Impressions from the Ancestor's Gathering
By Cal Garrison
As I sit here getting ready for the May issue, the Ancestors Gathering is up north, moving between the Navajo reservation and the Hopi Mesas. After two days in Sedona and three days at Dead Horse Ranch, everyone went on up to follow the Elders to a meeting with the Hopi which, none of us are sure will even come to pass.
So many things came together at this council the convergence generated more power than anyone could have imagined. If we went there to focus our spiritual intent what came out of those attempts could be felt right down to the bone. I'm a veteran of a lot of ceremonies and I was so blown away I don't know how to put it into words.
It's deadline time and the magazine has to get done. I haven't been free to be there for much of it but I've been there for enough of it, and I will be here when the Elders come back to Sedona on the last leg of the journey. It sounds to me like the next few days will be pivotal — because the Hopi have waited until the last minute to decide if they want to be part of this — and no one knows what they're going to do.
Whenever something this important goes on there's always a lot that comes up to block it at the last minute. The deal with the Hopi appears to be one of those suspenseful "Oh no! We're not going to make it!" scenarios that everyone loves to speculate on. It's always the dark forces, or the Feds, or some agent provocateur that we go and blame it on — without realizing that even this, was part of the prophecies. So much is hanging in the balance right now. I don't know how things will go up north but I know that everything happens in spite of us, not because of us, and it'll be interesting to see how things get resolved.
But let me rewind back to the beginning of my experience and tell you a little about what I've seen and felt since the gathering began. These are impressions. They are my own.
On the first morning I had a little time to meditate before I went to the meeting ground. Going inside, my heart was like a train station filled with spirits who all wanted to go with me. If I thought I was going alone to this thing it was a joke — and I realized that everyone who would be there would be representing thousands of other spirits from all over the cosmos. Opening my eyes, that last thought left me wondering if I really understood how important this was. Up until that moment the Ancestors and their return was a theoretical thing — now all of a sudden I was going to meet them.
During the early part of the morning, I circled the outskirts of the gathering and stood at the four directions trying to get a sense of who was there and what the vibe was. I really couldn't tell at first, even though the sense of intensity was there from the get-go. As things began to roll I realized that this was a reunion of souls who hadn't seen each other since The Fall, and that it would take a little time for us to recognize each other.
I don't know what broke the ice for everyone else but for me it happened when the people from Peru entered the circle and did the ancient Incan Dance of the Condor. This ceremony took me so far back I stood there and cried through the whole thing. Between the beauty of the ceremony and of the people performing it, something deep got stirred. It wasn't Mayan, it was Wiccan and it touched a harmonic that I understood even though I couldn't understand their words. When the condor took off his wings and laid them on the ground, the import of the act awakened my memory to the promise I had made to be there and witness it.
The Eskimo elder was there too and I'm not sure if he was next in the sequence but he had come at the last minute, all the way from the North Pole — and whatever he did, for me it was the next click in the combination that opened me up. A distinguished looking, elderly man, he announced from the center of the circle that the Eskimo prophecies tell of a time when the wings of the white sea eagle would unite with those of the condor. He held up the wings of the white sea eagle and proceeded to dance and beat his way around the circle with a thin, soft drum, greeting every single one of the elders and finally laying the white wings of the sea eagle on the ground, next to those of the condor. As far as being blown away is concerned, that was it for me; or so I thought.
Roy, the Cherokee Elder said a lot of good things and had a real strong presence, even though he's a thin, not too tall man with a laid back demeanor. I had the feeling he was a snake charmer — one of those brave spirits who talks to snakes. Roy did a traditional dance with a group of women. They followed a pattern and kept going over it until the drumming stopped. The pattern looked like something out of sacred geometry and it seemed as if the dancers' feet etched it into the ground in a way that lined it up with the for directions; I can't be sure, but that's what it looked like to me.
And then David Swallow, the Lakota Elder, got up and talked. Even though he was angry, he spoke eloquently, and everything he said was true. It was hard for a lot of people to hear until they were reminded that the Lakota are known for their fierceness and that they have more reasons to be angry than many of the Indian tribes. And it was good what David said — because part of this deal has so much to do with rage, and anger, and resentment, and bitterness. He got that out on the table right away, thank God. I don't know if he knew it but everyone was grateful.
