been Waiting
by Paula Walowitz
Read by Gray G.
She’s been waiting
She’s been waiting, waiting.
She’s been waiting so long.
She’s been waiting for her children
To remember, to return.
(Repeat)
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The lovers of the lady.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The mother, maiden, crone.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The ones who dance together.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The ones who dance alone.
She’s been waiting, waiting.
She’s been waiting so long.
She’s been waiting for her children
To remember, to return.
(Repeat)
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The ones who work in silence.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The ones who shout and scream.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The movers and the changes.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The dreamers and the dream.
She’s been waiting, waiting.
She’s been waiting so long.
She’s been waiting for her children
To remember, to return.
(Repeat)
Fall 2002 Earth Sauna Sacred Gathering--Relax4Life
Untitled
by Gray G.
"I have had an opportunity to sit with myself and work through my thoughts and feelings that came up during Sunday's Earth Sauna. It was an incredible experience filled with incredible people. I feel blessed by the energy that surrounded me, and that I carried away when I left.
I wanted to share with you something that happened during the third round of my Earth Sauna. As I was looking at the Grandmothers and Grandfathers during the silence of the round, I saw a "mask" on one of the Grandmothers/fathers. It appeared as an African mask - very intimidating, and angry. My first feeling was to turn away from the fire, and then I remembered what you had said about receiving visions. Instead of turning away, I began to talk to the mask. I explain that, although I found the mask frightening, I knew it was there to help me. As I was speaking to it, I flashed on faces of people in my life that I have felt were angry and judgmental of who I am, and thought that the mask represented them.
Suddenly, with absolute clarity, I realized that the mask was mine. It was my judge! I had placed it in the fire. I had covered the Grandmother/father with the mask. I then reached beyond the mask to talk to the Grandmother/father behind the mask. I told the Grandmother/father that I was open to whatever she/he had to teach me, and that I accepted the wisdom with gratitude and love. Suddenly, the mask fell away leaving a bright, glowing face - warm and welcoming - full of love and acceptance.
Since Sunday, when my "judge" has put in
its two cents - trying to tell me that I not good enough, or strong
enough, or acceptable - I just remind myself it is a mask. And I reach
beyond it for the love and acceptance behind the mask."
Fall 2002 Earth Sauna Sacred Gathering--Tuckabatchee
HEALING WOUND
by Monica Y.
i have these words left with me
like old bones. sometimes,
late at night when i can't sleep,
i lay them on the cool soil
and offer them up to the stars
and moon. i feel the ripe curvature
of their age with my hands, questioning
whence they came, "is this the animal of my love? or,
the animal of my fear?"
these words,
these questions,
this wanting to know
has become still born within my womb.
I have with held
their sustenance.
I refuse to nurture them any longer with my tears.
all i can do is
wait out their decay,
feeling every part of their deterioration within me.
breaking down over the days,
becoming a part of my breasts and hair…
i long to love with a virgin heart,
one that has never been broken.
one that trusts,
like it has never been disillusioned,
but i am no longer the maiden i once was.
no longer wanting
the corsette I wore for him,
so tight and exhausting.
my rouge, that he so loved,
is just a smeared stain across my palm…
i have made many
pilgrimages
through the depth of my wound
and begun to heal it
with the blood i find there.
transforming the value of my sickness,
it becomes my medicine, my arrow, ali
and friend.
i dig,
i scrape,
i bleed,
and i persist
for the emergence of a new woman.
i pluck each betrayal
from my skin
and love it,
until it laughs.
A PRAYER TO HUMANKIND
by Medicine Story
of the RAINBOW TRIBE
Read by Steve P.
Hear, O Humankind, the prayer of my heart.
For are we not one, have we not one desire,
To heal our Mother Earth and bind her wounds?
And do we not all seek peace, even as our brother
The lordly elk upon the vast and silent plains,
To be free as the spotted eagle climbing
The laughing breath of our Father Sky,
To hear from the dark forests and flashing rivers
To the curling lip of the sea the intricate harmony
Of the varied ever-changing Song of Creation?
Humankind, are we not all brothers and sisters?
Are we not the grandchildren of the Great Mystery?
Do we not all want to love and be loved, to laugh
And to play and work and sing and dance together?
