Friday, April 30, 2010
MANHOOD TEACHING PART ONE
Kim Kardashian's deep set eyes
“The essence of a man is a deep thing that comes alive in the presence of a woman who sees him and is capable and willing to love him. This is a deep thing that sparkles in the light of discovering love fluttering around in our breasts singing about 'that girl'.
Getting our mouth open to tell her what is shining from our heart to our eyes is a task, a journey to be made. We have to take that journey understanding some basic things about ourselves. Who am I? What kind of man am I? What is a man? What kind of man does she need? What does she see in me? These are but few of the questions that run through us. I cannot tell you what you need to do, but women reflect us. There that is a clue, brother!” ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
Keeper of the Western Lodge - the Warrior
Thursday, April 29, 2010
TRADITION, ART & NEW ZEALAND
"She is looking within me." -Gregory E. Woods
"BEautiful ...the position of these figures painted by our Sacred Sister Robyn Kahukiwa mirror our carving traditions and challenge us to maintain our dynamism in the co-creation of our Arts and Cultural expressions. I have posted a series of writings on this Artist's works and what is influencing her, to interrogate our social practices, to intervene, to invert and disturb even as a critical praxis of Ourstories untangling re-weaving being present time focused to the diverse realities to which our ARt practice has ever asserted a need to be relevant, vibrant, radically transformative.
Usually our carvings only depicted select and dead Ancestors and in an old form of rhythmic abstractions rather than life like the ARtist contests this on many levels and dares to create and expand once impregnable male bastions of Colonial reactionism which once relied on ignorance to Silence, fetter and obscure Women's social power relations often distorted, reconstructed and re-positioned by morbid over prescribed White conservative Hetero patriarchalized individual/nuclear family Christo/captialist 'Tribalism'. This Sister breaks all the alleged 'rules' to reveal, unmask, free up. Yes, she is looking straight into us all; into our ignitable infinite potentiality for BEing true to ourselves YOUnique and Divine." -Mereana Taki
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
manhoood teaching PART 27
black elegant & mature woman at home
"The breath we have tells stories. Childhood is the gift after birth. It was meant to hold us the way the womb held us in water with all of the living entities that shared that space with us. We played in the space between worlds for nine months within the water element fully aware of the exchange we agreed upon. To segue from birth to childhood was supposed to be a ceremony reflecting the relationship of the primary elements: female, and the God, and the male and the Goddess.
Because the fires of sexual energy led us from other worlds into the waters of our mother's cooling place, and the earth elements created form we needed air to create the substance of our magic: innocence! The air is life. It is spirit. Being in a body with spirit sustained by breath requires simplicity. The simplicity of in and out, inhale and exhale is a rhythm. If the rhythm of life is broken within a child an adult introduced fear into the child. Learning, or remembering how to breath is the first step of a process to reclaim one’s self from the thieves who introduced fear to the basic elements of childhood. This is why yoga is important. Yoga connects breath to prayer.
These are the words of a Grandfather. I am Heart Song Stone Man, Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories. AHO!" (March 12, 2010)
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Little People ~ Choctaw
A long time ago in ancient time, while the Choctaw Indians were living in Mississippi, the Choctaw legends say that certain supernatural beings or spirits lived near them.
These spirits, or "Little people," were known as Kowi Anukasha or "Forest Dwellers." They were about two or three feet tall. These pygmy beings lived deep in the thick forest; their homes were in caves hidden under large rocks.
When a boy child is two, or three, or even four years old, he will often wander off into the woods, playing or chasing a small animal. When the little one is well out of sight from his home, "Kwanokasha", who is always on watch, seizes the boy and takes him away to his cave, his dwelling place. Many times his cave is far away and Kwanokasha and the little boy must travel a very long way, climbing many hills and crossing many streams. When they finally reach the cave Kwanokasha takes him inside where he is met by three other spirits, all very old with long white hair. The first one offers the boy a knife; the second one offers him a bunch of poisonous herbs; the third offers a bunch of herbs yielding good medicine.
If the child accepts the knife, he is certain to become a bad man and may even kill his friends. If he accepts the poisonous herbs he will never be able to cure or help his people. But, if he accepts the good herbs, he is destined to become a great doctor and an important and influential man of his tribe and win the confidence of all his people.
When he accepts the good herbs the three old spirits will tell him the secrets of making medicines from herbs, roots and barks of certain trees, and of treating and curing various fevers, pains and other sickness. That is the reason the "Little People" take the boy child to their home in the wilderness, in order to train Indian doctors, transmitting to them their special curative powers and to train them in the manufacture of their medicines. The child will remain with the spirits for three days after which he is returned. He does not tell where he has been for what he has seen or heard. Not until he becomes a man will he make use of the knowledge gained from the spirits, and never will he reveal to others how it was acquired.
It is said among the Choctaws that few children wait to accept the offering of the good herbs from the third spirit, and that is why there are so few great doctors and other men of influence among the Choctaws.
It is also said that the "Little People" are never seen by the common Choctaws. The Choctaw prophets and herb doctors, however, claim the power of seeing them and of holding communication with them.
During the darkest nights in all kinds of weather you can see a strange light wandering around in the woods. This light is the Indian doctor and his little helper looking for that special herb to treat and cure a very sick tribesman. - a traditional story
These spirits, or "Little people," were known as Kowi Anukasha or "Forest Dwellers." They were about two or three feet tall. These pygmy beings lived deep in the thick forest; their homes were in caves hidden under large rocks.
When a boy child is two, or three, or even four years old, he will often wander off into the woods, playing or chasing a small animal. When the little one is well out of sight from his home, "Kwanokasha", who is always on watch, seizes the boy and takes him away to his cave, his dwelling place. Many times his cave is far away and Kwanokasha and the little boy must travel a very long way, climbing many hills and crossing many streams. When they finally reach the cave Kwanokasha takes him inside where he is met by three other spirits, all very old with long white hair. The first one offers the boy a knife; the second one offers him a bunch of poisonous herbs; the third offers a bunch of herbs yielding good medicine.
