Spiritual Learning Blog - Tips and Ideas for Spiritual Growth

Native American Wisdom from Bear Heart

We live in a world full of stress, war, ecological disasters, and financial upheaval. Sometimes it even seems that the world situation may be hopeless.

But the fact is that we don’t have to look far for solutions. Indigenous peoples from around the world have much to teach us about living a balanced life.

Decades ago, as I struggled with fear of an uncertain future, money woes and a high stress job, I turned to the simple teachings of my spiritual mentor Marcellus “Bear Heart” Williams and they have transformed my life.

Here are twelve life tips from Bear Heart:

The Sacred Art of Smudging: Sacred Smoke, Sacred Life

Many people have heard of “smudging,” and may even practice it, but there’s great value in knowing its history, and understanding the true sacredness of it.

There are three primary herbs used in the Native American tradition for smudging: sage, cedar and sweetgrass.

Sage is used to dispel negative energy.

Cedar is used for an overall blessing or to cleanse where there has been illness.

Sweetgrass draws in positive energy.

I have been taught the importance of burning only one herb at a time for smudging, otherwise you are giving mixed messages.

Sage is the most commonly used for cleansing the energy field of a person, place or thing, so I will focus on it for this post.

What if our leaders would marry the land?

In ancient Ireland, the ceremony of crowning a king included a marriage ceremony in which the king would marry the land, or more accurately marry the Goddess of the land.

This marriage meant that the King swore to protect the land and the people, and be a caretaker of the earth. In return, when a King was favoured by the Goddess:

• he would rule with wisdom,

• the land would be fertile and prosperous,

• the country would always be victorious in war.

When that sacred contract was broken, the land was no longer fertile.

Water is Sacred. Why are we poisoning it?

It is the first thing we use every morning, and the last thing we use every night.

It allows us to thrive, and plants, trees and our food to grow. It is essential to all life.

And yet we poison it at every turn:

It’s reported that at the Rio Olympics, swimmers need to ingest only three teaspoons of water to contract a virus. Rio de Janeiro waterways are contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria.

14 billion pounds of garbage, mostly plastic, is dumped into the ocean each year, killing sea life. In January, 2016, thirteen sperm whales washed up dead in Germany, their stomachs full of plastic and auto parts.

What blessing have you given today?

Several years ago, when the pop singer Madonna was studying the Kabbalah with Rabbi Philip Berg, she invited Rabbi Berg up on stage at the end of one of her concerts and asked him to give the audience a blessing.

That was a lovely sentiment, but an unnecessary one. Because I’ve learned that we can all give blessings.

Summer Solstice: your new beginning

June 20, 2016 is an auspicious day: both the Summer Solstice and a Full Moon – it’s the first time these two events have coincided in 70 years!

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 time to call in all the positive things you want in your life, and release what no longer serves you.

The Full Moon also brings in powerful energies for manifestation of what you want.

Read this post to learn how…

Shamanism and personal healing

Quite a few years ago, during a routine medical exam, my doctor found some abnormal cells – pre-cancerous, or what today would be called Stage Zero cancer.

She recommended laser surgery to remove them. Even back then, I was very holistic and didn’t want surgery of any kind, even laser surgery, so I considered my alternatives.

As part of my Native American studies, I had heard of prayer fetishes: objects that are created, personalized, and prayed over, to bring about a particular outcome. Taking a leap of faith, I decided I would make a health fetish as my path to curing my condition.

Why we should approach sleep as ceremony

There’s a lot of talk about sleep in the news lately:

• why we need it,

• how to get it,

• how much do we need?

• to nap or not to nap?

The advice even fills books, but there’s one important point I think has been overlooked:

We should be approaching sleep with the same respect and solemnity as we do ceremony!

The Truth About Cancer can save your life!

I’ve recently watched a documentary series that is brilliant – and can save your life. It’s called The Truth About Cancer.

In it, medical doctors and scientists present well-researched studies about the numerous holistic therapies that have successfully treated cancer – with or without chemotherapy.

We all have friends or family members who have succumbed to this disease. In fact, 21,000 people around the world die from cancer each day.

Why not get educated on the many alternative therapies that work and do not destroy the immune system the way chemotherapy does?

Or that can support the immune system while undergoing chemotherapy?

Did you know that cancer cells feed on sugar? Yet many cancer centers have bowls of candy available for their patients to eat. And oncologists rarely tell their patients to avoid sugar. How is that taking care of our health?

How to survive the loss of a loved one

We all have to face it at some time in our lives.

Learning how to survive the loss of a loved one can dramatically impact our quality life.

Learn what Native Americans teach.

The magic of a home altar

Would you like to jump-start your meditation practice? Or have an instant dose of serenity? A home altar might be just the thing to help you.

Many people may think of altars as something only found in a church, but they don’t have to be limited to that.

