Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Often we do not know

Often we do not know what is really going on. Our perspective can barely accommodate another person’s point of view, no less the forward march of evolution or the eternal mind of God. Better to admit not knowing and to relax in the mystery of life than to try to force our minds where they can’t go.

~Elizabeth Lesser

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Butterfly Fractal Mandala Wallpaper

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Here is a lively colorful mandala to wake up your desktop and liven up your work space.

-oOo-

This image is hosted at Slide. When you download this wallpaper, the word "slide" is not going to be anywhere on it. To download, click the image. A window will open to the photo page at Slide. Right click the picture and choose "save target as". Save the picture to your "My Pictures" folder. To set it as wallpaper, open your "My Pictures" folder, right click on the mandala image and choose "set as background". Enjoy!


Desktop wallpaper by Shirley Gibson

Monday, October 29, 2007

I Stand Before The Earth Maker

I stand before the Earth Maker and offer my unspoken prayer.
My head is held high in worshipful silence before the great Mystery above.
I look to the hills and there I see His strength.
His reach extends to the whole universe and all help comes from Him.
He puts in order all that I see -- the heavens, the earth,
the trees and leaves of the forest, sign of the four winds.
The wide world which I see measures the strength of my Great Father!!!

~Jennifer WhiteFeather

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Native American Drums

Mandala images abound as art on Native American Drum heads. Here are some of my favorites.

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Empowerment

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Life's Path

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Healing Hands

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Turtle Island

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Spirit Turtle

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Wolf Feathers

More Native American drums can be found here at Living Drums

The Drum is Female and Human

For Native people, the drum represents the universal heartbeat of Noo Halidzoks (Mother Earth) - the universal goddess and mother to us all. Her heartbeat on the drum can be done in a variety of ways, here are two suggestions:

Tsimshian: Four steady beats, followed for two quick beats - one, two three, four, one/two, two three four, one/two, two, three, four.....)

Anishinabe - two rhythmic beats - one/two - one/two - one/two.....

The first sound that was heard in the world was the heartbeat of Mother Earth. Native people manifest this heart beat through playing a special rhythm on the drum. This rhythm facilitates healing and realignment of the four realms of human existence (Mental, Spiritual, Emotional, Physical) because the Creator revolves around the rhythm. The drum when combined with the voice, creates a hum that rests between the voice and the drum and is thought to be the spirits of the Ancestors.

Therefore, Native hand drums are not percussion instruments per se or a toy, they are considered female and human because of their direct tie to the earth.

When playing a drum, it should never be hammered in an aggressive way, this suggests giving it a 'beating' and one must never 'hit' a woman in this manner! The teaching goes even further by stating that the drum mallet should not be referred to as a 'beater' because of the suggestion of aggression contained in the word. Ms Thunderbird refers to all her drum mallets as 'Feather Joe'.

The Big Drum was a gift from the women to the men a very long time ago, so that men could experience a resonant connection to the Earth Mother that naturally occurs with women. Therefore, it has been tribal custom for the most part, that women not sit at the big drum or play it. As Native history has evolved, this practice has changed from tribe to tribe, and there are more and more instances where women are taking back the big drum, and raising their voices in joy. Also, this in some part has been borne out of the fact that many families who had only girl children, continued to pass down the important teachings.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Doubt

There is a time in life for doubt
Close as a lover, a shadow, a ghost
We walk for a while, my hand in his

Then comes a time in life for looking
I turn and see him, my friend Doubt
He stands there all knowing and looks back at me

Oh-! It must be me who is Doubt!
He smiles and we walk for a while, my hand in his
Close as a lover, a shadow, a ghost

This is how doubt goes, in sweetly measured steps
and in those ghost shadows we find
there is a time in life for knowing…

~Grace Gibson

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

We Might Have To
Medicate You

Resist your temptation to lie
By speaking of separation from God,

Otherwise,
We might have to medicate You.

In the ocean
A lot goes on beneath your eyes.

Listen,
They have clinics there too
For the insane
Who persist in saying things like:

"I am independent from the Sea,
God is not always around

Gently
Pressing against
My body."

