We had a particularly powerful workshop last October with Rose De Dan of Wild Reiki and Shamanic Healing. According to Rose and other shamans who look at life from an alternative frame, Windwalker the cougar, near the end of his days, had hung onto life to be here through the last retreat of the year. People had flown in from around the country to see him one last time. Rose made him the focus of the workshop with ceremonies honoring him and his courage and beauty of spirit. Paralyzed in his hind legs, he lay regally and greeted each participant with warmth and dignity, purring his way through the entire visit. People in turn helped him into his wheelchair, groomed him, lay with him in the grass. At the end of the weekend Rose and Debbie, her assistant, came to say goodbye, realizing they would not see him again in this world. Windwalker, who had been unable to walk for weeks, struggled to his feet. Step by difficult step he managed to unsteadily but purposefully make his way over to meet them. Tears streaming, Rose and Debbie said goodbye. Windwalker passed away peacefully in Jean’s arms a few weeks later.
The entire weekend had such moments of power and beauty. At the end one of the participants, a Native American pipe carrier in the Lakota Sioux tradition, handed us a check. She said “You need to have a sacred white buffalo calf on the land.” We were stunned. To have such a responsibility and honor, caring for a representative of a people’s sacred tradition is daunting. But it is a gift one cannot refuse.
She said “The white buffalo teachings are very significant to many of the tribes, teaching the correct way of interacting with each other, pulling the tribe together. She teaches the value of right relationship with the people; the land. At the time the white buffalo came to the Lakota they were in conflict and she brought unity. She left them with the Sacred Pipe as a way to communicate with the Great Spirit, teaching unity and coming back around in full circle.”
I asked her why she was giving this to Earthfire. She replied “The land here is ancient Indian ground. This is a way to honor the elders, the ancient ones who have come before us. Earthfire’s vision is of teaching people how to come back into circle through animals. It all just fit.” She dedicated her gift to Chief Buddy Redbow and Sequoia, whose teachings were all about right relations.
In a book called White Buffalo Teachings by Chief Arvol Looking Horse he wrote: “Nineteen generations ago the beautiful spirit we now refer to as White Buffalo Calf Woman brought the Sacred C’anupa (Sacred Pipe) to our People. She taught the People the Seven Sacred Rites and how to walk on Mother Earth in a sacred manner. Pte-san win-yan. As she left, she turned into a young beautiful white buffalo and then she walked over the hill and out of sight. This is where she received her name, White Buffalo Calf Woman. She gifted us with the Seven Sacred Rites that still sustain our People today. The person who smokes the sacred pipe achieves union with all Beings. By smoking this C’anupa, you will make direct personal contact with the Great Mystery. . . Following the Way of this Sacred C’anupa, you will walk in a sacred way upon the earth, for the Earth is your grandmother and your mother and she is sacred. . .”
“She told us her Spirit would return to help us one day in times of great hardship, and that we would recognize her.”
How do you find a white buffalo calf? We did the research and located a place that raised buffalo that carried white buffalo genes. We put in a request. We waited. We prepared as best we could mentally.
Five days ago we got a call. . . a little white buffalo girl had just been born! And now she is here. Every day she grows stronger. We wait with anticipation to see what she will teach.
White Buffalo Teachings by Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Pipe of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Great Sioux Nation HYT Publishing www.haveyouthought.com.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse talks about his hopes for world peace between all nations. “I encourage the Nations to pray in their own ways and to revive their own ancient traditions for love and respect, which are the foundations stones of all Indigenous cultures.” He ends the book with a prayer for All Our Relations . . . Mitakuye Oyasin.
He sniffed, explored, rustled in the grass. He had a glorious time. Then it happened . . .
Huckleberry Bear Bear wanted a nap.
Huckleberry Bear Bear found a cozy hole between two big rocks all hidden in some bushes. It was so inviting. Just right. He settled in.
He made himself comfortable. He even made a sun-warmed rock into a pillow. What a smart bear!
After a while we tried to bring him home. He didnt want to move. As a matter of fact he refused to budge. We watched the cold rain clouds move closer and the sun begin to set.
But Huckleberry Bear Bear is 700 pounds. That is a lot of bear for any human to try to move.
You have to be patient with a bear. You can’t raise your voice; you can’t hurry him along. You are now on bear time and that’s final.
“Huckleberry Bear Bear”, we were thinking, “its only 500 ft. back to were we started. Come on Huckleberry Bear Bear!”
He was lying on his ample belly. We enticed him with marshmallows, his favorite treat. (Most of the time he gets fresh fruits and vegetables but in an emergency you do what you have to do. . .) He would roll out his long long tongue and snap it back with the marshmallow on its sticky tip. If we put it just out of reach he would heave his bulk just far enough along the ground to reach it, but if we put it too far away he would say no way. Not worth the trouble. Little by little Huckleberry Bear Bear moved, up one inch, back six. “Come on Huckleberry Bear Bear”, we yelled in our heads. But what could we do but wait?
So we waited. . . . . . and waited. . . . . . and waited. . . . .
And then it happened. He decided to go home.
It only took three whole bags of marshmallows and an hour and a half of patience to get him there. And the cold cold rain held off just long enough.
Next time, we will look at the weather before we start a bear walk.
But no matter what, you are a good bear Huckleberry Bear Bear.
“All the king’s marshmallows and all the king’s men, couldn’t get Huckleberry Bear Bear back home again.”
Inspired by Rose DeDan’s shamanic journey with our cougar Windwalker soon after he left the earth, an artist and a musician from California Institute for the Arts, who had been touched deeply during his life, worked together to express Rose’s vision through music and film.
