Molly Larkin's Blog, page 9

Start before you’re ready!

“Start before you’re ready” may be the best advice I’ve ever gotten.

As a child I was afraid to start any undertaking, for fear of doing or saying the wrong thing.

Afraid of failing.

I think a lot of people can relate to that, and it causes us to be overly cautious about taking risks or starting work or projects that would make our hearts sing, if it weren’t for the fear.

“Do not fear mistakes. There are none.” ~ Miles Davis

We’re taught to be cautious and afraid, by parents who, in trying to protect us from disappointment, discourage us from pursuing our dreams.

From schools that grade us and humiliate us for not meeting their standards.

But taking risk is how we learn, grow and succeed.

Even as an adult, I tended to wait until the conditions were just right before undertaking a new endeavor.

But you know what? The conditions are never just right.

Here are some people who started before they were ready:

In developing their flying machine, the Wright Bros had to fly with five sets of spare parts because that’s how often they would crash each day. They had no money and paid for their dream with proceeds from their bicycle shop. No one, not even Orville or Wilbur, had a college degree.

But they had passion. And they succeeded. And our world was changed forever.

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

The automobile was invented while it was against the law to drive, there were no roads sufficient for cars and no gas stations.

Guttenberg launched the printing press when only 8% of people in Europe could read.

Every great invention was by a visionary and maverick.

Richard Branson started Virgin Airlines when his flight to the Virgin Islands was cancelled. So he chartered a plane, sold tickets to all the other passengers who’d been booked on the cancelled flight, and an airline was born.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” ~ Goethe

Post-it notes were discovered by accident, after a failure in trying to create a super strong glue for the aerospace industry. In the 1960s a 3M researcher instead found a type of lightweight glue that is re-usable. That initial failure led to the ubiquitous post-it note as we know it today.

So even failures can be successes in the end.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” ~ Michael Jordan

Here’s some “start before you’re ready” encouragement from the masters

“It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.” – Seneca

“A man would do nothing, if he waited until he could do it so well that no one would find fault with what he has done.” — Cardinal Newman

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” — Anais Nin

“99 percent of success is built on failure.” — Charles Kettering

“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” Jim Rohn

“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” Aristotle

“You get what you settle for.” Thelma and Louise

“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” John A. Shedd

“When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important.” Ellen DeGeneres

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” George Eliot

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Chinese proverb

“Just do it.” Nike

Goal setting: how to make 2017 your best year yet!

The concept of making “new year’s resolutions” has been a bit of a joke in our society for about as long as I can remember — the joke being that people never follow through so the “resolution” will never come to fruition. And for reasons that escape me, very few people talk about the key to success, which is “goal setting.”

And that’s a shame because the start of a new cycle [of anything, not just a year] is a chance at a new beginning.

“Without goals ….. you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” ~ Fitzhugh Dodson
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How often in our lives have we wished for a “do over?” Well, we can “start over” any old time. And setting specific goals, instead of making resolutions, is an excellent way to do it.

But you have to know the right steps.

The reason resolutions don’t work is that they’re just words and don’t include a plan. Research has shown that after six months, less than half of people who made New Year’s Resolutions have stuck to them; after a year, less than 10%. Why? Because they had no plans.

Goals, however, entail a plan and focus on action!

“Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.”

~ Alan Cohen

The steps to Successful Goal Setting

GOALS MUST BE  SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based : what, how much, by when?   [For example, “I want to los five pounds by March 1, 2017.”]

WRITE THEM DOWN

Research shows that those who write down their goals accomplish significantly more than those who don’t.

Goals simply must be written down!

The last week of each December I sit down and write out my goals for the upcoming year. I have a special book just for this purpose and I keep it handy for frequent review so that I stay on target. I it also helps me with the next step:

VISUALIZE

“All achievement starts in the imagination before it is ever realized in the physical form.” Napoleon Hill

What does it look like? What does it feel like? The mind cannot tell the difference between vivid imagination and what actually happens.

If you want a car. specify the model, color and features.

See yourself driving it.

Cut out pictures of the car and look at them every day.

