Last month I was interviewed by Amy Fournier on her Awakening Aphrodite podcast. She asked excellent questions, had a copy of The Wind Is My Mother full of post-its marking her favorite pages and I consider it one of the best interviews I’ve ever had. It’s long at 1 hour 23 minutes, but I recommend it!
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What if the sun stopped rising each morning because we never said, “Thank you!” Celebrating the Winter Solstice is a way of doing that.
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There’s a lovely tradition in Iceland where the best Christmas gift is considered a book! It’s traditional to exchange books on Christmas Eve and spend the night reading them!
Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, and most sales take place between September and December, in preparation for Christmas gift-giving.
The name of this Icelandic tradition is Jolabokaflod, meaning “The Christmas Book Flood.” Let’s do it here!
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After a year in lockdown, it’s more important than ever to celebrate the Summer Solstice: the return of the light and our freedom! The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the time to celebrate life in all its aspects. The time the Sun stands still is […]
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In honor of Mother’s Day, I would like to share the memoriam I wrote after my mother passed away 19 years ago. I hope it can serve as a reminder of the little things we should cherish every day. My mother went home to her ancestors on October 13, 2002 in Hospice House, Holland, Michigan, […]
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Do you believe you’ve lived before? How can you know? Reincarnation is the spiritual belief that when we leave our physical body, our souls eventually re-enter another physical body and we live another life. Possibly over and over. But perhaps we don’t need to reenter a physical body to live again, because consciousness may very […]
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The spring equinox is Sunday March 21, 2021 at 3:37 a.m. EST in the northern hemisphere. How should we celebrate? Why should we celebrate? At the very least, let’s welcome Spring! It’s a day of equal balance of the hours of light and dark before the sun continues its journey towards longer daylight hours and […]
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This year the Winter Solstice is Monday, December 21, 5:02 am Eastern Standard Time.
So what happens at 5:02 AM EST? After seeming to stand still for a few days, the sun will change direction and head the other way. Watch the morning horizon and you will see.
“Solstice” derives from the latin word for “sun stands still.” The sun appears at its lowest in the sky and seems to stay the same for several days before and after this date. It’s the shortest day of sunlight in the year. As the hours of daylight gradually get longer, many cultures see it as a “rebirth” of the sun.
The Ancients, and still many indigenous people today, mark this day with ceremonies and bonfires to honor, and invite in, the return of the light.
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Giving gifts on holidays and special occasions is a lovely tradition. But holiday shopping can be stressful, and not even safe if we go into the stores in 2020.
Rather than give more stuff that people don’t really need, I love to give experiences, such as books and courses. And I have a lot to offer along those lines!
Continue readingThis Thanksgiving will be a hard one for many people. Here in the U.S., we’re being advised to social distance and not travel to be with family.
Many of us have lost loved ones to Covid-19, or are struggling due to lost income with no silver lining in sight.
But if you dig deep, there is always something to be grateful for. And expressing gratitude has been found to be the secret to a happy, successful life!
Let’s turn to a traditional Native American Thanksgiving Prayer for inspiration.
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To me, Veterans’ Day, celebrated this Wednesday November 11, just isn’t enough to honor what our veterans have done for this country. We could learn a lot from how Native Americans take care of their veterans.
And I am deeply saddened by the lack of support and care our veterans receive today.
Yes, war is horrendous, and perhaps if women were running the world there wouldn’t be any wars. But those who did their duty and fought for us deserve better than one day to celebrate them.
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I don’t think we should be celebrating Christopher Columbus.
Imagine a foreign-speaking stranger walked into your house one day, claimed it was now his and threw you out, or even enslaved or killed you and your family.
Would you celebrate him with a national holiday?
Neither would I.
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If you’re like me, I learned in grade school that the U.S. Constitution was based on ancient Greek democracy. Which was a creative stretch of the truth, since ancient Greece was not a democracy.
My research as to what children are taught today about the origin of our government is also disappointing, although there are some states that have updated the teachings to include Native American influence.
Apparently the Founding Fathers simply created it out of thin air, or were influenced by European governments even though there was no democracy anywhere in Europe at that time.
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Have you ever wanted to watch the sun rise on the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge? Well, this year you can because it will be live streamed!
The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the time to celebrate life in all its aspects. It’s also the first day of summer.
Solstice means “stand still” and refers to the way the sun appears to rise and set in the same place for a few days.
At Stonehenge in England, built between 2500 and 5000 years ago, the summer solstice sun at dawn rises over the structure’s Heel Stone and hits the Altar Stone dead center. Surely our ancestors knew something we don’t about the importance of this day.
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“In the beginning were the Instructions…
The Original Instructions were to live in a good way
and be respectful to everyone and everything.”
All indigenous people know about the Original Instructions: the instructions passed down from the Creator, the elders, the ancestors, on how to live a life in harmony and balance with the world around them.
Sadly, much of modern non-Native society has forgotten. And that is what is wrong in today’s world.
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Officially, Memorial Day in the United States is a day for remembering and honoring all Americans who died in any war.
However, Memorial Day weekend also marks the beginning of the summer holiday, with people traditionally focusing on shopping, family gatherings, picnics and sporting events. So we often forget the real meaning of the Day.
Of course, many of us are in lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and may not be able to do summer-type things.
But whatever you do, please take time out from this holiday weekend to say a prayer of thanks for those that gave of their lives so that we could live ours in freedom.
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I hope this email finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe. As for myself, while staying at home these past weeks, I’ve been practicing all my stress-reduction techniques, and meditation is at the top of my list! It’s the best way to calm oneself during these trying times.
If you’ve always wanted to meditate, but haven’t had the time or haven’t found the meditation technique that’s right for you, I’m excited to share my new book with you:
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The Covid-19 virus is giving us a golden opportunity to look at the way we live our lives, and the way the world functions. We shouldn’t want to return to normal, because normal didn’t work.
I hope we’ll all come out of this with a new commitment to live well on every level.
One of my favorite recent Facebook memes is:
“Kinda feeling like the earth just send us all to our rooms
to think about what we’ve done.” Luxepunk on Facebook
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I’m finding it hard to know what to say in these strange times. I’m still processing, as I’m sure we all are. But I do look for inspiration, and would like to share something I found today from conductor Andre Rieu. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Som6MLXGw
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All indigenous cultures have “creation stories” – narratives of how the world began and how people came to inhabit it. I find it unfortunate that the modern world has lost that tradition, one that I greatly enjoy. So I asked my friend Glenn Schiffman to share this creation story, which is an excerpt from his upcoming spiritual memoir, “Moves Standing Still”.
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