Life upended
Sometimes in life, it is important for the self to die so that it can regenerate into something new ... to a point that it seems like you've died as a person only to find the person you have...
Read MoreFOUR WINDS
Also known as … Mike Tripp — photojournalist & scifi geek who also happens to be tracking his spiritual path in a very different and interesting wilderness.
Went from walking in the woods as a kid to a person lucky enough to originally taught by two elders with the Bear Tribe Medicine Society and a few members of the Aniyvwiya (Cherokee), Lakhota and Ojibewa peoples.
Found similarities within my own heritage and now follow an old Northern Europe nature-based spiritual pathways, influenced by “Turtle Island” … ie. teachings from the first peoples of this land.
Basically, a person exploring his druidic path, and how it connects with the natural world and spiritual realms who is tasked with carrying a sacred Pipe.
“There is more than one way to get
to where we need to go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Adapted from the Lakota’s “Mitákuye Oyásʼiŋ,” which means “We are all related.”
Sometimes in life, it is important for the self to die so that it can regenerate into something new ... to a point that it seems like you've died as a person only to find the person you have...
Read MoreMáni or Luna? ... Which name to call the moon when addressing its spirit during prayer? This is a question that has been in my thoughts off and on for a time now. Although I've gr...
Read MoreFor too long, I feel like I've been stumbling around in the dark ... hobbling pieces of this and that together in a fashion that doesn't even full make sense to me. It always leaves m...
Read MoreI've been running with the shield design with the Viking ship on it for quite some time. And that design has slowly evolved over the years ... the addition of the hawk / owl in flight,...
Read MoreA hummingbird seeks out nectar in a Mimosa tree in Staunton, Va., on July 22, 2023. (Photo by Hauk -- Pathfinder / aka. Mike Tripp) Every year, I look forward to the arrival of the ...
Read MoreFrom Left to Right ... Ngetal (Reed) : Direction, purpose and responsibility. Ordering chaos and ancestral skills. Laguz : Represents Water. It symbolizes intuition, emotions, flo...
Read MoreSunflowers grow in a field alongside a country lane on a farm outside of Charlottesville, Va., on July 23, 2023. (Photos by Mike Tripp / F8 Explorer ... aka. Hauk — Pathfinder) For ...
Read MoreSometimes you have to wipe the slate clean and start fresh, and that's what I'm doing here with this website. I held a Pipe ceremony to lift prayers of healing at the request of anoth...
Read MoreThere *is* no good description of my path as it (like me) is a blend of Norse and Gaelic both, with a little bit of American first people’s influences, shared by elders, woven in.
Original teachings at the foundation of my walk come from a pair of teachers / elders, from Sun Bear’s Bear Tribe Medicine Society.
They taught me ways of respecting nature & Mother Earth as well as how to pray using a personal prayer Pipe.
This was followed by walks in life with others from the Lakhota, Aniyvwiya (Cherokee), Monocan, Ojibwe and others.
Over the next few decades, I began to drift from American first people’ inspired path to one looking toward the European tribes following an encounter with a Druid of Turtle Island that opened my eyes to similar paths around the world.