Once a month the Earthfire staff congregates in the yurt for dinner and creative thought. At our last session we were delighted with the company of Cucumber the wolf. She was a great addition to our party as she greeted everyone therefore giving the staff a moment into her world as she explored ours.
Once a week we do a meditation on Earthfire’s vision which includes Hannah, a volunteer who lives in England. We start at 7:30 am our time and she at 2:30 her time. At the end of an hour she gives us a call and we discuss what arose for each us. This time she said a bit sheepishly, “What came up for me was carrots. Images of carrots.” At first I thought she said parrots and I thought of a remarkable one I knew but she said, “No, CARROTS. Does that make any sense?”
I told her what happened yesterday:
Robert, our farrier, had come to trim the feet of Jenny, the very ancient donkey we are honored to care for. She is very very ancient. When we first got her several years ago the vet came to examine her. We asked her age, he said “ She was born before Nixon’s first term.”
I came out to meet Robert who had been looking her over. He said, “Susan, you’ve got to put Jenny down. She’s depressed, moping, in pain. The wound on her back isn’t healing and her feet are falling apart.” I said, “Please do her feet. She still wants her carrots. If she wants her carrots, she still has a zest for life, and I’m not going to take that from her.” I described how, as we led her to the area where he was going to work on her, we passed the bag of carrots I always bring out in preparation for the event. They were several yards away but she started veering towards them, catching the scent even in the cold air and through the plastic bag. Food is a big part of her life.
Robert started working on her feet as we fed her the carrots. She took them with her usual grumpy acceptance.
We shared our thoughts about when, if ever, does one euthanize an animal? He had worked on big ranches where the animals were generally put down rather than nursed, especially if they were no longer “useful.” But Jenny is very useful; let me count the ways:
1. She certainly considers herself useful to herself. She thinks she is quite important and lets us know her rights and demands and opinions without any hesitation.
2. We love her.
3. She adds great character to Earthfire. She is the first to scream for food in the mornings, her raucous bray ricocheting around the ranch. She is the first to scream for food in the evenings, the loudest voice of all the animals. When we try to sneak extra treats to her she always gives us away as we approach, and the other donkeys and horses and buffalo come pounding from across the field. If we try to sneak by her to go to the yurt, she gives us away again.
4. She also is adorable with a great soft fuzzy gray forehead, hair covering most of her soft brown eyes and the very best longest donkey ears.
5. She has presence and dignity. No pushing HER around.
6. And she leans into us for petting. How can that not be useful?
But basically we are very reluctant to take an animal’s life under any but the most dire circumstances, and with Jenny, certainly not if she still lusted for carrots. Robert really loves animals and horses and donkeys. As we talked he softened and said “Yes, I can see that way of doing things. I’m just not used to it.”
Because we respected his opinion we called Summer, our vet, to look at Jenny again, see if she was in pain, and to re-dress the wound on her back which was actually healing. Very slowly, but healing. She was certainly old, slow, a bit hang-dog and not enjoying the winter cold and deep snow. But she loved her attention, her hay, and her carrots. As a wild donkey captured many years ago from the wild, in the Bureau of Land Management wild horse and burros round-ups, she did not have carrots. They loom large in her world.
Summer said she didn’t think it was time, so we left things as they were, her dainty hooves trimmed to Robert’s artistic and exacting specifications.
Back to Hannah and her images of carrots. Why did that come up for her? Was it a coincidence? If it was from Jenny and her will to live, how did Hannah pick that up? How did Jenny convey that? She never met Hannah, who lives across the Atlantic ocean. That was the only image Hannah “got” during that meditation and it was a strong one; it kept coming up for her.
I wonder at the implications of events like this. It hints at a reality much larger and richer than the one we normally inhabit, just waiting for us to tune in and enjoy. A reality in which we are all connected in unseen ways and sometimes can feel, if we are able to be quiet inside and attend to the softer knowings that come to us.
As always, comments, stories and personal experiences welcome.
PS – I read somewhere that carrots share 50% of our DNA
Named after a passionate earth-mother wolf with a fire in her belly to protect anything vulnerable, Earthfire was founded in 2000 to develop a new model of relating to nature through the voices of the rescued wildlife>
The entire weekend had such moments of power and beauty. At the end one of the participants, a Native American pipe carrier in the Lakota Sioux tradition, handed us a check. She said “You need to have a sacred white buffalo calf on the land.” We were stunned. To have such a responsibility and honor, caring for a representative of a people’s sacred tradition is daunting. But it is a gift one cannot refuse.
In a book called White Buffalo Teachings by Chief Arvol Looking Horse he wrote: “Nineteen generations ago the beautiful spirit we now refer to as White Buffalo Calf Woman brought the Sacred C’anupa (Sacred Pipe) to our People. She taught the People the Seven Sacred Rites and how to walk on Mother Earth in a sacred manner. Pte-san win-yan. As she left, she turned into a young beautiful white buffalo and then she walked over the hill and out of sight. This is where she received her name, White Buffalo Calf Woman. She gifted us with the Seven Sacred Rites that still sustain our People today. The person who smokes the sacred pipe achieves union with all Beings. By smoking this C’anupa, you will make direct personal contact with the Great Mystery. . . Following the Way of this Sacred C’anupa, you will walk in a sacred way upon the earth, for the Earth is your grandmother and your mother and she is sacred. . .”
Summer said she didn’t think it was time, so we left things as they were, her dainty hooves trimmed to Robert’s artistic and exacting specifications.
Nomad Lives by Jennifer Sauer
