Q:  What has to happen in each of us to produce the depth of healing that we are seeking for the planet?

Jade Wah'oo:  I think the first thing is the recognition that we are the Earth. There is no separation. We are not just critters scurrying about the face of the Earth. If we seek to heal the Earth, we must heal ourselves. And, conversely, if we seek to heal ourselves, then we must heal the Earth. These two are inseparable.

So of course it becomes the chicken-and-the-egg question: Which comes first? There is no ''first'' in this. As we heal ourselves, the Earth heals. As we give attention to the Earth in all her many manifest forms --not just as the planet, but all of our relations, the animals, the plants, the weather pattern -- we heal. We must include not just what we would normally consider sentient life or animated life, but rather the life of the mountains themselves, the life of the clouds, the life of the polar ice caps. These are all expressive aspects of the Earth just as we are expressive aspects of the Earth.

We've also come to the recognition, I think, in this day and age, of the holistic concept of healing, that we have to heal the psyche as well as the body, that we have to heal the mind and the soul. And in order to bring about this healing, we have to make changes in our lifestyles, our attitudes, our behaviors, as well as our interactions with the people around us.

Q:  When you spend time in the inner worlds and have communion as a shaman with your brothers and sisters of the Earth, what do they say?

Jade Wah'oo:  Well, I think, firstly, when I acknowledge and establish relationship with the Earth, such as when I go to construct the sweat lodge. I go to gather the willows in order to build the lodge. I make a prayer and I ask permission. And there is a joyful embrace, a weeping embrace: ''Oh, yes, please, please receive these willows.'' There is such an abundance of joy that someone cared to ask.

We can take this example when we go to build a home. We can make a prayer upon the Earth there and ask permission to place a home acknowledging, that we're going to be moving rocks and moving dirt. If we would simply ask permission, let it be known that we have a need, then the Earth wonderfully responds and usually says yes. We have to also honestly be willing to listen to when the Earth might say no -- when it's not appropriate to build. We must then have courage and integrity to follow through based on that response as well.

Q:  Have you ever had a ''no''?

Jade Wah'oo:  Oh, yes. I have had a no. And not just once or twice, but there's been a number of instances. There was one instance a number of years ago when there was a drought in Africa. I was asked if I could do something to relieve that drought.

Q:  Who asked you?

Jade Wah'oo:  It was a question brought forth by a member of the community I was a part of. So I went in and I asked the Earth Mother, ''May I do this? May I send rain to that part of Africa?'' And the answer was, ''No, you may not.'' And there was the follow-through feeling that it was for someone else to do. About a month later I heard that a Hopi elder, a grandmother, went to Africa and made prayers for the rain and the rains came. So clearly it was for her to do so, with whatever methods she carried along and with the magic that she worked. I could have done it; but had I, the message that would have carried through her might not have been communicated.

Q:  How can average people apply this story to their own lives?

Jade Wah'oo:  I think one of the things a person can do is recognize that the spirits, the aware forces of Creation, really, really listen. The spirits who take care of our weather listen to us. We as humans are so honored, held in such high regard by the spirits, and they do seek to please us.

So a person viewing the weather, for example, sees that it is about to rain or that it has been raining for a long period of time, and that person says, ''Oh, what nasty weather, what horrible weather!'' The spirits hear this, and they say, ''Oh, you don't want the rain! Well, then, we'll hold it back.'' So they begin to hold that rain back, and then a drought begins. And there's no water. There's no water for the crops. People then have to limit their water usage from their taps. There's no snow on the mountains for people to ski on. Soon people begin to complain, ''Well, where's our water? We need the water. We need to go skiing. We need to water our crops.'' And the spirits, in hearing this, say, ''We thought you didn't want it. You do want it? Well, then, here!'' And they release that water that they've held back. So what happens then is a torrential flood.

