Native Nurturing Weekend by Tricia Baehr

We just returned from an incredible weekend at a beautiful place in Seymour, Tennessee called The Center for Peace http://www.centerforpeace.us/ . The name itself reflects so much of what we feel in our hearts as a family so it was inspiring to have been there. John, the children and I attended a special weekend gathering for children and their parents called, Native Nurturing. This was mine and the children’s gift to John for his birthday on November 1st. The gathering was all about sharing with the young people some of the old ways of the indigenous and native peoples. Wonderful customs, ceremony and traditions that are about honoring God, Spirit, Earth and all that walk upon Her.

Together, along with other parents and their children, we learned about the drum, and the heartbeat of the earth, Our Mother . We also spent some time learning about the four directions. We all made special banners that were hung around the circular building called the Peace Sound Chamber www.peacechamber.com/PeaceChambersAroundTheWorld.html where we would dancing in and then sleeping in later that evening.

Before supper on Saturday, we were taught about the spirit plate which is a small plate that is an offering of the different foods from the meal, that is left outside for the spirits, our guides, the angels and our ancestors. We gathered in a circle, held hands and blessed our meal. The children all bonded and made friends with one another easily. The group consisted of 4 nine year olds, 2 six year olds and 3 five year olds. There were mothers, fathers and grandparents there. Many to learn and many to teach.

After supper we returned to the Sound Chamber where we learned about noises and the sound of the rattle and how it helps to move the energy around and assists in welcoming Spirit. Then the children had the opportunity to make their own rattles. We learned about the dance and the intention that we have when we dance. All of the kids were excited about using their newly made rattles. We danced around the two elders who played the drum beat for us, around in a circle in the Sound Chamber. We shook our rattles and sent prayers to each persons banner that hung on the walls.

Then when the dancing was over and we prepared to rest on Saturday night we were told the beautiful story about Rainbow Crow by Steve Citty. All of the dancing and drumming took place in a beautiful round building called , The Sound Chamber that is filled with such beautiful energy and love.

Upon waking on Sunday, we walked through the beautiful meadow past the dance arbor up to the main house where we all had breakfast together. This time the children prepared the spirit plate and placed it outside. Afterwards, the children ran through the meadow full of love and light racing with one another time after time.

We returned to the Sound Chamber and learned about making prayer ties. We learned more about the four directions and the up above and the down below. The prayer ties were made with colored cloth, where each color had a significant meaning. Yellow for the East, white for the South, black for the West and red for the North, blue for the Up Above and green for the Down Below. In each square of cloth we place a small amount of sacred tobacco and tied them with a string. Then we placed the prayer tie to our hearts and/or heads and gave it a prayer; then we smudged it with sacred white sage smoke. As we were doing this activity we discovered that our prayers could be for ourselves, our family, our community or the world. It was shared with us that we would wear them into the sweat lodge later and after the sweat we would send our prayers up by putting the ties into the sacred fire that was being built and tended to by the Fire Keeper working down by the sweat lodge.

We had a beautiful burial ceremony for Goose that had come to us on Friday (from my previous blog) and each adult and child which was at the gathering participated by placing a handful of soil on top of Goose. We were all happy that we had brought Goose to such a special place to go back to Mother Earth.

Later, we all gathered around the ceremonial fire and the Fire Keeper shared with us the energy of ceremonial tobacco and cornmeal as he placed it in a large circle around the lodge and the fire area. When it was time to enter the sweat lodge, we all crawled inside what seemed like the womb of Mother Earth. Then we learned about the sweat lodge, the ceremonial fire that heats the stones, that they call “The Old Ones“ or the “Grandmothers” and “Grandfathers”. There were four rounds of prayer, one for each direction, each time the door would open and we would welcome the “Grandparents” into the pit in the center of the lodge. The Earth was cool beneath us and the steam coming from the water poured on the stones made the air hot and steamy. Sage, cedar, sweetgrass and spearmint were placed on the stones and the smell was heavenly. We all sat there in the moist darkness and we shared our prayers with the others in the sweat lodge, we shared our prayers with God, with the four directions, with our guides and the spirits.
I could feel such a beautiful healing, cleansing energy within me and outside of myself. Afterwards, we all put our prayer ties into the fire and as they burned our prayers went up to heaven through the smoke.

Then we all went and had a big feast together!

Wow! What an amazing experience! I feel so blessed and grateful to have a family that is so open to learning and experiencing new things. I am grateful to Nan Citty and her vision to have started this Native Nurturing tradition 11 years ago at The Center for Peace.
I am also hopeful for the future of the earth because I continue to meet inspirational people, children and their parents who are consciously working towards peace on earth and raising the vibrations of our world. Thoughts and words CAN become things! And with these teachings that we received this weekend I can see how thoughts, prayers and words in the context of sacred ceremony can have even more power. I’m impressed with how much love there really can be in this world. It touches me when I find those that honor all paths to God, those that choose to coexist with all belief systems. I am able to see how teaching our children these old ways can only benefit us all.

So, it is with much appreciation and love to those who organized, planned, assisted, taught and attended this special gathering that I say thank you with all my heart for each part that you played. I would also like to send my gratitude to the unseen who were there with us in spirit this weekend as well. And last but not least I urge all parents who might happen to read this to consider finding some way in which to share some of these beautiful and special lessons with your own children regardless of your belief system. Thank you Great Spirit, God, Father Sky, Mother Earth for allowing this experience!

The light that shines within me salutes the light within you.
Namaste’