Christmas Eve here in Tampa was warm, clear-skied, and starlit. I took my pipe outside onto the back lawn, and laid out all the many things that go into a medicine pipe ceremony: sage wand, lighters, bowls for the smudge and a bowl containing all the prayers I had already placed in small pinches of…
Our next Medicine Pipe Ceremony for Prayer will take place on a most special day–Christmas Eve. In my family tradition, Christmas Day was pretty anti-climactic. All the real magic of angels and elves and stars, trees, and gifts and wise-men and holy babies happened late on Christmas Eve, when the night was at its darkest,…
So, this is where November and December went, and why I’ve not been posting as often as I like to: Hiccups have befallen our family yet again. I finally broke down and got a new computer. Just two days after it was mailed to me, our car broke down and got a new belt of…
I’m a believer in helping spirits—beings and energies that work with us to help us along the way. For some people, these spirits show up in dreams, in unbidden visions or quiet voices of advice and guidance. For myself, I have to remain aware enough to call on these spirits, or I can miss their…
I am hoping your Thanksgiving holiday was beautiful. Ours brought much delight, good conversation, peace, and memory of Thanksgivings past. We now step gently into the lunar cycle of Gives Praise, the Clan Mother of the 12th moon cycle. How perfect that this new moon begins with a national celebration of giving thanks, or praise,…
My life has the hiccups these days. I don’t know why. But many, many little things are not proceeding smoothly as planned. Sometimes, the cosmos arranges itself so that a few really big things go nutso in my life, but recently, for the past three weeks or more, a cascade of little things has been…
Carter and I are in the planning stages of a move to Oregon. Yes, we have gone from a pondering stage to a planning stage. That means, we both have been wearing the idea of this move on our shoulders for months now, and we both have come to like the fit of it very…
November 25 will mark the third month of gathering for prayers and wisdom with my medicine pipe on or near the new moon of each month. If you’ve been following this process, you’ll know that a group of my readers are studying along with me in our readings of Jamie Sams’ “The Teachings of the…