PRACTICE 22

There is a point in time we die, and a point in time we live on the threshold of our deaths. Death and our deaths are two different selves of the same parentage of the same essence, but different intents and points of viewing an individual. When a person makes covenant with his death it engages and increases the potency of Life, and his life is more luminous than ever since childhood, or first birth. Dying, leaving the body, is a final resolution to agreements made before first births that mean something of equal importance to Life is in conflict with what tries to contain it, and Death, as an entity, forces Life to be more than Death. Love is stronger than Death, but only by agreements, specific agreements and relationships with what needs to be understood as a warrior, a magician, a Life Giver, or an undertaker. 

Sometimes death appears in a form you are comfortable with or recognize and acknowledge as valid with its muted yellows, oranges, blues, and reds resigned to cohabit with shadows and blacks and muted greys. Death will stand very still looking at you without a hint of impatience, or expectation. If Death's presence scares you that is one story different from the lack of fear another feels seeing Death. The indifference to one's own death is from relationship with Creation and Creator, and an understanding of one's spirit and how things move together in the circles that become concentric. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 12.13.13





mysterious woman with hands around her

UGallery.com
October 14, 2013
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BLOOD MEMORIES

absolute beauty of a Mashpee Wampanoag woman - Cheryl

Great strides have been made to liberate Western women from the shackles of historical tyrannies administered by church and state. Some things were lost over the centuries of Western domination, and thought. In the wake of so much upheaval of European, and American social structures the divinity and the sacredness of womanhood, motherhood, the breasts, and the sanctity of the womb; of the punany were barely regarded in the political forays into the intellectual and emotional drama of changing the lives and conditions of Western women for the better! In that mix white Americans, for example, have all but forgotten the importance of the Black African slave mothers who raised generations of white boys and girls during slavery, and the Black mothers employed during long period of neo-slavery from the aftermath of the Civil War through the dawn of World War II.

When Moses was found by the Pharaoh's daughter, and his mother came out of the reeds and offered to be the handmaiden she deepened, and raised the level of sacrifice, and emphasis, and power of blood covenant far beyond the sacrifices, and the meaning of covenants laid by men in her time, and of her culture. In her time the Hebrew men laid covenants between one another. There were seven (7) steps to that ritual.

Standing before each other in front of witnesses each man takes off his coat. The gesture says, "this (coat) represents me. I am giving you me. We possess each other". Next they take off their belts. The belts represents one's strength. It is the symbol of a man's strength. This is where the weapons are worn. The third step is central to the ceremony and the point I want to make. An animal is sacrificed and split in two."The halves are split amongst us and put behind us".  The two men walk through the mounds of blood, and flesh making a figure 8 (the symbol of infinity) until they are standing face to face in the center of blood. They are inside death prepared.

What supports and builds community and relationships better: the letting or the giving of blood? The Hebrew covenant ceremony was between men. It was inclusive. Each man's family and generations were included in the ceremony. Vows were made when each man slashed their wrists or palms, placed their wrists in the air and locked them together. In their vow they are beginning to enter Blood Covenant prepared to die as the animals had died.

"My life is yours. If we break this covenant Let God do this to me!" they said looking at the dead flesh surrounding them

The scars say, "I have made a covenant for life and it is a responsibility. What talents I do not have I now have through this new relationship." The witnesses hear all the terms of the covenant, and a memorial is built to the covenant. In the end a loaf of bread is broken and shared between the friends saying to each other, "This is me into you. We are one flesh of each other's flesh." A cup of wine is shared that tells the two and the witnesses present; "This is my blood. It has become yours as you drink. We are together. We are blood-relatives for life."

I purposely severely limited the number of wombs I entered. One of the reasons was a logical one. There is a distinction between intimacy and sexual intercourse, and the two I envisioned as a teenager, but at 13 years of age it was taught to me quite clearly: make it now. I made the choice thus embarking upon a journey of such magnificence and magnitude! Women's Moontime opens them up to the energies of the Moon, Water, and Earth Mother. What that feels like, as a woman, I know not.

~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 3.16.12

absolute & compelling black power within Kina

"Waabizheshi and the Mermaid"

"Aaniin. Biindigen! Hello, welcome to this blog!