I took a walk out to the circumference of the circle and by the time I got back Drunvalo was ready to speak. This was a big deal. Everyone wanted to hear him. He didn't go into a long thing; he spoke quietly about returning to the heart and played a flute song that would have gone better if his flute worked. What was supposed to be a duet turned out to be a solo by Barry Kapp — it was kind of a letdown but maybe only for me — and maybe it didn't matter because the whole point of Drunvalo speaking was to bring us into our hearts — and that's what happened next; the whole group went into the heart space.
Coming out of the silence, after about 20 minutes, Drunvalo called us back and Adam Yellowbird stood up and said; "That's it for this morning. We're all done until after lunch". And then a voice came out of the crowd. It was a woman's voice which could be heard to say: "No you are not done yet, because I have not spoken". Echoing loudly, over everything else, the words belonged to Grandmother Margerite, and they called everyone in the circle to not only get real, but to get used to the fact that the Female had arrived — and she didn't need a microphone.
I can only paraphrase what came next because I was as unprepared for it as everyone else — but this is how I remember it. First of all, the Grandmother's first words riveted everyone to the spot — even the ones who had begun to wander off came right back into the circle. She then proceeded to say;
"I am a woman and I am used to being last. And I now understand why we are always the last ones to speak; because we have to wait for the men to get out of their heads before we can talk about the heart. You talk about going into the heart and how to find the way there? If you want to go into the heart, you have to open the legs. The way to the heart is through the female vagina and the man can't think with his heart unless he gets to it through the woman."
That's only the gist of it; I can't even begin to tell you what the Grandmother said. She went on for quite some time in what amounted to an esoteric dissertation on the union of the male and the female. It was mind blowing; totally mind blowing. I think it was at that point in the gathering that Grandmother Margerite became the one who everyone wanted to hear. She's a woman, she's 104 years old and she blew everyone's socks off.
The Kogi were on their way — they didn't arrive until the next day. This was a major deal. The head Kogi Mama, Mama Hacinto, and one of the Arhauco Mamas, Mama Coucho, came with Danilo, their Arhauco interpreter from the highest mountains of northern Columbia's Sierra Nevada's. The only South American tribes to survive the Spanish invasions back in the 1500's, the Kogi are looked up to as the Elder Elders, the ones whose ancestral memories were never lost or stolen.
For 13,000 years the Kogi have been the ones who have kept the Earth spinning. They live in harmony with her laws and they understand them better than any physicist. I heard that they came to the gathering just to see if there was anyone alive who understands that the earth is dying. The Kogi messages were brilliantly expressed and very simply stated; they don't understand us and they don't know if we'll ever be able to live in harmony with each other. They don't understand our world and they want nothing to do with it, they just want us to stop killing everything. They, like all of the elders, told us that hard times are very near and we need to remember how to get real and go back to the heart.
For me, being in the presence of the Mamas was one of the strangest things; not because there was anything 'strange' about them but because I've never met any human being who was operating out of total purity — in 13,000 years nothing has disturbed the Kogi or their spiritual traditions — for that length of time they have lived peacefully in nature, in harmony with each other and with the spirit of the Earth. They have such a clear presence — it made me so aware of how far we've strayed from our origins. The Mamas moved me for a lot of reasons — something ancient got stirred, that's for sure. It was like I was reuniting with an aspect of myself that I haven't been in touch with since 'The Fall'.
Don Alejandro, the head of the Mayan Elders, wasn't supposed to arrive until April 24th but he and his wife Elizabeth flew in on the 21st and were there for the Mayan Fire Ceremony down at Dead Horse Ranch the following day. A lot of things went down prior to their arrival, things that had to do with whether the Hopi were going to get involved.
That issue brought up a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. The Elders met in council all night long on the 21st, trying to figure out what to do about it. The Feds and the Bureau of Indian Affairs had issued an order of protection on the 20th, stating that no one from the Ancestor's Gathering would be allowed onto the Hopi reservation and a decision needed to be made as to how to proceed. What came out of the night long council was the decision not to go where we weren't wanted, but to head up to the Grand Canyon anyway, and wait. Don Alejandro said that all he wanted was 4 or 5 hours to speak with the Hopi Elders. What I heard via the grapevine was that he said "The Hopi don't seem to agree that the time has come, but what they are forgetting is that we (the Mayans) are the time keepers — and we are saying that it's time. Give me a few hours to talk to them and I am sure that they will understand".
