A Chance Back to Conscious Health

"Merging with the Redwoods" 

Umpa Walli! Winter Blessings to you during this very mystical season.  In addition, many apologies for this very long delay.  I can blame it on Covid19 but I am grateful for the prescribed time out.  At least at this time of year.  When one chooses to live in a more isolated region, (and I only speak for myself), there is a tendency to pay attention to the seasons or what some would call climactic changes, than to the commercial constructs of proclaimed holidays or social and jurisdictional observations. When we turn the attention to nature and its spiritual attributes (as we are also natural and possess spiritual inclinations) the Church then labels us pagans or what Owen Davis has termed "religion of the peasantry".  Way back then those of us with such predispositions were outsiders to the colonial elite. 

I could get into a historical and political treatise here, however, I am not trying to make a point pertaining to human rights because I basically live in an environment where I don't find the need to proclaim who I am. I found when I chose to participate in such a climatic regional discourse, I was a very unhappy and angry person.  It's not easy to remove ourselves from it all, but we can.

I do not have to identify myself as an Indigenous person, I live my life as an indigenous person and we all know that indigenous peoples have been on the outside looking in within the colonial paradigm.  Contrarily ... I believe we live our lives not from the outside looking in, we are In.  From an indigenous perspective, all the rest of the contrived notions of colonial society are literally not from a perspective of a periphery of life, but a fantasy.  Labels and constructs that we accept are when we become completely lost within the confines of our minds.  We have an incredible amount of resources to look into instead of immediately accepting what is placed in front of us because "friends" and family condone it.  Again that is my personal perspective and my perspective gives me the opportunity to live a natural and normal (what I define for myself as normal) existence. 

Perhaps because I have found my place in my Elder existence.  I work hard at being a human being, the species that the Creators held such value and love for, and I seek to support all those who are striving for such a reality as well.  And,  the ancestors have left words of prophesy that when the settlers finally have settled into the structured society they designed on Mother Earth, is when great healing will take place for everyone.

So we approach the holidays.  Some of us have experiences founded within an observance or holiday that have marked our lives within that segment of time and each year that spirit of "time" returns. Like a broken record it plays upon our consciousness and instead of living in cheer, joy, and celebration, we are riddled with anxiety and depression.  In order to deal with all the energy of the holiday season that is quite ubiquitous, our emotional state reaches for outlets and we turn to anything that will remove the constant sequence of inner disturbance the social scene brings. 

I don't observe Christmas for many reasons.  It basically started with my mother leaving us on Christmas eve.  Every year after that it became more and more difficult.  I am the eldest of my siblings and after my mother left I took on the role of carrying out our birthday celebrations and holidays for my immediate family until my ex and I divorced.  I found us an empty lot, going through the motions like so many others.  During the years traveling through the colonial observances, I embraced the goodness of what I can find from the Earth and now celebrate that perspective.  And that celebration all returns to the indigenous peoples' honoring of the land and the gratefulness for living here. 

From an indigenous perspective, this time of year is a chance to return to the  Creators together with our families and close loved ones.  For many California Indigenous communities in the summer months, our ancestors (and still some of our communities) came/come together with our community at large for world renewal ceremonies, but in the winter it became much more intimate with our connections to the Creators. We held/hold our ancestors closer to us and relieved stories about them, and children were able to ask questions and learn the songs for traditional observances as well as work on regalia.  However, my siblings and I were not part of our living culture then.  We tried to walk in the world like everyone else.  I have been the only one of us that made the journey back to the ancestors because of the calling of Spirit.  The Spirit Call changed my life and has continued to heal me and has given me the strength I have needed all of my life. 

You don't have to be indigenous to hear the calling of our ancestors.  I must say that it is much harder to hear them if we are too attached to the fantasy of colonial society.  Some of us may finally find that social scene too toxic and desire a way out.  Desire is the most important ingredient in finding our own pathway.  I truly know that each of us has a pathway waiting for us.  And for many folks that come from a journey of recovery, they know it takes a lifetime of conscious emersion into the ways of spiritual direction.   That emersion for some is very difficult but rewarding, and for others, it is a joyful and spiritually practical manner of living on our planet each and every day.  There is no longer a need to find something out there that will bring happiness.  And even prophet Jesus has been quoted in saying "Nor will people say, "Here it is" or "There it is", "Because the Kingdom of God is in your midst. - Luke 17:21.

