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April/May 2006 Volume 38Welcome to this bi-monthly edition of our newsletter! You will find these columns contained in our April/May issue:
Metaphors for Life
Carla Woody, Founder Metaphors for Life
GrowthWorks The Cacti Are My Ancestors by Carla Woody We had been hiking for a few hours. For the first time we rested, looking out over the valley, Dog Rock across the way. In times past, the mesa, which truly did have the outline of a half-reclining dog, was a sacred initiation site for medicine people. Jon, a full-blooded Diné, led my friend and me to the base of a sheer cliff in Canyon de Chelly earlier gesturing that we should climb up. He was a man of few words, except those of encouragement. My eyes swept the bare rock face, more than a little doubtful, noting the ascending indentations that looked like mere toeholds, well worn. The Anasazi had used these “stairs” as had the generations of Diné after them. I guessed that I could, too, and made sure to keep my gaze focused on the destination above us as opposed to the ground below. As we sat on the rocks later, resting in silence, appreciating our surroundings, I took the opportunity to ask Jon about his traditions. Once coaxed, he began in a quiet voice, long pauses in-between sentences. I was truly struck by what he said; perhaps also affected through the way he delivered the message, somehow causing an underlying theme I already knew to be deposited at a greater depth. Maybe the magic of the setting also provided the opening. I’ll do my best here to share some of it with you. He told the story of Spider Woman. “Spider Woman taught us how to weave, but even more she taught us how to vision, to put things together. She wove her web between Spider Rock where she lives and the canyons.” Even as I write Jon’s words here, I remember the sure, measured inflection of his tone. “Changing Woman is her daughter. She teaches us about the cycles of things – the seasons. We all have the circle of life here and then we go on.” He fell into silence, as though considering something. When he spoke again, his voice carried even more reverence as he continued on about the cycle of life. “In the old days a person is left in a place uncovered and they go back to the earth. The cacti, the trees that come up later are all a part of that person. That’s how we are all a part of everything.” He made sweeping gestures toward the vegetation in the valley below. “Those cacti are my ancestors.” And at that moment, something went in. Of course, I knew about the connection of all things and said similar things myself in retreats or writings. I know about those aspects of me that are connected to and are parts of you – and the effect we have on each other and all things through time and space. But somehow those words took it to a visceral level, something known absolutely as truth. Later back at camp, Jon told us about the Hogan we were staying in. “This is a female Hogan. It’s round – a circle. I made this Hogan in the old way. There are nine logs in the walls for the nine months of gestation. The four logs in the circle that make the ceiling are for the four seasons and four directions. The door and the fire face the east to greet Talking God who brings the sun each day. When we enter, we walk clockwise according to the circle.” In speaking about ritual and use of tobacco Jon said, “We use tobacco to send prayer up in the smoke. We don’t inhale. This is just to send the prayers.” As an aside, I can share something on the use of tobacco in rituals or when having “stepped outside time.” Outside such events, on the rare occasion I tried to smoke, I became nauseous and light-headed. Inside those events, I have no such response. This is no longer a puzzle to me. I long ago realized that effects change through intent of the action. As a contrast, we could reflect on how far removed so many of us have become from the ways of life related in just these samplings of traditional wisdom Jon shared. But instead, we can turn our thoughts toward the underlying messages Jon was giving and turn them into a mantra to reinforce – in practice – through our own choices in living. Everything is connected. Everything has meaning. Intent delivers what will fulfill it. © 2006 Carla Woody. All rights reserved. Note: For more information on Jon and Canyon de Chelly, go to www.footpathjourneys.com. Carla Woody is the author of the book Standing Stark: The Willingness to Engage and Calling Our Spirits Home: Gateways to Full Consciousness and founder of Kenosis, an organization supporting personal transformation. Carla has long been leading people toward mind/body/spirit wholeness using integrative healing methods blended with world spiritual traditions. She may be reached by e-mail at info@kenosis.net or by telephone (928) 778-1058.Special Events
Review More often than not, the publications or music you will find reviewed here will not be new or “bestsellers.” Websites or organizations may not be well known. But all are spotlighted by virtue of their impact and value.
The Secrets of the Tarot: The Barbara Walker Tarot Deck is the only one I’ve ever owned. Long ago when I was looking, I came across that one, very drawn by the graphic imagery she used and the matriarchal theme. Over the years, I’ve often used the cards to frame retreats. At the start, I ask the participants to draw one card from those that are fanned out at the base of the altar we’ve created. They carry it with them throughout the days we’re together or put it away. But most are continually pulling them out to discover more and more in the ample symbolism their particular card contains pertaining to them – their learning for our time together. So that when we close the circle at the end, most can tell a meaningful story in which the card somehow played an uncanny hand! While you can use this deck and never refer to its companion, The Secrets of the Tarot, the book is truly as fascinating to me as the cards themselves. Walker used the original number-to-symbol template, the one prior to the changes made by the Order of the Golden Dawn commonly used today. Rather than focusing on the interpretation of each card, she painstakingly traces its lineage through various religions, mythologies and cultures culminating with the common thread of meaning probably unintentionally woven. To me, her research clearly confirms our interconnections and strengthens the power of the oracle called tarot. Besides, it’s just downright interesting to those of us who like to know the origins of things! - Carla Woody | |||||||||||||||
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