2011: Year Of Illumination

Thanksgiving Prayer

GREETINGS TO THE NATURAL WORLD!

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as People.

Now our minds are one.

We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our Mother, we send greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

We give thanks to all the Waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms - waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of water.

Now our minds are one.

We turn our minds to all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send our greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come.

Now our minds are one.

With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn to all the Medicine herbs of the world. From the beginning, they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines.

Now our minds are one.

We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us as people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.

Now our minds are one.

We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many peoples of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life.

Now our minds are one.

We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds - from the smallest to the largest - we send our joyful greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the Four Winds.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn to the west where our Grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunderers.

Now our minds are one.

We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.

Now our minds are one.

We put our minds together and give thanks to our oldest grandmother, the Moon, who lights the night-time sky. She is the leader of women all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.

Now our minds are one.

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to all the Stars.

Now our minds are one.

We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring Teachers.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.

Now our minds are one.

We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.

Now our minds are one.


~ A Haudenosaunee "Thanksgiving" Prayer
http://www.firstpeople.us/html/A-Haudenosaunee-Thanksgiving-Prayer.html

The Connection Between Lifestyle and Disease as Related by Two Medical Doctors

This is such important information, so supportive of the Truth of the actual workings of the body and how to take care of it and heal it. Your body has natural protection mechanisms built into it to protect it from harm, and your primary emotions are meant to signal you as to whether your choices are leading towards complete physical, mental, and emotional health or disease and addiction. Your sense of spirituality and of wholeness are no more and not less than the body and mind giving you positive feedback for your life choices. When all is in balance the evolutionary spiral is complete, and you are living in the vibratory frequency of harmony with all of Life.

This excerpt is from the alternative news show Democracy NOW! with Amy Goodman (which I highly recommend over FOX or CNN).

Dr. Gabor Maté: “When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-Disease Connection”

The Vancouver-based Dr. Gabor Maté argues that too many doctors seem to have forgotten what was once a commonplace assumption—that emotions are deeply implicated in both the development of illness and in the restoration of health. Based on medical studies and his own experience with chronically ill patients at the Palliative Care Unit at Vancouver Hospital, where he was the medical coordinator for seven years, Dr. Gabor Maté makes the case that there are important links between the mind and the immune system. He found that stress and individual emotional makeup play critical roles in an array of diseases.


Dr. Lorraine Day's Story About How She Healed Her Own Cancer (Click Here to Link to Video Interview)

Faith or Doctors? You Choose!

When we are facing the statistics that 1 in 3 of every US citizen will develop cancer of some sort, you may want to turn to Dr. Lorraine Day for education, guidance and practical wisdom. At 69 years young on the day we interviewed her, Dr. Day is a living testament to creating health and healing through natural means.

Lorraine trained as an orthopedic surgeon and was head of the department in San Francisco General. She has investigated the source of the AIDS virus and has challenged conventional wisdom, her colleagues and the medical establishment. A strong and determined woman, Lorraine tells it like it is, so if you have someone in your family that has a medical condition and you don't trust what you hear, you may want to pay very close attention to this interview.

Her official products site contains natural healing products, CD's and DVD's that won't cost nearly as much as your next prescription. If you have anyone in your family that has cancer, please urge them to listen to this interview.

Is It Time to Jump?

When I peruse the various news articles that abound concerning the state of our physical world, I would have to say that the information is all in all rather grim. We are watching the collapse of an old paradigm that has been based on the mass hypnosis of the majority in order to benefit a small minority. Now the masks are increasingly falling away, yet the folly gets more and more outrageous. Bankers and CEO's are getting huge bailouts while average folks are losing their homes and jobs. Those who trusted their governments to work on their behalf for a better world are now realizing it was a vast Ponzi scheme that merely transferred their hard-earned assets into the hands of those who create debt out of nothing and make us pay for it. It is amazing that we have been duped for so long.

