I kind of chuckled when scanning Jennifer's comments about those who
join into Pagan ceremonies/groups being questioned as to "copycatism"
and remembered when a Norwegian friend came over to my house a couple of
years ago to "clear/clean" the air -- the cottage my mother used to live
in was filled with anguished air and hostile vibrations, and it was my
desire to start using this space for my "projects", classes, etc...
So this friend, which is an excellent Reiki healer, came over with
an abalone shell, a feather, and a smudge stick. I was a little surprised
as she is the "Picture of Norway" -- fair skin, blue eyes, almost white
blond hair. She did a Reichi treatment on me and then proceeded to smudge
the cottage -- one room at a time. It was painfully hard for me to keep
a straight face and I tried not to meet her eyes.. Finally she sensed my
struggle and asked what was going on ... I laughed & said "Nothing, really,
this all just seems to be "backwards." At this point my friend laughed &
said: "oh, did you think Native Americans have a corner on the market?
Smudging has been practiced by people all over the world, centuries before
it was even known that "Native Americans" even existed. (hmmm, I wondered;
did we learn it from the Vikings when they "roamed" North America???).
[Just had to play "Devil's advocate" & leave you w/something "new" to wonder
about]
When I was an "impressionable young student, roaming the sts. of Bezerkeley
carrying Physics & Chem. books & Hebrew dictionary in my arms, & a wide
leather belt & "opanci" for Balkan dancing (Israeli dancing is barefoot),
two of the people I admired most were Moshe Dayan & Golda Meir. They
opitomized ethnocentrism, & had certainly "paid their dues," knew all
about cultural genocide, as well as cultural suicide. I felt they had a
LOT to teach about the real world.
Last month, I rec'd a login "fortune" from UCB's "Fortune Cookie " program
that said:
"Don't be humble; you're not that great!"
-- Golda Meir"
It reminded me of the alledged view that "we" have a "piece" of
spirituality that has never before been seen/practiced by any other
group in the known Universe.
I had a poster of "Golda" that said: "But, Can she type?" which my father
gave me to remind me to keep a "straight/solid head on my shoulders,"
maintain marketable typing skills, take care of my plants, etc., BUT
to be sure to let my soul/spirit soar... looking down at the earth from
above is the only way we can put things into a "Universal perspective."
Niin sa, Anishanabeg. Namaste, citizens of the World
lyn
"Just because there is a name for your ailment, doesn't mean they know
what it is."
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"We did not weave the web of life. We | Lyn Dearborn; Naturalist/Person
are merely a strand in it. Whatever | Turtle Clan Ojibwe
we do to the web, we do to ourselves" | Basketry Instruction
--"Walk gently on Mother Earth" -- | dearborn@anchor.engr.sgi.com
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