We can see this in everyday life. If you look back at the weather of the last couple decades, how intensely there are droughts followed by massive floods. This is a direct consequence of people's lack of understanding that they are communicating with the spirits whether they know it or not. These spirits are listening, and the weather is a direct consequence of our choices, our words, our thoughts, and our attitudes.

Q:  How can we change what is happening with the earth?

Jade Wah'oo:  First of all, I don't think we can look for some magic-wand immediate change. The environmental disasters and ecological collapse that we are on the edge of right now are the consequence of a couple hundred years of the industrial revolution. We can't expect that to change overnight.

If a person has mistreated and abused his body it may be too late for that body to heal. It may be that he has damaged himself to such a point that his immune system is shattered, that the cancer will take over his body, and that person may die. That may be the situation we are in. It's not a judgment visited from on high, rather it's a consequence of our own inattention to our needs and responsibilities.

Hopefully this situation will lead to a return of our attention to Spirit and our calling upon Spirit for help and even intervention. We know, as well, in working with individuals in spiritual healing, that there can be a reversal of immune disasters and of cancer. These healings take place all the time. If this is possible for the individual, then certainly it is possible for the collective whole. The collective whole being the Earth.

Q:  We're all part of the collective whole, yet it seems that there's a majority of the collective whole who appear, at least from what we can see, to be going in another direction.

Jade Wah'oo:  We've got a big job ahead of us. Yet in doing spiritual healing work with an individual it is not necessary to have total agreement by all rebellious or disaffected aspects of the person's psyche to bring about the healing. It is only necessary to engage those aspects that are willing and conscious, and marshal their forces, in order to bring harmony and balance within the whole. So we don't have to have one hundred percent agreement or redirection of consciousness; we just have to have enough of a momentum and significant impact in order to change the situation.

The condition of ourselves, individually and collectively as humans, is a direct statement of the state-of-being of the Earth, just as the condition of the Earth is a direct statement of our own state-of-being. So when we, individually and collectively, are filled with rage and conflict and hatred, these will show themselves as volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and winds of great force. When we bring about healing -- when we approach ourselves, our families, our communities, and our nations that inhabit this Earth with compassion and understanding and acceptance and relinquish those hateful feelings -- then the Earth will respond. The Earth will flourish. The Earth will be in abundance. Weather patterns will reestablish themselves in harmony and balance. The Earth will return to what it was intended to be: a place of peace and tranquility, a place where we can express ourselves freely and fully.

Q:  Are there places in the Earth where this is happening?

Jade Wah'oo:  Wherever you look to regions of the Earth where there are indigenous cultures that are still strong in their traditions and ways, you will find greater degrees of harmony and balance in terms of weather and environmental conditions.

However, indigenous cultures are not separated from the rest of humanity. They are part of humanity and that collective consciousness as well. Thankfully, we have at least enough positive influence coming into the collective consciousness to enable a greater degree of balance and harmony. But, conversely, the amount of control that the rest of the world may seek to exert on the forces of nature is going to have a negative impact on those people who are living in harmony and balance. We can't separate it.

Q:  Many people speak about the concept of Divine Order. Yet if we were to come from a place where everything is in Divine Order -- gave up the idea of control, looked at the situation we have here on the planet, and said that maybe there is some Divine Order to the situation that we have -- would that affect the planet in a different way?

Jade Wah'oo:  My understanding of Divine Order would be a condition of balance and harmony. What is required is the ability to discern with honesty the states of being in harmony and of being in disharmony. In regards to the healing of the Earth, we find ourselves in a state of disharmony. Our choices, actions, and behaviors, individually and collectively, apparently are leading to a great state of disharmony in the condition of the Earth. That would imply that we are acting in discord with Divine Order.

Q:  What would you suggest people do to move back into accord with Divine Order?

Jade Wah'oo:  Shamanizing is the birthright of every man, woman, and child on this planet. It is our innate, inherent spiritual statement of the communion and relationship with the forces of Creation. So, first of all, I would ask people to shamanize, to reestablish the relationship with the forces of nature around us. It doesn't have to be in ceremony. It doesn't have to be with any grand gestures.