Take time every day to see yourself accomplishing your goal.

A Harvard University study found that students who visualized in advance were able to perform tasks with almost 100% accuracy.  Students who did not visualize performing their tasks in advance achieved only 55% accuracy.

There’s no such thing as an unrealistic goal. If you can see it, you can achieve it.

KNOW WHY YOU WANT IT

You don’t need to know how you’ll achieve your goal at the beginning. What you need to do will become evident over time. Reasons come first, answers follow.

Years ago I set a goal to go to Ireland. I had no money to make the trip and didn’t know how I’d pull it off. But I had faith and even told friends I was going. I got a surprise windfall a few months later and the money paid for the trip!

Also, it’s very important the goal be something you feel excited about, not something someone else wants for you.

TAKE ACTION – MAKE A PLAN

This was the one flaw in the film and book “The Secret” – not enough emphasis on the need to take action to accomplish your goals.

You need a plan. So if you want to lose weight you might want to ask friends who’ve lost weight how they did it, read diet books, talk to your doctor, join Weight Watchers, cut out desserts, start an exercise program. The resources to success are endless.

Asking yourself what, how often and by when are the keys to your action plan.

HAVE A SUPPORT TEAM

Tell supportive friends [and only supportive friends] about your goal so that you have some accountability. They can also help you brainstorm ways to achieve them and help you stay motivated.

Put yourself on your support team by stating your goals in the positive: Goals focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.

Don’t say IF, say WHEN I achieve this goal. Positive wording is critical.

BE FLEXIBLE AND WORK AROUND OBSTACLES

Space shuttles are actually off course most of the time. Their arriving at their target is a matter of making constant corrections to their course.

Identify potential obstacles to achieving your goal and make a plan for how to work around them. I live by the motto that there is a solution to every problem.

GOAL SETTING SUMMARY: Goals. . .

are measurable: what, by when, how much.
must be stated in the positive.
should be reviewed regularly, at least monthly, preferably more often.
are most valuable when stated for realistic periods of time, such as: short term, one year, five year, and ten years. Clarity leads to results!!
can be made in the following areas:

family/love/romance;

career/finance;

health;

nutrition;

friends/recreation/rest;

spiritual.

For each of your short term goals, identify three small tasks you can do in the next week toward accomplishing it. Make a plan and stick to it!

And visualize the outcome you want. It works!!

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I will give you a man who will make history. Give me a man without a goal and I will give you a stock clerk.” -J.C. Penney

Season’s Greetings!

Need a holiday gift idea?

In a world where many have too much “stuff”, gift ideas at the holidays are often a perplexing problem.

I love to gift experiences, often in the form of books, and you might consider doing the same.

An inspirational gift idea: 

The Wind Is My Mother; the Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman is beloved throughout the world. There’s a reason it’s been in continuous print since 1996 and translated into a dozen languages:

“An extremely inspirational book filled with wisdom that has been passed down for centuries. It is a combination of Universal Truths and every-day living. Grandfather Bear Heart sits right up there with Fools Crow as one of the True Holy Men of our time.” – Amazon reader

“What an incredible book! It was warm, witty, insightful but mostly a “Keeper”! I leave it by my bed, and open it when I wish to be surrounded by the warmth of Bear Heart.” – Amazon reader

“Bear Heart has a wisdom in his words that I use daily to further my spiritual growth. My copy lives right there on my nightstand and gets referred to on a regular basis. I have bought about three dozen copies of this book to share with friends and family trying to get their spiritual lives in balance.” – Amazon reader

 

A gift idea for health:

The Fountain of Youth Is Just A Breath Away; Breathing Exercises for Relaxation, Health and Vitality.

“If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be to learn how to breathe correctly.” Best-selling author, Andrew Weil, M.D.

“This is a fabulous book! It is clear, concise, and really helped me see how breathing can be an essential tool and important component in healing. Molly’s enthusiasm is inspiring. After reading this book I was immediately able to begin a breathing practice and will share these gems with my clients.”

