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.
wisdom
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.
What remains beyond us to know – August 2021
From War Cry on a Prayer Feather, 1979, by Nancy Wood
What remains beyond us to know
Is sought as meaning and reason
And the obsession to open the universe
Is excused as understanding nature.
In order to use life well
We must surrender our importance
And open ourselves to nature
To discover the universe there.