Rattling the Bones

The West of the Medicine Wheel is where we find the Sun setting.  Here we explore our mortality, we let go, we fall into somber and dream.  I just returned from Vancouver, B.C.   I travelled out West to visit with my in-laws who retired in Port-Albernie a little over fifteen years ago.   I was also invited to give an introductory Conference, in Vancouver to promote our up coming workshop on Indigenous Dreaming, in October.   A few of our friends moved to B.C. in the last twenty years and we looked forward to connecting with them again.   Finally, I hadn’t been in Vancouver since 1986 (Expo) and looked forward to a 2 nd visit.     With four different reasons to head out towards the West -- I can't say I'm at all surprised to have anchored into a journey; which quite remarkably revealed the West of my personal Wheel and it's collective connections.  It will take more then one blog entry to go through all of what I've learnt an...

The title came to me when talking to Lisa about a dream of me working with Elders. I'm not shy to say that I am 63 years old this year. The past decade has been one of adapting to aging in a society which worships youth. We've come a far cry from our Ancestors who respected and honoured their Elders for their wisdom and experience. Today we hide our Elders away in old folks homes as if it is a crime or shameful to grow old. They are often seen as a burden to society. Then we spend a fortune on wrinkle cream, hair dyes, hair transplants, botox injections, plastic surgery, etc.... to ward off the inevitable with every ounce of our being. It gets a little tiring after awhile to fight against nature.  What is the value of Seniors in today's world? It's true that Elders today can't guide the youth when it comes to technology. Maybe  age is more of a curse than a blessing in our modern world. But there is more to life than computers, iPhones and video g...

I apologize for not writing more this summer, and I truly appreciate how so many have you have taken this opportunity to catch up on old blog entries…    It’s been a strange summer.   It started slow and by the time it reached “strawberry season” (end of June for us on the South Shore of Montreal) we weren’t quite convinced it was ever going to get hot.   I was lucky enough to leave for Calgary, Alberta in early July, for a workshop where I appreciated 30 degrees Celsius weather and pure sunshine for twelve days straight.   In the last twelve years I’ve been lucky enough to visit Banff National Park at least eight times.   It’s amazing how much things can change in a decade.   On this latest trip I was sadden by the condition of many of the conifers.   Lots of them were dead, blacken by wind and swinging dryly through live trees like zombies lost in a crowd.   It truly gave me an eerie feeling and certainly explained why forest fi...

Love: One of the Twelve Elements on the Medicine Wheel. Growth, Trust and Love. Southern Elements of the Medicine Wheel.  When I first started studying the Medicine Wheel close to 30 years ago, I was surprised to find “love” as one of the twelve elements.   It seemed so much unlike ·        Clarity, knowledge, and illumination (east). ·        Growth and trust (south). ·        Experience, introspection and strength (west). ·        Renewal, purification and wisdom (north). Where most people refer to love as an emotion, something that we should feel for our family members and closest friends; the Medicine Wheel speaks of it as a kaleidoscope of sensations:   Something we feel by being an integrated part of a whole.   As Westerners we believe that all emotions stem from our individual thoughts and perspectives.  ...