Native American History Blog Posts by Molly Larkin

How to Celebrate the Winter Solstice!

What if the sun stopped rising each morning because we never said, “Thank you!” Celebrating the Winter Solstice is a way of doing that.

Reincarnation: Do you believe you’ve lived before?

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 […]

Time to Welcome Spring!

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 […]

Winter Solstice 2020: the time of luminous consciousness

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.

Thank you for being! A Thanksgiving Prayer

This 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.

Why we shouldn’t celebrate Christopher Columbus!

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.

The Secret of the U.S. Constitution

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.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge: live streamed this year!!

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.

The Iroquois Creation Story of the “Milky Way”

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”.

A Native American Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanksgiving prayer is common to most religious groups. Native Americans had days-long ceremonies just for the purpose of expressing thanks. I find it sad that in modern America, Thanksgiving has become more about a meal than gratitude for all we have.

This Thanksgiving Prayer comes from the Seneca Nation in the Northeastern United States and is at least 500 years old. It gives thanks for everything given us by Mother Earth.

It is traditionally done around a fire, with spiritual food on the altar. I have conducted this prayer as a ceremony for many years. You might wish to use it as a Thanksgiving Prayer on our national holiday:

Uluru and Mauna Kea: Where the Gods reside

There is a spiritual war going on in the world today, and our future depends on how well we deal with it. What’s happening at Mauna Kea in Hawaii is a prime example of the problem.

So is Standing Rock, Native American land on which oil companies wanted to build a pipeline without Native permission.

And the desecration of Uluru in Australia by tourists for generations, even though it has been spiritual home to the Anangu tribes of Central Australia for 30,000 years. While tourists climb to the top of Uluru, the Anangu don’t.

Have you noticed all the sacred land being confiscated for use by corporations and oil companies? It’s not just for them to make money fracking or drilling for oil, or putting up a telescope.

All this sacred land that is being confiscated and defiled has been cared for by indigenous peoples for time immorial.

The land is sacred because many of these locations are portals to allow celestial energies to come through and help us. This is why indigenous people fight so hard to protect these lands.

By taking over the sacred lands, the corporations are shutting down the light and divine guidance coming to this planet. We simply must not let that happen.

Do You Live In Linear Time or Natural Time? Why It Matters

Do you live in linear time, or natural time? Do you know the difference? Which is better for your physical and spiritual health? Today’s blog/podcast tells us the answer.

Traditional indigenous people the world over speak the language of spirit – what I mean by that is they knew how to have a two-way communication with the natural world around them, because they live in natural time.

How the 7th Generation Principle May Save Our Planet

Whenever I mention the 7thGeneration principle to most people, they think I’m talking about the ecologically friendly laundry detergent company. I’m always surprised that more people don’t know the origin of the term, so I felt it deserved an episode, particularly at this time in our history, where our very future is at stake. […]

We come from the stars!

Do you ever look up at the night sky and feel a longing? A familiarity? As if perhaps you came from the stars? I do. Whenever I look at the Pleiades I feel a calling to home. Many indigenous tribes say they came from the Pleiades. And there’s a reason for that and […]

What can we learn from the legend of Atlantis?

What can we learn from the legend of Atlantis? What is Atlantis?

Around 360 B.C., the Greek philosopher Plato wrote of a highly spiritual, moral society and a technologically advanced utopian civilization that existed 9000 years before.

But the citizens became greedy, petty and “morally bankrupt.” As a result, the gods “became angry because the people had lost their way” so the gods sent a “terrible night of fire and earthquakes” that caused Atlantis to sink into the sea.

There is no evidence to back up the legend of Atlantis, yet the story refuses to die!

Whatever the truth, Atlantis is both a warning and a hope as we enter an age of reawakened spirituality.

Winter Solstice 2018

For ancient cultures around the world, solstices and equinoxes are important ceremonial times. The upcoming Winter Solstice 2018 is no exception.

For people who live in harmony with the earth, the movements of the sun are of paramount importance — it defines the agricultural cycles, the changing of the seasons, and more. Ancient cultures saw life on mother earth as a spiritual journey, marked by changes in light and weather patterns. They honored these changes with ceremony, and we can, too.

I’ve written several posts over the years on how to celebrate the Winter Solstice. You will find the links to them here:

Teachings from Bear Heart

Here’s the replay of my February 2, 2018 interview on Living the Present Moment. We discussed Teachings from Bear Heart.

Winter Solstice: the time to increase our light

This year the Winter Solstice is Thursday, December 21, 11:28 am Eastern Standard Time.

It’s the shortest day of the year because there are fewer daylight hours than any other day.

But the good news is that from this point, daylight will get longer day by day.

The Ancients, and still many indigenous people today, mark this day with bonfires to honor the return of the light. It’s also a way of inviting the return of the light.

The Law of Attraction at work.

There is a lot of suffering and confusion in the world right now, so this is a really good time for us to pull ourselves up and let our own light shine, too.It’s the shortest day of the year because there are fewer daylight hours than any other day.

But the good news is that from this point, daylight will get longer day by day.

The Ancients, and still many indigenous people today, mark this day with bonfires to honor the return of the light. It’s also a way of inviting the return of the light.

The Law of Attraction at work.

There is a lot of suffering and confusion in the world right now, so this is a really good time for us to pull ourselves up and let our own light shine, too.

Why the Solar Eclipse is just what we need right now

There have been a lot of articles recently about the upcoming solar eclipse.

For the scientific perspective, here’s a good article from NASA

But I’d like to share a spiritual perspective, which is what many of us are looking for.

Why this? Why now? What does it mean?

Why should we celebrate the spring equinox?

On Monday March 20, at 6:20 a.m. EST, the northern and southern hemispheres of planet earth are equally illuminated. This marks the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and the autumn equinox in the southern hemisphere.

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 warming temperatures in the northern hemisphere.

The equinox energy is strong for four days before and after March 20th, giving us time to bask in the opportunities and lessons it brings.

Where I live, in Michigan, it’s still gray and dreary, and it’s snowing as I write this. But a few days ago I saw a red-winged blackbird, and local lore says they come back when spring is just around the corner. So I took heart!

Ancient cultures throughout history have celebrated this time of rebirth of Mother Earth. But what does it mean for us?

1 2 3 4 Next »

Archive