“Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind rest at peace. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return. They grow and flourish and then return to the Source. Returning to the Source is stillness, which is the way of Nature. The way of Nature is unchanging.” ~Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching
what an extraordinary/ordinary anniversary day marking the 45th moment of sun gazing on the 279th day of the poetic peace pilgrimage in the 9th moon on my mother’s 94th birthday which falls on the International Day of Peace – such a wealth of riches… the energy of 9 is reverberating and echoing and cascading today… harvesting, completion, letting go… a moment of saluting endings/beginnings, evolving into light, expanding into love… embodying 9’s energy as Hermit, Hermes with the lamp radiating wisdom for all to share, riding a peace wave of superabundance flowing in the blessingway of unconditional infinite love and gratitude… may we all rest peacefully in the lap of the divine mother warmed by the embrace of the central sun…
and, may this celebration of peace take flight around the world with every breath, in every moment, on every day… may we be peace now and now and now…
~
Chinook Blessing
We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring heights,
its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the mountains, Saddle mountain and Wahkiakum mountain, the Willapa Hills, the summits of intense silence, and we ask that they:
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the waters that rim the earth, the waters of
Our great river the I-a-gayte-imas, the waters of Willapa Bay,
And all of the waters the flowing [sic] our rivers and streams, the water that falls
Upon us, and we ask that they
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing
Soil that sustains our lives, we ask that they
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the forests, the great cedar trees reaching
Strongly to the sky with earth in their roots and the heavens in their
Branches, cedar tree is the keeper of all
Knowledge, and we ask them to
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the
Seas, our brothers and sisters Lilu the Wolf, Emulak the elk,
And Mauich the Deer, Chak-cahk the Eagle, the great
Whales and the Sturgeon, and the Salmon people who share
Our Chinook waters
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our
Ancestors and our friends, who dreamed the best for future
Generations, and upon whose lives our lives are built, and
With thanksgiving, we call upon them to
Teach us, and show us the Way.
And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the
Presence and power of the Great Spirit
Which flows through all the Universe, to be with us to
Teach us, and show us the Way.
Delivered by Chinook Tribal Chief Gary Johnson in Chinook homelands, November 18, 2005.