Today's blog story is the first in a new series named "Love Stories From the Land of Many Lakes". 

It is a collection of love stories written and illustrated by myself and Simone McLeod. The stories are based on aadizookaanan (traditional stories) of our People, the Ojibwe Anishinaabeg from Gaa-zaaga'eganigak, the land of many lakes - the Great Lakes area of North America.

The stories are of a sacred, healing nature and told within a romantic context, their allegorical themes often provided with a personal touch.

Today, we tell the zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan (sacred love story) of Waabizheshi and the Mermaid.* 

To our ancestors, Mermaids were metaphorical interpretations of fish, symbolizing temptation, their nature combining the qualities of beauty and treachery. Like Mermen, they belong to the world of the fish spirits. They are one of the giigoonhyag (fish clans), known for long life and baldness in old age." 

Love Stories From The Land Of Many Lakes, part 1

"A new story told and illustrated by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik"



Ahaw, 'ngad aadzooke, “Now, I will tell a traditional story.”


Once upon a time two young men of the Ojibwe nation, named Name and Waabizheshi, were out fishing when a ferocious storm arose forcing them to take refuge on the shores of the bay. As the evening fell and they were lying comfortably underneath a shelter they had constructed of giizhikaandagoog (cedar branches) and watching the camp fire they heard above the thunder of the waves the melancholic, even mournful voice of a woman coming from the shore.

Then, above the thunder of waves and the lamenting woman’s voice, they heard another, even stranger voice, singing:

“Her head hangs low

as the days go on

nights are so lonely

she thought she had won

a heart that never knew

where true love hid

look up sweet mermaid

see what you did

shadows dancing past

in the moonlight glow

the scent of his skin

is one that you know

one up so high

he can only be the sky

dare you venture forth

never asking why?

oh but his world is not

where you belong

hold onto your gifts

learn how to be strong

sitting on a rock

when sun is reaching out

does he even hear you

when you're too shy to shout

lay your sleepy head

on the floor of the sea

hair so beautiful

a sight as black as night can be

curls that can rival

ocean’s strongest waves

a smile destined to make

any men her slaves

but sweet mermaid

your dilemma I do see

you only love the unknown one

the man you will never see...”

Waabizheshi rushed down to the beach. In doing this, he ignored the warnings of his wise friend who understood that the deep melancholy of the strange song was extremely dangerous because it was capable of drowning out a man’s own voice of reason and sense of self. Waabizheshi, however, was sure that the woman the strange voice sang about was in distress and, as he saw no one on the beach, he jumped into the rolling waves of the bay.

Waabizheshi thought he saw sitting on a rock in the water a beautiful woman with long pitch-black hair, thick and curly. But as soon as he reached the rock he was immediately pulled under! He passed out and when he regained consciousness, tayaa! he found himself amid aadizokanaa giigoonhyag (Fish-beings) who were part human and part fish and who, as he would find out later on, were able to shape shift in either a water being or a human being!

The Fish-beings told Waabizheshi that after drowning he had traveled through 4 levels of life and death before arriving in this strange land on the bottom of the lake.


Upon hearing this Waabizheshi shouted that he wanted to return to his people in the Land of the Living, but alas, the giigoo ogimaa (spokesman of the Fish-beings) shook his silver-gray head, telling him that this was not possible. Waabizheshi was told that the beautiful curly-headed woman who had lured him into the waters of the bay and into the Land of the Fish-beings had fallen in love with him. Waabizheshi was to marry her and they would have many children together and he would help the other Fish-beings to bring as many as possible of the Ojibwe to this new underwater land.

