My Journey with Earth and Sky

My Journey with Earth and Sky
(2016 Spring Shamanic Retreat)

I sink into the drum
There is a staff standing in the ground
It stands as sentry to the East gate
On it are tied the prayers to Earth and Sky
And the prayers from our ancestors
The drum continues

I see my bare feet standing in thin grass
Ants move so I shift to keep them from climbing on me
I survey the field where work will be done
The drum continues

Family from the energy level join me and we work
Some are new to me and to the rest of us
But these new energies are vital to our wholeness
So we build up our village together
And we do this with a common mind and heart and intent
The drum continues

Osprey flies over along with Vulture and the Bird of Song
Mother Earth and Father Sky speak with loud words
They teach of connections and comfort
They teach us of strength and of commitment
The drum continues

Serpent comes four times
And Rabbit gives his life as an offering
To allow us to do what we are here to do
The drum continues

The family sits in circle around a sacred fire
There we make an amazing and colorful prayer
We talk with the directions
We ask for guidance and we give our gratitude
We join our energies together into a common tool
And we send the prayer skyward with the smoke
The drum continues

My eyes are heavy with sleep still
There is dew on the grasses all around
And I do my part with smudge and song and drum
To encourage the sun to rise once more over the lake
The drum continues

We now are standing with my old friend "Chief Old Tree"
And I hear his elderly voice within me
Expressing his excitement and gratitude
For our attentions and gifts of tobacco and water
The drum continues

The Stone People now come to all of us
As we move through the trees carefully
Communing with each and inviting them to join us
We then assemble a sacred hoop using those that accept
This is built within a hoop, within a hoop, within a hoop
The drum continues

Father Sky and his brothers the Thunder Beings join us
And we all scramble to keep things dry
But there is a sense of acceptance within it all
As we sit snuggly and lovingly together
Within this safe shell that we have created together
Here we sit and listen and honor and learn
As Rain and Thunder and Wind teach
The drum continues

We emerge as chicks from and egg out into the sun
And we join our hands to make a soup for our hearts
To fill us before an anticipated ceremony
And we laugh and love and move back in the hoops we created
Back to a center point where the fire still burns
The drum continues

Darkness comes and the Star Family looks down
And our family within our Circle sing and speak deeply
Long into the night
We hold and love and respect and listen to each other
And we listen to Coyote and Owl and their wise words
The drum continues

I assist the sun in rising one more time
And I am gifted by the sacred fire
With images burned upon my drum
Image of Snake and the Sun
The drum continues

And we all gather again one more time
We release the Stones and we release each Direction
We do this not with sadness but with gratitude
And Mother Earth then gives me the gift of feathers
From the wings of Red-Wing Blackbird
Which I then pass with respect to my brothers and sisters
The drum continues

Just as we pulled our energies together in the beginning to build
We now pull our energies together to take our village down
And to gradually and gently disengage and return
The drum's call back comes and ends .. but then again
The drum continues
This is my Journey

--Owl