The energy generated by this glitch in the proceedings added something to the events that took place on the 22nd. It's hard to describe what happened at the Mayan Fire Ceremony. A veteran of more circles and ceremonial fires than I can count, I cried my eyes out through the whole thing. I felt like a faucet of tears and what came out of my eyes seemed like it was releasing waves of pain and suffering — eons of it — until nothing but love and forgiveness flowed through.
What was going on with everyone else I can't attest to, but I have a feeling all of us were transmuting something huge. If the fire was any indication of what was going on, let me tell you it was one of the hottest ones I've ever seen. That thing was blazing, bright cadmium orange, with tongues of black smoke blowing out and smudging everyone in the circle. Blue Herons circled over head. Two eagles came along and flew over the circle and a couple of Red Tail Hawks added their blessings to the ceremony. The signs were good — and the sense of unity in the circle was unquestionable; I have never seen, or felt anything like it. The marriage of heaven and Earth was sealed later that afternoon when Don Alejandro performed a wedding ceremony for a beautiful couple who had decided to get married that day. For me it was sealed the following day, when my long lost son and his new bride gave me their wedding bouquet.
This all happened on Wednesday, April 22. At midday, just as the fire ceremony was ending, I went to say goodbye to the Mamas, who had to leave the group and return to Colombia. It marked the point where I too, had to leave the group and return to the office to deal with a magazine deadline. There was no way I could drop work and head up to the Grand Canyon; so I made a commitment to stay in touch via remote control. Because of all the political nonsense that was going on with the Hopi, it felt to me like it would be good to be 100% present, one way or another. I knew that the sunrise ceremony at the Grand Canyon would be a big one.
That morning I was awake at 4AM, waiting, like a kid on Christmas morning, for the sun to come up. The steps that go out my side door face due east and I was sitting there meditating, breathing in the morning air, and feeling the light in my heart. Imagining myself at the canyon, as the sun came over the horizon I opened my eyes to gaze at it and at that moment, a mama and a papa havelina marched single file, 6-feet in front of me. Staring at them, I sat outwardly motionless and inwardly surprised, as these two hairy silhouettes marched, like a couple of placards, across my field of vision, announcing the arrival of the sun. It's as if they were pulling it along with their tails. And no, they didn't see me; havelinas don't see very well — but they knew I was there.
The stories that came back to me about what happened at the Grand Canyon ceremony all seemed to concur that it was cold, windy, and intense — but they also said that it was beautiful to see the ceremony unfold in the face of the elements. The people from Peru did the Dance of the Condor. (Follow this link to see the video of this beautiful ceremony: ) The wings of the condor were laid down on the Earth, invoking the spirit of the Eagle at the place that the Hopi consider to be their Sippipu, or their place of emergence. Everyone said the ceremony was intense — and made more so by the fact that 100 other people showed up unannounced, from all over the world, just to be there and be part of it.
After the Grand Canyon, from what I heard, everything went crazy. People got lost. They misplaced the Elders! No one knew what the plan was. Watching the weather patterns move between Sedona and the Hopi Mesa, I could see that there would be trouble — and I was right; there was no getting on to the Hopi reservation, but there were conversations in the works. With this break in the action everything got scattered.
Some of the group went back to Sedona, figuring that the best thing to do was to stay centered and joyful until the dust settled. Some went on to the Land of the Forgotten People, to be with the Dine, otherwise known as the Navahos. Those who did, received a mind blowing welcome. And those who remained at the Grand Canyon kept the fire going, and stayed up all night listening to the Dine tell their story. It was cold, there was no place to sleep, but no one complained because none of that mattered. Something else was going on.
Behind the scenes there were phone conversations. The Hopi said that they wanted to speak with Don Alejandro. They indicated that he and his wife Elizabeth, their interpreters, Drunvalo, and the Elders from Guatemala, would be welcome onto the reservation and that they wanted to arrange a meeting. This is what I was told; I am sure it is not the whole story. If there's another side to it, the people who knew what it was, were keeping it to themselves — and unfortunately (Or who knows? Maybe it's all good), for reasons that have yet to be explained, that meeting never happened.
We don't know why it went that way — and many of us were completely stunned by the level of misunderstanding that aborted the effort. To me it seemed like the dark forces were having their way with us once again. The level and quality of confusion that developed after the sunrise ceremony had "dial-a-frequency" written all over it. What was unified got split into factions and things went totally kaplooie until Monday, April 27th, when the whole crew headed back to Cottonwood for the last few days of ceremony.
