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 The direction of the West
represents introspection - looking for knowledge within
ourselves. Here is what we find that we need to change to make
progress in our lives. This is the emphasis of the West - change
and transition.
The direction of the East is our beginning of knowing who the
"self" is. The direction of the South allows us to
take this knowledge and bring about healing. The direction of
the West deepens this knowledge
through dreams and visions of the future and brings about
transformation.
The quality embraced by the West is that of change and
transformation. Here we begin to understand karma - our life
patterns, what our lessons have been, and what we need to let go
of to continue our learning.
The totem of the West is the Bear. Bear brings us strength and
connection to Mother Earth, and represents the quality of
introspection. Bear seeks truth.
The power of the Bear is the power of knowing, the power that
allows one to enter dreamtime and walk the path of questing for
answers - the internal path.
The element of the West is water. This refers not necessarily so
much to the physical quality of water, or even its ability to
cleanse, but to the essence of water - that it flows through
life. Here we are asked to allow our emotions to flow freely.
The color of the West is Black. Not the black of "nothingness",
but the black of "all things". It is the color of mystery and of
the unconscious.
The Kingdom associated with the West is the Mineral Kingdom.
This is the kingdom that holds and controls energy. It holds
knowledge of our past and our future. Through the mineral
kingdom we heal ourselves by finding our connection with both
the past and the future.
The time period of the West is the present. The present is the
only place that we can invoke change. Our future is created by
the beliefs that we hold in the present. Changing those belief
patterns changes our future.
The season of the West is Autumn - a time of gentle change
brought about through turning inward.
Use the time of the West wisely to see how your current goals
are affecting your future.
PREPARATION FOR WEST CEREMONY
November 14, 2004 4pm Sacred Space
Bring your Sacred Object
Bring your Journal & Written work
Bring Your Shield
MASK CEREMONY The
ceremony begins at sunset; wear a skirt or cloth as an act of
sacred worship. Bring sage and tobacco. Wrap your mask in red
natural cloth, like cotton. Bring an object to bury in the earth
to leave there...it's a give-a-way. Build a Medicine Wheel and
before entering, sage and enter in the East. Sage the Wheel,
your mask and object. Call in the four directions and offer
each direction some tobacco. Bury the mask in the West (inside
your Medicine Wheel). There will be an aspect of your shadow to
be released and/or what's preventing your being true to
yourself. The Mask in buried in the earth face up, wrapped in
cloth. Gently put dirt on top of the mask, and take some time
reflecting on your journey. Offer the give-a-way to Mother Earth
in the North by burying it also, and ask Spirit for guidance as
you continue your walk on the Good Red Road. At sunrise, enter
the Wheel in the East. Take your Mask out of the earth and face
the North...hold your mask up to Great Spirit and ask your mask
to share with you Who You Are! For the next seven days meditate
with your mask. Whatever you need to know about yourself will be
revealed to you. |
Homework for the WEST
Journal
Continue to journal on the qualities of the West.
Spend time in a Medicine Wheel.
Reflect and journal.
Hang your Shield.
The medicine shield is an expression of the unique gifts that
it's maker wishes to impart about his or her current life
journey. This can be a new level of personal growth, or
illustrate the next mountain a person wishes to climb.
Make a Mask.
The medicine shield is an expression of the unique gifts that
it's maker wishes to impart about his or her current life
journey. This can be a new level of personal growth, or
illustrate the next mountain a person wishes to climb.
The Medicine Way (Kenneth
Meadows)
Let light enfold me
That my inward eye may see clearly
The Path that lies ahead.
Let my mind be opened up
That I may recognize
The signposts along the Way.
Grant me the wisdom
That comes from understanding
The true from the false.
And guide my steps
So that should I falter or stumble,
Tripped by former beliefs
That blind me still
I may go forward with courage
And with the determination
Which persistence bears.
Let me be embraced
With the Love by which
The whole Creation is moved.
The very Essence with which
All things are held together
Dependent yet independent
Whole yet individuated.
In which all are my relatives.
Let me know the way
This is the Beauty Way
The beautiful way
Where all who will
May walk in Beauty
And where the end of the Path
Is but a new beginning
To my infinity.
And every new beginning
Another ever-present moment
In Eternity.
Sweet Darkness (David Whyte)
When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.
When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.
Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.
There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.
The dark will be your womb tonight.
The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.
You must learn one thing...
the world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness to learn.
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
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