If the child accepts the knife, he is certain to become a bad man and may even kill his friends. If he accepts the poisonous herbs he will never be able to cure or help his people. But, if he accepts the good herbs, he is destined to become a great doctor and an important and influential man of his tribe and win the confidence of all his people.
When he accepts the good herbs the three old spirits will tell him the secrets of making medicines from herbs, roots and barks of certain trees, and of treating and curing various fevers, pains and other sickness. That is the reason the "Little People" take the boy child to their home in the wilderness, in order to train Indian doctors, transmitting to them their special curative powers and to train them in the manufacture of their medicines. The child will remain with the spirits for three days after which he is returned. He does not tell where he has been for what he has seen or heard. Not until he becomes a man will he make use of the knowledge gained from the spirits, and never will he reveal to others how it was acquired.
It is said among the Choctaws that few children wait to accept the offering of the good herbs from the third spirit, and that is why there are so few great doctors and other men of influence among the Choctaws.
It is also said that the "Little People" are never seen by the common Choctaws. The Choctaw prophets and herb doctors, however, claim the power of seeing them and of holding communication with them.
During the darkest nights in all kinds of weather you can see a strange light wandering around in the woods. This light is the Indian doctor and his little helper looking for that special herb to treat and cure a very sick tribesman. - a traditional story
MANHOOD TEACHING PART 9
Sinnamon
“What does the Goddess need more protection or recognition?”
-Gregory E. Woods
Monday, April 26, 2010
mystique of Lacey Duvalle
"The journey that brings women, young and old, to examine their lives, study their blood, and ponder the powers between their legs and decide that selling their 'pussy' has merit began where? It is an edict from a religion? Is it a decision made in anger or despair? If men in their lives think pussy is for the taking without commitment does it devalue it? Without understanding what domination means to women, or how dick damages the soul men will continue to impact generations and cause women like Lacey to whore in public, and private. How do women who do know and understand the mystery of the Womb consistently appear to counter male culture and raise priest-warriors? The mystique of Lacey Duvale is the angst of generations of women, and the daughters they birth into the world of men playing games with power unbalanced, checked, or blessed by the women of their worlds. That being said how far are we from the times Arab men would bury their newly born daughters alive in the desert because their wives had not given them sons?" - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of the Sacred Medicine Wheels
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Mereana Taki's teaching: Maori Familial & Kinship System
Whanaungatanga: Immediate and Extended Familial Kinship System.
One of the Maori fundamental values relates to whakapapa (genealogy). To determine the place of each individual in Maori society, we must understand how he is related to the other members of his whanau (family), hapu (sub tribe) or iwi (tribe). His situatio...n in the family determines his behavior towards the other members of his community and draws the line for transmission of their knowledge. In the philosophical discourse of the Maori, called Whakapapa Korero, everything that exists is related to a family which itself relates to other families whose origins can be traced back to Ranginui and Papatuanuku ...our Sky and Earth Parents.
Maori use the word tipuna to talk about their forebears. The translation of that word to mean “ancestors” leads to a misunderstanding of the Maori world view. While the word “ancestor” is confined to people only, the word tipuna includes all that allows an individual to exist: his ancestors, but also his land, the forests, the mountains, the earth, the sky, the waterways, the oceans and all their contents. In the stories of the forebears, the Whakapapa Korero celebrates the universal sanctity of life and describes how the families are tied to each other by their tipuna. At the heart of the Maori world view is their recognition that all the elements in nature have a sacred value because of their relationship in the spiritual realm. All share the same spiritual essence called wairua, which comes from the union of the sacred waters of Ranginui and Papatuanuku.
-Mereana Taki
ANCESTORS
"The tipuna whare as Ancestral Long house is based on Sacred design elements. The whole complex is based on Celestial mirroring and symbolizes the body of an Ancestor. When we enter the kuwaha, the mouth, we are ingested, and walk into a metaphysical replica of our Ancients and Ancestral vessel. This space is deeply concentrated with Spiritual and Soul essence energies of many generations. The carvings, weaving and kowhaiwhai paintings within telling our Celestial and Temporal Earthly descent. These are our tribalz gathering strongholds where all life events are celebrated, including realm crossing (funerals). There are no walls in the Tipuna whare. Everything is open." -Mereana Taki
Gregory E. Woods
"Deep spiritual treatments upon the space of your ancestral and physical landscape, Mereana, are moving around the globe because of your spirit, and the spirits that move within you to move worlds with your understanding."
Mereana Taki
"Nga mihi Chiefly Brother. In my walk I have learned that Spirit walks me ...I need only surrender into the flow with my Heart awareness. I touch the spaces where my Grandparents Love lives in me and it easily ignites. I have had to de-school myself out of english ways of trying to be ...and simply be my natural self. There are many relatives on... See More the FBk who also did not live as I did ...I don't know why this happened ...they are reaching out for these understandings in strength and renewed hope in their reflections. OurStories are very Human and we all share in their basic respect, reverance and celebration for our Sacred Circles of Life. May your day be gentle and filled with serenity's Smile while miracles in expression gives flesh to your deepest dreams and desires in these everblessed times. Kia tau te rangimarie ~ walking in peace and calm in all that is said and done."
Saturday, April 24, 2010
BONDAGE
"You can be clear, explicit and intelligible without losing humanity and understanding. Emphasizing the point, he reminded the young scholars that, "a quarter teaspoon of understanding is worth more than a truckload of knowledge". Dr Pat Hohepa no Ngapuhi nui tonu ~Mereana Taki
"I see great wisdom in the words of Dr. Hohepa, for I have see many with great knowledge but no understanding. And I have seen others with very little knowledge yet great understanding. The two are neither mutually inclusive nor exclusive, but rather two different things. Knowledge comes from the intellect. Understanding comes from the heart, and the spirit, from the core of one's being.