But we live with fear. Fear that is hate, that is
Mistrust, envy, greed, vanity, fear that is
Ambition, Competition, aggression, conflict,
Fear that is loneliness, anger, bitterness. . .and yet,
Fear is only twisted love, love turned back
On itself, devouring itself, hating itself,
Love that was denied, love that was rejected. . . .
And love. . . .
Love is life, creation, seed and leaf,
And blossom and fruit and seed, love is growth
And search and reach and work and dance,
Love is nurture and succor and feed and pleasure,
Love is pleasuring ourselves pleasuring each other,
Love is life believing in itself.
And life. . . .
Life is the Great Spirit singing who he is, dancing
His story, improvising, playing, creating,
And we are all that God, our stories all
But one cosmic story, that we are love indeed,
That perfect love we seek we are already,
That the love in me seeks the love in you,
And if our eyes could ever meet without fear
We would recognize each other and rejoice,
For love is life believing in itself.
Humankind, We must stop fearing Life,
Fearing each other, We must absolutely
Stop hating ourselves, resenting God. . . .Life,
O Humankind, Life is the only treasure.
We are the custodians of it, it is our sacred trust,
To bring peace and health and harmony to ourselves,
To each other, to the one web that connects all that is.
Life is wondrous, Awesome and holy, a burning glory,
And its price is simply this: Courage. . . .
We must be brave enough to love.
Hear my heart's prayer, O Humankind,
Trust in love, don't be afraid, I love you
As I love life, I love myself, please
Love me too, love yourself, for perfect love,
As a Wise One said, casts out all fear.
If we are to live there is no other choice,
For love is life believing in itself.
Above all,
Let us let the children out, break
The traps of fear our fathers left us,
Set them free, give them trust, to grow
To seek and question, to play and dance and sing,
And build with them a rainbow world of endless love,
For love is life believing in itself.
Hear, O Humankind, the prayer of my heart.
(In memory of my friend and brother,
Alan Watts, 1973.)
UNTITILED
by dsr
Sometimes
the world comes to me in shapes & colors
I do not understand,
moving me in circles inside my head
until I am left feeling lost & separated from the gift of love,
bathed in pure sadness.
It is then I run
into the forest to rest, shed my weariness, and
listen to the " song of my breath".......
Each spec of nature
comes to me,
bringing lost pieces of my soul,
until at last; wings are formed around the last hint of
darkness inside of me, and it is carried away.
Her song has blended
with my being
and our spirits roll in peace.
Additional Writings in Response to Retreats sponsored by Mother Earth Adventures
UNTITLED
by Jay P.
June 31, 1992
Thank you for bringing me here…
For Today I have entered the town of my birth…
The trip was long and hard…
But once reached, well worth it…
There are many things I did not remember and many that will
never be recovered…
The things that I have discovered in my moments of solitude
will have lead me through doors not known…
Bringing back images, ideals, lost in the house of thought…
for today I start a new beginning…not to belittle the past…
but to reflect on it with wisdom and retrieve the good…
and let go of my vices…
To be harmonious in mind and soul is the utopia, self-actualization,
that everyone would like to achieve…
Too many obstacles of life to make the possible…
To withdraw and let go for awhile brings insight that is
necessary for most of us to carry on…
True love between each other and our surroundings is a goal for
the world to overcome…
Hopefully one day… My cynical outlook believes it cannot be…
but as for my own beliefs and emotions I can only hope…
for today I have entered the town of my birth and
here I have learned many things…
HUMBLE
GIFT OF PEACE…
by dsr
Sept. 23, 1999
MAGIC
IN OUR HEARTS
IS WHAT WE CREATE
WHEN WE SLOW OUR FOOTSTEPS DOWN
AND LISTEN…
THEY
SPEAK TO US-
THE WINGED ONES
THE FOUR LEGGEDS
THE TREE PEOPLE
AND WATER'S SONG…
IT
IS THEIR VOICE
I HEAR IN MY HEART
WHEN I AM ALONE.
AND THEIR MUSIC
I PUT WORDS TO
WHEN MY TEARS HAVE NONE.
THEIR HUMBE GIFT OF PEACE IS MINE.