Our indigenous ancestors already knew they were living in Paradise.  There is no other place to be but here, now, and with God/Creators. It is up to us to bring back that paradise within our midst and that starts from within our hearts.  

Once again I must interject that we must have that desire for the calling to pull us out of our complacency.  Once we are on our pathway out of the smoke screens of delusion, we must continue to pray and ask the Creators for guidance.  When we do, people will come into our lives, situations, circumstances.  Remember, what is real is from the Spirit of the Creators not from the social mindset of the colonial scene. 

Laura and Diveena

Very recently I was invited to join a very dear indigenous friend and Yurok Elder, Laura Woods to a documentary filming of acorn processing.  It was a welcomed honoring for our acorn relative's recultivation into our indigenous communities.  Laura has hopes to bring the films out to indigenous communities so that they may regain our acorn relative back into our lives once again. It was an amazing journey as we traveled from the Klamath coast inward, sometimes on one-lane dirt roads to Weitchpec, the Yurok Tribal offices to attend the event.  It reminded me of the times I'd drive through the magnificent Alexander Valley onto one lane roads out to the Pomo Kashia reservation at the coast to attend the healing ceremonies that I participated in.  For Indigenous people who make themselves ready, attending ancestral ceremonies rivets one's journey profoundly into the consciousness of the ancestors.  If you would like to listen to our conversation that pertains to Laura's journey back home to her Yurok community from living out of state and leaving the dominant paradigm, please visit our podcast meet up on Our Ancient Lands.

My final note on returning to the Creators is ... know that many of us have been there, and want to urge you on.  Contact us and drop a line as well as look into our online talking circles and wellness programs.  

As we put our gardens to rest this season we also recently closed our programs and talking circles through the end of the year.  If you are interested in attending our talking circles we plan on hosting them again in mid to later January 2021.  If you would like to find out more about our wellness programs give us a call at 530-419-4827 or email us at info@lutea.org and visit our website.  Let us know you are interested in any program or event, and we will send you the information to register and join us.

We have plans to open another 16-week Mending Broken Hearts workshop in 2021 spring, either online or in person.  If you are interested please give us your input, it will help determine if an online or in-person workshop is favorable. 

May the Creators guide us all towards a healing consciousness of health and well being into the winter. May the ancestors from the depths of winter's knowledge give us the strength and courage to find our pathway of life so that towis hinaak weyyatto (we can do good in the world) 

Walli Ka Molis

Diveena Marcus

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The Height of Spring is a time to honor all Life Givers

Springtime Rhododendrums in front of my house.

May I start by sending my best wishes to you all during this paradoxical time of isolation?  Isn't it ironic that we are enjoying the most gorgeous weather here in Coastal Northern California? Usually, this time of year we experience the constant pour of rain, wind, and fog on our shores.  Yet, this year we have beautiful sunshine, gentle breezes, and birds singing and bees buzzing.  It has been a delight.  I believe the land and its peoples are enjoying the time and space of this slow down of our hectic world even out in the recesses of California's most northern coast.  I pray that for all of us that we have a chance to enjoy the riches of Springtime amid this perplexing experience of hiding from Covid19. 
Yes, I know the parks and beaches have been closed, but we can find walking and hiking trails. And if we do have a yard of any sort we can even find the spirit and power of spring touch us there.  