Also, I do not see how one's understanding is in any way a judgment of another. We are each YOUnique, and so then is our understanding. My understanding cannot make anyway else less or more, nor can theirs make me less or more than what I truly am. And to interpret another's understanding subjectively, based on your own feelings, is a personal choice of the person doing the interpreting. No one can MAKE me feel anything. It is how I choose to respond to them that determines how I feel." ~Tarra Blackwolf-Sabín
"Coming straight from the Heart of a matter gently yet straight." ~Mereana Taki
"I know no other way to speak but from the heart, gently yet straight. In the colonial world I am considered "defective" for I never learned deceit. For that, I am told I "lack social skills". If deceit is a social skill needed to live among "civilized" people, I will continue to socialize with the birds and the trees and the water and the wind and the earth. They don't seem to mind my "lack of social skills." ~Tarra Blackwolf-Sabín
"The seeds of 'lack' are the Rivers of poverty flowing through 'modern' false consciousness. Such a Mind is required to enslave the masses to their own oppression and domination, and to bind such non BEingness to planetary unthinking destruction of Great Mother relationships clean, clear and direct with no money, with no governments, with no chains in our Minds, Hearts, Spirits, Bodies. Nothing but the clothing of our responsibilities to ourselves for our freedoms, for our Humanity in every possible way, shape and form. Othering as a margin Self these are all tools of Abusers and Predators that cultivate their prey, fatten up their victims, using docility, and all manner of disempowerment that once internalized by the the captives requires a quantum shift in that vibration to reshape, realign, and recentre.
The Heart knows nothing of FEAR. This is why it is so heavily neglected as an organ of choice in oppressive and dominating Human relationship systems. It is demonized into inactivity and trivialized by a Valentine's romanticism like emotional jewelry show, pomp, ceremonial, and then you get other extremes like the song says: "What's Love Got to Do With It?
Oh dear the beat goes on! Thank goodness it is an involuntary muscle like Great Mother. Her Heartbeat goes on long after our lights go out." ~Mereana Taki
photo: Tamals Jones
Friday, April 23, 2010
KAITIAKITANGA 2
KAITIAKITANGA: A Definitive Introduction to the Holistic World View of the Maori
Kia ora rawa atu, most excellent and welcome. I humbly celebrate and accept all that is transpiring with ourselves. Spirit guides my Heart and hears with Love all that is unfolding, weaving, transmigrating Ancients and Ancestors deep and wide into Oneness. I love that very much. Eyes of Isis fathoms and eclipses that WE tie our Souls to the Ancient East, to Egypt in our very bone memories and Te RA Sun/deep unseen Sun masculine face and MaRAma Moon/deep unseen Moon feminine face of Divinity as one thought.
It is very true, our Feminine and Maculine selves have been masculinized in this english. Though in our languages they are always and ever implied long after being recessed into the mists of deep time for so many. Oh sorry to have missed the conversation with Kahealani ...you came away from there with this set of profound and beautifully basic questions from the Loom of consciousness. If I don't know something I will certainly say so Sacred Sister. Perhaps I might also give my best references to assist you. Bless this aperture for what it has given into the Light of All that IS. Now to your questions!
Tangaroa is masculine and each Tribalz has their own feminine. Hinemoana being a feminine of my own Tribalz. All Female Deities begin with the Sacred Femine signifier, HINE (sounded Hinn eh). Hineahuone was the first Female formed of Red Earth and so on. Our Oceans wide are called after Grandmother Te Moana nui a Kiwa; The Great Foodbasket of Kiwa. Kiwa rose out of the East. The Direction our dead face when being buried. The Direction all dwellings and sacred architecture face when being designed and translated onto the mirror image of the Celestial landscape of Great Mother. There are many faces of the Feminine always and ever implied as ONE THOUGHT with our Masculine life principles.
(1).Is there a religious order in Pono besides the Kahuna, like healer, priest, teacher or sage?
Pono is part of the entire cosmological fabric of life. Using reductionist linear ways of rendering these conscepts are printed advisedly as our Elders caution. Aroha as the presence and lifebreath of Creator guides Tika walking with integrity into all matters said and unsaid and striving for Pono best described as our Highest Good, our Divine Path according to a Tribal centric orientation and physically embedded relational rubric for with Gods, Universe and Kin.
Religion is a new idea. These things came with the new strangers ...organised observance of a Spirit belief system lived apart from Life itself. Observing a Sacred praxis for life simply IS extruding our understandings and re-articulating these for a general populace a developing need of the past 500 + years of brutalizing erasures and every other inhumanity possible that has yet to end. All persons of a Kin base are part of the entire fabric of Mauri ora, of Lifeforce WellBEing tied to the Celestial, the Terrestrial and the Temporal self in relationship.
Tohunga ...Tohu is a word which also means 'signs, symbols, reading phenomon patterned and clustered'.
Hunga is a body of people, ideas ...
Nga signifies collective, expansion: all that is infinitely, unlimited.
Tohunga were those who read the signs and symbols of the Three Baskets of Wisdom in the present. Tohunga could be a Child or developed over many years. There is no time or age or gender or any kind of limits. The context is relational; what was seen to serve the common good of the Tribalz as a whole.
Tohunga could often be set apart because they could/are considered of such immense Spiritual fortitude that their person ought not be diminished ...since it is also held in common with the Tribalz ...and so dwellings may be set apart, certain rituals observed in the preparations for food, ablutions, the whole life needs of the individual ...as they assisted in the sustenance of Tribalz WellBEing in every sense of the term from Spiritual, Intellectual, Psychic Intuitive and Relational.
Every one of the Tribalz is born with these gifts in potential. Everyone inherits the collective Wisdoms of the Tribalz and certain ones are named according to those traits which appear in dreams before their birth, during their birth according to Celestial, Lunar charts and calculations and so their whakapapa ...their geneological map if you like predisposes some to a concentration of such energies. There are no guarantees in such a system except for nurturance of a Child that such gifts will be realised. Pono covers all of these gifts like a filtering system releasing the negative so the positive energetics might more readily flower.
Here is a link to one of our Living Treasures Dr Rangimarie Rose Pere. I feel her resonating in the vibrations you are emanating. She is very much a link to our Egyptian Ancestry. May there be abiding peace in our Hearts and as she says ...we are Miracles in Expression.
www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=158441618466-Cached
Geneology from Te Ra.