~ Patricia Duncan, Counselor

“Makes a complicated subject simple, clear and inspiring … a real treasure.” Amazon reader

“This short, concise book can bring lovely changes to everyday life.” Amazon reader

Wishing you happy holidays and happy shopping!

Blessings,

Molly

Whose God is it, anyway?

Whose God is it, anyway?

That’s the question I asked myself when I received a letter from a reader who was concerned that her prayers to God might be rejected because she’s not a Christian.

Whoah!

That’s a heavy thought, but I immediately reassured her that her prayers would not be rejected by a compassionate, wise, good and just God just because she isn’t a Christian.

The reason is that God is not Christian.

God is not Muslim.

God is not Jewish, or Buddhist or Native American…

There is just one God and whatever your beliefs, your prayers are heard. Period.

To me, the different religions are like different languages. Whether directed to God [in English], Dios [Spanish], Dieux [French], Allah [Arabic], or Wakan Tanka [Lakota], I believe the Higher Power hears prayers from a sincere heart.

Occasionally when I am conducting a Native American ceremony, a newcomer will ask me what God I pray to, and I always give the same answer: “The same God you pray to.”

To me, it’s tragic that some people have the idea that their religion is the only valid religion, or that anyone who has a different religious tradition than they do can’t possibly be praying to the One God.

That inflexibility may be why the largest growing denomination in the U.S. today is people leaving organized religions. They are known as “spiritual but not religious” or “none” which is how they would answer any questionnaire asking them to identify their religion.

I’m certainly not going to try to convince anyone in this post to change their belief. But for those feeling insecure about whether their prayers will be heard, I heartily believe the answer is: yes!

The evidence of answered prayers

I was raised a Catholic and was taught that a prayer was something that was memorized, such as the “Our Father” and the “Hail Mary,” so I dutifully memorized them as a child.

Many years later, when I sat in my first Native American ceremonies, I heard people pray from their hearts, using their own words, talking directly to their Creator.

That was quite a revelation to me, something that I didn’t know was possible. And I also saw that those prayers were answered. So, for me, that settled right then and there that prayers from a sincere heart are always answered, regardless of the name of the God you address them to.

However one prays, be it reciting a memorized prayer handed down through the ages, speaking from one’s heart or reading from a prayer book, it all counts, and will all help.

I love to pray, and it is part of my daily spiritual practice. Here are just a few of the many benefits to prayer:

Prayer . . .

brings us peace of mind
helps us enjoy the beauty of silence
is a form of meditation
helps us focus on what is really important
instills in us kindness and compassion

However you do it, and to whomever you direct it, prayer will bring benefit to all, and that is a very good thing.

“Praying is not only following rituals and doing it just right. It’s how we feel inside, how our heart connects, and how we live.” ~ Bear Heart in The Wind Is My Mother

 

 

My heart broke Tuesday night

My heart broke Tuesday night, as I watched the unthinkable happen. Hillary Clinton, the most qualified presidential candidate ever to run in my lifetime, was defeated by a racist, sexist, mysoginist, bullying, pathological liar.

Of course, it didn’t help that Clinton was a woman.

Ironically, she won the popular vote, but our antiquated electoral-college system gave it to the other guy.

What has happened to our country? What is happening in the world?

I have always known the U.S. was a racist, sexist country, but never knew just how racist and sexist until now. Yet when there is an infection, a festering wound, the puss that comes out also leads the way to healing.

Hopefully that is what will happen here. Seeing what is wrong in our country is the first step to fixing it.

I know that many people didn’t like Hillary Clinton, and I think that most of that dislike was undeserved. I have followed her career for decades, and admired her grit and dedication.

People have called her too guarded, but if you had her history, you’d be guarded, too. Women of our generation who have pursued professional careers had a big mountain to climb to pave the way for those who came after. I was once turned down for a job by being told, “you’re very well qualified but I’m afraid if I hire and train you, you’ll get pregnant and leave.”   [There are laws against that now, fortunately.]


I remember her being vilified for taking on a big cause [healthcare] as First Lady, when most First Ladies promoted simpler, less controversial causes.


