Sometimes 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 another.
And during that ceremony, I saw that it was time truly own my path and commit myself to it.
Three decades ago, I first prayed with a Pipe at a full moon gathering I had been invited to participate in.
That ceremony began a long journey that led to today.
Back then, I approached it all with respect … but with the mentality of a white person that truly had a LOT to learn.
You know, the mindset … “I’m appreciating this” … “This is cool!” … “This is how I want to pray …”
Was lucky that my original teachers saw something in my that looking back … I’m not sure how they saw anything in me.
Both were members of the Bear Tribe Medicine Society (wish I could remember the Peoples they themselves originated from) and chose to take me under their wing … teaching me the fundamentals (and that word feels so cold to say it that way) of how to offer up prayers with a prayer Pipe.
Others crossed my path from other tribes, choosing to likewise share wisdom that continued to guide me.
Longstory short, the more I learned … the more I realized that it was not of my heritage which in turn fueled imposter syndrome which put me into a spiritual spin as I had to figure out where to go from there.
The catch … That prayer Pipe had a spirit as all these Pipes do and that Spirit chose to work with me … helping my through hard moments in my life.
It felt real and it felt right.
But because I’ve not an ounce of American first peoples’ blood in me, I considered myself not worthy.
Thanks to a man who considered himself a “Druid of Turtle Island,” found my way to nature-based spiritual paths that were of my heritage … ending up with me walking the old Norse path with Odin, Thor, Freyja and the other gods.
Let go of the prayer Pipe, passing it on to someone who walked not just a Norse path but who had tribal connections here in the Americas.
The Pipe seemed content with this.
And then when I was content to walk the Norse path … a sacred Pipe being carved from black pipestone reached out, grabbed me by the shoulders and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Fast forward back to the healing prayer a few weeks ago.
I already knew what I was walking into when I relented and agreed to carry this Pipe — one that seems tied to the “Peoples of the Northern Sky” and their decedents.
Or such is the feeling so far.
Yet it was not until this particular prayer ceremony that I felt the full weight of what this commitment needed to be and how far I have to go.
And I understood as I said yes in this ceremony that I was agreeing to put anything else aside as needed, required or whatever to do as this Pipe and spirit require.
Let’s say that since that moment, my spiritual world turned upside down (again) as my entire worldview shifted.
On top of that, it’s not just Norse calling out to me but Gaelic and what feels more ancient than both of those … something more … I can’t yet describe it.
Since I’ve walked with this Pipe (well past a year and maybe almost two now), I’ve seen and felt things I simply cannot describe. So much so that it took my faith a few levels deeper.
Back to this website.
My worldview has shifted to a point it’s kind of like how your have bad eyesight and you could see, but not like when you first put on that pair of new glasses.
And right now, I’m at a place where I’m sorting it all out and prepping for the next phase in life with all this.
Where it goes, I guess we’ll find out together?