A Message from 13 Indigenous Grandmothers

For the Next 7 Generations documents the momentous journey of thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers as they travel around the globe to promote world peace and share their indigenous ways of healing. Originating from all four corners, these wise elders, shamans and medicine women first came together in 2004 at an historic gathering in upstate New York. Moved by their concern for our planet, they decided to form an alliance: The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Facing a world
in crisis, they share with us their visions of healing and a call for change now before it’s too late. Through their teachings, they are lighting a way to a peaceful, sustainable planet.

For The Next 7 Generations Trailer from Laughing Willow on Vimeo.

HOW THE COUNCIL CAME TO BE :

The story of how the 13 Grandmothers first came together can be traced back to one Grandmother and spiritual teacher named Jyoti. For many years, Jyoti had been making relations with indigenous peoples. She found herself holding a vision of a circle of elder women. Carrying this vision, she traveled to Africa to meet an African shaman and medicine women named Bernadette Rebienot. While there, Jyoti mentioned her vision to Bernadette and was surprised to hear that Bernadette was having the same vision. Bernadette told her that they needed to make this a reality. After returning to her home in California, Jyoti and her associate Ann Rosencranz sent out invitations to 16 Indigenous women from all around the world to join them in a Gathering. The 13 Grandmothers who responded had all received visions or heard in ancestral prophecies that they would be called together at a critical time in history when their ancient knowledge was needed for the survival of the next generations.

Grandmother Bernadette's Story from Laughing Willow on Vimeo.

According to the director, Carol Hart:

"In 1994, I was diagnosed with lung cancer that had metastasized to my brain. There were multiple lesions in my brain. They were not operable. Many of the 13 oncologists we consulted gave me 3 to 4 months to live and only one recommended treatment which might prolong my life but wouldn’t save me.

Miraculously a woman, named Jyoti came into my life. She was looking for a filmmaker (which I am) to tell a film story about children and their dreams. It turned out that she was a spiritual teacher who had many relations with indigenous people. I met up with her in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. It was obvious that I was a cancer patient. Among other things, I was bald. She asked if she could sponsor a Native American church meeting for me, a healing ceremony in a teepee that lasts for 13 hours. I agreed immediately. I didn’t have many other options.

The ceremony was extremely powerful. When I emerged from it, I felt like every cell in my body had shifted. The roadman, who runs the ceremony, told me that I was healed but it would take a while for my body to catch up with the healing. Over five years, through many cat scans, I watched the cancer go away, and finally I was certified to be cancer-free."

I can personally attest to the power of the Native American Church. I have seen a woman with uterine cancer healed as a result of the healing medicine. Here is Carol's story.

Carole Hart Healing Story from Laughing Willow on Vimeo.

Arkansas Woman Killed During Voodoo Cleansing

I am frankly appalled at the apparent increase in fatal flaws of the world's supposed spiritual leaders. Recently, there was James Ray's disaster of a Native American sweat lodge ceremony, the "inipi", where 3 people died. A sweat lodge ceremony is a purification ceremony, a healing ceremony. For those of you who don't know, James Ray is one of the law of attraction gurus who appeared in the movie The Secret and who has made more than a mint authoring numerous books on the subject. I am personally sanctioned to conduct such ceremonies, and I can tell you that I have never heard of anyone ever dying as a result of participating in one. In fact, nothing bad is ever supposed to happen in a sweat lodge. Indeed, if there ever was a safe place on this earth, it would be in the sweat lodge. So what went wrong?

I don't know. Maybe it was the fact that there was a ridiculous number of people crammed into one lodge...69 to be exact. My lodge holds 8. The largest I have ever participated in was conducted by a Lakota elder and there were 20 women in there. No one died. Grandma knew what she was doing because there are centuries of tradition and protocol to follow and you can best believe that she followed them. Or maybe it was the fact that he charged nine thousand six hundred plus dollars for the retreat. Most Native American holy people are lucky to walk away with enough gas money to get them back home. Maybe they only receive an offering of tobacco, or a bag of oranges. Nine thousand dollars...are you kidding me?

Maybe it was the fact that whoever was running the lodge, simply didn't know what they were doing. Five gallons of water (only a bucket is needed) was poured over the rocks and the ceremony lasted for 8 rounds (there are only 4 rounds). Which brings me to my next question: Who was running the lodge? All indicators point to Ray himself. I wonder how many Sundances and hunblechas he participated in to earn him that privilege.

