By Kate Curtis – Acupuncturist, healer, and herbalist.
I had travelled across the water from Ireland to Upstate New York on the East Coast of America to attend a training workshop in Transpersonal Psychology, involving the use of Holotropic Breathwork. The expected time for me to arrive had changed which meant that I arrived a day early. Little did I know that synchronisities are never just that. I was collected from the coach which had driven 3 hours north of NewYork City, and brought to a place near Woodstock, called Menla. Menla is a retreat Centre which is managed by Tibetan House, an organisation ran by group of Dalai Lama devotees. Menla means Tibetan Medicine. The Dalai Lama had asked the centre to be opened to help preserve the Tibetan teachings. It is a very beautiful centre which lies right on a meteorite site 275-400 millions of years old. A sacred site. When I arrived there, I immediately could feel the immense peace and tranquillity. The buildings are set in a valley, amongst a forest of trees with a river running through the valley.
As I booked in, I could feel there was excitement in the air. There were interesting people also booking in. Before long I realised that they were not booking in to do the same thing as me. They were here to take part in a historic event. It was to be the meeting of the Elders from North American Native indigenous people, with four Elders from Columbian indigenous Mountain People, called Gonawindua, Kogi, Wiwa, Arhuaco, and Kankuamo. Never before in history had there been such a coming together of these people. Even amongst the North American people there had never been such a meeting. Non of them had ever met each other before coming from South America. Most people thought there were only Kogi people living in the mountains but this meeting was to bring together and bring to the fore other people. These are the people who’s ancesters had escaped the brutality and the destruction of the Spanish conquestadors by hiding so high up in the mountainous regions.They have their own original language, and know no Spanish.
Those of us who were attending the course who had arrived early were invited to partake in the events over the weekend. We were to bear witness to the dialogue between these elders. They had come together for the first time to share ancient knowledge with each other, but also to fullfill a prophecy that the return of ‘sacred elements ‘which had been given to the Mamos, (who are the very spiritually attuned, and highest order of the elders),must be returned to their place of origen, amongst the Native peoples of North America and also at a later date to the Dalai Lama.
We gathered in a circle which was created by the north American hosts. One of the elders who was a fire keeper, from the hosts, lit a fire using flint. As soon as smoke was seen the visiting elders came to the edge of the circle and were then invited in. An inner circle of elders had been formed .. A feather was used by the matriarche elder of the Mohawke.
It was used to clear the ears –‘ so we can hear our children and our loved ones’, A feather used to open eyes ‘so we can see’, Water was given to drink ‘to unblock anything stuck in the throat of what we cannot say’. We all walked then to the elder’s fire and there, each tradition spoke to the visiting elders from the Sierra.
Amongst the hosts, were six native peoples. Hopi, Mahawk, Havasupai, Elgon-quin, Irioquiox, Navaho. They were dressed in traditional clothes. One man called Gerry McDonald, who was part mahawk, with his sister a matriarch, struck a very dramatic cord, with full feathered costume. She was the first to speak with words of welcome. Then each elder from North America spoke. When they had finished the eldest of the Kogis spoke with interpreter translating. They acknowledged that they could see that the heritage and traditions are the same between north and south indigenous people all coming from the ancesters and that it is very important to keep the ceremonies of ancient wisdom alive.
That all sacred elements, stones plants feathers, etc come from Mother Earth, and that all these elements are used with one intention – to offer to ‘give back’ to Mother Earth.
“ It is time to preserve our sacred sites. To defend and preserve them for us. All people on the planet were given their own territory or place.. It is time for all people to remember what their place of origen is .. In these places of origen there are sacred sites of ancestral people. Like Mothers that are there to take care of their children. The moment has now come for original peoples to recover the sites. To re-establish a dialogue with these sacred sites.”
It is worth commenting here that although the native people of north America have lost their territories or sites to the white man many years before, that the south American people have been able to gain access and to recover some of their sites working with different governments.
We might ask why is it so important to honour our ancesters at these sites.?
The’ spiritual Mothers and fathers of all things that exist’, dwell at these sites. The shells and stones are attributes of these sites. In the four different regions of the Sierra, in Columbia, these elders of the indigenous people are individually working very hard to recover the sacred sites in the ancestral territory. Colonialism was cause of great loss of these sites. The work has brought about recovery of many of these sacred sites and access to these sacred sites is now possible.
At this point in time, thousands of original people still know how to care for all living things in nature we were told, not just the elders. If the recovery of the ancestral lands is not achieved we were told that we run the danger of all this being forgotten. They are currently working very hard to ward off the different injuries which exist both economically and naturally.
It is very important for indigenous people to work together who are being threatened by the governments. |In unity to mitigate the threat of the loss of these territories which are the Seat of their Ancesters. The Place of Spiritual government.
The elders were making emphatic points regarding these sites. The dialogue was long and they seemed to repeat themselves alot regarding these points. One very elderly man ,very small,very wisened, and who later I was told was the elder of the elders –‘ Mamu, ‘who from birth was taken and brought to a cave and for 17 years never saw light. He meditated and learned to communicate with psychic clarity, and telepathy, as we used to do. He spoke and said ‘The circumstances which are happening around the planet are under great threat, if sacred sites are not recovered a sense of balance will not happen in nature and life will not be preserved in nature.’ At the Sacred Sites, the Spiritual Mothers and Fathers of Everything that exists – exist.’