WE
ARE ONE, SHE AND I,
EARTH MOTHER AND FRIEND
OUR HEARTS BEAT IN UNISON
TO AN ANCIET RHYME.
THE RHYTHM REMAINING STEADY,
HER SPIRIT PURE,
DESPITE ALL OUR HUMANNESS.
THIS
UNBROKEN CIRCLE
TIES US TO THE CREATOR.
IT IS THIS LONE I TRUST,
AND THIS ALONE I BELIEVE…
UNTITLED
by Nancy W.
My
help is in the mountain
Where I take myself to heal
The earthly wounds
That people give to me.
I find a rock with sun on it
And a stream where the water runs gentle
And the trees which one by one give me company.
So must I stay for a long time
Until I have grown from the rock
And the stream is running through me
And I cannot tell myself from one tall tree.
Then I know that nothing touches me
Nor makes me run away.
My help is in the mountain
That I take away with me
Earth cure me.
Earth receive my woe.
Rock strengthen me.
Rock receive my weakness.
Rain wash my sadness away.
Rain receive my doubt.
Sun make sweet my song.
Sun receive the anger from my heart.
THE
Earth Sauna
by Dano P.
Earth
Mother, I descended into you
into your dark bowels.
The steam of your breath and fire
swallowed me and purged my heart.
Naked as a helpless child in your womb I cried,
washed and cleansed in ashen tears.
My
body anointed with mud
and my head reeling with your heat,
I cried and moaned in languages unknown to me.
In the suspension of time,
purged in sweat and smoldering herbs,
You Dear Mother ushered me
to the veil of my own soul
where I was yours alone
and closer to my spiritual home.
As
the skins were pulled away,
I was reborn emerging from Your Holy Thighs
to face anew the starry sky and the blessed cold stream
which kissed my body with refreshment sweet
so much so that I howled and shouted with joy.
Soon
I had fallen into a trance-like state
into your frosty grassy arms
to hear the gentle lullaby of the night
being sung by your children the owl and the wind.
UNTITLED
by Linda H.
Oct. 5, 1996
It's
time to kiss the
earth again
to lay myself down
belly to belly
and let her moist body
drain away this too hot
heat-to sink into her
It's
time to kiss the earth
and be patient with myself
as her dark mud and
slick leaves slave
my soul wonds
It's
time to kiss the
earth again
as we finally rest complacent
lovers still and full
blanketed with sacred
night air-
watched over by
star grandmothers
UNTITLED
by Bill D.
1991
Long before time begin… I was here…I have always been here…I will always be here. I am part of it…I am all of it. Now I come awake…My time for reawakening is here…I will be with you…my brothers and sisters….this night.
The small group crawled into the dome-like enclosure. No words were spoken. The group formed a circle inside the enclosure around a small earthen pit. The last one in was called the Watergiver….
Quietly the Watergiver whispered thru the opening…"We are ready for them…Let the come now!"
And the Reawakened Ones began to enter…One, two, three…they took their places…No words were spoken…except those murmured by the Watergiver as he greeted the Reawakened and offered them sage as a welcoming gift. As they entered the intensity of their power radiated from them….they glowed with an almost magical aura. Four, five, six, seven…As the last entered the flap was drawn shut and there was darkness complete.
The Watergiver began…singing songs of praise and welcome to the Ancient Ones….asking for their help and blessings. The group of people responded to the Watergiver's supplications with murmured acknowledgements as their bodies streamed with water and their very beings were opened to the experience.
The Ancients radiated power….
In turn the people spoke to the Ancients…opening their hearts and souls….communicating with the Ancients in the total darkness…bodies flowing as the Ancients radiated their power….
And the Watergiver paid homage to the Old Ones again…the group sang and gave praise to The ALL in a joyful manner and the darkness resounded with their exultations.
The Ancients radiated power….
Once more the Watergiver invoked the Grandfathers and the people murmured their response. The pipe was filled and passed around the circle…each person first offering the Pipe to the Old Ones.
The Watergiver signaled….the flap was drawn back and as each of the people crawled out thru the opening the words…Ho Mataqwe Oisin…were heard.
I
am part of everything…I am everything…I am at the edge…I
am the Center… It is all One…
It is all One……..