We return to the teepee for three more posture experiences in the next twenty-four hours. I’ll describe two of them in this post.

We encounter our mythic selves more deeply by experiencing the birthing posture. One of my favorites, this particular pose is found all over the world, from Bolivia, to “the Near East, where they date from about 7000 years ago, to modern examples in central and western Africa, New Zealand and throughout Polynesia.” The birthing figure shown below comes from Rurutu and “shows the god Tangaroa …apparently giving birth to other gods and humans who are shown as small figures carved in a variety of ritual postures all over his body.” ( p. 213-14, Gore, Ecstatic Body Postures.) I can identify many of these poses as ones we call ecstatic postures: empowerment, chiltan spirits, bear, singing shaman, realm of the dead. This fact acknowledges the importance of these particular physical poses to our ancestors, though we can only imagine why.

The following day, we ask Tennessee Diviner to help with the task of designing our ritual. Divining postures in general reveal that which is hidden. “ … (P)eople tend to receive answers both in images and words. It is not unusual for someone to hear a distinct message, such as, ‘seeing is not seeing, feeling is seeing.’ Perhaps that is one reason people respond so strongly to the Lady of Cholula and the Tennessee Diviner as very real beings; they speak to people in words, and they have identifiable personality styles.” ( p.101, Gore. )

Not an easy pose for most of us to hold, Tennessee Diviner reliably outlines detailed rituals. I have no explanation for why this is so, but over the last thirty years, many groups in many places affirm the capacity of this pose to help us create potent and unique rituals related specifically to the sacred work at hand.

Here is a sampling of what Tennessee Diviner shared with us:

Music:

two original songs with words and melodies.
one remembered song from long ago.
a simple series of notes which at least four of us heard:
F, C-, C. These notes were suddenly recognized as the melody in one of the songs mentioned above.

             Movement:

enfolding and unfolding seemed to be a repetitive                                      theme:

undulating back and forth with the feet as well as side to side
slow arm movements rising and falling, up and down.

Spaces:

the teepee

the medicine wheel which was revealed to have a fault line running through it.

the forest as mystery

the lodge as the womb of darkness, the void

the forest as reflected brilliance

the meadow as the coeur of the sun

Storylines:

                        There’s a story waiting to be told and no one to tell it.

The story starts here.

Warriors in all cultures are reaching for freedom.

The sun has to be convinced to shine.

The sun is the heart is the core of it all.

There’s a vertical axis with soaring views and earthen hues.

There are all seeing eyes everywhere.

Process:         

                        D gifted us with a clear, almost step by step, progression of where to begin and how, where to go next, and then next, including specific details like needing to circle with our backs to a cedar tree looking out,  sharing our love for the world outward, and needing to collaborate  to entice the sun from hiding.

A final note for today: Choosing to co-create with spirit demands trust and so we grow in freedom and delight. Each person receives only a portion of what the group needs to know.  By asking our egos to trust not-knowing and to depend on each other, we liberate ourselves to join with the living moment, giving and receiving, leading and following, honoring natural rhythms and communal resilience.

ahhhhh yes, a new cultural story begins and we’re sharing it here now.