note: I am in conversation with five different Native American sources who encourage the use of the word "indigenous" for white people getting back to our pre-Christian earth-based spiritual roots
First, the tree-grove:
The forest gives to the hunters.
The hunters give to the priests, called Druids
Who smiled like Rafiki
As they gave back a sacrificial “first fruit” from the kill or harvest to the forests
This ritual act is all over the world
And called “nourishing hau” in the Maori Pacific Islander tradition,
Hau meaning spirit.
In the Celtic tradition, on the August 1st holiday, a portion of the blueberry harvest
is given back
is given back
To the forest from which it came
This circular motion - forest to hunter/gatherer, hunter/gatherer
to druids, druids to forest - is the
to druids, druids to forest - is the
pulse
of the universe.
Is the creative life force as it expands
(The circle can never be just between
two people
And through tribal alliances, it constantly expands)
Heaven is not just some top-down force of fate:
“Thy will be done upon earth as it is in heaven,”
No!
Heaven is eager
to see what we will add to creation!
How will you expand the circle of giving?
What unique touch will you give to that
empty room that needs furniture
but also style?
but also style?
What perspective will you give to that
conversation?
Who will we give time to
that needs it?
Who will we give attention to
that lacks it?
Who will we give space to
that has been marginalized?
Who will we allow access to power (agency) to,
so we can stop always being in a giving position to certain groups
Who want to be able to do things for themselves?
And when we go to those who give so much to us
How will we give back?
And not stagnate the circle’s movement?
This movement,
This
heartbeat,
this quickening,
is found in the giving and taking of energy in every root system
Which shares energy across many life different life forms. (*see how “ecologist
Suzanne Simard has shown how trees use a network of soil fungi to communicate
their needs and aid neighboring plants.”) This movement is a democracy of caring
and sharing.
Suzanne Simard has shown how trees use a network of soil fungi to communicate
their needs and aid neighboring plants.”) This movement is a democracy of caring
and sharing.
meeting needs.
It is found not just in these tree roots but in every home which negotiates a fair deal
between family members, and allows every voice to be heard and not minimized.
This movement is balance,
between family members, and allows every voice to be heard and not minimized.
This movement is balance,
between boundaries and flexibility.
It is found not just in personal homes but in a local community, such as those of
Native Americans who made sure that no stomach was empty of food but could
eat from the surplus of the harvest in the storehouse (and is found in the saying of
Muhammad, “He is not a believer who goes to bed with a full stomach when any
neighbor
is hungry”). This movement is thus nourishment -
Native Americans who made sure that no stomach was empty of food but could
eat from the surplus of the harvest in the storehouse (and is found in the saying of
Muhammad, “He is not a believer who goes to bed with a full stomach when any
neighbor
is hungry”). This movement is thus nourishment -
mother’s milk.
It is found not just in communities but in laws on which entire societies’ order is
founded upon,
such as in the Qur’an, which says, “Whatever Allah has bestowed … belongs to
… kinsfolk, the orphans, the needy, the wayfaring stranger, so that it not merely
circulate among the rich
among you.” (59:7). This movement is said to circulate, it is blood, one’s vitality,
founded upon,
such as in the Qur’an, which says, “Whatever Allah has bestowed … belongs to
… kinsfolk, the orphans, the needy, the wayfaring stranger, so that it not merely
circulate among the rich
among you.” (59:7). This movement is said to circulate, it is blood, one’s vitality,
life-force.
And it is in the mind of the visionary who does not simply disrupt unjust social
orders by issuing reforms, but the one who dreams of a new world where, in
the words of Khalil Gibran:
“and before you leave the marketplace, see that no one has gone away with
empty hands.”
We can brainstorm another world without capitalism, if we dare to think outside
the box. Thus this movement is creativity,
orders by issuing reforms, but the one who dreams of a new world where, in
the words of Khalil Gibran:
“and before you leave the marketplace, see that no one has gone away with
empty hands.”
We can brainstorm another world without capitalism, if we dare to think outside
the box. Thus this movement is creativity,
imagination.
This motion,
It is justice, it is balance, it is envisioning, it is care,
it is self-expression balanced within the network of others, and their expressions, in a true democracy and circle of life:
Rex, regal: not power-over, but power-with
