by Gwen Broz, D.O, and Marakame in the Huichol Tradition.
Gwen Broz
Editor’s note: Our Alternatives 2012 psychiatric survivor community is working on the same thing as the Sacred Fire Community but from slightly different angle: When people come awake and alive, sometimes it hurts and they can get sidetracked away from the necessary personal and spiritual transformation.
Listen to this awesome webinar from The Sacred Fire Community: http://sacredfirecommunity.org/blog/hear-eliot-cowans-webinar-about-taking-the-stand/
Recently Eliot Cowan, author of Plant Spirit Medicine, gave a talk on taking a stand for our planet and why this is so important for our continued existence. Eliot is a Tsaururrikame in the Huichol tradition, which many Anglos know as a “Shaman” or native american spiritual healer. We look at problems with how people relate to the world, their personal selves, their ancestors, and their connections to higher powers. Eliot is an elder in the Sacred Fire Community, a group of people that work on promoting indigenous traditions from before Christianity that have been intact in their own place and on their own land.
Brian Gallmeyer meditates by the fire during a bicycle trip from Kansas City to Topeka, KS. The Sacred Fire Community promotes sharing in a tradtional setting.
Eliot’s talk about taking a stand for the Sacred and interconnected nature of all life in an actual way. The Sacred Fire Community is working to get the message out about is about the value and importance of “Taking a Stand.” We all need to find a way to grant importance to, and speak about, the experience of community and the interconnectedness of all life. It creates a field in which you can articulate and feel the experience of others who have the same orientation as yourself.
Why our planet needs us to take a stand:
A good way to view this was found in the movie, Avatar. The Sacred Fire Community explains how the modern world creates a deep isolation. Everyone has this longing to end the isolation because we are built with the yearning for community, and the yearning to experience the Sacred. Some people’s longing is just deeper down than others’, but we all have it. Something magical happens when you are in the company of others with the same yearning. The Sacred Fire Community brings people together in community gatherings all across the world to experience this togetherness.
In addition, by acknowledging and articulating something that is important to yourself and others, your courage to speak will catch fire with othes , and spread to change the human condition. Beyond that, taking a stand is more than something that is symbolic. It creates an actual field in the living world which is listening to what we say and how we conduct ourselves. This effect is tangible and real. How we relate to life is the biggest determinate of how life responds to us.
Sacred Fire Community teachings to move beyond fear:
When we do a simple act of declaring that we stand for the Sacred and interconnected nature of all life, and this is what is important to me in my life, what can come up is fear. Courage is required to take a stand for a world which is a better place for us and our children to live. A small act of courage on our part builds strength and creates support and alignment from the world. The Sacred Fire Community works to help others move out of their mind and into their heart to feel joy instead of fear.
Ken Braiterman at a community fire during Corinna’s wedding in Kansas City
As some of us speak of this taking a stand, it will catch fire with others and spread to change the human condition. In order for this fire to catch and build, we need some people with courage to speak it. If we do, we find a surprising thing: a lot of others are waiting for an opportunity to find people with the same alignment.
If we don’t find courage, fear wins. The mind generates fear to conserve what is, and to triex to prevent loss. In the modern world, mind is out of balance and fear prevails. When the mind is in balance with the Sacred and livingness of the world, it serves as a way to coordinateactions with others and to further the goals of the heart. When actions are guided by the heart, which is the connection to the whole world and nature, there is a much greater capacity for action. Then what is best for your life and for the whole world is drawn forth.
Listen to the webinar by the Sacred Fire Community:
http://sacredfirecommunity.org/blog/hear-eliot-cowans-webinar-about-taking-the-stand/
Wordworks Blog Author: Gwen Broz
Gwen Broz is a family practice medical doctor and a shaman, a Native American healer according to the Huichol Indigenous People's tradition in Mexico. Both trainings took about the same amount of time and effort. She works closely with the Sacred Fire Community, which helps people find spiritual connection to their land and their own cultural traditions.
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