WHAT IS AN ALTAR?

Altars are built to hold focused energy, and help you to feel calm and centered when you approach them. It represents your intention to create more serenity, peace and love in your space and your life.

Are you willing to do the work to change?

In 2003 and 2013, I went to Brazil to see the medium Joao de Deus [John of God] at the Casa de Dom Ignacio de Loyola.

The Casa is a place where miraculous cures regularly occur. It’s also a place of kindness and acceptance of people from all over the world.

So I was surprised to read an interview with John of God in which, when asked what determines if a person gets cured, his answer was “merit.”

I had to think long and hard about that. Surely possible cures would not be intentionally withheld.

So my interpretation of “merit” was that the patients do the work they need to do to achieve and maintain health:

Gay rights: let indigenous people lead the way

More and more, modern people are turning to indigenous teachings to learn a better way to live. Perhaps acceptance of gay rights could be the next lesson.

Here are a few things Native Americans have already contributed:

New year, new you?

There’s a lot of talk of “new year’s resolutions” these days. Probably because the new year seems a good time to create a “new you.”

What is a “new you?” That is a personal question that each must answer for themselves.

For me, it has to do with qualities of being rather than getting a new wardrobe or hairstyle. Those things have their place, but if you’re a reader of this blog, you probably want to look a little deeper at your life.

I always strive to be a better version of myself: less judgmental, more compassionate and forgiving, kinder, more nurturing. The list goes on.

One of my frequent prayers is for help in taking my spiritual work to the next level, and I think developing qualities like that are excellent hallmarks of a spiritual life.

Food for thought. But yes, I also want to lose the five pounds I gained over the holidays!

So now on to the practical tips for making change:

Happy Holidays!

7 ways to celebrate the Winter Solstice

“Winter Solstice is the time when light is born out of the womb of winter’s darkness.” Mara Freeman, in Kindling the Celtic Spirit

To original peoples around the world the Winter Solstice is a time of great celebration. This year it takes place on December 21.

It signifies the return of the sun through longer days and shorter nights until the sun reaches its zenith at the Summer Solstice.

Many ancient cultures considered it to be the true beginning of the “new year.”

It’s something modern society takes for granted, and may not even notice. We always assume the sun will rise and set every day. But what if it didn’t?

What if it gave up because we never said, “Thank you!”

A gift for you: The Fountain of Youth ebook is free now

I’m delighted to announce I have a new book out and the e-book is FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow.

The Fountain of Youth Is Just a Breath Away; Breathing Exercises for Relaxation, Health and Vitality.

It’s also available as a paperback, but unfortunately that’s not free! 🙂 But the paperback would make a great holiday gift for your loved ones.

You do NOT need a Kindle to read the e-book. You can read it on any computer or tablet by downloading the FREE Kindle App software .

Don’t like to read ebooks? Get the paperback here.

“America the Beautiful”???

Have you ever wondered what the Native American perspective is of the song, “America the Beautiful?” Here is your chance to find out.

The song’s original lyrics sing the praises of the natural beauty of this continent, referring to it as wilderness. There is no mention of the original inhabitants.

My Native American friend, songwriter Tia Shawnté, wrote “Native Son” in 1990 for Mother Earth, set to the melody of “America the Beautiful.’

She has performed the song across the United States and the mayor of Austin, Texas declared February 4 as Tia Shawnté Day. She has just released a music video of the song, which you can watch below.

“What is right with you?”

Has anyone ever asked you that? “What is right with you?”

No one’s ever asked me that, but I certainly recall being asked, “what is wrong with you?” by parents, teachers and employers. I’m sure we all have.

All too often we, and others, focus on what is wrong with us. But there is more right than wrong with all of us.

Just as there is more that is right in the world than is wrong in the world.

People complain that there is only bad news reported in newspapers and the evening news. Well, the good news is that these events are out of the ordinary; that’s why it’s news!

The truth is that planet earth and everything on it is part of an amazing Creation, and we are each magnificent beings of light. Spiritual beings learning to be human.

We forget that a lot.

For some reason we seem to be trained to look for what is wrong.

I would say that 95% of my first-time clients ask, at the end of the healing session, “what did you pick up? What do you think is wrong with me?”

Meaning, they’re hoping for a clairvoyant reading that will tell them the problems I found.

I give everyone the same answer:

What eagles can teach us about Courtship

There is always much to be learned from the animal world, even about courtship . . . and even from eagles.

Here’s what a Navajo elder says:

” … It amazes me that in the animal world, the female of every species chooses the fastest runner, the best hunter, the strongest fighter for her mate. Yet a woman, who is supposed to be Creator’s finest achievement, often will lay down with any and sometimes every man who comes her way. If anything is going to change for the better, we women must lead the way to higher moral ground. We have to begin teaching our daughters and sons that they have great worth and great responsibility.”

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