Understanding that he had no choice, Waabizheshi accepted his fate, knowing that there was no way he could ignore the love that the beautiful Nibiinaabekwe, whose name means Sleep Being Woman, held for him. At first, Waabizheshi felt no love for her, but one evening he heard her sing in a low and quiet voice:

“I close my eyes

attempt to sleep

upon my lids

what is this I see

his crooked smile

lines of his face

how he puts me

in a happy place

first thing I see

at morning’s light

last thing I say

at dark of night

a man whose skin

I have never touched

how can it be

I love him so much…”

Upon hearing Nibiinaabekwe sing her quiet love song, Waabizheshi fell in love with her and he finally consented to marry her. As predicted by the giigoo-ogimaa, they had many curly-headed children together. Waabizheshi was happy and content in his new land and his new family on the bottom on the lake. But since he was a curious person he asked Giigoo ogimaa if he could return to the Land of the Living to visit his parents. Gigoo ogimaa, knowing he could trust Waabizheshi, granted him and his children permission to visit the Land of the Living, but since he was a very wise fish person, he warned Waabizheshi that his visit might cause sorrow for him and his children, and also among his people, the Ojibwe. Waabizheshi, taking the ogimaa’s advise at heart, decided to go without his children.

Digi-painting "The Love Story Of Waabizheshi And The Mermaid " by Simone McLeod and Zhaawano Giizhik (2013).

Short after Waabizheshi resurfaced he found himself on the very same beach he had left, and to his surprise the gale was still raging and his friend Name was still calling his name over the waters of the bay!

Waabizheshi was struck dumb with astonishment and surprise. That he had gone to the land beneath the lake, married, and fathered children while the same storm was still beating the coastline and Name was shouting his name through the wind, was truly incomprehensible to him. Could his new life down there have happened in just the blink of an eye? Could it be that his descent to the lake’s underworld was measured by another time than the linear rule of time that governed the upper earth?

“Niijii! Maampii!” (Friend, I’m here!), Waabizheshi yelled out above the thundering waves and screaming gale, and he swam toward his friend who stood on the shore, transfixed to the earth and looking pale, his eyes showing anxiety and consternation. “Tayaa!” Name stammered. “You are nothing more than jiibay, a ghost! The treacherous Sleep-Being-Woman has seized you! How many times have you been warned that your curiosity would get you killed one day! What shall I tell your parents?”

Waabizheshi, smiling, placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Do not blame yourself niijii, what has happened was not your fault. And do not feel sorry for me, because I am perfectly happy with my new life. Do not bother, I will go to my parents myself.”


Waabizheshi left his friend on the shore and appeared to his parents in their dreams, recounting his adventures with the Fish People as if it happened years ago, although in their perception of time, it had happened last night.

Upon seeing their lost son his mother started to cry and his father lamented, “We warned you of Sleep-Being-Woman so many times but you didn't listen. Now she has taken hold of you, my son. And we will never see you again in this life.” He too started to weep.

Waabizheshi, however, did his best to console his parents, telling them how happy he was among the Fish-beings and telling them about their grandchildren, and he tried to convince them to return with him to the Land of the Fish-beings so that they could live with his family. But alas, no matter what he said, they refused with a shudder.

Waabizheshi, saddened that his parents would never meet their grandchildren, returned to his adoptive people, the Fish-beings. And although his heart was heavy with grief, he longed to see his curly-haired wife and his curly-haired children and he was glad that he would never have to live in the upper world again.

Giiwenh. Miigwech gibizindaw noongom mii dash gidibaajimotoon wa’aw zaagi'iwewi-aadizookaan. Bi-waabamishinaang miinawaa daga!

So the story goes. Thank you for listening to us today, to let us tell you about this sacred love story. Please come see us again!

symbol of infinity

HEBREW COVENANT ceremony is ancient. It is old and timeless in its importance. There are many stories in the world holding both the world, and worlds together. In this telling I want you, the reader, to be satisfied knowing the people of the Hebrew tribe were as dark as the other nationalities in the Bible with the exception of the only two white nations: the Romans and the Greeks. This settles the controversy of image so important, and fundamental to the spiritual development of anyone professing Judaism, Christianity as their faith.

There is a covenant ceremony, ancient of days, King Saul's son Jonathan, and later to be king David performed together. It isn't understood by Western Christians the depth of the ceremony. All it entailed is not apparent to the average reader, but to initiates the slight references in the story is enough said to connect them to the significance and powers of covenant. Covenants made include all children, born and unborn. The Hebrew tribe believed the children were in the father's loins. Those children remain in the covenant until the age of understanding and choice. They decide, then, whether to keep it or not. God taught man from the beginning to cut blood covenant. (Hebrews 10:15-22)

There are seven (7) steps to the Hebrew covenant ceremony, and four (4) important things to be brought to the sacred space: one's weapons, an animal, bread, and wine. Blood covenant is between two (2) people who bind themselves to the other before God, and witnesses.

