|
|
|
|
October/November 2007 Volume 47Welcome to this bi-monthly edition of our newsletter! You will find these columns contained in our October/November issue:
Metaphors for Life
Carla Woody, Founder Metaphors for Life
By Barbara Kingsolver
GrowthWorks What Is Renewal? by Carla Woody Recently I had the good fortune to be invited to participate in a conference on global renewal sponsored by the Bali Institute. It was held in Ubud, considered to be the cultural and spiritual center of Bali. This was a significant gathering bringing together people from many countries with at least one thing in common – a vision for a better, kinder world and the strong desire to make it happen now. I’m still digesting all that happened for me. Part of it I will share with you here. It was the second day of the conference and I had arrived early to the Bali Classic Centre where it was held. It’s a site too beautiful for words with temples, lush foliage and meandering pathways throughout. I was standing in the open-air pavilion where people tended to gather during breaks, just enjoying my surroundings, when a man approached me asking if he could speak to me. He indicated he had seen some literature on the programs I’m doing with the Maya in the Chiapas region of Mexico. In particular he was interested in Don Antonio, the last spirit keeper practicing the ancient sacred traditions of the Lacandón Maya. Then he said something I didn’t at all expect. "Do you think it’s time for some traditions to die so the next thing can come along?" Whether his question came out of earnest interest or flip, cavalier attitude didn’t really matter. His words hit me like a shock wave that reverberated in hidden, interior places. This was a question I had come to Bali to hear. While I’m fairly sure the effect of the missile wasn’t apparent from the outside, my mind was immediately flooded with images. I replayed a time earlier this year with Don Antonio in the middle of the rainforest village of Najá, in his lone god house, burning copal in two of his god pots, chanting, invoking connection with Hachäkyum, the principal deity of the Lacandón, and another god in honor of our visit. He’d chuckled softly when the copal in one of the pots had at first refused to light saying that god was shy that day. There was evidence of hundreds of such ceremonies in the burnt residue in his god pots, mounded to overflowing. He needed to retire these god pots and replace them with new ones. When asked why he hadn’t, he said that since the road had cut through the jungle to Najá it brought too much noise for the sacred renewal ritual. I remember remarking to myself how very little disturbance there was in contrast with what we visitors had at home. But still, it was an affront to the gods.* Another image came to me in the next split second, this time in the high mountains of the Andes in Peru, sitting in circle with Q’ero paq’os, or shamans, and other members of the Q’ero Nation, participating in a despacho, or blessing, ceremony. The absolute sense of collectively touching something beyond what is ordinarily presented, my eyes sweeping the circle of travelers who had come with me and noting the ceremony’s subtle and sometimes dramatic effect on them. These experiences are precious and will perhaps soon border on extinction just like in the Lacandón rainforest and the myriad other places where the footprint of modern society has been placed. A road is planned to Q’ero, which, until this time, has remained isolated at 17,000 feet in altitude with traditions pure and intact. Then my mind came to rest on the memory of the Hopi father and son, both initiated in the Kachina Society, who we brought with us to the Andes this past summer, recalling the gratitude they expressed frequently, through tears, to be gifted with the opportunity to be in circle with their Quechua brothers and sisters and what it meant to them.** As I absorbed the ultimate meaning of the man’s question coupled with these recollections, I was surprised to find tears welling up from my heart, through my throat, discovering moisture in my eyes. And in a cracking voice, this is what I said to him. "The thought of that happening hurts my very soul." I don’t remember what else I said and it probably wasn’t as coherent as I’d have liked just because of the powerful emotions washing over me in that moment. But I do know that I thanked him for his question, as it was personally quite significant to me. He looked perplexed. Do I understand about cycles, death and rebirth, seasons? Of course. Transition is the nature of the work I do every day. Is it time for these traditions to return to the ether? No! At least, certainly not yet. These are people who touch the earth, live close to it, who understand the nature of connection of all things, energy, sharing in community, a global consciousness. They hold these threads sacred in their now fragile traditions. If you’re reading this article, then you probably belong to a culture that has largely forgotten these things. And we’re hungry for these aspects that are so rare or fleeting in our present-day societies, especially because the pendulum swing seems stuck toward destruction of these values. Part of my involvement at the conference was to help facilitate a track called “Language of the Soul”. On the final day of that forum, and as a culmination to our activities and discussions, I guided a despacho ceremony with those who had chosen that track, about forty people. To my knowledge only one other person there