Q:  So the unseen world is listening?

Jade Wah'oo:  Listening, responding, and so much wanting to participate in the relationship.

Q:  This is then what the indigenous peoples do in their ceremonies and their ways of life, basically?

Jade Wah'oo:  Yes, and that's critical. It is a way of life rather than a shamanizing, or a ceremony that is separate and distinct from the daily flow of life. It is the daily flow of life.

Q:  Are there particular words that people can say?

Jade Wah'oo:  I don't think the words really matter as much as what we carry in our hearts. It is from that place of love we can be in appreciation and receive the blessing of the gifts that we hold in our hands.

Q:  What I'm hearing you say is that it is really not a matter of doing something, as in ''What can I do?'', but rather it is an act of being.

Jade Wah'oo:  There's a dichotomy between being and doing. Doing is an element of control, of seeking to control our environment and our situations. An act of being requires relinquishing control. That is the message that Spirit brings forth. When I ask what can be done, the spirit says, rather than doing, relinquish control. The very concept of control is so wedded into our western modality that we seek to control imminent ecological collapse by seeking to fix things. That's an act of doing. It's still an act of control. If we surrender that control and ask for help, if we humble ourselves and ask Spirit for help, ask the forces of Creation to work their way through us, then harmony and balance can be reestablished. But if we seek to do, to control, then we are still not engaging the entire of Creation in our sacred family, all the forces of Creation, in the healing process.

Q:  I am aware that you apprenticed under an elder by the name of Juan Peņa and he later adopted you as his grandson. Did he talk about these times?

Jade Wah'oo:  There was a time when Grandpa called me -- not by telephone, he had no telephone, but I received his call. So I rode horseback out to his place, a two-and-a-half-day ride from where I was living.

When I got there, he was standing outside waiting for me. He was heavy of heart. I tied up my horse, and Grandpa Peņa walked me around. He said, ''Grandson, when I was young like you, here I would plant my corn, my beans, my squash. There I would grow my melons. The hills were covered with deep grasses and wildflowers.'' I stood there, somewhat taken aback. Because on the terrain in this area you could grow corn and beans, but there was no way you could grow melons and squash. The seasons weren't right for that.

We were standing in the midst of a semi-arid desert, the hills covered with eroded soil, cactus, grasses. What he said next really took me aback. He said, ''Grandson, in your day, it will get much, much, much worse. It's this way because nobody cares for the Earth anymore. Nobody sings her awake in the spring; nobody dances her dance of celebration in the summer; nobody sings her to sleep in the fall; nobody any longer dreams the dreams of the Earth Mother in the winter. Like a mother gives everything to her children, she gives and gives, and those children turn around and steal from her and spit upon her and abuse her -- even that mother, at some point, will pull herself back in order to survive. Grandson, that's why things are the way they are today. And in your time, they will get much, much worse.''

In his simple and eloquent manner, that's what grandpa had to say. And in these times, I have seen it get much, much worse.

Q:  Ancient prophecy talks about the world situation getting much worse. Many say exactly the same thing as your Grandpa Peņa. But is there anybody who talks about hope for the future? Many prophecies don't go beyond a certain point in time.

Jade Wah'oo:  That the prophecies don't go beyond a certain point in time doesn't mean that there is no time beyond that. Rather it's the end of an epic, of a cycle. With the ending of a cycle, there is full potential opened up. We are in that window now. We are not in the end times. We are in the beginning times. Right now, we are in the most fecund time of potential. The way things work in terms of human choices is that once a choice is made, it concretizes the available choices that are possible from that point forth.

Our choices today are fully ordained by the choices and actions made by our ancestors. That time has come to an end. We are in the new cycle where we are no longer bound by the ideas of our ancestors, but rather we have the opportunity to create the world anew. Hopefully, we can remember the mistakes our ancestors made and do better on behalf of the many, many generations yet to come.