Ko Tamanui Te Ra,Ra Te Ra Tu,
Te Ra Ngati Ra,
Te Ngira Atua,
ko Maui tikitiki a Taranga te Tipua
ko Tiwakawaka te Karerenga
ko Toi te Huatahi
ko Whatonga te Arikinui
ko Tangihianui te Ariki
Ko Tamatea Arikinui te Tangata
ko Te Waka tapu o Takitimu te waka
ko Ruawharo te Tohunga
ko Ruamano te Taniwha
ko Kahukura te Kaitiaki
Ko Kahuranaki te Maunga
ko Ngaruroro mokotuararo ki Rangatira te awa
ko oMahu te marae, te mana whenua
ko Kahukuranui te whare tipuna
ko Ruatapuwahine te whare toto
ko Hinemanu te tupunawhaea
ko Rokatukotahi te kuia
ko Ngati Hinemanu te hapu
ko Maunga Kohatu te papa kainga
ko Kahungunu ki Heretaunga te Iwi
Ko Heretaunga ararau hauku nui
Haoro o te kaahu takoto noa
Tihei Mauri o RA!
-Mereana Taki
Thursday, April 22, 2010
KAITIAKITANGA
KAITIAKITANGA: A Definitive Introduction to the
Holistic World View of the Maori
Thank you for sharing this comprehensive cosomology of the Maori with us SacredOceanicSisterGoddess! It took me awhile to read this. I enjoyed the beautiful wisdoms it espoused. The pictures are truly arresting!
I did not see the sacred masculine or feminine in Tangaroa- god of the sea perhaps in AIO. In Yoruba/Santeria Yemanya goddess of the ocean shares a masculine aspect/twin with Olokun - god of the deep. The Sacred Tree of Life is a symbol of Protection ...it is a whakaruruhau. The 'Tree of Life' in Egypt was represented by 3 sacred lotus lilies, the tamarisk tree, another tree is mentioned and a simple plant- which represented IMMORTALITY. As a planetary family I realized that all spiritual cultural traditions sprang from the fount of Mother Egypt/Ethiopia going further back to Mu and Atlantis, but all are AFRICAN extensions/branches from the Mother Tree of Akebulan. Herein lies the beauty of sharing culture when you KNOW YOUR OWN AND RECOGNIZE THE SIMILIARITIES IN OTHERS.
It is good to share culture but is always a 'good courtesy' to ask about the cultures of others as we both participate in sharing. African and African Americans have many paths in 'THE RELIGION', 5 are known as the FIST. Yoruba, Santeria, Lucumi, Vodun, Obeah, Cummona, Umbanda, Macumba, Candomble, Abacua practiced are in the America's. I am "washed' in Yoruba/Santeria and am a non practicing adherent. The beauty of it is an integral part of my ancestral grounding.
1.Is there a religious order in Pono besides the Kahuna, like healer, priest, teacher or sage?
2. How are you chosen as a Kapuna, is it passed doown through the family or it is a vocation you chose to train for?
A. How long does it take to become a Kapuna?
3. Are there any tipaunas or temples to worship or any spiritual practices or rituals used in song, dance, diet or sacrifice?
4. Are there any supernatural manifestations, miraculous interventions and healings in Pono?
5. Are there any sacred sciences or secret societies that are apart of the Pono tradition?
6. Any sacred places, sacred plants, minerals or animals special to Pono?
7. Are there any Pono holy days that you celebrate?
8. Stories concerning the anitidulivian world of Lemuria and the stones of Mu?
Continue to bless us and grace us with Divine Words.
Namaste, Hotep, Ashe'
Sacred Sister Auset Sekhmet (Carmen Stevenson)
Holistic World View of the Maori
Thank you for sharing this comprehensive cosomology of the Maori with us SacredOceanicSisterGoddess! It took me awhile to read this. I enjoyed the beautiful wisdoms it espoused. The pictures are truly arresting!
I did not see the sacred masculine or feminine in Tangaroa- god of the sea perhaps in AIO. In Yoruba/Santeria Yemanya goddess of the ocean shares a masculine aspect/twin with Olokun - god of the deep. The Sacred Tree of Life is a symbol of Protection ...it is a whakaruruhau. The 'Tree of Life' in Egypt was represented by 3 sacred lotus lilies, the tamarisk tree, another tree is mentioned and a simple plant- which represented IMMORTALITY. As a planetary family I realized that all spiritual cultural traditions sprang from the fount of Mother Egypt/Ethiopia going further back to Mu and Atlantis, but all are AFRICAN extensions/branches from the Mother Tree of Akebulan. Herein lies the beauty of sharing culture when you KNOW YOUR OWN AND RECOGNIZE THE SIMILIARITIES IN OTHERS.
It is good to share culture but is always a 'good courtesy' to ask about the cultures of others as we both participate in sharing. African and African Americans have many paths in 'THE RELIGION', 5 are known as the FIST. Yoruba, Santeria, Lucumi, Vodun, Obeah, Cummona, Umbanda, Macumba, Candomble, Abacua practiced are in the America's. I am "washed' in Yoruba/Santeria and am a non practicing adherent. The beauty of it is an integral part of my ancestral grounding.
1.Is there a religious order in Pono besides the Kahuna, like healer, priest, teacher or sage?
2. How are you chosen as a Kapuna, is it passed doown through the family or it is a vocation you chose to train for?
A. How long does it take to become a Kapuna?
3. Are there any tipaunas or temples to worship or any spiritual practices or rituals used in song, dance, diet or sacrifice?
4. Are there any supernatural manifestations, miraculous interventions and healings in Pono?
5. Are there any sacred sciences or secret societies that are apart of the Pono tradition?
6. Any sacred places, sacred plants, minerals or animals special to Pono?
7. Are there any Pono holy days that you celebrate?
8. Stories concerning the anitidulivian world of Lemuria and the stones of Mu?
Continue to bless us and grace us with Divine Words.
