Native American Spirituality

[Spirit Dancer]

"You must be prepared and know the reason why you dance."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
Inside every human being is a need to dance. We dance to music. Have you even wondered why people are moved when they hear an Indian Drum? The drum is the heartbeat of the Mother Earth. Every Indian dance is for a purpose and a reason. Every Song is for a reason. The beat of the drum makes our bodies, minds, and spirits join together in harmony. It allows us to connect to Mother Earth and to each other. The dance aligns our minds to think spiritual thoughts. Dancing to the drum is healthy.

Great Spirit, today, I dance to honor you.

[Spirit Dancer]

"Conciliation is the key to survival. Peace is the goal."
--Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders
When we make decisions or experience conflict we need to look at the greater whole. The end result we want to accomplish is peace of mind. If we keep this goal in mind, we will, overall, live a happy and fulfilling life. Everything in the world is constantly changing so we should not resist this change. A good question to ask ourselves is, "would I rather be right or happy?". If we would rather be happy, then it is easier to let the little things go. If we would rather be right, we tend to look for the WIN/LOSE.

Great Spirit, today, give me the tools to seek peace of mind.

[Spirit Dancer]

"In some mysterious and wonderful way you are part of everything, Nephew. And in that same mysterious and wonderful way, everything is a part of you."
--Nippawanock, ARAPAHOE
In order to experience this, we must be aware of how limited our senses are � eyes, ears touch, smell, taste. These senses help us to function in the Seen World. What we see is interpreted by our minds and put inside our belief system, and this can become our reality. But there also exists an Unseen World. In this world we experience connectedness; we experience the mystery; and we experience another whole point of view. If we pay attention to both the Unseen World and the Seen World, our belief systems will print in our mind a new and wonderful reality. We will see and know we are a part of everything.

Great Spirit, today, give me the knowledge to know this mystery.

[TROOPER]

"You must be prepared and know the reason why you dance."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

[TROOPER]

[TROOPER]

[TROOPER]

[Spirit Dancer]

"The law is that all life is equal in the Great Creation, and we, the Human Beings, are charged with the responsibility, each in our generation, to work for the continuation of life."
--Traditional Circle of Elders
Every generation is accountable to leave the environment in healthy order for the next generation. Every generation is accountable to teach the next generation how to live in harmony and to understand the Laws. We need to ask ourselves, "What are we teaching the next generation?". Each individual is directly accountable.

My Creator, teach me inter-generational responsibility.

[Spirit Dancer]

For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed;
the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does
not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born,
and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses
they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other,
and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other,
the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

James Baldwin

[Spirit Dancer]

"Indians living close to nature and nature's ruler are not living in darkness."
--Walking Buffalo, STONEY
There are many Indian people who are living according to nature and according to ceremony and culture. They may not have a lot of material things, but that doesn't mean they are not successful. What is success anyway? Can success be measured by material things? What is it we are really chasing anyway? The Elders say that what everyone really wants is to be happy and have a peaceful mind. Material things by themselves do not bring happiness and peace of mind. Only spiritual things bring happiness. When we live a spiritual life we will not have darkness. Instead, we will be happy.

Great Spirit, today, let me walk the Red Road

[Spirit Dancer]

Today Great Spirit allow me to let the burdens fall away and peace restore my mind.
Allow me to know there are many things in life I've no control.
Finding my way into the light and faith making me whole.

[Spirit Dancer]

"The old people came literally to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power...The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing..."
--Luther Standing Bear, OGLALA SIOUX
Have you ever noticed the relationship between children and the soil? Watch how happily they are touching the dirt. The children play in it and eat it. If you are stressed, go to a spot on the Earth, sit down, put your fingers in the dirt, dig in it. Wash your hands in the soil. When you touch it, notice what it does to your hands. Our bodies love to touch the Earth. Sometimes we get too busy and forget these simple things. Maybe you'll even want to plant a garden or flowers. These things are mentally healthy.

