Rattling the Bones

Totem is a word that comes from the Ojibwe language and it means relation or kinship. It’s clear that at some point in time our ancestors were so closely related to their environment that they experienced deep connections with animals, trees, seasons, and even natural elements. Totem like many other words within the Aboriginal language reaches beyond definition to experience in order to be understood and yet, one thing is for sure we can never fully and completely recapture its full meaning in modern existence because today doesn’t offer yesterday’s totemic world. Now, I find that lots of our totemic connections are romantic and poetic mostly because we don’t spent that much time in our natural habitat. Plus, we’ve influenced our natural environment so much so that many of the plants, animals, and birds especially can no longer be considered wild. They now depend on us to survive. This past summer we gave a workshop in Kingston, Ontario. On our way back home we ...

Hands-on-healing starts making sense to me, when I start watching people’s reaction to today’s modern culture and natural environment. My son was seven years old when he was operated on for his tonsils. They were unusually large and often infected for years. I tried every thing to by pass surgery but in the end, it was the only treatment that would truly work for him. I remember seeing the fear in his eyes when the nurses literally dragged him into surgery. The only way he managed to relax is when I promised to be there when he woke up. It took a lot to actually hold that promise because the nurses didn’t exactly want me to be by his side in the post-surgical room. Nevertheless, I was there when he opened his eyes. I remember the way he looked at me at waking. He was surprised to see me and totally happy. “You’re here mommy,” he said as if he hadn’t really believed it when I made the promise. I massaged his arms, his back and his iv hand that day to relieve pain, to appease ...

Yesterday I met up with some students of mine who are involved in a book project that we’ve been devoted to since last Fall. We started talking about storytelling and the power of Shamanism when LG suggested that I share more stories about the dreamer experience, on my blog. I thought it was a good idea. Last November I decided to organize an evening where I would empirically show the power of the dream time. About a week before we met I called everyone and told them to go to a cemetery and connect to someone there… I asked them to bring back a stone and left it at that. When I do this kind of thing I always figure that one or two of the participants will arrive with a story they’ve imagined rather than the real thing. This isn’t to say that they come in wanting to “pull the wool over my eyes” but some individuals don’t quite understand that even though we’re dealing with dreaming it’s still somewhat of a mathematical matrix that repeats a particular pattern or proces...

Thank to you to everyone who’s been encouraging me to write; who’s been giving feedback as well as suggesting topics whenever I go blank. RW was the initiator to my blog. She asked me two years ago if I would be willing to commit to regular entries because she got a lot of guidance and teachings just by listening to the stories that I shared. I was moved by her comment because that’s the way our First Nation Ancestors humbly lived their lives not that long ago. Before there were computers and academic institutions there were parents, grand-parents and communities members who devoted their personal story to the upbringing ( so to speak ) of seven generations. For those who follow the Path of the Dreamer – we know how a story can actually breath and live for a very long time. Where men and women live on the average 70 years – their story can out live them for generations. EC my friend, Passamaquody elder and teacher once told me that “the best gift you could ever give...

At the Moonlodge, January 29 th , 2010 -- the Moon of Welcome, we talked about how our world needs heroines to get us striving for more. MJ mentioned how her children spend lots of time on MSN and FACEBOOK when they could be cultivating friendships and experiencing life. “It scares me,” she said, “I can’t imagine what kind of adults this technological world will be creating.” There were a few other mothers in the circle that night who nodded to her comments. I think we all agree that more and more people these days don’t have the skills necessary to build relationships. We have a few younger people in our circle (between the age of 25 and 35 years old) and I worry about them because they loose pieces of their soul each time they get caught up in broken relationships. Betrayals are common these days. It’s not just misunderstandings and conflicts. They want to be open to others but it’s difficult to do so when each time they try they are taken advantage of and hurt. ...

On Saturday, we celebrated the first Full Moon of the New Cycle after the passing of the Blue Moon. We call this Full Moon: The Moon of Welcome or the Birth Moon . No matter how many times I’ve celebrated the Moon of Welcome in my life, it’s never repeated the same teachings or shared the same stories even though the Moon of Welcome always speaks of how we are received on Earth, by others or in the life of others as well as how we receive the world and the people around us. “Every moon has been touched by the moon before it and will touch the moon that will come after it,” I started our women circle on Saturday, “if we want to truly grasp our feminine essence we have to return to the first mother, to the mothers who have walked before us. It’s a quest and a journey that we owe to our daughters and the women who will come after us.” Here in Montreal, the wind was raging all through the weekend. It was so strong that it literally blew through our homes. The r...