Namaste, Hotep, Ashe'
Sacred Sister Auset Sekhmet (Carmen Stevenson)
Maori man playing conch shell
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
SONGS OF A FATHER
Here is a radio interview I was featured in recently: Blogtalk radio: Elevate the Soul
Ascension Celebration
"Here is a message we need to take in, absorb as we start new phases in the work we are doing with lives Spirit sends our way. So many people are afraid of the men, and women who mature and deepen their spiritual path in prisons. Listen to the voice of a Grandfather: Bear Warrior." ~Dawn Wolf
Reflections
When I was in prison I remember one day I was just looking into the toilet bowl. I was fascinated for some reason at how clearly I could see my reflection in the water. I flushed the toilet and just like that my reflection was gone. For some reason I don’t know why but I just kept looking into that toilet bowl. I noticed that it took a long time for my reflection to come back. In life we are faced with many decisions and like flushing the toilet bowl one bad decision can make you lose your reflection, your character, your integrity and your good name. When that happens it will take a long time to get it back. Some never get their reflection, character, integrity and good name back. By looking at my reflection in a toilet bowl sitting in my prison cell I learned a very valuable lesson. Now before making a decision I pray and wait for guidance. When I find myself making decisions before praying, seeking guidance and contemplating my options I find that there are usually repercussions.
On the battlefield the one day that I didn’t pray was the same day that I was injured in a firefight. I am still paying for this thirty years later. Praying and thinking before acting will take you on a smoother journey in life and my prayer is that everyone who sees you will see a good reflection.
Written by Bear Warrior
Native American Bear Warrior & fiance Yolanda Bailey
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
HEALERS EXCHANGE KNOWLEDGE
Manawa whenua, wē moana uriuri, hōkikitanga kawenga
From the heart of the land, to the depths of the sea; repositories of knowledge abound.
Huutia te rito o te harakeke, kei hea te koomako e ko? Kii mai ki ahau: He aha te mea nui o te ao? Maaku e kii atu: He tangata he tangata!
'If you pluck out the heart of the flax bush, how can the bell bird sing? You ask me: What is the greatest reality of the universe? I reply: The human person!'
These are strong words, placing the human person above every other being in the sense of being responsible to correct to restore, to resolve in imbalances should they occur in the Great Weave of Life. This whakatauki is heard frequently as the opening words in speeches. Yet with their reference to the singing of the bell bird they also express our intrinsic inter-dependence on All our Relations thus humbling the human as kin with all of creation.
A Maori way of expressing this worth of the human person is to speak of a person's mana or power. We have already seen that mana and tapu are closely linked. Where tapu is the potentiality for power, mana is the actual power, the power itself.
The mana which is the actualization, the realization, of the tapu of the person, is threefold, mana tangata, power from people, mana whenua, power from the land and mana atua, power from our link with the spiritual powers. Each person has this threefold mana.
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~dominic/mana.html
"...thank you, mereana for your teachings and sharing." -Gregory E. Woods
"My Life is filled with flowering and at times I stop by to appreciate the power of our YOUniqueness as Sacred BEings. I have left this realm twice before and learned to deal directly with it from my Sacred Centre and the Peace of leaving the vessel for Home. This weave of life and after life are common threads and we register our beginnings in an Egypt many aeons past. RA is our central Creator symbol. All else derives from here and unfolds. It is good to be with ourselves again. Kia Manuia
Blessings BE Chiefly Brother. I feel your presence there burning bright and still golden light wears your BEing with immense compassion. A te wa ~ when time unfolds, all is known." -Mereana Taki
From the heart of the land, to the depths of the sea; repositories of knowledge abound.
Huutia te rito o te harakeke, kei hea te koomako e ko? Kii mai ki ahau: He aha te mea nui o te ao? Maaku e kii atu: He tangata he tangata!
'If you pluck out the heart of the flax bush, how can the bell bird sing? You ask me: What is the greatest reality of the universe? I reply: The human person!'
These are strong words, placing the human person above every other being in the sense of being responsible to correct to restore, to resolve in imbalances should they occur in the Great Weave of Life. This whakatauki is heard frequently as the opening words in speeches. Yet with their reference to the singing of the bell bird they also express our intrinsic inter-dependence on All our Relations thus humbling the human as kin with all of creation.
A Maori way of expressing this worth of the human person is to speak of a person's mana or power. We have already seen that mana and tapu are closely linked. Where tapu is the potentiality for power, mana is the actual power, the power itself.
The mana which is the actualization, the realization, of the tapu of the person, is threefold, mana tangata, power from people, mana whenua, power from the land and mana atua, power from our link with the spiritual powers. Each person has this threefold mana.
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~dominic/mana.html
"...thank you, mereana for your teachings and sharing." -Gregory E. Woods
"My Life is filled with flowering and at times I stop by to appreciate the power of our YOUniqueness as Sacred BEings. I have left this realm twice before and learned to deal directly with it from my Sacred Centre and the Peace of leaving the vessel for Home. This weave of life and after life are common threads and we register our beginnings in an Egypt many aeons past. RA is our central Creator symbol. All else derives from here and unfolds. It is good to be with ourselves again. Kia Manuia
Blessings BE Chiefly Brother. I feel your presence there burning bright and still golden light wears your BEing with immense compassion. A te wa ~ when time unfolds, all is known." -Mereana Taki
photo from New Zealand man - Gerald Pirimona Taki
FOOD
“The mis-education of Americans beginning in schools, and churches can be argued, but the connection between food, and behavior, food and decisions, food and thought, food and health, food and sanity, and food and life cannot be argued. Americans are largely outside of the natural food rythmns, and the natural rythmns of the Earth are out paced by artificial stimulation. In the end, or before the end the providers of our food have some interest in health and well-being, but our food consumption is and will be the death of us.
