Aga-Gesta

[H2O Man]

{1} Mid-Winter Ceremony
"The whole year begins:
Look! there is snow on the ground.
Look! there are our tracks.
We walk a little further,
Look! the snow is gone.
We walk a little further,
Look! the maple tree grows leaves
the plants are planted
the Water runs from the top of the hills
It becomes medicine!"
-- Aga-Gesta (13 moons/13 strings of wampum)

This song is from the Mid-Winter Ceremony. It tells us that we need to see a day for a day, a season for a season, and a full cycle of 13 moons as a year. We do not get upset and quit the struggle if one day is "bad." There's way too much work to do this year.

If you care about keeping water clean, join the Natural Resources Defense Council:
www.nrdcwildplaces.org

{2} The Darkness

"Sometimes readiness and change come only because of heartache and pain and deep frustration that has gone on before. That is to say, every sin, every disease, every disappointment, every failure, every bit of difficulty that has ever touched our lives have all been a very necessary part of our experience, without which we would not have been made ready or prepared to receive the unfoldment of a truly spiritual message. And I say this knowing, just as you know, that some of us have been down and are presently still down, into the very depths of human existence .... And yet whatever the degree of difficulty each one of us has had, then it was perhaps that degree of difficulty that each one of us needed!"
-- Rubin "Hurricane" Carter; "The Miraculous Journey" by Hirsch, page 174.

Our nation is in a dark season. The administration preaches hate; it has become hatred; it is hated. We must struggle to defeat the self-destructive path that the administration is leading the country down. We need to promote tolerance, monitor hate, and seek justice. If you want to join me in this, join the Southern Poverty Law Center. See:
www.splcenter.org
www.tolerance.org
www.teachingtolerance.org

{3} Positive Vibrations

"If you get down and quarrel everyday
You're saying prayers to the devil, I say.
Why not help one another on the way
Make it much easier.
Say you just can't live that negative way
You know what I mean,
Make way for the Positive Day.
'Cause it's a New Day, New Time,
New Feeling, Yeah!
Say it's a New Sign,
Oh, what a New Day!"
-- Bob Marley, Positive Vibrations

Take positive actions. Young adults should prepare for the future. No matter what your feelings on "religion," it is important for young adults to prepare to answer questions about the Bush-Cheney War Machine. Contact the Center on Conscience & War:
http://www.nisbco.org

[understandinglife]

1. K&R.

Peace.

2. kick

I didn't see this one yesterday. Some beautiful passages.

Have you ever heard of Johnny Moses H2O man? He lives in Seattle. I had the great opportunity to go to some of his teaching circles - and learned so much from him, though like Hurricane says our real learning is sometimes very painful.


"""We need to help each other, strengthen one another. We live in a time that is very different, a time that is very delicate. Anything we believe will happen. Things that are changing, things that are happening now, everything that we think is becoming. We see it happening. Things that you though of ten years ago, you see today. Things that you thought would never happen are happening, because you thought they would never happen. You were already thinking about it, and it became. So everything that we think, everything that we do is a process of creation. If it won't happen in your life, it will happen in the next life, or the future generations. This is why when we all pray together for something, we must believe together, be strong in that prayer. We want a community, we want a medicine community to be strong together. Let it be strong and healthy -- that will help everybody, not only medicine people, but all people. """"




http://pages.sbcglobal.net/gorga/rccteach.html

http://www.johnnymoses.com

[H2O Man]

3. No, I am not familiar

with him. But I think of a passage from one of my favorite books, "Earth House Hold," by Gary Snyder (New Directions; 1968), where he notes that, "Those who have gone into their own natures deeply have, for several thousand years now, been reporting that we have nothing to fear if we are willing to train ourselves, to open up, explore and grow." Snyder compares the different family systems from various cultures, and tries to create a foundation for people to find the support they need to take that deep exploration.

I am not surprised that this thread was overlooked yesterday. It was a busy day in the USA, and a busy day on DU. I was trying to be the opposite of busy; maybe it worked too well! (grin)

4. Gary Snyder - I will check out his books - thanks n/t