This new spring season Marcus and I discovered a frog that was in our pond last year and is back, or rather he/she has been here alongside us, invisible in plain sight until we noticed. (Actually, there is an entire story on our frog relative perhaps later or another time.)
My personal early spring experiences were assisting my mother in her gardens.  I disliked it so much because it was such a chore that I developed a skin allergy to anything green that emitted a scent or sap.  Thus I was unable to help my mother in her garden in my later high school years. However, before that developed there was the picking, cutting/chopping/cracking, canning, packaging, and storing of our garden produce.  All this activity had to come first before anything else because it was the bulk of the food we lived on and sustained us in the winter months. My mother had a shed that was allotted just for storage for all the canning we did. Yes, it was very hard work.
I have to add, my mother was in her element when she was in the garden and in her kitchen.  It wasn't until I had space at my own home that I began my garden relationship.  Mind you I always had plants in my environment but I shied away from the gardening until my first personal garden experience. It was a time when I didn't have to tend the garden, but a time in my life when I wanted to tend a garden, and when no allergic breakouts no longer occurred.
At the time I was very much involved in meditation and acknowledging the energy of life.  I was ready to start a relationship with the plant kingdom.  I suppose there were many other factors that supported that experience and relationship building as well.  I have a love for essential oils and the wellness that the lifeforce of plants brings to me.  I was just beginning that journey of discovery then and wanted to know more, and to dive more deeply into the relationship with our plant relatives.  Also, I was working with a local indigenous medicine worker from the Kashia tribe (a Pomo relative).  I apprenticed under him and supported his healing work as a ceremonial singer along with his wife, niece, and daughter.
Herbology is very sacred to Indigenous people and that experience with Dennis gave me the impetus to embrace all aspects of learning the sacredness of life for the benefit of my own well being and for those that I love.
If you noticed in my previous statement, I apprenticed with a medicine worker along with his "wife, niece, and daughter."  All of us, women singers.  One of the first events I sang in a traditional ceremonial manner was the Flower Dance ceremony that is offered to young women who are stepping into their roles as women.  It is a very special ceremony that acknowledges the sacredness of the feminine energy of life and life-givers. For all indigenous peoples, their basic ideology is to respect and honor this spirit and energy and to honor the women of their families and communities and also the female of the species.
And...flowers are intrinsically beautiful.  They are also signs/signals that allow us to witness that something beautiful is happening in our world.  Miracles can happen because new potential and life are coming to aid us in our survival, whether it is aiding us in bringing beauty in our lives or aiding us in nurturing us in medicines, or food, or materials that can be used as resources and commodity.  Such gifts can not be taken for granted if respect and honor are upheld within such a blessing.  

Mammoth Sunflower 2019

Take for example the Indigenous Sunflower.  Every part of the plant is useful and edible.  Of course, the parts are edible at certain times but with that knowledge, nothing is wasted in nature.  I would say for most of the plants on our planet there is a truth to this wisdom.  I enjoy cultivating the Mammoth Sunflower.  Every moment of the sunflower's life is valuable.  As a plant in the garden, the Sunflower supports other plants, as well as attracts pollinators, gives shade, supplies food for wildlife as well as being food and medicine for humans, and emits to us joyful awesomeness in its presence.  This applies to all growing things, as I don't dare eliminate any other vegetable/medicine within this reference, as they all hold unique value as the sunflower. 
However,  we won't ever understand this amazing relationship if we don't spend time with those we want to learn about or do the work as their caretakers.  And yes it is not easy but when we are experiencing the relationship building as time evolves, we don't think about the difficulties or responsibilities that go along with the process.
Whenever I meet a gardener, there is an instant rapport and such generosity.  I don't know any other group of people that are so generous.  Generous with knowledge, time, resources, and friendship.
Hence, all referencing bring me face to face with acknowledging the sacred spirit, energy, and presence of the Great Spirit of our Divine Mother Earth and the feminine power she bestows to all human beings but most abundantly to our women and female relatives. Like the sunflowers, there is nothing that can be withheld to those that our mothers or those that mother bestow their sacred power of love that nourishes and sustains. 
As I write this blog, we are only days away from our secular celebration of Mother's Day.  I believe we should be holding this spirit within us for all of the Spring season, honoring the life-givers and doing what we can to support their work in the world, family, and environment.
So you've heard enough about this advocacy for the sacred feminine spirit coming from yet another female and mother.  But what about coming from a man?  It always touches my heart to hear such advocacy coming from a man who understands and knows this truth.
For this season's podcast on Our Ancient Lands, I interview Tim BlueFlint Indigenous flute maker and concert flutist.  His entire spirit as an artist for this session exemplifies his all-encompassing respect and honor of the sacred feminine spirit in our world.  He continually mentions his love and respect for his mother and grandmother as well as his beautiful relationship with the moon.
I do hope you take the time to listen to his creative process and his philosophical outlook on Indigenous culture and lifeways.  Here is a link to the video and music he shared. It was a pleasure to visit with him and I hope to do so again in the future.

And ... if you wish to start a step into building a relationship with this spirit through gardening please contact me through LUTEA's website www.lutea.org or email.  If you are in the area please make an appointment to come by and either pick up some seeds and/or some starter plants.  If you are farther away for and in-person contact send us a donation that may cover mailing costs so that we can send you seeds. 