There are solutions as plain as daylight. In the Washington DC area HEAL OUR HOOD is one of the groups changing the relationship between food and the Black communities they serve in the 7th & 8th Wards of Washington DC. Interested? They are on FACEBOOK. Radical change can happen in your communities, then we can better agitate for change in ourselves, and the world, in that order.” –Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
202.560.1269 healourhood@gmail.com
There are solutions as plain as daylight. In the Washington DC area HEAL OUR HOOD is one of the groups changing the relationship between food and the Black communities they serve in the 7th & 8th Wards of Washington DC. Interested? They are on FACEBOOK. Radical change can happen in your communities, then we can better agitate for change in ourselves, and the world, in that order.” –Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
202.560.1269 healourhood@gmail.com
love & development
"Although people speak of becoming holy and noble everything good comes down to the achievement of true love. Once that happens all the problems of the world are solved. Can this be more important than worship and religion? Ask God."
- Sun Myung Moon
photo of a Métis mother & child
Mereana Taki teaching: Social work
What is Social Work?
Language can bastardize Truth
the Tale of Social Work is proof
Running scams for the State
there is endless debate
while Children are re-abused
while Parents without fault are excused
from the Care of their Loved ones
on trumped up charges for State funds
its a wholesale racket of thugs
more lethal than street peddling thugs
using the morally corrupt pen and paper
and the Spiritually bereft 'see you later'
Entire Families are destroyed
so Social Workers can remain 'employed'
in a global corpus of Human trafficking
its an abomination of Life, of Everything
When Children are killed
so their Technocratic jobs are filled
When Children are bashed and broken
so that the Economic corruption stays open.
America you are killing your future
DENIAL won't close this wound with sutures.
Social Work began in the Minds of Men
perhaps this is where it must also end.
There is a paradigm shift of major import
from Social Worker to Unjust Kleptocratic court.
Look deeply and listen well
or you may lose your children
to State Sector Kiss and Tell.
It runs deep the American dis ease
Removal of your children, for fees.
Back handers and kick backs exist
Its twisted and dirty wherever it sits.
Families smashed and shredded are grieving
these are the Spiritual injuries Social Work
is leaving.
What a legacy that Social Work claims
while all this time it wrecklessly maims.
There will always be exceptions to this rule
though History tells us not to be fooled.
-Mereana Taki
Language can bastardize Truth
the Tale of Social Work is proof
Running scams for the State
there is endless debate
while Children are re-abused
while Parents without fault are excused
from the Care of their Loved ones
on trumped up charges for State funds
its a wholesale racket of thugs
more lethal than street peddling thugs
using the morally corrupt pen and paper
and the Spiritually bereft 'see you later'
Entire Families are destroyed
so Social Workers can remain 'employed'
in a global corpus of Human trafficking
its an abomination of Life, of Everything
When Children are killed
so their Technocratic jobs are filled
When Children are bashed and broken
so that the Economic corruption stays open.
America you are killing your future
DENIAL won't close this wound with sutures.
Social Work began in the Minds of Men
perhaps this is where it must also end.
There is a paradigm shift of major import
from Social Worker to Unjust Kleptocratic court.
Look deeply and listen well
or you may lose your children
to State Sector Kiss and Tell.
It runs deep the American dis ease
Removal of your children, for fees.
Back handers and kick backs exist
Its twisted and dirty wherever it sits.
Families smashed and shredded are grieving
these are the Spiritual injuries Social Work
is leaving.
What a legacy that Social Work claims
while all this time it wrecklessly maims.
There will always be exceptions to this rule
though History tells us not to be fooled.
-Mereana Taki
MOTHER'S & SONS
“The feline creatures of legend and fact share inner space with women who connect with the play between light rain, sun energies, and the spirit of those moments vulnerable to discoveries between the worlds they walk as mothers, lovers, the child, and the wild woman's songs heard in their eyes. What a thing to behold in the face of a beautiful woman. What lessons to be taught to a young man who doesn’t know the difference between lust and love, and cannot understand the terrain, the geography of the actions of his words about women.
A number of young men, sent to me by Spirit, have great difficulty grasping simple concepts beyond the vernacular of the streets. Yesterday, I intervened between a young black boy degrading a girl in my group. I won’t get into long discussions with young cats about this. They get enough lectures from school teachers, and public service announcements. I simply said, “Everything you do as a boy, or as a man to a woman, a girl some kind of a way comes back to your mother.”
Typically, boys recoil but the truth penetrates.” –Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
ELDERSHIP
"...approaching eldership is a deep movement of one's spirit." -Dawn Wolf
"Me pakeke haere au ki te taumata o toku kuikuiatanga i te waenga nui o oku whanaunga ki tua. Whakawhetai a tena teiteitanga kua tae te wa o kui me koro ma me nga makawe ma. Maturing inner BEauty is ageless, timeless. My examples in the Hearts of my Elders show me BEauty everyoung. Tensionless. Inwardly calm and fearless. My Whanau Kinship holds me and the generations unfolding give me constant hope and focus of renewals faces. Yes, all life journeys bring their own deepening. Their own inner tides of life. Spirit Songs are finding me more easily though music has been a deep part of my Whanau and Tribalz ceremonial since I was born. Everyone is musical and plays musical instruments. We all sing Traditional and contemporary. We call this Pakeketanga ...deepening Lifetouch of the Collective.
We have many names and positions in which this occurs throughout the life cycle, many are not biologically anchored and are instead Spiritually laid out. Thank you for invoking these reflections Chiefly Brother. Within this Tribalz times we are given more Leadership roles and responsibilities for supporting and guiding balance, harmony and many of the life principles which weave a Peoples together in Lifeforce WellBEing. Mauri ora!" -Mereana Taki
"Me pakeke haere au ki te taumata o toku kuikuiatanga i te waenga nui o oku whanaunga ki tua. Whakawhetai a tena teiteitanga kua tae te wa o kui me koro ma me nga makawe ma. Maturing inner BEauty is ageless, timeless. My examples in the Hearts of my Elders show me BEauty everyoung. Tensionless. Inwardly calm and fearless. My Whanau Kinship holds me and the generations unfolding give me constant hope and focus of renewals faces. Yes, all life journeys bring their own deepening. Their own inner tides of life. Spirit Songs are finding me more easily though music has been a deep part of my Whanau and Tribalz ceremonial since I was born. Everyone is musical and plays musical instruments. We all sing Traditional and contemporary. We call this Pakeketanga ...deepening Lifetouch of the Collective.
