July 2006

Summer Solstice began with me tip-toeing through the moist pre-dawn grass to reach a nice dry bit of log down by the river, there to celebrate the rising of the sun on its longest day.

At that early hour, one of the wonders of the world takes place; just before the actual rising of the sun, the birds that have been chatting as they wake, suddenly become silent. Science has no explanation. Native stories associate it with respect for the sun, and simple evidence that all of life knows to pray and connect.

I noticed the birds would also stop and listen, along with the frogs and crickets, to the song of my Tibetan bowl as it was playing into the morning mist. It made me wonder if they actually hear the sun about to rise, hear the sound of light returning, and are somehow informed about the ‘resonance’ of the day ahead, by some magical quality most of us have yet to understand.

As I sat there toning along with the morning, contemplating these things, a muskrat came swimming over to me on her way to gather some long grasses and flowers behind me for breakfast. She was about to walk over me when I suddenly realized that my meditative state had made me invisible to the little one. The surprise of it made me say ‘hello’ and that broke the spell. It was a reminder that prayer is a very powerfully transforming state for all of us.

The new moon followed the official solstice this year by just a few days, so a solstice gathering was planned to take place at that time, on top of a beautiful mountain twenty kilometers away. Many faces were familiar from William Commanda’s “Circle of All Nations” gathering that takes place in Maniwaki, Quebec each year. We were a small group of men and women, there to pray and give thanks for the Sun’s gifts, while also ‘checking out’ the powerful energy of this particular mountain.

A sacred fire was built, a sweat was run at dusk, followed by a feast. At pre-dawn the next day we gathered for a sunrise ceremony, led by two of the pipe carriers. As each of us shared our gratitude and prayers the sweet pipe smoke swirled around us and caressed the mountain.

Our mountain–top view was spellbinding. We were so high we could see the earth curve on the horizon. Below us were lakes with islands, valleys filled with cloudbanks, and the mountains of Quebec were across the Ottawa River one hundred kilometers away. From our great heights we were all speaking in terms of large cycles, earth-changes, the relationships between the races and the elements, between the earth and the stars. Yet each of us could deeply feel the pain of all those who were waking with a hungry belly and despair. Our compassion and gratitude rolled off the mountain into the precious world below, warm, like the rays of the morning sun.

I love native spirituality, particularly the forms of expression that the teachings of the
Red Road bring. Everything is done in circles. Everything is about prayer. Opportunities are created to face your fears, to find the voice(s) that are speaking to and guiding you, and they are often done in the presence of others; like the sweat lodge. Sunrise ceremony appreciates and gives thanks to the gifts of the earth, connects us to that energy of the ‘Mother’. Likewise, ‘Creator’ is thanked for all of his gifts.
 
There is no begging for favours or ‘needing’ things done. Prayers are all about gratitude. Each person is invited to speak their prayers out loud, to tell a teaching story, to speak with a clear and open heart to a group of equals, celebrating the miracle of life. No interpreter stands between you and Creator. The rituals themselves are ancient, respectful and adaptable. I have permission to share some of the teachings in a later column.

When I came home, and was finally able to face the hum of the computer, I had been sent a ‘random’ prayer from a world prayer e-newsletter (information@experiencefestival.com). The daily wisdom being offered for the day follows:

“I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.” (Black Elk’s Vision)

My prayers for you are that this summer you will manage to swim in fresh water, or sit near an open fire, or that an exquisite scene of nature unfolds before you, that for a blissful moment or two, takes your breath away as you fill with awe and gratitude.