Great Spirit, today, let me touch the Earth so the Earth can touch me

[Spirit Dancer]

Think only about what is holy. Empty your mind."
--Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
If we let our minds wander, we will come up with a lot of junk; maybe bad thoughts about a brother or sister, maybe angry thoughts, maybe self-pity thoughts. Our minds are not the boss. We can instruct our mind to think about whatever we want to think about. We cannot stop thinking, but we can choose what to think about. The Elders say we move towards what we think about. That's why they say, "Think about what is holy, think about the Grandfathers, think about culture, think about values, think about ceremonies, and think about good."

Great Spirit, today, empty my mind and let me experience what it would be like to think about what is holy.

[Spirit Dancer]

"Modern civilization has no understanding of sacred matters. Everything is backwards."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
Modern civilization says, don't pray in school; don't pray at work; only go to church on Sunday. If you don't believe what I believe, you'll go to hell. Deviancy is normal. Our role models cheat, drink and run around; these are the people in the news. The news sells bad news; no one wants to hear good news. Kids are killing kids. Victims have little protection. Violence is normal. Leaders cheat and lie. Everything is backwards. We need to pray for spiritual intervention. We need to have guidance from the Creator to help us rebuild our families, our communities and ourselves. Today, I will pray for spiritual intervention from the Great Spirit.

Grandfather, we pray for your help in a pitiful way

[Spirit Dancer]

"All living creatures and all plants derive their life from the sun. If it were not for the sun, there would be darkness and nothing could grow � the earth would be without life."
--Okute, TETON SIOUX
This is why we call the sun, Father Sun. Father Sun shines life on Mother Earth and from this Father and Mother all life forms exist and continue to reproduce. The Sun shines on all; it is not selective. We should not allow anything to block the Sun from shining on the Earth. We must not pollute the air because the pollutants block the light of life to the Earth. If the Earth cannot receive this light, then life will start to be affected. We must live in harmony with the Sun and Earth. Otherwise, we are harming ourselves.

My Creator, give me the wisdom to live in harmony with all things.

[Spirit Dancer]

Time is your greatest advisor. Time will tell you if you can waste your life
in illusion and fantasy thoughts, dwelling over past regrets and future
apprehensions. Just ask time, and time will point out that there are no survivors.

A Spiritual Warrior

[waxnrope]

Originally Posted by Spirit Dancer

Time is your greatest advisor. Time will tell you if you can waste your life
in illusion and fantasy thoughts, dwelling over past regrets and future
apprehensions. Just ask time, and time will point out that there are no survivors.

A Spiritual Warrior

I love this, Spirit Dancer! I thanked and then tried to rep you, but apparently one cannot do both. So, here is a public rep . It is just what I needed for this very day.

[Spirit Dancer]

"But I have learned a lot from trees: sometimes about the weather, sometimes about animals, sometimes about the Great Spirit."
--Walking Buffalo, STONEY
Nature is the greatest teacher on the Earth. Nature produces many different plants, animals, trees, rocks, birds, insects, and weather patterns. Nature designed all these various things to grow and multiply while at the same time live in harmony with each other. We can learn a lot of we observe and study Nature's system of harmony and balance. Today, go sit on a rock and quietly observe and ask to be shown the lessons.

Great Spirit, Nature is my teacher. Today, let me be the student.

[Spirit Dancer]

Great Spirit
Today as we count our blessings, I am humbled by our friends near and far.
The hands that reach out to support or just a call to see if we're okay and safe.
I'm humbled by them and ask for you to keep them in blessing not only today but always.
We're blessed to be in safety now and blessed for your protection.

[Spirit Dancer]

The whole religion is like a preparation. It's a preparation for going to the Good Land or to the place of your ancestors. We all have to go through it. We all know this.
---- Horace Axtell, NEZ PERCE
There are two Worlds that exist. The Seen World and the Unseen World. Sometimes these worlds are called the Physical World and the Spiritual World. The Elders say, when it is time to go to the other side, our relatives will appear a few days before to help us enter the Spirit World. This is a happy place; the hunting is good; the place of the Grandfathers, the Creator, the Great Spirit, God, is a joyful place.

Grandfathers, today, let me look forward to the Spirit World. Bless all my Relations.