Mount Shasta, California — September 21-24, 2008

A global gathering in tandem with Earthworks for Humanity's sacred pilgrimage to Peru and Bolivia, "Bridging the Americas: Coming Home Reuniting the Eagle and the Condor."

This Unitarian World Renewal Ceremony brought together people of all races, black, white, yellow, and red, and welcomed all religious faiths to join us in celebration for the healing of the Earth, and to unite the tribes of the planet, for we are all humans first and foremost.

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Mitakuye Oyasin
"We Are All Related"

This stone altar was constructed the morning of the autumn equinox on September 22, 2008 at the upper ski bowl parking lot on Mount Shasta, about 7770 feet elevation, just below an area on the mountain named "The Heart." The simple design was inspired in part by

Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux Sitting Bull
Onandaga Iroqouis Peacemaker Hayehwatha
The Jade Emperor
Saint Patrick
&
Saint Germain.

Many thanks to our helpers Russell and Dancing Deer who participated in its assembly. The next time this layout is used, we will use an upward peace sign to symbolize the Tree of Life.

Mitakuye Oyasin is Lakota Sioux for "All My Relations." It is a prayer of oneness and harmony with all forms of life: other people, animals, birds, insects, trees and plants, and even rocks. It reminds us that we are connected to these other aspects of Creation, that we share a common kinship in the Hoop of Life.

Peace camp was set up on Sunday, September 21, at the Panther Meadows camping area. The alpine Panther Meadows is considered a church of the Wintun Indians of California, and great care should be taken to stay on the pathways to avoid injuring the delicate ecosystem of the meadows. Mount Shasta's sacred Saint Germain spring is located in the upper Panther Meadow, surrounded by a semicircle of stone about eye-level in height. The camp and its happy campers were smudged with cedar and sage, and a prayer bundle offering was made to the fire to ask for the healing of the earth, and the arrival of world peace by uniting all humankind in love and forgiveness, the bringing together of all races and religions in harmony with one another.

The Wakinyan, also known as the Thunderbeing or Thunderbird was with us all day on Sunday, and gave us a spectacular light show to the South, with lightning strikes every 2 or 3 seconds for many hours after sunset. The heyokas danced, sang, played music, and prayed for peace.

Permission to conduct peace and healing ceremonies was requested of Mount Shasta, and she graciously gave her approval to use the upper ski bowl parking lot area, outside of Panther Meadows. This allowed us to make use of drumming to talk to the Great Spirit, and allow participants to pray for peace in whatever manner they chose.

Great care was taken to honor and respect the traditions of Native Americans. The Wintun have requested no drumming take place within Panther Meadows. An excellent place to read about Native American traditions and concerns are the discussion boards at Thunderdreamers.com.

And so he gave each of us a responsibility and we call that the Guardianship. To the Indian people, the red people, he gave the Guardianship of the earth. We were to learn during this cycle of time the teachings of the earth, the plants that grow from the earth, the foods that you can eat, and the herbs that are healing so that when we came back together with the other brothers and sisters we could share this knowledge with them. Something good was to happen on the earth.

To the South, he gave the yellow race of people the Guardianship of the wind. They were to learn about the sky and breathing and how to take that within ourselves for spiritual advancement. They were to share that with is at this time.

To the West He gave the black race of people the Guardianship of the water. They were to learn the teachings of the water which is the chief of the elements, being the most humble and the most powerful. When I went to the University of Washington and I learned that it was a black man who discovered blood plasma, it didn't surprise me because blood is water and the elders already told me the black people would bring the teachings of the water.

To the North He gave the white race of people the Guardianship of the fire. If you look at the center of many of the things they do you will find the fire. They say a light bulb is the white man's fire. If you look at the center of a car you will find a spark. If you look at the center of the airplane and the train you will find the fire. The fire consumes, and also moves. This is why it was the white brothers and sisters who began to move upon the face of the earth and reunite us as a human family." -Lee Brown

This "W" appeared in the clouds after Monday's ceremonies of prayer, dancing, song, hoop dancing, meditation, and traditional tobacco offering. Perhaps the "W" was a message from the Wakinyan or Wakan Tonka. Wakinyan is the light spirit and is symbolic of the Christ spirit. Wakan Tanka is a Sioux word often translated as the Great Spirit, but more accurately means "sacred" or "divine."

According to the prophecy of Black Elk, "W" also stands for Wanekia, or great Holy One. Black Elk was an Oglala Lakota (Sioux) who foresaw the Sacred Hoop or unity of his people form into a circle once again. With the emergence of the Lakota Freedom movement in late 2007 to unite the Lakota peoples in their ancestral lands once again, Black Elk's vision of peace and unity appears to be unfolding today. He saw the Indian people become great and noble beings because they would leave behind the small things that divide, and seek the big things of understanding and love that unite. He saw all mankind as one great happy family, true children of the Great Spirit.

A pair of antlers and an angelica root support the heart. The pink peace crane is from the 1999 vigil at Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Labs, where hundreds of people gather each year on Hiroshima Day to remember the victims of nuclear weapons everywhere, and work for peace and a nuclear-free planet. This subspecies of angelica is considered the most powerful medicine of many Native American tribes that live near the Klamath River.