It was at that point that I heard a lot of people saying that they realized that they had signed up for an initiation. One ceremony after another had them half in the twilight zone, but they were into it, and 100% ready to keep pouring their hearts into what seemed to be a lost cause. What was hard for me was the thought that we had just written our own death warrant. I just couldn't believe it. But it's always darkest right before the dawn and I knew that somehow things were going to turn around; one way or another we would all come together.
Still dealing with a magazine deadline that got complicated by a family crisis, I didn't have the level of concentration, nor did I have the time to go to the last few days of the gathering. But I was still in it on some level, energetically and as a human switchboard for all kinds of information that was coming through from people who were there and happy to share their stories with me. Hearing these things was almost better than being there because I got to see it out of so many people's eyes.
All I can tell you is, the Hopi came down from the mesa. The ones who had wanted to be there from the beginning stepped out of bounds and came down to speak with their own voice and be part of the circle. They came to represent all of their people and to bring their wisdom to the gathering. I wasn't there. I can't say much about it. But I spoke with people from all over the globe and they were totally at peace with the way things turned out. Don Alejandro and the Elders walked us through the veil and anchored something deep enough to hold space for something magical to occur here in the sacred lands of the Native people. What rolls out of our hearts from here on out is yet to be seen — but this event has changed everything for me and I have no doubt that it will change the world.
Cal Garrison
Sedona, Arizona
May 6, 2009
Posted in March 24th, 2009 by Miriam in Miriams Blog
I encourage everyone who wants to attend this event to go!!!
The following is only intended to clarify some details that may not be clear to some people:
Return of the Ancestors Gathering
It has come to my attention that the Traditional Leaders of the Hopi people are not participating in this event.
The Hopi that are taking part in this gathering are not the Wisdom Keepers of the Hopi and do not hold the Sacred Knowledge of the Prophecies.
ICA and Adam Yellowbird as president of the organization made the decision to tell the world of the event between the Maya and the Hopi without consulting the Hopi Traditional Leaders first.
There are those from the Hopi people that have chosen to participate in this event but those individuals have been asked by the Traditional people to remove all mention of Hopi in this gathering. These people are not the Wisdom Keepers of Hopi.
The concern of the Hopi Traditional Leaders is the possible misrepresentation by ICA and by some of their own people that have disregarded any and all concerns of the Traditional Leaders and Wisdom Keepers of the Hopi.
If this event continues it must move forward with respect to the people in which it is being made for. Respect by sharing the truth that this is not the Eagle and the Condor event that many believe it to be. This cannot be fulfilled without the TRUE Wisdom Keepers of the Hopi and they have chosen not to participate in this event.
Already people have begun to gather from around the world on the Sacred Hopi Lands. Sacred objects have been trampled and Hopi Ceremony disrespected. These actions were being made by people who did not understand how they were affecting the Traditional Hopi ways.
This is one of the reasons they have chosen not to participate in this event as the Traditional Ceremonies and life of the Hopi has been overlooked.
The Hopi Traditional Leaders are aware that the world is calling for them to begin to step forward and they are at this time following Traditional paths to determine if now is the appropriate time to come forward for the earth and humanity.
Great care must be taken as the Prophecies and Ceremonies have continued for thousands of years by the Hopi people. They wish to Honour and Respect those of the past as well as those of the future by participating in a gathering that is for all people and the earth itself.
This statement was read to the Hopi Traditional Leader and he is aware that this will be shared with the world over the internet. I was not asked to withhold this statement by the Hopi. Please post this on your websites and forward in your email lists to assist spreading this message for greater understanding of the Hopi Traditional people.
Miriam Delicado
About Cal Garrison
Cal is a writer with four books to her credit. �The Old Girls� Book of Spells�, �The Old Girls� Book of Dreams�, and her latest book, �Witch On the Go� were published by RedWheel/Weiser Press and are available in bookstores or on Amazon.com. In addition to her own work, she also writes for Slim Spurling. Her first book with Slim, �Slim Spurling�s Universe� is being followed up by their second book together which, with any luck, will be out in 2008—2009.
A professional astrologer with 35 years experience Cal has cast over 6000 charts and is one of the best in her field. She is also an expert on the Tarot. When she�s not running the Spirit of Ma'at office, or working on her books, Cal spends her time doing in depth astrology and tarot readings for people all over the country.
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