I was told later that these people meditate for all the hours they are awake to try to bring about balance between nature. Trying to bring us to a higher level of awareness. Effecting the vibration of the planet by their meditations.
The dialogue became more intense as the elders expressed their deep concern. ‘What are we going to do?’ As they voiced how the predicted problems in nature were happening with wind and water – avalanches and earthquakes.
‘In spite of having travelled to different places and issuing messages from different times, “younger brother” has not listened to the elders’.
They were all happy to see that after taking part in the ceremony where the traditions from each place were similer and were still being practiced. And how good it would be that in more communities these practices could be upheld. That way more places and people on the planet would be working in the same way. To change the vibration and frequency of the planet is the aim of each of the elders during their meditations and prayers.
In South America, ‘the black line’ – the demarcation of sacred sites in Columbia, 54 sites, make up the black line which are connected to the heart of sieta. Some entire cities are built where they are but they can be reactivated nevertheless. They spoke then about Menla and the meteorite site, and said they were certain it was a sacred site which also could be reactivated.
Thousands of years ago elders used to communicate spiritually – telepathically. The elders say that this is very important to re-establish as a way of communication.
How good it would be to have even more indigenous people from around the world, to gather to try to work in unity to help avoid exploitation of the minerals.
“We are the original people”. Another spoke. “We are intitled to defend ourselves given that we are here first, even before ‘younger brother’. To defend against the ways of the younger brother so that their ways will not take us all to extinction”.
“So this is the message that the four people bring and leave it here in these 4 elements and reflect at what we can do to ensure that we can exist as people for thousands and thousands of years more”.
A second spokesperson spoke then from another of the 4 people from Columbia.
‘Everyone here. We are all children of Mother Nature. All these elements are what sustains us here so we can continue. What happened in ceremony today is our obligation to sustain us as children of Mother nature. This is the natural law that our Ancesters left behind; to hold ceremony and connect with mother nature. To awaken the spirit of the Ancestors and of all the Wise ones who have been here before us . The natural law left by the Ancestors as original people,- the Gobi, we still abide by that law. In spite of all abuse we have received by ‘younger brother’, we still pay tribute to sacred sites . We need to continue to pay tribute to sacred sites so this law is kept alive.”
One of the Female elders spoke next. She was introduced as a Saga, or Matriarche. “She is who knows how to pay tribute, she is who guides us as men. She knows more than us and gives us our orientation, like the earth element in the Centre. She know more than the Mamu.”
‘I hope there is peace in yur hearts. Our people of htis land are coming out of a long winter and we are resurfacing our original instructions. Alot of our sacred sites ( in North America) have been destroyed and are removed from our memory. Even our way of giving birth. One of the sacred sites is the Body of the Woman. ‘
‘It ripples in society all the hard work that is being done. What we are talking about here is – Rematriatriation.
There was a time when there was an alliance, when we met often in a sacred place. We personally do not remember that place. It is through ceremony and dreaming that we remember that place. When we understand what it is to awaken that which is within each woman, the blood that flows from the woman will go back into the earth.
What I see in our recovery is to acknowledge our creation. We have natural disasters such as tornadoes, because of the imbalance where the patriarche – god is money. When chemicals and things that are not good for mother earth make her sick. What we see every day with mother earth, hurricanes, torrandos, floods.It is that she has to increase in intensity to keep us alive.
The earth was origionally created to hold the woman – The skywoman.
Eg. Origionally a man cannot be a governor unless a woman gives permission.
When we look at original people who are able still to live according to the original way, notice how rarely a natural disaster occurs where they live. Eg hurricanes pass nearby, and mother earth moves around them. When sacred sites are acknowledged and the ancient laws are still followed, she hears. The time has come that we get ready for big gatherings where convergence of south American and northern Americans say “Come home to Mama”.
The meeting between these peoples continued in Menla for a week. We worked at our own workshop separately during that week, but we were able to carry through to the theme of what some of us witnessed from being present at the conference.
I was able to speak privately to Louise McDonald and another woman who was half Irish and half native American, who were two of the matriarches who spoke out in circle. I told her how in Ireland we have our own memories and traditions which are being awakened. That by actually learning from their traditions we have been able to reawaken our own. That in the forest beside where I live in Kilmacanogue, beneath the Great Sugar Loaf Mountain, otherwise known as Golden Spear , there is an ancient cairne, which is mostly unknown, and covered with oak and silver birch trees. A large buriel site.
I was told that each day after breakfast I needed to go to that site and make an offering of food . To awaken and honour the ancesters at that site.
The message these people have for us is to wake up . To help us to reawaken our connection with nature and with ourselves. The importance of honouring and speaking again to our ancesters who are the ancient ones, the wise ones, the ones that know everything that is needed to be done to create balance amongst all things. They spoke of the prophecy predicted of the coming together to form alliance of the nations from the north and south Americas. They spoke of how when the feminine and the masculine come back into balance, within each of us as individuals, and also within society, and nature, that there will be a big shift. That the place of a woman is the central role in the family as mother earth is the central role for the stability of us.