John O’Donohue
May we learn to return and rest in the beauty of animal being, learn to lean low, leave our locked minds, and with freed senses feel the earth breathing with us. 

Manitonquat
The tribal peoples, living so intimately with the earth and the other creatures, held them to be of great importance, to be sacred, and they saw the spirit of the tribe in that intimate connection. Therefore they understood they were not only relatives in a tribe that must care for each other, but also relatives of the earth and all its inhabitants, with a responsibility also to care for them.

John O’Donohue
Landscape has a huge, pre-human memory. It precedes everything that we know. Everything depends of course on whether you think landscape is dead matter or whether you think it is a living presence.

I think there is life in these rocks and in these great mountains around about us, and because there is life, there is memory. The more you live among mountains like this, the more aware you become of the cadences of the place and the subtlety of the place, it presence and personality.

Manitonquat
There is a tradition we have for people with such a longing (for the sacred and holy) to go away from the man-made world for a time. Leaving human society with all its connections and admonitions. Leaving family and friends, teachers and studies, work and ambition, leaving all roles, all stress, to be alone in the purely natural world.

At first we may feel like an observer in that place, a visitor, a stranger in this world. When we really get to know it we begin to feel at home there. We are related to all this, to everything in Creation.

We understand that we belong. We see then that the Creation is one great web. All is in relationship, and it all works together. Everything in this web has its part. Everything is equal and important to the whole. This is part of what we mean when we say everything is sacred and holy.

Beannacht,
Judith –  judith@stonefires.com

Manitonquat
It appears that the earliest creatures we call human lived in circles. This way of life conformed to what our elders called the Original Instructions for human beings. The community, the tribe, the village, was the center, the heart and spirit of human life. It was a circle. That is, each was an equal part of the whole. And they understood that this whole included the earth and the larger unknown circle of spirit beyond. They cared for all their beloved children as the children of all. Together they cared for the old ones who could no longer care for themselves, the grandmothers and grandfathers of the community. Together they cared for the injured and the sick. Each relationship was guided by a spirit that was part of the spirit of the tribe: between adults and children, between friends and lovers, within families and clans. The important thing passed down to us from the old ones is that the Original Instructions are for human beings to live in a circle. The circle provides elements that people require in order to stay human.

John O’Donohue
The Celtic mind was never drawn to the single line; it avoided ways of seeing and being that seek satisfaction of certainty. The Celtic mind has a wonderful respect for the mystery of the circle and the spiral. The circle is one of the oldest and most powerful symbols. The world is a circle; the sun and moon are too. Even time itself has a circular nature; the day and the year build to a circle. At its most intimate level so is the life of each individual. The circle never gives itself completely to the eye or to the mind but offers a trusting hospitality to that which is complex and mysterious; it embraces depth and height together. The circle never reduces the mystery to a single direction or preference. Patience with this reserve is one of the profound recognitions of the Celtic mind.

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com

John O’Donohue and Manitonquat. They may have met. I have no idea. But there is, in their writings, a meeting of mind and spirit. There is also, in their writings, a reflection of the alignment and resonance of indigenous spiritual traditions. In this case the Irish and Native American.

Dialogue. It comes from the Greek. From logos, meaning words, and diá, meaning through or between. As I invite the words of these two amazing men to flow through a few blog posts, I am reminded of John’s blessing, Beannacht, “And so may a slow wind work these words around you an invisible cloak to mind your life.”

John O’Donohue
When we devote no time to the inner life, we lose the habit of soul. We become accustomed to keeping things at a surface level. The deeper questions about who we are and what we are here for visit us less and less. If we allow time for soul, we will come to sense its dark and luminous depth. If we fail to acquaint ourselves with soul, we will remain strangers in our own lives.

Manitonquat
There is a need in human beings for spiritual understanding. The longing is there. Not to be cut off from the process of Creation, not to be isolated and abandoned to our very limited human knowledge. They may not realize it, but most people seem to be searching for that lost sense of the sacred and the holy.

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com

Note: in upcoming posts I will be referencing many of John’s books and Manitonquat’s book: The Original Instructions: Reflections of an Elder on the Teachings of the Elders, Adapting Ancient Wisdom to the Twenty-First Century, available through his website, circle way.org, and Amazon.

An elder, Manitonquat, and a book I cannot recommend strongly enough. Salve for the soul in these and all times. The Original Instructions: Reflections of and Elder on the Teachings of the Elders, Adapting Ancient Wisdom to the Twenty-First Century. There is such resonance with the teachings of the Tuatha Dé, such a harmony of indigenous knowing and wisdom. Music to dance to! 

Ahhh. How the Universe works. Annie and I were tucked into the Gallery Cafe for what Annie describes as the best omelettes on the planet. We soon engaged with a woman sitting next to us who lives off the grid with her husband and five children near Gort. She and her husband had just been praying for elders to show up in their lives and she determined we were they. She and her family came to the housewarming and it was from her husband that I learned of Manitonquat and his books. Relationships forged!

Apparently just weeks before, while I was on tour, Manitonquat offered a circle session just a mile or so up the road from the cottage. Missed the workshop, but delighted to know of this amazing elder. The synchronicity and synergy is delicious. Clearly more to unfold.

Beannacht, 
Judith – judith@stonefires.com

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

There is a great fight going on in this country and right now it looks like the evil wolf is winning. As this nation implodes, I have hope that eventually we will find our way back to those fundamental values of compassion, equality, justice, respect, truth, and peace that most of us cherish. But right now it’s grim.

For so many of us here and around the world, watching this horror unfold daily has been like drinking out of a fire hose. Getting drenched with discouragement. And I’m reminded of the quote from the Tao Te Ching about letting the mud settle and the water become clear. These past months, especially my time in Ireland, have allowed both settling and clarity.

I am clear that, for me, too much focus on this unraveling of a nation engenders anger and fear and sorrow. And it feeds the evil wolf – my time, attention, passion, and creativity. Energies I would rather feed the other wolf. So now a shift in focus. A shift in engagement. A shift in my work. Yes, there will still be times to strongly resist what is going on, to offer shelter and support for our sisters and brothers who are suffering. 

But for now it’s all about the wolf I choose to feed.

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com