I saw her vilified for going by her maiden name, Hillary Rodham – so much so that she ended up going back to the last name of Clinton to silence the critics. I’ve written before about the questionable habit of women taking their husband’s last name when they marry. That’s a holdover from the days when women were considered the property of their husbands. Haven’t we come farther than that?


She was criticized for standing by her husband when it was revealed he had an affair, and criticized by others for not leaving him. Make up your mind, America.


Hillary has told the story of sitting for the law school bar exams and, when the proctor left the room, men in the room would make catcalls telling the women to get out because women shouldn’t be lawyers. What do you do in the face of such misogyny? Put your head down, your guard up and, keep on going. Of course she’s guarded, as most women are who have been through that shit.


I have been astounded at, and saddened by, the lies spread about her and readily believed. Because she’s a woman; because she’s the first, because she had the audacity to run for an office always held by men.

Her wounds are every woman’s wounds.

I have admired her grace and determination under pressure; her decorum and dignity in debates when her opponent constantly interrupted and threatened her. She has been inspiring.

“I still believe as deeply as I ever have, that if we stand together and work together with respect for our differences, strength in our convictions, and love for this nation, our best days are still ahead of us.” Hillary Clinton concession speech

The resurrection of the Goddess

There was a time in the early history of humanity that God was viewed as a woman.

How we went from female/earth-based religions to patriarchy is the subject of a legion of books that I won’t go into here.

In actual fact, in ancient times, it would be male and female energies together, because the Divine is both male and female. When you don’t honor both, you leave half of God out of the equation.

If you go back to Aramaic, the original language of Christ, and you will find that The Lord’s Prayer which today starts with “Our Father” should more accurately be translated as, “Father, Mother, God.”

In early history, the Earth was our Mother and honored as such. In my experience, native peoples still honor the earth, but the influence of Christianity has caused many to change their view of the Creator back to male.

When I was traveling through Mexico a year ago with my Maya teacher, I noticed that many of the shrub-covered hillsides were pyramid shaped. I asked him if there were old Maya ruins under them. He replied that, indeed there were, and that only a small percentage of all the Maya cities have been excavated and dug out.

He also said they’ve discovered that the newest ruins being excavated were originally dedicated to the Divine Feminine. And that the Maya believe that now is the time for the return of the Divine Feminine to bring balance back to the earth and her people.

So we had this amazing opportunity to bring back the feminine in the form of a female president of the United States. And what happened? The male patriarchy shot her down.

Because it’s time for the Divine Feminine to return, the patriarchy will fight that much harder to repress her. And we just can’t let that defeat us,.

To a great extent, this election was influenced by three white male organizations:

The FBI, the KGB and the KKK, among other forms of patriarchy:

The FBI by Director Comey inappropriately announcing a week before the election that there were more emails to be examined, then a week later announcing, oh, never mind, there was nothing wrong there.


The KGB by Russians hacking Democratic Party emails and releasing them to Wikileaks who in turn released them to the world. Big investigation and hearings over Hillary’s emails and, once again, there was nothing wrong there.


The KKK – the white supremacist organization – which supported Donald Trump and gave voice to a large segment of our population who are filled with hate against anyone not white.


By a concerted voter suppression effort to keep the poor, and minorities, away from the polls because those segments of our society tend to be Democrats.


By fear. “My life/job/finances aren’t working, so let’s make a dramatic change in our government and see if that helps.”


By a failure in our education system to teach Civics – how our government works. A shocking number of our populace haven’t read the U.S. Constitution and don’t understand how our democracy works. They think that a president can make sweeping changes that they simply can’t without the support of Congress.


And the Divine Feminine in the form of Mother Earth is under attack by corporate greed and pollution and oil companies who keep building pipelines that break and pollute our waters and land. Raping the land, raping the Mother.

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the drift.

The Earth is a woman and she is the one that lost Tuesday night- she is hurting just as we all are by the sudden realization that our society is not as enlightened as we had hoped. That we are not all as safe as we thought we were.