We have many names and positions in which this occurs throughout the life cycle, many are not biologically anchored and are instead Spiritually laid out. Thank you for invoking these reflections Chiefly Brother. Within this Tribalz times we are given more Leadership roles and responsibilities for supporting and guiding balance, harmony and many of the life principles which weave a Peoples together in Lifeforce WellBEing. Mauri ora!" -Mereana Taki
manhood teaching PART 26
photo of Shola
When Man forsakes the role of Consciousness of Mother Earth, Man becomes a pillager, despoiler and rapist of his own mother. Forests are denuded. The land, the sea and air are polluted. Her surface is scarred and the resources are depleted." ~Henry Lloyd McCurtis
Monday, April 19, 2010
IS THAT NEWS?
Kate Beckinsale in 2010 wore the same dress Demi Moore wore in 2009. Is that news? In the glare of savagery, and spiritual illumination upon the planet, and the evolving consciousness of economies, families, nations, and millions of men, and women; is it news that two famous actresses wearing the same dress almost a year apart is worthy of commentary? Tea partiers are crying foul rallying around a banner of trust deficit, and the memory of President’s Clinton and Bush’s administration’s major contribution to what is profoundly wrong with the economy today, the loss of our credibility, and the money drain of wars is not their issue. History is not a tool they employ or delve into. Nor, on the other side of the political spectrum is history used as the best guide to understanding, and effective action.
Liberals, and other supporters of President Obama don’t know enough (myself included) about what is really going on in the White House, with our economy, and the nature of business that is pulling us into a hellhole. The foundation of the crisis we are in isn’t taught in schools, or universities, and American news is slightly above the tone and caliber of gossip. Our schools graduate millions of students without the prerequisite understanding of finance, and how money, and currency works. Without that knowledge we make judgments and decisions that affect our lives, the longevity of this nation, our grandchildren’s lives, and the standard of life for the globe.
In the midst of this hopeless banter some things are still available to all concerned and adult enough to probe: libraries, books, the internet, and knowledgeable people the world over who have connected the dots, done the math capable of creating a legacy of knowledge, and right action. Instead of an education for the times we live in, and an education of mind that understands money, and currency we are given unimportant things, trivia to worm through our thoughts, and enough truth to swim with misconceptions to help us vote against our best interests.
Most of us do not understand that President Obama has men responsible for the current financial crisis working within his inner circle to correct the structure they help forge. Most of us don’t understand what we give up in exchange for the comforts we treasure, and the technology we adore. Without understanding we dig our graves, we bury our ideals, we blind our eyes, rally around the cause of our problems as if they are our saviors, and we consistently vote with our emotions to our inevitable shame.
Does ignorance hold our allegiance? Is it comforting? The Apostle Paul said to study to show thyself approved unto God, but mis-education is the banner of the day for Tea Partiers, and the rest of us, on either side of the questions of survival, and existence, stand before the world as American citizens. What is our responsible as citizens of the only “super power” to the world? -Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
Liberals, and other supporters of President Obama don’t know enough (myself included) about what is really going on in the White House, with our economy, and the nature of business that is pulling us into a hellhole. The foundation of the crisis we are in isn’t taught in schools, or universities, and American news is slightly above the tone and caliber of gossip. Our schools graduate millions of students without the prerequisite understanding of finance, and how money, and currency works. Without that knowledge we make judgments and decisions that affect our lives, the longevity of this nation, our grandchildren’s lives, and the standard of life for the globe.
In the midst of this hopeless banter some things are still available to all concerned and adult enough to probe: libraries, books, the internet, and knowledgeable people the world over who have connected the dots, done the math capable of creating a legacy of knowledge, and right action. Instead of an education for the times we live in, and an education of mind that understands money, and currency we are given unimportant things, trivia to worm through our thoughts, and enough truth to swim with misconceptions to help us vote against our best interests.
Most of us do not understand that President Obama has men responsible for the current financial crisis working within his inner circle to correct the structure they help forge. Most of us don’t understand what we give up in exchange for the comforts we treasure, and the technology we adore. Without understanding we dig our graves, we bury our ideals, we blind our eyes, rally around the cause of our problems as if they are our saviors, and we consistently vote with our emotions to our inevitable shame.
Does ignorance hold our allegiance? Is it comforting? The Apostle Paul said to study to show thyself approved unto God, but mis-education is the banner of the day for Tea Partiers, and the rest of us, on either side of the questions of survival, and existence, stand before the world as American citizens. What is our responsible as citizens of the only “super power” to the world? -Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
Demi Moore in same dress as Kate Beckinsale !!!!
A WOMAN'S MYSTERY
“With or without a mask the developed mystique of a woman is openly concealed, conceived in secrecy, and revealed in intimate relationships, or moments a woman is vulnerable to the sacredness of being herself.” – Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
stormm & friend in masks
sharing between healers
"My friend, Celeste, said, and I agree that your words are prayers, formulas and spells. My reaction to them is a mirror reflecting light and love for Life, Love,and the Mystery of living in the present." Dawn Wolf
"I love our Elders who tell us ...Time has no separations, no divisions. Time is streaming. I love this Spirit Song. It helps me realize why so many BEings feel so very familiar as though I have known them since time immemorial in my Heart. We are three Worlds coexisting and this one in front of ultimate Soul reality we call Aronui is the one of our sense perceptions, our co-constructed, co-creating Selfhood in relation. I love the playfulness and profound freedom of these understandings. Nothing is fixed or absolute. How divine is that.
Thank you to you and Celeste for the light that finds my gladness. Pono ki te Whenua ...walking this Sacred Ground in harmony and humility mindfulness this holy day divine." -Mereana Taki
Sunday, April 18, 2010
HipHop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes
photo of Cyndi Gayle
Beyonce's bootilicious body !!!!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
BEAR WARRIOR & SOME KID
I was having trouble with my computer.So I called Richard, the 11 year old next door whose bedroom looks like Mission Control, and asked him to come over. Richard clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.
