At a point in time several weeks ago I am invited to attend a Sun Dance Ceremony at the Northern Ute Reservation in Utah. It will be an overnight trip with a few friends - two of which had attended before and know the intricacies of these native american ceremonies. The morning before we leave for the 2 hour drive, we are given an overview by Mukeet, a man of 78 who has studied and written about native american tribes and cultures for many years. He's a funny guy, very alive with curiosity, a healthy sense of humor and a strong need to dance!
Before we leave, Mukeet gives a blessing and says a prayer to the four directions and to the creator that we have a safe journey and that we have a good experience in the ceremony and add our respect good energy to it. We smoke a pipe together, as is the custom when praying. We burn sage and sweetgrass and it all feels so good.
After lunch we take off. Three cars, five people. We drive to Roosevelt, Utah and stop at the corner store - which is really out in the middle of nowhere. We are looked at with curiosity and I feel the need to put out a respectful vibe. We are on someone elses land. We don't really belong, but we are here with a feeling of unity, peace and a healthy dash of curiosity ourselves.
We drive out to the ceremony site on reservation land and Mukeet tries to get in touch with the people who invited us. He cannot reach them, so we sit just inside the gate, looking like giant sore thumbs sticking out in this community. It is a strange feeling, one that I am unfamiliar with. It certainly crosses my mind that we should just leave. Maybe we're not wanted here.....
It's getting late and the sun will set soon. Finally someone tells us we can take a spot and put up our tents. I have my gypsy van, so all I have to do is park. The others set up their tents while we put together a simple dinner which we enjoy by lantern light. We can hear the dance and the drums still going, and after dinner we begin to walk to the lodge that has been built out of trees for this ceremony. A giant full moon begins to rise in the East and it is blood red. Incredible!
As we arrive, the dance is just ending for tonight. They will begin again in the morning at sunrise.
Here is what little I know about the Sun Dance: Men choose (or are chosen by the chief) to dance in this ceremony. It lasts for four days and the men commit to no food or water during that time. It is a personal dance and a dance for peace in the tribe and peace on earth. Dancers sacrifice for the good of the tribe. In some Sun Dance ceremonies (not this one) the dancers pierce their skin and give their blood to the spirits. The Sun Dance is one of many ceremonies that were banned or prohibited when we white folks came along and took over and thought we knew best.
A lodge is built of trees in a circular shape with the opening to the East. In the center is a large and beautiful tree that represents the center of the universe. A direct line to the Great Spirit. The dance is all done around this tree. On the West side of the tree, a great Buffalo head watches over the ceremony. At this particular dance there are 24 men giving of themselves.
We wake at 5:30 am and make our way over to the lodge with our chairs. The dancers are moving around, covered in a sheet when not dancing. Some have decided not to speak during the time of the ceremony. As the sun begins to rise, all people who are there face the east. The drum beats, songs are sung and everyone greets the first rays of the sun with smiles while holding out their hands and bathing themselves in the light. It is one of the most beautiful things i have ever taken part in.....
We speak with the dancer who invited us, a man from the Southern Ute tribe in Colorado named Shane. He is the epitome of calm and goodness. Such a beautiful soul. He imparts some amazing words of wisdom.
We go back to our campsite and have a simple breakfast of tea, fruit and delicious blueberry muffins, and then head back over to the lodge. Things are just getting started for the day long dance. An American flag is brought in and raised in honor of a native man who fought in World War II.
A large drum is brought in and another at the side as a back up. Men sit around the drum and laugh and talk and smoke. We receive mixed reception. Some people look at us with distaste, others are very welcoming. One of the dancers comes and shakes each of our hands. Then he looks at us seriously and says "watch and learn". It sends a small chill over me because I know he's right.
The chief of the tribe says a blessings and asks for peace. Peace in the tribe and peace on our planet. He asks that everyone be kind and helpful to each other. That we love and take care of our sacred home.