But we can be, if we don’t get discouraged. If we continue the fight for the environment, for voting rights, for equal rights for all; if we sign petitions, work and donate to causes we believe in.

To my fellow women: don’t feel defeated in in the face of discrimination, sexual harassment and disrespect. Find your inner warrior and follow the Maori teaching: “Know who you are and stand tall.”

So that the next time a woman runs for any elected office, she will win with ease, because the warrior in all of us will fight hard to support the Maya prophecy of the return of the Divine Feminine. Our country will be ready because we paved the way.

And how do you defeat hate and darkness?

By being the light.

By going high when they go low.

Praying for those stuck in fear and darkness.

“When you don’t get the leader or government or luck you want in life, you get 30 minutes to sulk. Then you get up and get to work being the change you want to see in the world. The only real loss is in resigning your beliefs and efforts because of a few setbacks.” Brendon Burchard.

There you have it – do the work, raise your vibration.

Be kind to everyone because we all need it now.

Find a cause you believe in and fight for it.

See the best in people; don’t gossip and don’t believe gossip [that goes for you, Hillary-haters]. Do your homework rather than blindly believing every post on Facebook.

The light always outshines the darkness.

Together we can resurrect this nation, and world, to something better.

“Never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.” Hillary Clinton

 

 

Native American Wisdom from Bear Heart

We live in a world full of stress, war, ecological disasters, and financial upheaval. Sometimes it even seems that the world situation may be hopeless.

But the fact is that we don’t have to look far for solutions. Indigenous peoples from around the world have much to teach us about living a balanced life.

Decades ago, as I struggled with fear of an uncertain future, money woes and a high stress job, I turned to the simple teachings of my spiritual mentor Marcellus “Bear Heart” Williams and they have transformed my life.

Here are twelve life tips from Bear Heart:

1. Never complete a negative statement. You might start out thinking it, but don’t complete it because you’re about to enter it into the computer in your head and it could come true.

2. Develop your powers of observation. Be aware of everything going on around you — it could save your life. Interviews with incarcerated criminals reveal that they seek victims who are not paying attention. Developing your observation skills is also a way to improve your intuition.

3. Whenever we pray for something and receive it, one thing that Native people are taught to do is say thank you. When you do that, many more blessings come.

4. Native people teach never point a finger of scorn or judgment at your fellow man because when you point, there are three fingers pointing back at you.

5. When you give a lifting hand and make someone feel better for it, you’ve given that person medicine.

6. If you practice using your instincts with small things, such as whether you need your jacket when going outside, you will eventually be able to rely on them for the big decisions in life.

7. When you eat a meal, focus on it. Don’t watch the news or anything heavy because you will be taking that energy into your body along with the food.

8. Live life as though you might die tomorrow. Do what you would like to be doing, and do your best each day.

9. Morning prayer: “I thank You for another day. I ask that You give me the strength to walk worthily this day so that when I lay down at night, I will not be ashamed.”

10. The beauty of silence, the lack of frenzied activity for a period of time helps us collect our thoughts and center our lives so we can maintain a sense of calm when we return to the hectic society and resume our work.

11. Too often we define success in terms of financial achievement. View success instead as doing your very best at all costs.

12. Before taking anything from the earth, be it a flower, a rock or a piece of driftwood, ask permission and say thank you. The earth spirits will notice and bless you in return.

You’ll find more of Bear Heart’s wisdom in our book, The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman[image error]

Try these in your life and let me know in the comments section how it helped! These lessons have absolutely helped me!

How to celebrate the Autumn Equinox

This year, the autumn equinox, which is the official start of autumn, occurs on September 22, 2016, at 10:21 a.m. EST.

Our ancestors celebrated all equinoxes and solstices, but the autumn equinox seems to have been a little less celebrated than the others. I’m not sure what the historical reason is, but for myself, I’m sad to see summer coming to an end and am not quite ready to say goodbye to sunny, warm days and welcome in the fall.

But it happens. It’s part of the cycle of life, and to be in tune with the natural world, it’s important to honor these special “natural” events.