~Hafiz

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Passion Flower

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The heart of a passion flower - a desktop wallpaper add depth and dimension to your workspace.
Enjoy!
-oOo-
This image is hosted at Slide. When you download this wallpaper, the word "slide" is not going to be anywhere on it. To download, click the image. A window will open to the photo page at Slide. Right click the picture and choose "save target as". Save the picture to your "My Pictures" folder. To set it as wallpaper, open your "My Pictures" folder, right click on the mandala image and choose "set as background". If you have any problems, let me know, and I'll do what I can to help.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.

~Frank Lloyd Wright

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Friday, October 19, 2007

Glance At The Sun


Glance at the sun.
See the moon and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings.

Now,
Think.

~Hildegard of Bingen

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Mountain Spirit Speaks

Oh my children, how I weep for you.
I send my tears down the Esophus Creek, down Panther Creek, off the snowy slopes of Slide Mountain.
For a hundred years my tears have flowed through the aqueduct to nourish the children of all races.
It fills my heart with joy to have a newborn infant washed in my tears.
It fills my heart with joy to slake the thirst of a bowery bum.
It fills my heart with joy to merge with the onions in an onion soup.
It fills my heart with joy to become a hot shower flowing over a human body.
And from this joy I send more tears to create more joy.

But little by little the Circle is being broken.
I send my joy but I do not hear the joy of my beloved in return.
I do not hear sincere gratitude from the other end of the aqueduct.
I am starving for the Spiritual Support I need to express my joy.
I, the Spirit of the Mountain, am as alive and real as the Brooklyn Bridge.
You pay a toll to cross the bridge, because you understand the relationship between bridge and toll.
Yet I hear no prayers, I receive no bundles of fragrant flowers on my mountain tops.
I feel no tears of human gratitude splashing into the Catskill Creeks.
I don’t smell the sweet sage offerings drifting through my forests of pine.
I understand your ignorance; but I can not live outside the boundaries of the Sacred Laws.
Your ignorance of the Sacred Spiritual is killing me.
You can live outside the Sacred Circle for only a finite drop of time.
The Sacred is Infinite and waits for you to wake up into this World beyond Worlds.


~Medicine Bear, Spring, 2006


A bit of background on this work. There are several reservoirs in the Catskill Mountains that feed the water system of New York City with some of the best drinking water in the world. This prose refers to the Spirit of the Catskill Mountains and the unthanked used of these sacred waters. Image is from Kaatskill Falls in the Catskill Mountains.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Pipe Dream

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A dreamy mandala wallpaper to bless and enhance your desktop!
Blessings!

-oOo-

This image is hosted at Slide. When you download this wallpaper, the word "slide" is not going to be anywhere on it. To download, click the image. A window will open to the photo page at Slide. Right click the picture and choose "save target as". Save the picture to your "My Pictures" folder. To set it as wallpaper, open your "My Pictures" folder, right click on the mandala image and choose "set as background". Enjoy!

Desktop wallpaper by Shirley Gibson

Sunday, October 07, 2007

There is Magic

“There is magic in this world if you want the world to be magical. If you want life to be special, it will be. No one wants to be bored or consumed by ordinary drudgery. But what happens, all too often, is that when magic is presented to us, we don’t believe it because we don’t trust ourselves. We don’t realize what can really be accomplished. We don’t realize that if we wish to, we can take other forms. We can sit in the presence of the great masters, angels, or ancient seers of wisdom and find peace and wisdom, but it takes many small deaths, the giving away of old limitations, to get there.”

“I want you to know that there is much, much more to your life than what you think is there. It doesn’t matter what you believe in—which god, which life, which creator, which messiah. It doesn’t matter. What matters is your ability to love. What matters is your dialogue with the divine and how you manifest that in life for the simple joy of it, for the healing of it, and for the inspiration of beauty that it provides for all those around you.”


~Lynn Andrews “Tree of Dreams”

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Suggested Ritual for Hanging a Dream Catcher

Ritual is important because it triggers your subconscious mind into action. In this way the dream catcher becomes an extension of yourself and does what you want it to do.