As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what was wrong? He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'
I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired, 'An, ID ten T error? What's that? In case I need to fix it again.'
Richard grinned. 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?''
No,' I replied.
'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'
So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T
I used to like the little shit.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Healing
"Health flows like a river and wealth like a mighty stream,
when you are grateful to the Giver
and faithful to your dreams"
from the book of Ty
when you are grateful to the Giver
and faithful to your dreams"
from the book of Ty
manhood teachings #2
PART 2
“Every woman should pass through their lives on Earth comfortable and secure.
The essence of a man is measured by his ability to allow women to express everything about themselves freely, and in the open. Our charge, as men, is a sacred one held by our responsibilities to the family, the tribe, and the nation. The flaws of our manhood is reflected in the fear women hold within themselves around us, and their inability to find safe space to flaunt their beauty, or explore their mysteries.” – Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories (photo inspiration of Dehejia Maat)
Dehejia Maat
“Every woman should pass through their lives on Earth comfortable and secure.
The essence of a man is measured by his ability to allow women to express everything about themselves freely, and in the open. Our charge, as men, is a sacred one held by our responsibilities to the family, the tribe, and the nation. The flaws of our manhood is reflected in the fear women hold within themselves around us, and their inability to find safe space to flaunt their beauty, or explore their mysteries.” – Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories (photo inspiration of Dehejia Maat)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
absolute beauty of an African woman
"Not a word, or snatch of song can translate the essence of Africa's soil and the women who birth the children and control the market places. This I know and remember from living and walking on the Land of the Blacks!" ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
photo from Mereana Taki's page
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THIS IS A CREATION STORY
“Black powerful womanhood of Malaika-Tamu Cooper asks to be addressed in the present, and seen in the lights of the moments of an ancient past that assembled knowledge, power, and divinity into a form of beauty that surpassed the imaginations, inspired poetry, wars within, and families. The divinity of form, the definitions sung by peoples from other worlds into this terrestial existence fell on the dark earth of its first people: the dark women. These dark skinned mothers came from the darkness of transformation walking those corridors from one world to this world. The clarity of darkness they come from, and embody is different from racial distinctions. It is the beginning of knowledge, and the relationships within Creation that become patterns, and process.
Our mothers from Africa were old, and timeless. Immersed in the timeless quality of being Age became subservient to eternity, and only slowed a body to ready it for the next transition into the the next world. These are things I learned from the mother I come from, and the women I have loved and served in my lifetime. I am Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories”
MANHOOD TEACHING #12
Gii Taa'se gordy Williams Sr. - African Mohican Oneida
PART 12"On American soil Africans and Indians intermarried creating terror within whites. That union is the reason some of the existing tribes are alive today, and the reason millions of Africans are sound of mind and spirit today. The African slave of our homelands retained a great deal. The rhythms are profound. I can go on and on about it. As a musician I have played a wide variety of music. Hip Hop is a powerful voice. The underground Hip Hop culture is deeper, hip, and in tuned with many things. It has become the griot of a people, and peoples around the globe. Its very core is African." ~Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
Native American Apache Cheyenne woman
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
ACTIVISM
1. All actions must be based on compassion.
2. Compassion flows from the understanding of the Connection between all living beings.
3. Compassion must be applied with wisdom.
4. Apply synergy and teamwork to accomplish goals.
5. Spiritual Activism is the pursuit of service for the good of all, not for the advancement or benefit of individuals or selected communities.
6. Pursue Integrity , Honesty and Dignity in the conduct of your actions.
7. Do not defame your detractors or those who doubt you.
8. Raising another up raises you up as well.
9. Learn to listen to your heart not your mind.
10. Search out viable and sustainable solutions.
11. Do not judge yourself simply by the results of your actions.
12. Let Metta be the motivation for your actions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDvRqXnCYgQ&feature=player_embedded
http://humanityhealing.ning.com/video/the-12-keys-of-spiritual-1
Odalys Garcia sitting upon the water
Monday, April 12, 2010
Gnostic creation myths
photo: actress Gina Torres
Background: Gnosticism was sort of a variant of Christianity that existed until the late fifth century. It was more rooted in Greek philosophical traditions (and in the Syrian version of Zoroastrianism) than in Judaism. There wasn't really one single religion called Gnosticism, but rather a series of movements generally characterized by a belief in a secret knowledge ("Gnosis") imparted by God for the salvation of humanity, and an extreme duality between the material (which is very bad) and the spiritual (which is very good). Some went so far as to say that the Old Testament Creator of the Earth was really Satan, distinct from the divine and heavenly God of the New Testament. Under this circumstance they viewed death by self-inflicted starvation was the only correct answer. The point is that many of these people thought the bodies they lived in were horrible and irredeemable weights on their immortal souls.
Gnostics had a wide array of creation myths. One Gnostic myth says that humans existed in the distant past, but were destroyed by Darkness (or Satan or any of a number of evil Greek gods). Darkness then created Adam and Eve as a corrupted image (i.e. one in which the sinful/materialist acts like sex, eating, and the like are involved) of these ancient humans. Jesus was sent by God with secret gnosis to redeem these creatures from their evil, corporeal selves.
Another is the story of the 2nd century AD Egyptian Greek writer Hermes Trismegistus. He said man was created in the image of God, who is androgynous. God also created the Demiurge, who was the god of the material world. Man fell in love with the reflection of God in the waters of the material world, and went to look at it. This brought man under then control of the Demiurge, who created gender, the need for food, and so forth.
Most other Gnostic creation myths follow the general theme of a good, spiritual Creator God and a material seducer. The most interesting point is that the main creator is almost always the evil counterpart to God. Some scholars claim that the creation story in the Book of John ("In the beginning was the Word") is a variant on the Gnostic creation story, but I have not been convinced of this. "Logos" (Greek for "word") is a Gnostic construct, but using one Gnostic buzzword did not a Gnostic make.
Source: a half dozen religious studies classes and "Encyclopedia of Creation Myths" by David Adams Leeming with Margaret Adams Leeming (Denver: ABC-CLIO, 1994).
