Black Lives Matter
For days now I have stayed silent (at least in these more public formats), observed, inquired, ingested, and integrated. There has been much self-reflection — and feeling, lots of feeling.
When the protests began, there was a request on social media that White Folk keep their damn mouths shut for seven days. That request was quickly forgotten, and black out Tuesday sprung up in its place. We all feel we have something important, and justified, to add to this conversation. That feeling is not wrong, but for me, it has been important to honor that original request. I have taken this time to inquire with the people close to my heart, and some not-so-close. I have revisited old material, and discovered new teachings. I have watched the movement of the masses, witnessed how humans are responding to the stressors that have been placed upon them, and am observing the unfolding of what we have created for ourselves.
These seven days have been so full, it puts the year of April to shame.
As a healer and business owner, it is important to make a stand, and to say something. After all, “If you don’t stand for something, you gonna fall for anything”, as I remember hearing so long ago. So I say now, BLACK LIVES MATTER — unequivocally.
Also as a healer, there are ideas that want to come forth from this experience for all of us to ponder. Perhaps the entire foundation of our beliefs, perspective, and how we view reality, will need to make fundamental shifts before we see any real change regarding social castes and people of color.
Watching the lectures of Dr. Marimba Ani on her work Yurugu stirred the thoughts for this shift in perspective. She talks of Yurugu having delusions of separation. He is without his feminie counterpart, and constantly feels the emptiness. He has felt this way for so long that he thinks he is all there is, he is all that is real—and he has gone around the globe conquering all that he sees as lifeless. This way of thinking has even led him to believe that his creations are superior to Divine creation. Dr. Ani’s lectures are dense with material, and can be uncomfortable for white people to sit through and absorb (myself included). However, feeling uncomfortable does not mean the information she shares is false.
For a milder, and more approachable version of this concept, Daniel Quinn wrote his series of books, Ishmael, Story of B, and My Ishmael. He creates a narrative around our perceptions of reality, and the anthropology of how The Western Mind came to be so pervasive, that is easily digestible. These books allow the reader to wade into these concepts without getting blown out by the intensity of confrontation that Dr. Ani’s work provides (I personally feel both methods are necessary for our evolution of understanding).
What Dr. Ani also incorporates into her Opus is the concept of language creating our reality. She stands up for the importance of speaking our native tongues, and she outlines the impact that this has on our psyches. Not only do the literal words, sounds, and intonations of our native languages shape how we perceive reality (as Benjamin Lee Whorf outlined so eloquently in his seminal work; Language, Thought, and Reality), but to be denied the ability to speak how our culture speaks tells us that our very essence of being is wrong.
America, in all her White glory, has made it very clear to “outsiders” that only a limited version of American English is permissible up to this very day. We didn’t allow slaves to read or write to keep them from speaking like their white overseers, then we punished them in recent years for maintaining their own vernacular. We militantly tell Mexicans and other Latinos that they must convert solely to English if they are to live here, lest they get bawled out in public and on video by some white lady standing in line at Walmart. America even imprisoned and institutionalized the indigenous population of this land for speaking their native tongue until almost 1980!
Which leads to the next point: There can be no justice on stolen land.
White Europeans (my direct ancestors were some of them) came over to a continent already filled with people, then proceeded to wipe out over 70 million indigenous folks in a massive genocide. These people had their own language, culture, systems of governance, art, and world view. But, it could neither be seen, nor tolerated — and that remains the reality up until this very day. If you want to watch a very funny history lesson on this topic, John Leguizamo has a Netflix special called, Latin History for Morons, and it is very illuminating.
I am an animist in my world view. That means, I perceive that everything in material existence has a spiritual essence. In fact, my perception is that everything has consciousness, though it may not be the same form that Human consciousness takes. Our planet is a living, conscious being, and I believe she even has feelings. Our ancestors, whether they be human, animal, plant nations, or otherwise—they have thoughts and feelings, too. When the European ancestors came over here and decimated an entire population, then proceeded to rape, pillage, and exploit those people who survived, and all The Earth’s resources, the Spirit of this land — Turtle Island — became unsettled. Those people who we killed were the flesh of her body. They were made from the dirt, and went back to the dirt. When the people were stripped from their homes, the land’s flesh was stripped from her bones. When The White Tribe used stolen people from another part of the globe to construct a world that was seen as more perfect than Mother herself, a huge rift with our relations was made.
In order for Black Lives to truly see justice, this rift must be mended.
