wisdom

The Four Sisters of Everlasting Beauty – January 2023

From Shaman's Circle, 1996, by Nancy Wood

The Four Sisters of Everlasting Beauty danced on a mountaintop 
      in order to summon fire from deep within the earth. They 
      danced until flames poured from within veins in the rock, 
      cleansing them of selfishness and blame. The First Sister

Was the Dancing Woman of Mirth, whose direction was East. She wore 
      yellow, the color of awakening moments. She brought laughter,
      the first necessity in a world of sadness. The First Sister said:
      The spirit of laughter is the same as wind or water. It soothes

The troubled earth and makes hard edges disappear, even in the face of 
      sorrow. The Second Sister was the Woman of Long Experience, 
      whose direction was South. She wore blue, the color of memory. 
      She brought the imprint of fossils, also a collection of bones, the

Second necessity in a world filled with self-importance and envy. The 
      Second Sister said: The spirit of fossils and bones is the same as
      long memory, a connection to the ancestors. It reminds the sick of health

And to the healthy gives warning of their mortality. The Third Sister
      was the Woman of Unfulfilled Dreams, whose direction was West.
      She wore red, the color of purpose and daring. She brought tears,
      the third necessity in times when cleansing is required. The Third Sister

Said: The Spirit of weeping is nothing more than human rain, shed for loss 
      as well as love, and for children we never had. The unfulfilled
      dreams of warriors and women, of birds taken from the nest, and of 
      animals denied their place in life, justify my gift of tears.

The Fourth Sister was the Retreating Woman of Consciousness, whose 
      direction was North. She wore white,
      the color of beginning anew. She brought awareness, the fourth necessity 
      in a world of schemes and invention. The Fourth Sister said:
      Honor yourself before all else and you will embrace
      all life. All direction. All stars. All light.

And the other Three Sisters agreed.

Daughters of the Earth – October 2022

From Sacred Fire, 1998, by Nancy Wood

Daughters of the Earth, your path is strewn with stones
sharp enough to sever determination from your bones.
Nothing is as it should be anymore. Our hearts
are on the ground. Our inheritance is shattered.

Daughters of the Earth, your spirit is in danger
of suffocation. Old ideas will crush it. Indifference
will rob your house of meaning. Men are deaf
to your songs, but you must sing them anyway.

Daughters of the Earth, wisdom will save you
from being swallowed by conformity. Do not grieve
for the world of your ancestors,
but create a new horizon from the gifts
they left on the pathways of your mind.

The Breath of Fire – February 2022

From Sacred Fire, 1998, by Nancy Wood

 

The sacred mountains call to me when life becomes

too hard to bear

and all that stands between me and despair is

a little waterfall. With each mile I climb,

my sadness melts away

and I feel my old self returning.

The sacred mountains cure my anger

and replenish my will to resist

those who would diminish me.

 

In wildness, I am made whole by beauty.

In wildness, I am humbled by majesty.

In wildness, I am content to find

eternity in a buttercup

and courage in a drop of rain.

I give to you this life – December 2021

From War Cry on a Prayer Feather, 1979, by Nancy Wood

 

I give to you this life

which is not the only life I have.

I am the forest living and dying.

I am the melancholy of falling leaves.

I am eternity in green.

I am water flowing strongly

Not in the lifetime of one man only

But down the rocks of generation

Across old deserts of humiliation

I run in anticipation toward the sea.

I give to you this life

which is the outer garment only.

I have clothed myself in riches

Sewn by hands in praise of home.

I am made of pollen and wings and bone.

I am wind reflected in moonlight.

I am ice crying out for food.

I am fire embedded in stone.

I am fields released by sun.

I give to you this life

claimed by what I do not own.