As the days get shorter, all of nature knows what to do: here in the Northern United States, nights get cooler, leaves start to turn, pumpkins appear, plants cease their flowering and get ready to let their growth go into their roots. Nature gets quieter, and it’s time for us to follow the same cues.

The equinox is a day of balance of the hours of light and dark. From here on, daylight hours will shorten until we reach the magical time of the Winter Solstice.

It’s good to always celebrate balance, because it is what makes our lives happy and healthy. It’s also a time to honor the harvest and the abundance life offers us.

It’s a time when plants are setting their seeds and, therefore, time for us to plant new seeds. I have a wildflower meadow in front of my house. It’s mowed once a year to allow the land to rest and the flowers to set their seeds. After mowing, the meadow looks destroyed.  But when it’s reborn in the spring, it’s a beautiful sight.

Here is a simple way to celebrate the Autumn Equinox and get ready for a new cycle. The equinox energy is strong for the four days before and after September 22, so you can do this ceremony at any time during those days.

In the old days, when our ancestors lived off the land, autumn was a time of harvest feasts and preparing to store food for the winter. We no longer need to fill larders and root cellars, because supermarkets store food year round.

But it’s a good time to give thanks for what we have, and to prepare for the winter in other ways:

On a physical level:

Clean the house: vacuum, dust and polish
Smudge the house to clear out old energy
Get rid of those things you no longer use to make room for the new; give them away for others to use.

On a spiritual/emotional level:

Take an assessment:

Is your life in balance?
What might need adjusting?
Do you spend enough time playing and resting? In our busy, success-driven culture, rest and sleep often get short shrift, but they are essential to health and balance.

Light candles at your altar [if you don’t have an altar, the equinox is a powerful spiritual time to create one]

Make three lists:

What are you grateful for in life? What in your life has perfected over the past three months, so that you can celebrate the harvest?
What you are ready to release from your life? What no longer serves you? Time to separate the wheat from the chaff.
What do you want to manifest in your life and in the lives of those coming after you up to Seven Generations into the future? What seeds do you want to plant? For some types of plants, fall is the best time to plant. Nothing seems to be going on above the ground, but their roots are growing over the fall and winter months, so that the plant can burst forth with new life in the spring. What seeds/projects/aspirations can you plant and nurture now that will manifest in the spring. Or some future spring?

A Burning Bowl Ceremony for the Equinox

A Burning Bowl ceremony is simple, yet powerful. You will need thin paper to write on, a candle and a bowl.

The first time around, light and place in the bowl a piece of paper on which is written what you are ready to release.

The second time around, light and place into the bowl a paper listing things you want to bring into your life, or the lives of your descendents.

Do you have patience? You may not live to see the fruits of the seeds you plant now. But, thinking ahead seven generations is our job, and a very noble attribute.

“Our people prayed one hundred years ago for the return of the buffalo and now they have returned.

Are you patient enough to wait one hundred years for your prayers to be answered? We are.”

~ Rocky Afraid-of-Hawk, buffalo rancher, Lakota Nation

 

 

The Sacred Art of Smudging: Sacred Smoke, Sacred Life

Many people have heard of “smudging,” and may even practice it, but there’s great value in knowing its history, and understanding the true sacredness of it.

There are three primary herbs used in the Native American tradition for smudging: sage, cedar and sweetgrass.

Sage is used to dispel negative energy.
Cedar is used for an overall blessing or to cleanse where there has been illness.
Sweetgrass draws in positive energy.

I have been taught the importance of burning only one herb at a time for smudging, otherwise you are giving mixed messages.

Sage is the most commonly used for cleansing the energy field of a person, place or thing, so I will focus on it for this post.

How sage came to the people  

This is a story from Bear Heart about how sage came to the people:

A long time ago there was a village in North America where it seemed like things were going from bad to worse, to the point that things of a negative nature seemed to be predominant:

•   things were going wrong,

•   craftsmen were making mistakes in their work,

•   people were making accusations against one another,

•   people were accused of practicing evil.

There was a whole lot of discord among the people: friends and neighbors having falling outs, not allowing the children to play with the neighbor’s children. Many things like that were happening.