May the beauty of this season entice you to seek Right relations to all life-givers in your lives.

Walli Ma Molis!

Diveena
P.S. I'll post my story of the frog next time

Winter's Teachings

Eastside of Battery Point Light House during winter in Crescent City, CA

During midwinter in which we find ourselves, throughout the indigenous communities there is the anticipation of more and more light returning in our world.  There are many celebrations or festivals of lights that center around the later winter part of the year.  Candlemass is a Christian festival of lights that commences within this time frame as well as Tu BiShvat, the Jewish celebration, and the Celtic Imbolc celebrations as well as the forthcoming Chinese new year and Vasant Panchami in India.  All mentioned events commence between the winter solstice and the Spring equinox anticipating the onset of spring and the anticipation of hopeful physical new beginnings in the material world. From a spiritual perspective, it reconnects us to the entirety of the universe and our personal rhythms with it when we join in the dance of change.
North American Indigenous people also anticipate the approach of a new cycle of life.  However, they know perfectly well we are still living knee-deep in winter. Instead of jumping on their new ideas that continued to spring up in their minds and dreams, (and I believe all pre-mentioned events were reminders to contain a focus of gratitude and mindfulness for right actions within changes) they would hold long communal gatherings with their leaders and Elders to obtain mentoring wisdom at this interval of life's anticipatory cycle.
My ancestral Tamalko and Southern Pomo communities would have moved up onto the redwood forests and hills away from the ocean during winter.  They held bi-regional lifestyles, living at the ocean in the summer and mountainous regions in the winter.  There were more protections for the people in the forests as well as access to freshwater and medicines during the harsher time of the year. The time to spend with loved ones was actually long-awaited.  I was told by Elders that there was not enough time in the days during warmer weather to spend "quality time" because everyone was too busy dealing with the process of living.  Winter was when the family came together and the stories and legends come forth from those that knew and remembered the histories to share.  If you had a relative that was able to tell the stories your family was highly regarded and had many visitors, (who additionally brought gifts when they visited).  Thus the time for gathering and sharing was a good time and a good way of being during the winter season.
My Indigenous cousins within the Six Nations community in Canada, hold a 10-day long observance of this time in ceremonies.  I was invited one year as Diane Longboat's guest, who was one of the ceremonial facilitators. Unfortunately, there was an ice storm as well as Diane's husband became very ill and I was not able to attend while I was there. The six nations reserve lands are north of Toronto and I was at the time living in Bailieboro, southeast of Toronto, a long distance in an ice storm to travel. However, I was well aware of what took place as I was mentored by Knowledge keeper Aqusaahsneh Mohawk, Skahendowaneh Swamp, Elder Jake Swamp's son.
The first portion of the ceremonies was a series of honoring ceremonies.  Families reconnected with runners, greeters and there is much protocol.  All traditional protocol is to instill the great depth of respect for everyone and everything.
It is a powerful experience to be in the presence of such knowledge keepers who can instill the traditions to everyone with great love and longing.  Many times I remember my father who was a storyteller, inform me of the histories from his South Pacific heritage.  They were magical times just to be in his presence and his recollection of personally witnessed events of history as well as those who he knew that shared their stories with him.
Unfortunately today with the separations we have from our families and communities there are few that can share or even have the stories left within them.
I was asked to share some of such stories through the Yreka Preservation society in Yreka California when I was living in Weed.  I mentioned to them that I could not repeat stories or refer to them until it was approaching winter.   They were respectful enough to wait until later that year so that I might make a presentation through the Siskiyou Library in Yreka to share from the ancestors.
So this is the time that we can share through our spoken words.  Not written down on the page as it is would not be living history, as it is not being delivered by the voice of the ancestors, and thus the myth-story is not effective nor is it respected. Delivery must be given through the breath of ones' own lifeforce.
Then once heard and felt through the presence of the culture bearer and knowledge keeper,  it would be remembered and/or held an impact on who is receiving it.
I suppose it is like lighting a candle and being near that warmth and the actual flickering light and the essence of its being and magic.
Such phenomena are what we seek during this midwinter season.  We wish to find that magical light that leads us towards truly living once again.