Q:  What did your Grandpa Peņa say to do when he showed you how the plants and the land used to be different?

Jade Wah'oo:  The one thing he did directly pass to me was a ceremony for the healing of the Earth and the healing of ourselves. And it is that particular ceremony, a song and a dance, that is for awakening the Earth in the spring, dancing her dance of celebration in the summer, putting her to sleep in the fall, and dreaming the dreams of the Earth Mother in the winter. That is a very important part of it -- to dream the dreams of the Earth Mother -- in that our lives are the direct statement of our dreams. I know in Western culture it is viewed just the opposite, that our dreams are the consequence of our emotions, thoughts, actions, feelings, and behaviors in the course of our waking lives. Rather, we see that our waking lives, our thoughts, deeds, actions, and behaviors are a direct statement of our dreams. So when we allow the dreams of the Earth Mother to be our dreams, then our lives are guided in the manner of unfoldment to the harmony and balance with the Earth, rather than the control and imposition of our personal dreams upon our lives and therefore that of the Earth around us.

Q:  Is there a message from Spirit that you would like to impart here?

Jade Wah'oo:  My message is that of Spirit communicating through me, and that is... relinquish control. Relinquish the very concept that we must control our environment and our ecology, either to destroy or to fix it. Humble ourselves and ask for assistance.

Literally, ask of the Earth to help us. Ask of the weather spirits to help us reestablish balance. We can also drink water. Drink water with the appreciation of what water is and the gift of water. Put down the sodas; put down the juices; put down the coffee. I'm not saying not to drink these things. But return to the primary source of liquid with heartfelt appreciation.

Reestablish relationships with the forces of Creation. Acknowledge these forces as living beings, as loving consciousnesses, and ask for their assistance. Reengage in a spiritual life in harmony and balance with Creation.

Q:  And that can happen even with someone who has a very busy life and is consumed with family, work, or whatever?

Jade Wah'oo:  It is a matter of choice. And if the person is consumed, I would think that is a clue to relinquish control and be received by Creation rather than be consumed by the imposition of that individual's dreams and behaviors.

Q:  Would you share a short prayer that might be appropriate for those people who would like to have a starting point?

Jade Wah'oo:  I will share a manner of praying and a prayer that my Grandpa Peņa showed to me when I was a young man of twenty-four.

In the morning, somewhere between sunrise and 9:00 a.m., get a glass of water and stand before the morning sun. Hold that glass of water in two hands up before the sun, looking at the sun through the glass of water, and speak in this manner:

"Sun Father, guide me and direct me this day in my life. Bless me with good health, radiant love, and joy in my life. Earth Mother, thank you for this breath of life. Thank you for the health of my body. Thank you for this Creation. I ask you, Mother and Father, to bless my loved ones, my mate, my children, my parents, my family. I ask that each and every person I meet today might somehow receive a blessing in their thoughts, words, deeds, and behaviors, and that I might receive a blessing from them."

Then in whatever manner, continue to pray and bring forth blessings. Then pour just a little bit of that water into the Earth or into a potted plant and thereby extend those blessings to the Earth and all of Creation. Then drink that water down except for one last little sip. When drinking that water down, those prayers are carried by that water to every cell of our body, which act then as a command from a cellular level for us to live, act, and express in accordance with those prayers we have called forth.

Then, pour the last sip of water upon the Earth or the potted plants once again to extend those blessings to those you have specifically called upon -- your family, your loved ones, your children, and so on. If we were to do this each and every day, we would establish our lives in balance and harmony, with spiritual guidance and direction and appreciation of Creation. This, I feel, is one of the greatest prayers we can do each and every day of our lives.

Q:  Thank you.

Jade Wahoo's website is at Shamanic.net.


See also A Letter to our readers from Jade Wah'oo

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