Facing each other they take their coats off saying, "This represents me. I am giving you me. We possess each other." The belts come off each saying to the other, "This represents my strength. The belt is where my weapons are worn. Here is my strength." Next an animal is brought into the middle of the sacred space killed and split in two (2), The halves are split amongst the two (2) men and put behind them. The men walk a figure eight (8) through the mounds of blood until they come to the center and stand face to face inside death prepared. Together they say, "We are beginning to enter Blood Covenant prepared to die as this animal. My life is yours. If we break this covenant," pointing to the dead animal, "Let God do this to me!

Now we are ready to cut ourselves. We take knives and slash our wrists (or palms) placing our wrists in the air and locking them together swear to the other that this is a life covenant. Now we are blood brothers. We are flesh and our names change and intermingle like our blood!

God bless You from blood covenant; if it kills me I will bless you."

The fourth (4) step is the scar made from the cut. The scar says, "I have made a covenant for life and it is a responsibility. What talents I do not have I now have through this new relationship."

The fifth (5) step involves the witnesses hearing the terms of the covenant. In asking of the other the two (2) men say, "May God watch between you and me." as they build a memorial to the covenant as they see fit. This is the sixth (6) step. The seventh (7) and final step centers around the meal. A loaf of bread is broken and fed to the friend. The act says, "This is me into you. We are one flesh of each others flesh." A cup of wine is shared. The wine says to one and all: "This is my blood. It has become yours as you drink. We are together. We are blood-relatives for life."

CARRIE ANN INABA: engagement

"One of the challenges of watching television is not to become cynical, and hard hearted. In the wake of the loss of moral compasses it is impossible for immature people to navigate through television programming and advertisements and find themselves, and have a solid grasp on the complexity of American life. They usually are tightly wrapped in mummy cloth with too many pieces of truth, and lies, and not enough analytical abilities, education or discernment and no control over the images threading through their minds into action. One of the losses of the soul for many American viewers is the profound conditions of covenant within marriage, and the ritual of covenant now dead to Christian practice and theology, but fundamental to the relationships between men in the old days of the nomadic Hebrew tribes, and important to women because it was part of a woman's survival mechanisms..."  ©Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

Carrie Ann Inaba kissing fiance on Regis & Kelly show after his proposal & her acceptance !!!!

Carrie Ann Inaba's engagement story was a beautiful surprise on the Regis & Kelly show. If I hadn’t learned how to watch the Regis & Kelly show I would’ve missed it. For most of its time on television the show turned me off. It was a show for older white middle class Americans to be amongst their own with their white hair entertained by someone who reflected their value system. Every group deserves their own and I wouldn’t begrudge them that. It just wasn't for me until a few years ago when Kathy Lee Gifford was co-hosting and her effervescence caught me up in Tinker Bell dust and her enthusiasm, and the fun she exuded tasted good. It felt good. Regis Philbin himself remained uninteresting though not as dull, conservative and predictable as Wheel of Fortune host, Pat Sajak until Regis' wife, Joy, hosted the show one day. My God! I couldn't see the man until I saw his wife!

Elegant, fine, beautiful, articulate, intelligent, supportive, understanding, cultivated married to a man who, for me, symbolized an era, and body of white male energy cloaked in the smart sophistication white men enjoyed in Jim Crow days. Flaunting their masculinity, and silently condoning socially inappropriate modalities that did not benefit Black people, for example, Black men had to employ defense mechanisms to psychological combat the social expectations of their manhood. In the light of these times, the 21st century, simple-minded people cannot grasp what I’m saying, but it takes a man to see another man through the woman who married him. She carries the story of who he is at the deeper levels that are behind the image he projects into the mind of another, and the world, if he is a celebrity. ©Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

Joy Philbin & husband Regis at premiere of SEX & THE CITY 2010