Why is this needed light from way-showers so important?
I have always had the privilege of being associated with those who have been older than myself.  I had five great aunts who were sisters I respected who reflected much authority and wisdom in my life.  Also, great-great aunties and uncles still lived that I was able to visit and listen to and learn from.  Unfortunately, my paternal grandparents died when my father was 8 years old and my mother was removed from her parents when she was also 8 years old.  I never got to know my grandparents. Fortunately, with both of my parents, there were relatives within communities that offered support and wisdom along the way.  I am not saying they were with them on a daily basis. In fact, for many years both my parents had to forge their own pathways on their own.
However, both had help.  My father intrinsically knew how much he was loved by both his parents since his beginnings.  His older sister died young before his birth so he was extremely protected and greatly loved and pampered until his parents' deaths.  Even though my father's youthful beginnings after my grandparents' death was difficult, he always held their love dear.
My mother did not have her parents' attention as I am sure she had hoped.  There were four other children after her, and as the eldest of her siblings, she had many responsibilities living through the Great Depression.  Despite the early separation from her parents, she was taken in and raised by a relative (great aunt) who gave her the foundation she was looking for in her life.
Both of my parents instilled the value of honoring and seeking the wisdom of our Elder relatives and knowledge keepers.
My great-auntie (surrogate grandmother) who raised my mother also had a rest home business and license and I would help her with meals and also spent time with the Elders living there. Listening to histories told to me by a first-hand observer brought me to a world much different than what I knew and also instilled within me wonder, honor and respect for the survivors of history past. As I had continued on my inquisitive pathway in life I also studied and apprenticed with Elders from other indigenous communities even when I was taking graduate curriculum during my Master's program as well as my Ph.D. experiences.  I was fortunate to be mentored by the Elders I most needed.
My most favorite people and best of friends no longer live in this world today. Therefore, the light that was shown to me I hold within myself and I try to bring to others (who have the interest and desire to spend more than just a moment in my life), the essential wisdom my beloved Elders have gifted to me.  I believe these gifts are gifts from "angels" as they contain vast benefits that we do not understand or decipher until the moment the wisdom is needed.
Facts and anecdotes are not the wisdom we need today, we can pull up anything on our phones and pads.  The warmth and light from another lifeforce that is there with our participation are the power and illumination we so desperately need today.
Today I am back in my homeland state of CA living on the familiar coast.  Though not on my traditional coastlines of north-central California it is in northern California.  Ironically there are two lighthouses in Del Norte County, the Battery Point Lighthouse and the St. George Reef Lighthouse.  In addition, there are 3 other lighthouses going south in Humboldt County.  Just north of us in Brookings Oregon is the Pelican Bay lighthouse and the Coquille Light House near Bandon.  The Brookings port up to Bandon as well as the Crescent City and Eureka Port are all working fishing ports.
The lighthouse is a beacon of light during the night or in dense fog when a mariner is traveling towards land or reef or rocks near land. It indicates that there are concerns to pay attention to.  Lighthouses in the past were used for aerial navigation support as well. Today there are many electronic navigational tools that have replaced the lighthouse.  However, our coastal communities work very hard to keep our lighthouses amongst us.  They are powerful metaphors of safety, guardians, way-showers, and familiarity.  I find the same when we seek the guidance of our Elders and those who have walked ahead of us and know very well what we are going through and what we are up against on our Earth walks.  I pray I've added a little more insights as to why this Indigenous person has continued to look for the familiar light of way-showers along my travels in life. I know it resonates with many others.
And, I must remind us that we are still deep up to our knees in winter.  We still need guidance and we still need to continue walking this passage during a time that reflects there is still work to be done.
In our autumnal seasonal podcast "Our Ancient Lands", I offer a conversation with esteemed Santee Sioux/Absarookee Elder Scott Frazier from Montana. Scott candidly gives us some of his Elder reflections on the culture and our Spiritual concerns.  My dear sweet Dine sister from Arizona, and advocate for Indigenous wellness, Barbara Burnside, also illustrates within a two-part conversation her candid and very open journey of healing.  I have plans to eventually invite both to come and spend some time with us at our Fire talks here in California when the weather is kinder towards their travels.
In the next blog, I plan on sharing the work that LUTEA has been doing with more detail as it seems such a mystery for most folks.  All that is shared by our podcast guests touch on the many concerns and issues that we at LUTEA wish to contribute wellness towards.
In our monthly indigenous prayer circle, we continue to hold the light with prayers for all concerned.  May we all find the light that we need during this winter season to spring.
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