In the world of Spirit, there are consequences for every behavior, every decision, every conjure, and every intention. The Law of Attraction (LOA) is alive and well in magick and ritual. It causes one to wonder what  decisions and intentions were driving this event that would draw death and tragedy to something so sacred? Maybe the fact that Ray played "God" in a game during the retreat speaks to his state of mind and perhaps the lack of consideration for the well-being of others. It appears that Ray attracted some pretty nasty energy with him as he crawled into the lodge that day, and he neglected to effectively bless the lodge to keep the nasties out.

And earlier this summer, there was the Hougan Hector tragedy. As you see in the video above, a lave tet was apparently performed for a woman and she ended up dying. A lave tet is a Voodoo ritual that is a cleansing, similar in concept to a sweat lodge only it involves washing the head. According to Hougan Hector himself:

"The Lave Tet is the cleansing, fortifying and finally baptism of one's head. The head being the "seat of the soul" for an individual, which serves as a vessel for the all important Met Tet and the other spirits that walk with an individual. In some non-asson houses the Lave Tet is the initiation into the house and commits the person to that house." (http://www.ezilikonnen.com/services/lave-tet.html)

The lave tet is supposed to improve the life of the individual in all areas, not kill them! So what went wrong here?

I don't know the details. According to one source, it is believed that Hougan Hector may have forgotten to serve his main loa Ogun. In Santeria and in Vodou, Ogun is known to be an extremely dangerous Spirit who has the power to kill and destroy as he sees fit. It is not uncommon for battles of all sorts to ensue when his children do not serve him correctly. Ogun is the God of War, among other very useful things.

Now, I serve Ogun. He has been very helpful to me and my family and my friends. But you can best believe that I do not forget him. In fact, in my recent move, the first altar I set up (after Legba's of course) was Ogun's. He has his iron pot and tools and other favorite things right out my back door in the garden. And, he has a special spot on my cast iron wood stove.

Another theory is greed. There are reports of Hougan Hector's fees increasing with each phone call. I don't know...I have never sought services from him, nor do I keep tabs on his fees. I have, however, turned to his site for information about Haitian Vodou at times. I have always found his site to be very helpful.

I am certainly not one to judge others. I only have my opinions, which are based on scanty information at best. James Ray and Hougan Hector have their own karma to deal with, but I dare say I am confident and relieved I do not share it.

Here is a video with James Ray talking about "Energy flows where attention goes"...


To read more about these incidents see:

AP Newsbreak: 1st sweat lodge survivor speaks out

Survivor of Ariz. sweat lodge ceremony speaks out

Voodoo became a fatal obsession: ON A SEARCH FOR SPIRITUAL CLEANSING, SHE DIED IN A SOUTH JERSEY TOWNHOUSE

Much unanswered in death at ritual in N.J.; Ark. friends want accountability

The Story of Oshun and Ogun

I was searching around the internet today for something and got sidetracked and stumbled upon this site about a new animated series called the Power Force 5. It seems they have a story the little different than what I have been taught; however, the concept is an interesting way to introduce the orishas to young folks. This is what was on the site:

WHO ARE THE POWER FORCE 5?

POWER FORCE 5: THE STORY OF OSHUN & OGUN

"The Story of Oshun & Ogun" is a 3 minute animation pilot telling the West African Yoruba based fable of how little Oshun, who represents love, seduction and sweetness, brought the powerful Ogun, entity of iron, machines & technology, out of hiding to restore order to the world..

This is the pilot for an animated series, "Power Force 5" which updates African folklore in a contemporary way. Our five teenage heroes: Oshun, Ogun, Chango, Oya, and Eshu are powerful forces of nature. They use their superpowers to help mankind but since they are still teens, their own personal dramas can sometimes get in the way.

"Power Force 5" uses urban settings, hip hop/ reggaeton music, narration and dialogue to tell each story. Each episode will be primarily self-contained but with a "cliffhanger" ending to compel the audience to watch the next episode. Written for a teen to young adult audience, "Power Force 5" the series, is designed for wireless device download and webcast, but can also be broadcast as interstitial episodes, airing between regular television programming.

Characters from Yoruba folklore are widely known throughout Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean as well as in Africa, as part of the culture and folklore of the African Diaspora. "Power Force 5" would present this culture to those who are familiar and to those who aren’t, in an entertaining way. The worldwide popularity of these characters, as well as the hip/hop setting for the stories, encourages international appeal and can be translated into several languages including French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Do you think Oshun and Oya and Ogun and Chango appreciate sharing the spotlight in this manner? Just wondering what other people think...