But people are now starting to wake up to the truth about it all, not just that we've been trained all our lives to be the slaves to this usurious economic system, but also that we are not just bit players in someone else's story. We are waking up outside of the mental matrix that has kept us on the merry-go-round of fear and confusion. We are discovering that we are not the content of our thoughts, any more than a computer is its programs. Many of us are looking for a new way to function that is outside the known, where we can finally align with our inner authenticity and creativity and give it room to breathe and grow.
When I look at the system as it is, I recognize its dysfunction. It is not designed for individual freedom at all, even though we have been taught since kindergarten that we are the free-est nation on earth. It is designed to implant in our thoughts and psyches the beliefs and reasoning that will turn us into good little consumers and taxpayers, so that the system, which benefits only those who developed the system, continues, reaping vast profits for those in control at the expense of everyone else. And the United States is the best example of how well they've succeeded in getting us to buy what they're selling.

What's really weird is when you realize that the psychological and social experiment has been an incredible success. Government and the corporate sector have received immense political and economic power because we volunteered to give it to them. In exchange, we get the burden of humongous debt. What a great ruse, eh?

So how to get out of this trap? Many believe we must go head to head with these bozos, protesting, blogging, reporting every last bit of insanity, blocking legislation or coming up with new legislation to punish the bad guys. But while we go around making a lot of noise and shaking our fists, they are quietly in the background continuing to play out their game. We think we have accomplished something by marching in the rain with our placards and signs, listening to those great inspirational speeches, and buddying up with our disgruntled neighbors for a bit, but ultimately it ends up being another distraction and nothing really changes. The number one thing we must each realize is that there is NO WHITE KNIGHT! There is no savior coming to rescue you! YOU are the only one who can create the change you seek. Why do you think you are so fed up with your cookie cutter life, based on what someone else told you it should be? The truth is, we are meant to be FREE, truly free, to live a uniquely, authentic life from your deepest dreams, not to be shuttled onto a conveyor belt where it's all decided for you.

So, if you've realized there's no rescue, what are you waiting for? Do you dare to say no to whatever is draining your energy, your attention, and your pocketbook? Whatever objects you've surrounded yourself with are your prison. Let them go. Whoever keeps you in check, afraid to say, do and be the truth, slave to a clock or a schedule or a diet or a doctrine or anything outside yourself, let them go. Not with anger and hate, but with the realization that it was just an honest case of mistaken identity. And then do what you've dared to dream. You already know what that is. You've been afraid to think it, let alone say it. But NOW is the time, and HERE is the place, and there's no getting around it this time. There's no escape.

To step outside the known is the greatest adventure imaginable. It allows for great revolutionary, evolutionary acts. It is moment to moment creation, incredibly alive and creative. It is knowing that whatever you thought you needed faith in is so real, that faith become superfluous. What is needed becomes very simple and clear. Food, water, shelter, clothing, these things are the bottom line. Life in all simplicity is absolutely abundant. It isn't about accumulating stuff or money, anymore. It's about LIVING, being FULLY ALIVE EVERY MOMENT!

If You Must, Take Action!

There is no point waiting for someone else to fix the problems in the world. YOU must take a hard and unwavering look at how YOU have facilitated the madness. Where is your mind, where are your thoughts? Do you waste endless hours in escapist fantasies and tactics while your world is crashing around you? Are you waiting for rescue? Do you think space ships will come next month and take you home? Do you know who you are?

If you must take action, do it NOW. If you must speak up, do it NOW! Are you working for the corporate fascists because you're afraid that if you quit you will not be able to pay your bills? Are you watching FOX, sipping a beer, waiting for your guru to call? Are you sitting in a room meditating on forgiveness while your Mac & Cheese heats up in the microwave?Are you mindlessly sucking up to what they tell you? You are cutting off your own air supply, you have given over your life and are committing slow suicide. This is no time to succumb to fear. It is either sink or swim time, and no one will escape.

Stop eating their junk food. Stop shopping at their stores. Stop taking their cancer drugs. Stop paying their salaries. Stop paying taxes. Stop using their banks. Stop funding their charities. Stop sending your kids to their schools. Stop watching their TV programs. Stop watching their movies. Stop pretending that it's all normal. Stop talking about stupid shit. Stop talking.

Listen. Listen to what they are really telling you. Listen to how much bullshit surrounds you. Listen to how they tell you how to be. Listen to how they tell you who you are. Is it true? Are you a suit, a skirt, a mask, a bit player, a role, a concept, an idea, a belief system, an ideology, a religion, a political party, a nation, a skin color, a race, a product, a feeling, an emotion, an ego, a thought? Are you an original or a copy?

What is true? What is it that is always true? What is it that DOESN'T change? If you are going to ask questions, they ought to be good ones!