You Are the Land

https://vimeo.com/382492815/49ccea56a0

In this class I cover an introduction into who we are and our relationship with the land, each other, fictional constructs, decolonization, reconciliation and spirit.  

Here is some links to scripture quotes that I talk about in the video.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/2/1/t_conc_2007
https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/lev/25/35/t_conc_115023
https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/1sa/8/1/s_244001

Q&A will be available after the Sacred Heart Circle on Saturday.  

Ownership is a weapon of war

Ownership has no place in the Pacem Arts due to its violence and desecration of all that is sacred.

I see this playing out all the time and a lot of it is soooo subtle, most people don’t even see it.  However, we feel it when somebody violates another individual, whether it is physical, emotional, mental or spiritual violence.  Our bodies, spirit, mind and feelings are gifts from Creator and as such they are all sacred and ours to explore.  

In order for me to be peaceful, I must acknowledge the sacredness of others, whether they are my brothers & sisters or my cousins like the plants, animals, water, air, soil or Mother Earth herself.  That means learning how to ask for consent rather than just taking what I want.  The implications are profound.

My body is in my possession, a gift from Creator.  It is my responsibility to honour the sacredness of who I am.  As such, I place boundaries around me so that I can maintain that sacredness.  If others violate that sacredness, you will be called out or find yourself kicked out of my circles.  If I violate that sacredness, then I often find myself struggling or in pain.

This means that I cannot force myself onto others, even my wife.  She is sacred too and I refuse to use shame, guilt, coercion, covert violence or even overt violence to manipulate or control her.  She is not my property.  I do not ‘own’ her and I work hard to remember that every single day.  My relationship must be honourable, consensual and peaceful in order for me to respect that which is sacred; her, me and our relationship together.

When my wife was pregnant, those spiritual beings growing inside of her were sacred too.  Neither of us ‘owned’ the baby, even when still inside of her body.  What we are responsible for though, is to steward, raise and be responsible for their development into independence.  To violate their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual being would violate that which is sacred.  

Scientists have recorded the exact moment that a sperm joins with the egg and the flash of light that is produced!  In my view, that is the very moment that spirit joins the flesh for its journey in this physical realm.  At that moment, the cell that was contributed by the woman and the cell contributed by the man no longer belongs to either, but instead is a gift to the new spiritual being coming into this world.  

To claim ownership over that being, violate it’s body, kill it or even to enslave it to the state through registration is an act of war and violates the very spirit of that young being.  

We are caught in an epidemic of thinking that king and country owns our bodies and knows best.  People feel compelled to hand over title of their off spring to the state.  Police, Child Protective Services, Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, courts and many others claim jurisdiction over the vulnerable, ignorant or young.  Title being the weapon of choice to solidify control and ownership over our bodies.  This becomes a weapon of choice when couples have a dispute as they fight over property, children, etc.  

All of these components desecrate that which is sacred.  Life is sacred.  Life cannot be owned as it all belongs to Creator.  My body is not my own.  It too belongs to Creator and it is my job to look after it.  As such, I must govern myself to ensure others have the opportunity and support to do the same.  To force my will upon others, claim ownership or impose a jurisdiction on others is war, violence and a desecration of all that is holy.  

The Importance of Ceremony

Meadow – Winter Solstice 2019

One of our dear friends and member of our tribe is having a baby.  She is living off grid and doing a traditional home birth and asked Carey and I to help her.  She is starting labour and could get deep into delivery any moment.  When that happens, we will be called away and could be gone for several days.  Carey’s roll within this beautiful ceremony is to help her with the baby.  My roll is to smudge the perimeter of the house, hold the space and protect them all.  The divine masculine and feminine have specific rolls to fulfill in one of the most beautiful ceremonies any of us could witness and experience.  

Everything in life is sacred and as such, deserves that we approach it as a ceremony.  It reminds us of the sacredness and having protocols to keep its sacredness is equally important.  

I’m humbled as I’ve been asked to hold that sacred space by many people over the past few years.  As I develop ceremonies, spirit moves people to reach out to me.  Some of these ceremonies are new as nobody has ever worked on decolonization protocols since this experience is so new to us all.  Spirit moved me to make a ceremony to four corner the land and I’ve performed this ceremony several times for friends in Alberta and Ontario.  I’ve also performed spiritual ceremonies to help people within their wedding ceremonies too.  

I’ve been working on ceremony in my life for years now.  When ever a slaughter an animal or even harvest a plant, I work hard to ask for permission from their spirit first and I leave tobacco in exchange so that I’m not taking but rather making a trade.  There are small but important things that we can do to bring balance back to our actions and behaviours within our lives.  I grow our own tobacco specifically for this purpose and it was taught to me by the nehewin people of Treaty 6.  The tobacco I use is traditional indigenous ceremonial tobacco from the pueblo people in the southern end of Turtle Island. It is sacred medicine.  The sweetgrass grows on our land and the sage is from around here as well.  We have no cedar here, but people give us cedar to round out the four medicines on the medicine wheel.  

Holding ceremony and space for a baby being born is new to me, but I honour the trust and power of what is unfolding.  The divine masculine energy flows through me stronger than ever before as I start to explore what that actually means.  Holding that space in a healthy way is humbling and inspiring.  It helps the divine feminine feel safe, comfortable and secure so that she can engage in the most powerful transfer of energy ever seen on this planet.  The merging of spirit and land to allow another spiritual being to manifest here THROUGH her body.  She is a portal between the spiritual realm and the physical realm.  The divine feminine is sacred and special to be able to hold the space for such an awesome transformation.  It is my duty to hold the space so that she can do her work!

I will be away from the school for a few days, but I will return.  We will dig into these conversations deeply as we explore the spiritual aspects within the school’s curriculum.  I won’t speak or disclose who are what happens, but instead we will explore the deeper meaning, duty and power associated with ceremony within our lives so that we can hold the space and bring balance back to our existence here.

As we finish the ceremony of the winter solstice, may Creator bless each of you with peace, freedom, prosperity, joy and love as we embark on a new solar year and a period of birth and renewal.  It is all fitting together as you can see! Â