The dance begins. Men come from the sides of the circle where they have their own space - for sleeping, resting and to be when not dancing. They dance as they are moved to dance - when they feel it. The chief is presiding over the dance and is in the center of it all. The drum beats get stronger and stronger. More men dance and they each have a wooden whistle around their neck that they blow as they are dancing. Each carries feathers or sprigs of plants as they dance. Women come with bundles of plants and herbs to offer the dancers. They take them and rub their bodies and place some of the plants in their hair. Women and men in the audience shake rattles as the dancers move their bodies around the sacred tree.
A grandmother comes to the circle with a boy of about 5 years. She speaks with the chief and asks for a blessing for the child. The chief announces to the dancers that the boy is blind and needs their healing. What follows is an incredible, powerful dance...beating of drums in time to heartbeats. I can feel the beat of the drum in the middle of my forehead. I am up out of my chair, as are all of the others in the audience. We move to the drum, palms open, sending our healing energy to the boy. The drum gets louder, the energy raises to the heavens, straight up the trunk of the magnificent tree in the center.
Soon I am so full, so filled with the powerful energy, I feel the need to vomit. To let go of everything this is no longer serving me. Energetic garbage. A most powerful and needed release.
As I drive home that day I am filled with a most humble gratitude and strong and clear sense of truth....
Before we leave, Mukeet gives a blessing and says a prayer to the four directions and to the creator that we have a safe journey and that we have a good experience in the ceremony and add our respect good energy to it. We smoke a pipe together, as is the custom when praying. We burn sage and sweetgrass and it all feels so good.
I spent two mostly wonderful weeks in the area in and around the beautiful colonial city of Cuenca. I arrived a few hours after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed over 700 people and injured close to 30,000. Lives changed forever in a few minutes. This fact definitely changed the tone of my experience and the time I spent there was covered in concern and sadness alongside of mind blowing scenery and beautiful, kind people.
The image of a giant carnival ride comes to mind. Someone throws on the brakes and the huge machine comes to a grinding, squealing halt. And then the engine master puts the whole thing in reverse. She very slowly and majestically starts in the opposite direction from whence she came.
The next day we have another divine breakfast on the terrace and soon three large buses pull up in front of the hotel. They are loaded with all the children from Lidia's children's home. So many smiling faces greet us as we all board different buses. It is Cambodian Independence day and we are taking the children to Phnom Kulen, a popular place for local people. It's about a two hour ride and we laugh and sing all the way up the steep winding road.
The temple is beautiful and I enjoy walking around looking at all the ornate carvings, ponds, small alters and all the nooks and crannies. There are many Cambodian people here receiving blessings from the monks and giving thanks. I walk to a smaller temple at the back and there is a beautiful old monk dressing in flowing orange robes giving blessings. I sit down near him and wait my turn. I sit in front of him and he sprinkles me with holy water, chants and prays for my good health and safe journey and then he ties a red string around my wrist. He is a very special creature and I feel like I'm in a happy trance as I sit in front of him. I place my hands together at my heart and give him my humble thanks and then join the rest of our group.
I get out of the river and take a walk along the opposite side, where I explore the ruins of a very old temple. It is all fallen down but there is a beautiful spirit as I linger there. I walk further down and come to an amazing water fall. I can see that further down the water is falling again but I don't want to go to close in the shallow river. One of the children invites me to follow her, and we cross the river and go down many steep steel steps. Down down down...suddenly we are in front of the river again and three glorious waterfalls. They must be 50 feet high and fall into a serene pool at the bottom where many people are swimming. What fun! I love watching Dick with the kids. He's such a big kid himself and they adore him as much as he loves them. After a while in the water, we head back to the picnic area where we enjoy fresh fruit and we all have a rest on cool bamboo mats in the shade of the open air shelter.
Early the next day, after a delicious breakfast at the hotel (fresh fruit, banana pancake, hot coffee, and eggs) we load up in the vans and head to
and Angkor Wat temple complex that spans more than 500 acres. We are
met there by a company that provides bike rentals. Each mountain bike
has our name on it and a helmet to match.