All of a sudden, a young boy around 13 or 14 years old showed up in the village with a bundle in his arms. As soon as he arrived, he asked to see the elders of the village.

When they were summoned he asked them to sit in a circle. As they did so, he said “I have this plant I want you to look at it. You can recognize it when you see it again because it will be growing in this area. It is called sage. It’s going to enable you to handle all the negative things that are blowing around this whole camp. That’s why I was sent to you. And so, please smell this and pass it around.”

As they did, they began to feel good towards one another. And then, while they were doing that he built a fire very quickly. When the sage came back to him in the circle, he put coals in a pile using his bare hands.

Then he put all the sage on it and said, “I want you all to smudge yourselves. This is how you do it.”

While they were smudging themselves each one suddenly began to feel good about the person next to him. They were so busy acknowledging one another, when they looked again for the boy, he had disappeared. They didn’t know where he came from or where he went.

That’s a story of how sage came to the people.

Smudging with sage

For thousands of years, incense and smoke have been used in spiritual and religious settings to connect with the spirit realm. Incense is still used today in the Roman Catholic Church and other religions for purification.

Native elders teach that the smoke of dried sage clears negative energy and restores harmony.

The smoke created by smudging connects our physical plane to the realm of the sacred, and opens a portal to the world of subtle spiritual energies. We are also connecting with thousands of years of prayer and ceremony when we smudge.

Smoke from smudging can also carry up our prayers to the Great Spirit.

The research on smudging

New research reveals that smudging works as an antiseptic.

The article “Medicinal Smokes reduces airborne bacteria,” published in the journal Ethnopharmacology in 2007, reported on a University of Witwatersrand study that found a 94% reduction in the bacterial count of a room that had been treated for one hour by smudging with medicinal herbs.

One hour is a long time to be smudging, and would likely set off smoke detectors, but it’s good to know it brings about some reduction in bacteria.

Once again, our Native elders understand both the spiritual and physical realms better than modern man.

When and why to use smudging

Smudging is often the first step in any ceremony. It helps bring the participants into the present, leaving behind the stress of their lives and other distractions.

There’s no limit to the situations where smudging can be of benefit:

Smudge yourself off with sage when you get home from work each day, or when you’ve had an upsetting incident.


Smudge the participants at the beginning of a meeting or ceremony in order to help everyone become centered and present.


Clear an area where there’s been an upset by burning sage.


If you have spiritual instruments, it’s good to smudge them regularly: i.e, feathers, fetishes, crystals, etc. Burn the sage and draw the objects though the smoke four times.


Smudge yourself when you awaken in the morning, to dispel any negativity from the day before or that came up in your dreams. Bathe yourself in the smoke, to purify your energy field, by drawing the smoke over yourself four times:

Over your heart, saying “harmony”,

Over your head, saying “humor”,

Down your front saying “humility”,

And then behind you, saying “honesty.”

You’re drawing these qualities into yourself as you do so.

Smudge your home on a regular basis, smudging towards an open window.


Planting a garden? Smudge the seeds both before and after planting, so as to give them a good start.


If you receive something that has been used by others, such as a purchase from a thrift store, smudge it with sage before using it in order to eliminate the energy of the previous owner, and create a new start for yourself.

How to smudge

To smudge you will need:

sage [either loose leaves or a smudge stick such as in the photo above]
an abalone shell [or anything that can handle the heat of the burning sage]
a lighter
a feather to help fan the smoke [optional]

Light the sage and start smudging: pass the abalone shell around to distribute the smoke. If you have a feather, you can use it to send out the smoke in different directions.

When you’re done, you can put out the burning sage by pressing it into the abalone shell or the ground.   When you’re finished, return the ash to the ground.

Where to get sage for smudging

The ideal is to pick your own, always making an offering of tobacco. Never pick all the sage in one area; leave some so it looks as though you were never there. And never pull it out by the roots.

You then hang it to dry, out of the sun. If it dries too fast, with too much heat, you’ll kill off the essential oils which give it it’s good smell.

