Our Bible

"If you take the Christian Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain, soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone. Our bible IS the wind and the rain."

~Herbalist Carol McGrath as told to her by a Native-American woman


Note: I am in the process of moving the information on this blog to my new website, shirleytwofeathers.com, you can find more quotes and cool stuff at the new and improved Feathers and Bones.

Ah to be alive

Ah to be alive
on a mid-September morn
fording a stream
barefoot, pants rolled up
holding boots, pack on,
sunshine, ice in the shallows,
northern rockies.
Rustle and shimmer of icy creek waters
stones turn underfoot, small and hard on toes
cold nose dripping
singing inside
creek music, heart music,
smell of sun on gravel.
I pledge allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the soil
of Turtle Island
one eco system
in diversity
under the sun -
With joyful interpenetration for all.

~Gary Snyder

Morning Meditation - Digging for Abalone

I visited today with a clam digger. Her clothes were made from bark, and I wondered if they were comfortable, but I didn't ask. The weather was cool and clear, the water like glass reflecting the sky and the tree line. She was digging for abalone. We sat in companionable silence for a while, and then she said:

"Whatever the task or the chore.
You can enjoy doing it."

And I was thinking, well, yeah sure... if the place you're working in looks and feels like this! But then, I put that thought aside and decided that as I went about my day maybe I really could enjoy my tasks and chores. And it was true.

~what's this?

The Gift of Life

On the medicine wheel our animal representative of the east direction is the eagle. The eagle lets us rise above the situation and look at things from a greater perspective. Go outside and look up at the great expansiveness, the direction of above, the heavens, the universe. Realize that since you breath, your existence in every moment is verified and sanctified as integral to the whole of the workings of the universe.

In other words Creator has given you the gift of life because he trusts you and knows you are fulfilling a purpose. Just like Creator remains creator however you describe it, your Sacredness does not depend on your opinion of yourself. You are sacred, know it or not.You are an unlimited being of spirit that is experiencing itself within a limited form. This sometimes makes us feel like we don't belong here in this body or are limited.

Life is a cycle, a cycle is a circle and in a circle everything returns to where it began. Thus we will return to where we came from before we began to experience the form of this body. We can not be lost forever in illusion. All must be counted, no one will be lost. It was set up this way since the beginning. We have been exploring the extremes of our potential as human. This means it can get very dark at times. The ancients were very wise and foresaw the darkness we would enter. There were things put in motion that ensure our way home.

The earth herself will ensure that she will survive and those who stand on her as her children will have solid ground under their feet. We call the earth mother Ela in our way. She is our mother because our form is of hers. The atoms and matter we are composed of, we are borrowing until our work is done here. Since you are of the mother and the mother knows how to balance herself, she can balance you. Lie on the mother and ask her to balance you, give your anger and despair to her, she knows to convert it to something that gives life.

For the rest of that amazing article, and more neat stuff, visit the Yunsai Society, and check out their Newsletter. WOW!

~via The Prosperity Project

Morning Meditation - She Who Is

Today my teacher was the daughter of a chief. She showed me an image, or an idea, a knowing that the earth is our mother and our strength.

As she showed it to me, I felt it. That strength that rests below our feet. And I saw that a person could move through life staying rooted and grounded in the earth. Especially if you take the time to really "do" it. When you walk, your feet seem to leave the ground, but the energy actually can and does move with you.

And it occured to me the vastness and the power of she who is our mother... She who must be obeyed. When you live, she feeds you. When you are overwhelmed, she backs you. When you die, she holds you.

Wow.
My puny words cannot come even close to describing the immensity of what I felt. The love.

What's this?