Sunday, March 27, 2011

Teaching of the Hummingbird

Just before I moved away from Victoria, an elder gifted me with a very special hummingbird necklace.
I knew it was special at the time but am now realizing how.....The teachings of the hummingbird have been unfolding for me ever since.


When I first got here I was just grateful to have this female greet me when I walked the dogs in our little scrap of green grass near our temp condo in downtown San Francisco.


When she visited me daily for 4 days in a row I knew she was special and carried a message for me, for 4 is a sacred number.

I thanked the elder again for sending this gift with me so far away; he then assured me I was being watched and taken care of by Ha Moo Moo

She not only took care of me but one day she took me her most personal space, her home. Very special!



When we moved to our new place in Glen Park last week I thought of my new friend and how I would miss her, only to find two other hummingbirds fighting in our yard! Territorial?
They didn't stick around and no further contact until yesterday.


Kris and I had just spent two days unpacking our stuff from Victoria. I was eager to unpack all of my herbs and medicine, but more importantly my sacred bundle.
A bundle can carry any number of objects that have spiritual significance to the owner.
My bundle contains many Indigenous sacred tools used for ceremony, healing and protection that have been gifted to me over many years.

I had decided to pack my bundle and sacred objects in my belongings as it is a lot harder to take things like feathers and sage across the border. I have known many respectable Native American leaders to be denied access to bring their bundles across the border, or to be harassed and ridiculed even though there are laws in place to protect Native rights to carry cultural objects. They don't call it "no man's land" for nothin!

Okay where was I???
O yes the bad news........

We unpacked all of the boxes to find my bundle missing. I was trying not to panic as we checked every box, cupboard, and drawer 3 more times. Nothing!
Thankfully I had packed several different things in several different boxes so all was not lost, regardless I was still devastated. I called the moving company hoping there was a mistake with no luck.



I then went into the backyard with the dogs and there she was! My friend hovering just above me to remind and guide me back to my traditional teachings.

Tho I will miss my bundle it is not really mine, one cannot own such things given by the Creator.
They are merely tools; which to use for the time allowed.
I do not know if these things will come back to me, go on to another or disappear. I was told to remember that these are just objects not meant to hold on to, of what I still have and the teachings that will soon come.







Kris then reminded me of the pile of Abalone shells tucked in the bushes in the yard and to go get one for my new smudge bowl

I must talk to the house owner to find out the origin of these shells
I have never seen them so big

Back home they are hard to come by and quite small

This is the one I picked or picked me and smudged the house with to cleanse and begin our new life.










Mitakuye Oyasin

Sunday, March 20, 2011

New Place

Finally moved in to our new place. Love it! The view's are amazing and we got some sun. We live far enough out of the city to have some green and quiet, but close enough so Kris, (my husband) doens't have to commute that far (about 30 minutes)


















Our place has 3 skylights so we have a lot of natural light. I think I will put my Herbal Pantry here as it is nice and dark (so the herbs and tinctures won't degrade) and there is a nice office space right across for storing larger things, mixing and keeping files.







The yard is smaller than what I was used to in Victoria but very pretty and with various fruit trees; nectarine, plum, lemon, apple and crabapple yum! 














There is not a lot of space for actual planting in the ground, so I'm planning a container garden for veggies and esp for herbs as a lot of them are vigorous growers.






I have some flexibility on planting with the owners in trade for keeping up the grounds and I can also do some planting in the boulevard across the street






The original owners loved to garden it's obvious, but I think with some cleaning up there will be plenty of space to work with. In Canada we really are spoiled with a lot of land per person, more than we need really. This will be good for me to appreciate more the things I have taken for granted, and the good fortune I have today. I feel truly blessed.

Friday, March 18, 2011

White Buffalo Calf Woman

The story of White Buffalo Calf Woman

"This holy woman brought the sacred buffalo calf pipe to the Sioux. There could be no Indians without it. Before she came, people didn't know how to live. They knew nothing".(Chasing Horse)


Long ago the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Nation came together and camped. There was no game and the people were starving and every day they sent out scouts and every day they came back with nothing.
One day a chief sent out two hunters to find some game. They climbed up a high hill to try to see far, off in the distance they saw something coming near them. As the figure came closer it seemed to be floating toward them and covered in beautiful white robes.
Soon they saw the figure was a beautiful young woman in white buckskin carrying a bundle.
Both men watched in awe as she approached them, one young man was filled with desire and had impure thoughts about her; he suddenly was covered in a cloud and turned to dust. The other man knew she was very sacred and respected her and she said to him; "good things I am bringing to your people, go back and tell them to prepare for me and I will return in four days"
The man returned to the people telling of the sacred woman and how they needed to prepare for her return and so they did.
Four days later she came to the camp with a bundle, which carried a sacred pipe. She instructed them on the teachings of the pipe and how to use it for it would take care of the people. With the chanupa wakan (sacred pipe) also come seven sacred ceremonies to  keep the sacred hoop united and the buffalo nation would feed the people.
She instructed the people on many teachings of how to pray and how to live in a good way.
As she got up to leave she told the people that she would return again and as she got further in the distance she rolled on the ground and came up a black buffalo, she then rolled again and came up a brown buffalo, next a red buffalo and finally the fourth time she turned into a white buffalo calf.
As soon as she disappeared into the distance herds of buffalo appeared to offer themselves to the people so they would live, and from that day forward the great buffalo gave the people everything they needed to survive.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

First Blog Ever

Aho,

I'm finally setting up a blog...been talking about this for a long long time.
What prompted this endeavor is the big move from Victoria to San Francisco. I've been in San Fran 3 weeks now and I'm out of my element, my insane busyness, my comfort zone....what I'm saying is, I finally have time on my hands to write! And to figure out all this computer stuff! which, I am really not good at, or more like couldn't be bothered to learn. I'd rather be outside!
I was pretty proud of myself to have figured out most of this blog thing, so bear with me on the design, layout, content, as I am sure it will be changing quite a bit over the next couple of months.

All in all the transition down the coast has been pretty painless, other than still having to wait for most of my herbs and supplies for making medicine. It's probably for the best as I would be buried in work and not out exploring this amazing city...that's pretty well my MO most of the time...working or gardening.

Of course the first thing on the agenda was finding herbs and other herbies. I have to say I'm surprised I've only found 2 places for herbs; Scarlet Sage Herbs on Valencia has a bit of everything product wise and a great bulk herb selection but couldn't really help me when I asked about what's going on in San Fran for herbies, I was directed to a bulletin board hidden in the back of the store. The other shop San Francisco Herbs is more of a bulk wholesale place for herbs, kinda like a Costo for herbs.
Actually the highlight so far has been finding Rainbow Grocery Co-op, just happened upon it on my way to the herb shops. They carry a huge selection of vitamins, supplements, bulk herbs, produce, groceries and lots of gluten free fresh baked goodies!

So as long as my tummy is happy everything else will fall into place! Plus I will have fun finding more places to haunt.

That's it for now!
Pics coming soon....