November, 2010 Newsletter

This newsletter is a publication of the Mystical Order of the White Rose, a multi-faith devotional and spiritual support organization. We support and share information about mystical, monastic, contemplative and creative ways of living. We encourage prayer, the reading of sacred scripture--s), lectio divina, meditation, journaling, solitude, fasting, silence, kindness, hospitality, worship, simplicity, creativity, active involvement in spiritual and/or religious communities, and loving service to others. You can view past issues here and you can subscribe to it here .

Table of Contents

-- Reflections on Native American Spirituality by Cynthia Kiteley Lee

-- The Role of the Bald Eagle in the Native American Culture by Thunder Horse

-- White Buffalo Woman: Legend as Recounted by Lame Deer and Image by Patricia McCabe

-- Quotation: "And as I stood there I saw more than I can tell..." by Black Elk

-- Some General Observations on Native American Mysticism

-- A Sioux Prayer translated by Chief Yellow Lark (1887)

-- Video: Paiute Native American Shaman Wovoka and the Ghost Dance

-- Report: Cosmology and Native North American Mystical Traditions (31-page PDF) by John A. Grim

-- Video: Chant to the Sun

-- Native American Spirituality: The Medicine Wheel

-- Links of Interest

-- Daily Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Devotionals for October 2009

Reflections on Native American Spirituality

by Cynthia Kiteley Lee

I used to wish that I had Native American ancestry and Scots ancestry when I was a teenager in the '60s and African American and Native American political activists had high visibility.

I shook a few branches on the family tree to see if I could find a connection to either of these groups, but there wasn't a scrap of geneaological support for these adolescent aspirations.

Later, I had occasion to meet several medicine men, participate in sweat lodges, pipe ceremonies, drumming circles and sing chants that had strong Native American imagery and influence, as well as chants that used Native American lyrics.

Many Native Americans vehemently reject non-Native Americans participating in Native American rituals and learning about Native American religious traditions. They feel that they have suffered enought at the hands of Anglos and other non-Natives and that they don't want these people to violate, infiltrate or pollute their most sacred and distinctively Native American traditions and teachings.

As an auburn-haired, pink cheeked woman who is descended from a long line of white anglo-saxon protestants (WASPs), I know there are Native American elders and traditionalists who would emphatically state that I had no business dabbling or delving into Native American spiritual teachings and activities--period.

I will tell you a short, true story. I was standing in a circle of ethnically eclectic people which included a Native American medicine man. We were on his property, and he was preparing to lead us in prayer. It was the first time I had met him and he me. He welcomed me warmly and called me "sister" and noted his pleasure at connecting with me once again. He and I both understood that he was referring to our having known each other in one or more past lives. I know that I have walked the red path in past incarnations.

Star Nations, Sioux Reservation and a Sodden Sun Dance

In 1996, while attending graduate school in Arkansas in connection with earning my Master's degree in Anthropology, I read a brief announcement about a Star Nations Conference that was going to be held at the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. I felt compelled to asttend this event, the first of its kind.

I had to take three planes, two buses and drive a rental car about sixty miles to get to the reservation and find motel lodging in Yankton. The Sun Dance held on the reservation with conference attendees in attendance, which may or may not have had anything to do with a heavy downpour of rain during the dance. One of the conference speakers had stigmata and I saw them up close and personal. The conference was a powerful and exotic experience for me.

Here's a brief account of the conference taken from an article on Extraterrestrial Contacts in Shamanic Traditions. You can read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/yzb3865

In 1996, Shamans from the Star Nations--the Plains, Eastern and Southwest Tribes --all gathered at the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota to share their experiences of extraterrestrial encounters with an international audience that included Harvard professor John Mack MD, CSETI assistant director Martin Keller, ET research psychologist Richard Boyland PhD and several other prominent scholars.

The purpose was to share the spiritual knowledge of the Star Nations which included not only a history of extraterrestrial contact, but also a system of mental, spiritual and universal laws that Native Elders felt were crucial for delivery before a world on the brink of monetary, environmental and spiritual collapse. Jesus, Buddha, Mohamed and the White Buffalo Woman were all Star People who came to earth to remind man of his origins. Believing firmly that the time of prophecy was at hand, indigenous Native tribes have made such sharing a seminal part of their tradition.

The Role of the Bald Eagle in the Native American Culture

Click here to read this brief, interesting article.

White Buffalo Woman

Website: The Legend of White Buffalo Woman as told by Lame Deer.

Video: The Story of White Buffalo Woman

White Buffalo Woman by Pam McCabe

You can purchase prints and see other images by McCabe here.

And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.

Black Elk

Some General Observations on Native American Mysticism

Click here to read this essay.

A Sioux Prayer

Translated by Chief Yellow Lark (1887)

Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds
Whose breath gives life to the world, hear me
I come to you as one of your many children
I am small and weak
I need your strength and wisdom

May I walk in beauty
Make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
And my ears sharp to your voice.
Make me wise so that I may know the things you have taught your children.

The lessons you have written in every leaf and rock
Make me strong--------!
Not to be superior to my brothers, but to fight my greatest enemy....myself

Make me ever ready to come to you with straight eyes,
So that when life fades as the fading sunset,
May my spirit come to you without shame.

Video: Paiute Native American Shaman Wovoka and the Ghost Dance

Click here to view.

Cosmology and Native North American Mystical Traditions

A 31-page PDF Report by John A. Grim

Click here to read it.

Chant to the Sun

Click here to view this video.

Native American Spirituality: The Medicine Wheel

Click here to learn about this spiritual tradition.

Links of Interest

The White Rose Foundation

Internet Sacred Texts Archive - Native American Religions

NativeWeb,org

Video: Return to White (Native American Prophecy & Signs of the Times)

Video: Return to White 2 - The Birds Speak Out (Native American Prophecy & Signs of the Times)

Gladys Tantaquidgeon - Mohegan Indian Tribe Medicine Woman

The Art Work of Kirby Sattler

Native American Church

First People- thank you to First People for section divider graphics used in this issue.

http://www.star-knowledge.net/ Standing Elk, pioneer in sharing Native American history and legends re: Star Nations.

Video: The Maya of Eternal Time - Drunvalo Melchezedik

Daily Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Devotionals for November 2009

Each day we should expose ourselves to the inspiration of others. Thousands of saints and wise men and women have left us messages of hope and encouragement. Read what is honest. Read the scriptures and the commentaries. Read great literature and poetry. Read the psalms. Read that which expresses the anguish and the exhilaration of experience, and teaches us that we are not alone.

- John McQuiston II, p. 88, Always We Begin Again--The Benedictine Way of Living

These devotionals also serve as excellent "journaling prompts," for written as well as mental and spiritual reflection.

November - National American Indian Heritage Month

http://www.nps.gov/history/Nr/feature/indian/

November 2009 Moon Phases

November 1 All Saints Day (Christian)

November 2 All Soul's Day (Christian) Guru Nanak Dev Sahib birthday (Sikh) FULL MOON