Making Relations

You’re invited to a half-day get-together of Indigenous Wisdom, Inspiration, and Hope with Ojibwe Grandmother Isabelle Meawasige from Serpent River. She has just returned from Sedona, Arizona, where the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmother were gathered in ceremony. At this time, sacred knowledge about the water was revealed. She will take this time to share the knowledge.

The time is now for women to remember our indigenous responsibility to water and to make relations.

All monies raised at these events will be used to support the mission of the Wharncliffe Grandmothers. We are asking for a donation of $25/person to cover meals and travel expenses. 

Date: 16, 17, 18, 19 February 2010

Format: ½ day Get-Togethers 8 a.m. to noon OR 1 to 5 p.m.

Location: TBD

Please register with Rose Moses at 613.268.2380 or email: rose@paintedturtleretreat.com

I’m always amazed about the beauty of our planet. Up to this point, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing only a small part of it - watching the sunrise at Haleaka Crater, 10,000 feet up on Maui, Hawaii, hiking the Grand Tetons in Wyoming to Crystal Lake 8,000 feet up and going for a polar ice swim, sunning myself on the bleach white sand of Crete, Greece, and absorbing the healing green fields of Shannon, Ireland to name a few.  It is important for each of us to appreciate the beauty that is around us every day whether we are on a trip of a lifetime or going for a trip to the local park.  I’m currently reading “1000 Places To See Before You Die” an interesting book that has excited my travelling wanderlust.  If you could go anywhere, where would you go?

I recently was sent this link to newly discovered crystal caves in Mexico filmed by the BBC.  The footage reminds me of Dianne Robbins books about Hollow Earth.  The clip is worth watching to remind us magic and beauty are everywhere even when we can see it. It is there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/8466493.stm

My glass is filled, my pipe is lit,

My den is all a cosy glow;
And snug before the fire I sit,
And wait to feel the old year go.
I dedicate to solemn thought
Amid my too-unthinking days,
This sober moment, sadly fraught
With much of blame, with little praise.

Old Year! upon the Stage of Time
You stand to bow your last adieu;
A moment, and the prompter’s chime
Will ring the curtain down on you.
Your mien is sad, your step is slow;
You falter as a Sage in pain;
Yet turn, Old Year, before you go,
And face your audience again.

That sphinx-like face, remote, austere,
Let us all read, what’re the cost:
O maiden! why that bitter tear?
Is it for dear one you have lost?
Is it for fond illusion gone?
For trusted lover proved untrue?
O sweet girl-face, so sad, so wan,
What hath the Old Year meant to you?

‘And you, O neighbour on my right,
So sleek, so prosperously clad!
What see you in that aged wight
That makes your smile so gay and glad?
What opportunity unmissed?
What golden gain, what pride of place?
What splendid hope” O Optimist!
What read you in that withered face?

And you, deep shrinking in the gloom,
What find you in that filmy gaze?
What menace of a tragic doom?
What dark, condemning yesterdays?
What urge to crime, what evil done?
What cold, confronting shape of fear?
O haggard, haunted, hidden One,
What see you in the dying year?

And so from face to face I flit,
The countless eyes that stare and stare;
Some are with approbation lit,
And some are shadowed with despair.
Some show a smile and some a frown;
Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:
Enough! Oh, ring that curtain down!
Old weary year! it’s time to go.

My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go;
And I prepare to meet the New:
Old year! a parting word that’s true,
For we’ve been comrades, you and I -
I thank God for each day of you;
There! bless you now! Old Year, goodbye!