A quartz crystal sits atop rainbow threads, the rainbow being a universal symbol of peace for thousands of years. The Warriors of the Rainbow were prophesied by many different Native American seers to help usher in a new era of peace on Earth for everyone. The Irish word for quartz is grian cloch, which means 'stone of the sun'. Quartz crystals can spit light into a rainbow.

Detail of Tuesday's altar setup

Sunlight illuminates the quartz crystal at sunset on Tuesday, September 23, at the top of the stone heart.

Heartwood chips from an ancient cedar symbolize the four directions. The wood pieces came from the largest cedar tree near the sacred spring of the Sacramento River headwaters, in the Mount Shasta City Park. The tree was sick for many years, and removed for safety reasons. Wood chips were salvaged to make smoked salmon, and wood shavings saved as an offering in sweat lodge ceremonies. In this way, the life and spirit of the tree will be honored and remembered for many years to come.

Angelica root is used to smudge the peace heart during sunset on Tuesday.

Rainbow colored Indian corn is placed inside the heart, to honor the Hopi Indians. The word "Hopi" means "peaceful people," and the Hopi have shared several prophecies to help guide the people of Earth to live in harmony with nature and each other, in order to transition through this difficult and confusing time in history.

The four hoops of the four races rest atop an amethyst crystal on Tuesday in the center of the peace sign. A man named Wolf of Cherokee-Chippewa descent contributed the feather and prayers; other visitors left flowers and a small wooden cross. The hoops are tied together with rainbow thread following the Monday's autumn equinox ceremonies. "You honor the First Nations greatly," Wolf said. Many thanks for his high praise.

Sunset on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 as viewed from the upper ski bowl parking lot on Mount Shasta.

This circle of light, symbolic of the universe, reflects the first rays of Wednesday's sunrise. It sits atop the peace sign.

The first rays of the morning sun illuminate this amethyst crystal. Amethyst is a symbol of heavenly understanding, and of the pioneer in thought and action on the philosophical, religious, spiritual, and material planes.

Morning sun ignites the quartz crystal in a blaze of light.

As noon approached, a couple dropped by to inquire about the altar. A man and woman traveling from Ecuador joined us in prayer and meditation to heal the earth and unite the tribes. With their participation, South America, symbolized by the condor, and North America, symbolized by the eagle, had been reunited. With the America's bridged, and the reuniting of the eagle and the condor, the theme of Earthworks for Humanity's global gathering, our Mount Shasta ceremonies came to a joyous conclusion.

This stone spiral was also near the top of Mount Shasta when we arrived. The mountain is a sacred site for many people in addition to Native Americans; many believe it is the location of a powerful vortex, or area of high energy concentrations, originating from magnetic, spiritual, or sometimes unknown sources. The spiral is a common mathematical structure in the natural world; its sacred geometry appears in snail shells, DNA, tornados, hurricanes, and elsewhere.

Ronald Holt writes of the spiral: the Golden Mean Spiral is a doorway that weaves the ethereal and material dimensions together. In another context I would say that God left us one door of eternal mystery and exploration, the Golden Mean Spiral or the door of love.

Andree Morgana of the Hayehwatha Institute held a session with one of our ceremony participants named Bright, and was given this blessing for future generations on Earth from the Grandmothers and Grandfathers in the Sky Ceremony:

"And now the Grandfathers come forward. And now they prepare a special blessing for the people on the earth. They go to the fires, and they speak to the fires in the sky. And they ask for the generations to come upon the earth, to walk without suffering, to walk without disease, to live in a new way, to be happy and to bring forth further generations without suffering, without disease, to live a full life upon the earth in a good way, with a good power, and a good peace. And so the fires of the sky agree, and you are there to witness this moment, you are part of this moment for the future upon the earth.

And now the Grandfathers with great care, with great gentleness, and with great knowing allow the blessings of the fires of the sky to gently enter into the souls of the future in such a way to bring about this possibility gently, slowly, with great, great care. And now they work with the substance of the earth, and they add that to what is being created at this moment. And there are beautiful waters upon the earth that they draw up to the sky to participate, and you are watching this moment. You are participating with these elders who are creating a goodness for the people of the earth in the days to come. You are happy inside. And with great care they work with these elements from the sky above and from the earth below. Great care is taken, great, great care. It is a special moment in time. And now they bring their work to a completion. All that was needed for this moment came forth to assist, and you participated to create it."*

* Italic Text from Hayehwatha Session September 23, 2008 - Hayehwatha Institute © All Rights Reserved

I would like to thank all who participated in our heart songs, prayers, dancing, drumming, rattling, hoop dancing, chants, and meditations. Guests from all four races, as well as prayers from people who are Bahai, Christian, Native American, agnostic, atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Unitarian, and more, arriving from across California, Washington, Colorado, Wyoming, Florida, Spain, Japan, Ecuador, and elsewhere. Special thanks to Rainbow Fire, our ceremony hostess, gifted poet and singer; Andree Morgana, Bright, Starwalker, Karen Anderson, Phil, Russell, Dancing Deer, Wolf, Christian, and everyone else; also Carol Motyka-Miller, Lindsay Sass-Aurand, Maria Strouss, Pete & Terri Winslow, Judi Armbruster, Trinidad Goodshield, Barbara Black, and Vinson Brown.

Love, Mark

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