was familiar with the blessing ritual. But all actively participated, folks from such far flung places like China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Australia, United States and others. Afterwards, they made comments about the effect it had on them, such as feeling moved and the sensation of energy for the first time. I fully believe that if we honor indigenous traditions such as these I’ve discussed here, if we’re willing to sit in circle, to take part in these deeply spiritual rituals, then we touch what’s timeless. We’re injected. A transmission takes place that gets integrated into who we are in the world. And when we hold sacred witness to those who have had the difficult and usually thankless role of holding these filaments – and honor them for the stake they’ve held – a sacred reciprocity occurs. This is a ripple that goes out. When there are enough of us engaged in this way, then perhaps it’s time for some traditions to relinquish themselves. That’s hardly yet though, is it? Isn’t it ironic that this consideration came to me at a conference whose subject matter was global renewal? Maybe it’s easier to create a careful cocoon, to insulate ourselves, to stick our collective heads in the sand and ignore what’s happening around us. I can’t do it. My soul won’t let me. ***************** *In an area now thoroughly infiltrated by missionaries and decimated by logging companies, Najá was the last hold-out until Chan K’in Viejo, their powerful spirit holder, passed in 1997 at 116 years old. Don Antonio, his son-in-law, is now the last spirit keeper maintaining his traditional beliefs and ceremonies, truly an actor for the Infinite in his lone god house. You can read more about the Lacandón Maya in The Last Lords of Palenque by Bruce and Perera. For more information on the upcoming Maya Mysteries program in January 2008, go here. Don Antonio has consented to do the balché ceremony with us, a rare opportunity. **To see photos and other stories of this summer’s Spirit Keepers Journey to Peru, go here. Also see the August/September issue of Kenosis In-spirations for an article. For more information on the Bali Institute, go to their website. © 2007 Carla Woody. All rights reserved. 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 human potential and global consciousness. 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.
Welcome to the Evolution: Mayan Calendar Comes North
This DVD is a talk done by Ian Lungold in 2004 in the Yukon Territory. It covers the prophecies which are laid out in one of the Mayan calendars, specifically the Tun calendar. Just as an aside, there are two others. The Tzolkin calendar, a personal one, documents astrological influences and life purpose depending on which day you’re born. As Lungold says in his talk, wouldn’t it be nice to know your purpose from the day you came into this world? That would preclude a lot of angst and guesswork! Then the Haab calendar has to do with when the Maya people paid their taxes. I have to admit that I started to snooze a little when he first began his lecture, as he was laying out the foundation of his research. And I’m still not sure that I understand all the technicalities of it. That would involve me watching the DVD a few times just because there was so much information offered. But I can tell you this. The longer I listened, the more excited I got because he plausibly explained a number of phenomena that I’ve noticed. Plus he backs it up with scientific discoveries and historical happenings over the course of creation as we know it. Here are a couple of things which I think will compel you to watch the film. The Tun calendar is divided into phases that we as a global civilization process through. Each phase has its particular focus and each measurement of time, day and night, gets shorter as we’ve moved through time to where we are now. In 1999, we moved out of the Planetary phase where we’d been since 1755, the focus being power, into the Galactic phase where the focus is ethics. Here’s what’s interesting to me. Increasingly, how many governments and others in authority, powerful positions, are being exposed for misuse of their power in the last few years? It seems like an almost everyday occurrence! Then recently JoEllen Koerner, known as a nurse philosopher who has been involved in our work in Peru, told me that she had been meeting with a team at Lockheed-Martin, the defense contractor, to see how they could transfer the technology associated with fighter jet simulations and use it in health care! We could argue that the defense contractor is just seeing more dollar signs, but I’d prefer it to also mean that some level of consciousness is intervening. These things speak to a transition from power to ethics. Have you also noticed that time seems to be speeding up? It’s not your imagination. But Lungold puts it differently. It’s creation that’s speeding up as we’ve learned about consciousness. Co-creation is the next phase of our learning. What we hold in our minds comes true in our reality – more and more quickly than we’ve ever known it. That phase starts on February 10, 2011. It’s also when the Tun calendar ends. You can go to Lungold’s website called Mayan Majix to view his DVDs and download transcripts for free. I was quite saddened to discover that he passed from this planet in 2005. His work came from the heart. - Carla Woody | ||||||||||||
|
Kenosis LLC - PO Box 10441 - Prescott, AZ 86304 - 928.778.1058 - www.kenosis.net info@kenosis.net | |||||||||||||