Before hanging your dream catcher, go through your house and thoughtfully decide in what room you wish to hang your dream catcher. Think about it.
  • Do you want it by a window where it will catch rays of light?
  • Do you want it over a television set where it may act as a filtering system catching any negative vibrations that can steal in and rob your family of peace and calm, allowing only what is worthy of being remembered to pass through?
  • Do you want it over your baby's crib so that while the innocent one sleeps its mind will be blessed with joy and peace?

The next step is to clear the room of negativity and create a sacred space by smudging. If you are uncomfortable with smudging, do what feels comfortable to you. The idea is to clear out negativity and set an intention that this is a sacred, magical, or special object that you are welcoming into your home.

After you clear the space, hang the dream catcher and then say a thank you or a prayer to the six directions.

  1. To the Creator, the Never-Ending force that is all, I thank you. (speak directly to Creator Spirit within you)
  2. To Mother Earth, the place of nurturing and hope, I thank you. (speak directly to the earth below your feet).
  3. To the Spirit of the North, the place of winter and intuitive understanding, of healing, and the place of beginnings and endings, I thank you. (speak facing the direction of North)
  4. Spirit of the East, where the sun rises, the place of new beginnings and the promise of Spring, I think you. (speak facing the direction of East)
  5. Spirit of the South, place of Summer and rapid growth, the place of our heart and emotions, and the place where we learn survival, and develop a trust in life, I think you. (speak facing the direction of South)
  6. Spirit of the West, where the sun sets and we find healing and self knowledge that gives us the power to use our head and our hearts to serve and to teach, I thank you. (speak facing the direction of West)

As you do this ritual, allow yourself to become aware of the higher power of the Universe called by many names: Great Spirit, Heavenly Father, God, Wakan-Tanka, Jehovah, Allah, The Ascendant, All That Is, and allow yourself to feel the presence of the Power within you.

At this point, face the dream catcher , and speak out loud to it and tell the dream catcher what you want it to do. Speak to the object as a friend, for it is your friend, an aspect of yourself.

Close by thanking it it for the goodness it will perform.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Visiting Dream Catchers

Available at Arizona Indian Jewelry ,
this dream catcher was made by Mae in the Navaho tradition.

These two can be purchased from Buckskin Bunny Designs.



This dreamcatcher was found at Peaceful Mind. (link no longer viable)

This one is certainly interesting. It's a virtual dreamcatcher. The tutorial on how it was created can be found at East of the Sun

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Native American Dreamcatchers

Native American dreamcatchers are wonderful mandala forms. It is believed that the origin of the Native American dreamcatcher (or Indian dreamcatchers) is from the Ojibway Chippewa tribe. The Ojibway would tie strands of sinew string around a frame of bent wood that was in a small round or tear drop shape. The patterns of the dreamcatcher would be similar to how these Native Americans tied the webbing for their snowshoes.

Traditionally, Native American dreamcatchers were only a few inches in diameter and would be finished with a feather hanging from the webbing. Wrapping the frame in leather would be pretty common too as another finishing touch.

Originally, Native American Ojibway dreamcatchers were made as a charm to protect sleeping children from nightmares. The legend is that the dreamcatcher will catch one’s dreams in the night. The bad dreams will get caught in the dreamcatcher’s webbing and disappear with the morning sun.

Meanwhile, the good dreams will find their way to the center of the dreamcatcher and float down the feather. The Native American dreamcatcher is therefore considered a filter allowing only good, pleasant dreams to get through. Dreamcatchers are also believed to bless those who are sleeping with good luck and harmony.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Stained Glass Dreamcatcher Project

Here is something fun and interesting. It's a pattern for a dreamcatcher. The pattern was designed for stained glass, but it can be colored, or used as a template to decorate a window.

I can think of all kinds of ways to use this idea. If you make something, I'd love to see it. If you take a picture of it, let me know about it, and I'll post it here.

I found this project at Chantal's Stained Glass. Click on the images to enlarge and print them.


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