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Writings on observations and encounters with Mother Earth in our 'everyday life'.....How to draw upon our indigenous soul connection with the earth and Pagan traditions to manifest art.

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Direction of Memory

My husband's mission this year was to purchase a camper and spend most of our summer as vagabonds. One day before we were about to leave on a trip to Vancouver Island he drove up with with a sweet house on wheels !  We immediately started nesting what would be, our cozy new home for the next 3 weeks.

Camper packed we headed out....

Due North.

As we escaped the city’s hustle and bustle, the Medicine Wheel teachings came to mind. North is the direction of the Elders, wisdom and teaching. It is place of the great mountain and sacred lake where the owl, and wolf reside.  Ojibwe see the North as the place of rest and remembrance. A place where one reflects on how you were as a child and youth.  A fitting direction to head as our plan was to spend time resting from our everyday life and gather with Elders: My parents, grandmother, and family friends.  My husband even learned some valuable ‘teachings’ from my dad on how to operate an RV.  After family visiting, we set out to camp on Quadra Island, where I spent summers as a child. This place holds so many wonderful memories for me : Beach exploration, driftwood raft building, hiking in the woods and swimming in the ocean. I fell deeply in love with Mother Earth here and it was a joy to share and re-create these experiences with my step-daughter.

When I have chances like these to commune with nature, I often feel inspired to create a circle, mandala, a Medicine Wheel with soil, plants, rocks, and sticks I find while sitting on the beach or in the woods.  This practice is expressed through the Creation story of my ancestors the Iroquois or Haudensaunee.....

b2ap3_thumbnail_April-Martin-Ko_skywoman-1.jpg

The Earth was created by Sky Woman, who came from another world to give birth to Mother Earth. Mother Earth was born on the back of a turtle. Dirt and plants were brought up from the ocean floor to give her life. Mother Earth then gave birth to the twins, the Day and the Night. It was a tumultuous birth and as a result her life was sacrificed. Sky Woman buried Mother Earth by taking the soil, plants and stones to cover her body in a circular mound.

While visiting with a friend’s young son on their Cortez Island homestead I was able to share with him this practice and the Medicine Wheel Teachings. On a dozy summer afternoon we all sat in the garden adding dandelions, sand and a crow feather to the earth mandala we created. He was delightfully fascinated by the process and how this was appreciating Mother Earth in an artful way; a way to thank her for all the gifts and bounty she gives us.  I  also explained that Mother Earth, in her own time, will take back these items and use them for other purposes.... The wind may blow away the sand, another bird could use the feather for her nest and the dandelion flower might be eaten by a chicken in the yard.  I felt worried when his face looked crest-fallen,  but he brightened when I reassured him that he could always make another Medicine Wheel anytime he wanted , as Mother Earth is graciously giving us her gifts daily.

Although he was contented that he would be able to make more Medicine Wheels in the future,  his thoughts were: The one we had created that afternoon was especially beautiful, it would be best to take a picture so we can always keep it in our memory.

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April Martin-Ko is a  Psychic Intuitive with Iroquois, Polish and Scottish ancestry who practices Celtic and Aboriginal Shamanism where she lives in Vancouver BC. She is a Tarot Reader following the Pagan Celtic Calendar taking part in rituals & seasonal ceremonies with other women walking Goddess paths.  She works with medicine holders from Squamish and Lakota Nations, participating in sweat lodges and ceremonies. April holds degrees in Psychology, History and Education is a Poet, Fabric Artist and Dancer. She facilitates Cultivating Creativity workshops and individual 'Life-Crafting' sessions . April also flexes her artistic Goddess muscles through Creative Space Design & Blessings for the home and work-place. Find out more about her work and read other musings on creativity and family lIfe at: aprilstendernest.blogspot.com

Comments

  • leila
    leila Tuesday, 27 August 2013

    Everyone, please help me pray for the Giant Sequoias, whom are being threatened by the rimfire in California. These trees are thousands of years old and we need them! Lets collectively put a ring of protection around them!
    Leila
    August 27, 2013

  • leila
    leila Tuesday, 27 August 2013

    Everyone, please help me pray for the Giant Sequoias, whom are being threatened by the rimfire in California. These trees are thousands of years old and we need them! Lets collectively put a ring of protection around them!
    Leila
    August 27, 2013

  • leila
    leila Tuesday, 27 August 2013

    Everyone, please help me pray for the Giant Sequoias, whom are being threatened by the rimfire in California. These trees are thousands of years old and we need them! Lets collectively put a ring of protection around them!
    Leila
    August 27, 2013

  • leila
    leila Tuesday, 27 August 2013

    Everyone, please help me pray for the Giant Sequoias, whom are being threatened by the rimfire in California. These trees are thousands of years old and we need them! Lets collectively put a ring of protection around them!
    Leila
    August 27, 2013

  • leila
    leila Tuesday, 27 August 2013

    Everyone, please help me pray for the Giant Sequoias, whom are being threatened by the rimfire in California. These trees are thousands of years old and we need them! Lets collectively put a ring of protection around them!
    Leila
    August 27, 2013

  • leila
    leila Tuesday, 27 August 2013

    Sorry, didn't mean to do multiples, button wasn't working.

  • Molly
    Molly Wednesday, 28 August 2013

    Lovely! My daily woodspractice is essential to my spirituality (and to my being!) and so is art, including mandala, but I've never thought of making an earth gifts mandala/medicine wheel with found objects like this. Cool. Thank you!

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