My ancestors have been born and bred on this land for over seven generations—it is my home now. With that, it is my responsibility to do what I can to help heal that divide. For me, that looks like working with, and praying with, the land. I love gardening, so when I am out tending the needs of the Plant People, I pray for connection, and I listen. I pray for the healing of Earth, and I pray for the connection between us to be healed. For you, this healing process might look differently. Maybe you feel called to the Water. Locate the indigenous people near you, and ask how you can be in better relation with the Water in your part of the world, or just ask The Water. Maybe you love art. What does the pre-Christian art of this land look like? Are there art forms that are indigenous to the area you are in that would be fun for you to learn? What does your heart feel called to? Start there. Once these threads are picked up, it can be quite interesting to see where the heart leads, and what healing unfolds.
But, what allowed Whitey to steal people, and abuse the land, in the first place? The very idea that there can be separation, to me, seems to be at the root. The devaluation of The Feminine from Divine to profane, is another root. And lastly, the refusal to acknowledge that LIFE flows through ALL things, is at the heart of this destruction.
In psychology, it is a natural state in the evolution of our consciousness throughout our lives to feel the separation from our mother, and to recognize that we are individuals. This feeling starts to develop as we become aware of object permanence. We walk through years of feeling like the world revolves around us. Then, if we are allowed to self-actualize, the knowledge comes back to us that we are not, in fact, the center of the Universe, and that our actions as an individual have effects on the world around us. We begin to realize that the old belief of separation is just an illusion to help us develop. The White race is considered to be the youngest on the Medicine Wheel, and as a mother of a toddler, it would seem that this is where we are at in our development as a people.
To that point, America herself could be seen as a toddler. Collectively, we have walked around saying “Mine! Mine! Mine!” since inception. America is just a few hundred years old, compared to the thousands of years our counterparts can boast. We scream, cry, and throw tantrums when we don’t get our way, and generally terrorize our predecessors, all while making the biggest mess with the expectation that Mother will come and clean it all up.
And she will, though we might not like how she goes about it.
Mama might just need to put us in a time-out until we realize that the Holy Trinity is Mom, Dad, Kid (Holy Spirit); and that some balance is in order. Masculine and Feminine flows through each of us. Women are the Sacred Channel between the worlds who are tasked with being the bridge for new life to enter through. Sex is the Divine connection that makes regeneration possible for ALL LIFE on this planet. It is neither solely for pleasure or procreation, but BOTH. And, where there is Life, there must also be Death — but Death isn’t the End. We are forever spiraling through these cycles, just as our Galaxy spirals through the Universe, and as the atoms spin in our own bodies. When we die, we become sustenance for other life, and in that, we are reincarnated to participate in the cycle forever.
Western Thought has removed us from this cycle of life. Our spiritual practices have placed value only on The Masculine, the Straight Line. Without the Sacred Dance of Yin and Yang, we believe we are separate, and finite. This belief allows us to think that chopping down whole forests has no consequence, that debeaking chickens is acceptable for our survival, that endlessly bleeding oil into the Oceans will somehow not affect us, and that gratuitously killing those who don’t look like us is justifiable. Just as Toddlers, we believe that all of this that exists on the material plane was made just for our use, however we damn well please. The Western way of thinking places us outside of the Cycle of Life. When we are done with this world, we get to retire to a Paradise not connected to this waking dream, where our actions on this plane make no difference to the quality of life in that retirement home in the sky.
Humanity has taken this past age in Pisces to explore the Masculine dominated Third Chakra — experiencing all the ins and outs of Personal and Individual Power. Now we are making the shift to The Age of Aquarius. This is a time of returning to The Group. Humanity is shifting into the Feminine guided Fourth Chakra — a place for exploring the lessons of Unconditional Love. What is good for the goose must be good for the gander.
In Tantra, the Masculine principle wants to serve The Feminine. He wants Her to be a strong and confident leader that he can both trust and follow. The Feminine has the responsibility of leadership from a place of power. Because Woman has been downgraded from Divine to profane, The Feminine has forgotten her role—She thinks she is a victim—and Man has had no guidance. Without Her, He is separate from the cycles of Life.
But the times, they are a-changin’!
By listening, and learning, new languages, we are allowing ourselves to open to new realities.
By knowing our own indigenous roots and knowing our ancestors, we gain personal power.
By exploring different cultures, we add the spice and variety to our lives that helps season the pot.
By recognizing the LIFE that flows through everything, all life becomes sacred.
We really are all in this together. We are all brothers and sisters stuck in the same house. We need to figure this shit out before we burn it all down, and find ourselves without a place to live.
Love and Light, Soul Family
Mitakuye Oyasin