You can also grow sage or even buy it.[image error]

In the old days, when they reached adolescence, Native youth were taken down to the sage fields and introduced to the sage plants ceremonially, asking permission of the spirits of the plants to be able to pick it. That’s how things are done in the traditional way. With great respect.

Things are easier for us now. We can buy sage bundles in metaphysical book stores or on Amazon, hoping they were harvested in a good way.

And that’s the way it is with everything in life today. We may have easier access to obtaining spiritual objects by buying them– in the old days such things were earned — but most important is that we use them in a respectful and prayerful manner.

In a world filled with technology, hurrying up, shallow entertainment and corporate greed, it is up to each individual to find the sacred in every day life, and smudging is a very good place to start.

What if our leaders would marry the land?

In ancient Ireland, the ceremony of crowning a king included a marriage ceremony in which the king would marry the land, or more accurately marry the Goddess of the land.

This marriage meant that the King swore to protect the land and the people, and be a caretaker of the earth. In return, when a King was favoured by the Goddess:

he would rule with wisdom,
the land would be fertile and prosperous,
the country would always be victorious in war.

When that sacred contract was broken, the land was no longer fertile.

This practice of marrying the land was so ingrained in the Celtic way of life that it continued well into the 16th Century in Ireland.

In Ireland, the marriage of the King to the land would take place during the Celtic celebration of Beltaine, on the First of May. Beltaine celebrates the marriage of the sun [the King] and the earth [the Goddess] because May is the month when the earth starts to come back to life under the warmth of the sun and the green reaches toward the sky. It’s a time of fertility and new beginnings.

Beltaine represents union between male and female. The May Pole represents a phallus placed into the earth to symbolize fertility. The crops and livestock were blessed at Beltaine, a perfect time for the marriage of the king to the land.

How we lost the Goddess

I believe the loss of the understanding of the Goddess/Divine Feminine and her relationship to the land is why we have become such poor caretakers of the earth today, and find ourselves in an environmental crisis.

Modern “civilized” societies have lost the understanding that the earth is our mother, a Divine Feminine form who can nurture us if we respect her as such.

All ancient cultures honored the Divine Feminine, the Goddess, which went hand in hand with their respect and care for the earth.

Many books have been written on how humans lost touch with the Divine Feminine:

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image (Compass)[image error],
When God Was a Woman[image error], and
The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future[image error]

are just a few. I won’t attempt to cover all the history and theories here.

In If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging[image error], author Sharon Blackie theorizes that, as the old stories started to be written down by Christian monks, the divinity of the Goddess took a back seat. The male dominated religion couldn’t allow such divine power in the hands of the female, so the tradition of marrying the land was lost along with written history.

Yet, indigenous cultures today still honor the feminine and the land.

The Iroquois Great Law of Peace, on which our United States Constitution was modeled, calls for the clan mothers to choose the leaders of the tribe and they could veto any council action that may result in war.

“It is the mothers, not the warriors, who create a people and guide their destiny.” Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota

How can we marry the land today?

Think of what wedding vows usually include: “to love, honor and respect, to care for in sickness and health.”

Make a commitment to be a caretaker of the earth, to marry the land. Here are some ways to do it:

Recycle always
Bring re-usable shopping bags to the grocery store – always
Carry a refillable water bottle instead of buying individual pre-packaged water bottles
Offer corn meal or tobacco as a blessing/offering to the earth on a regular basis
Pick up litter, regardless of whether or not it’s yours
Think about your impact in all of your actions
Think ahead 7 generations
Instead of seeding a water-guzzling lawn, plant a wildflower meadow
Support environmental organizations
Plant trees
Buy local food
Turn off lights and unplug appliances when they’re not in use
Pay bills online to save paper
Bless the land, bless the trees
Write/call your Congressional representative demanding they take action on environmental causes and climate change. Remind them of their sacred duty to protect the people and the earth on which we live.
Better yet, vote for political leaders who will make such a commitment to caring for the land.

Such commitments can be the equivalent of marrying the land, honoring and caretaking her. And we will all be better off for it.