Subject: A ceremony like no other Friend 🤔

 

Hi Friend,

 

How are you doing today?


Take a moment to take one long deep inhale and a big audible sigh.

Do it one more time. :)


I hope you took a moment last week for puja (devotion) using the elements and/or energy centers of your body.


Altars and offerings don't have to be complicated, they require your full presence.

The morning I took this photo - I was pretty hungry.

We had arrived to this glorious lake, on a whim, at the last minute in the evening.

We kept driving and we arrived here.

Camping in the car mid-summer in Sweden, doesn't make the most pleasant of sleeps if you're underprepared as.. it doesn't get dark.


We didn't bring a lot of food to cook the night before, but I kept the apple for the morning.

I was so looking forward to eating the apple.

First I meditated, then I did some yoga and as I began to journal... an urge to purja arose within me.


I wanted to honour the lake, the mountains, the tree, the earth, the nature...

but I didn't know what to do or what to give.


My yoga mentor, Pashumati says to always carry sacred tobacco for offerings.

Of course, I didn't have any.


I could offer my body.

I could walk naked into the glacier lake.


But I had already planned on doing that... so it didn't quite feel like an offering.


I picked up the apple.

I walked to the lakeshore until my ankles were submerged in the freezing water.


I thanked the mountains, the snow, the ice, the water, all the shades of blue, all the shades of green. I thanked the trees - all the trees that I could see and all the trees I could not see. I thanked the wildlife I couldn't see, I thanked all the birds, all the plants. I thanked the earth, I thanked the sunshine, the sky, the cosmos and I thanked myself for being there and Sweden for being so good to me.


I sent blessings to my family and the ones I love.


And with that, I threw the apple into the lake.



You must learn this lesson Friend ,

You must learn to give away something that means a lot to you, something that you want.

It's powerful.


In fact, the "give-away" is one of the most important ceremonies in Native American teachings. In this puja, giving away of useful or loved possessions is a form of sharing with others. It is also a sign that the giver is willing to make a sacrifice and surrender a gift to another person without attachment or regret.


Unlike the favoured war terminology of our modern society, the native understanding of "sacrifice" means "to make sacred",


For a "give-away" or any action or gift or puja to be sacred, one must complete it with a joyful heart and a humble attitude.


Much like Trees (read "the hidden life of trees for reference), in Native Tradition, no one is ever abandoned, orphaned, or left without food, connection, environment or help.


Native People have extended families that adopt many relatives and care for one another. Those who are blessed with possessions and food have always share with those who are lacking.


The powerful lessons of the "give-away" are to teach us how to release possessions and to let go the ideas, narratives of importance connected with those belongings. The more prized the possession and the greater the sense of ownership, the more potent the lesson.


Just in case you think there's a caveat, the "give-away" is never used to get rid of belongings that are no longer functional or need repair. To give cast-off items is a disgrace to the giver and shows a lack of respect for the receiver.


If one cannot give without strings attached, there is no true release and the sacredness of giving without expectations has been destroyed.


Among the Tribes of Native America, there was never any justification for some to live in luxury while others of the same tribe starved. Everyone took care of one another.


I know my apple might not seem like a prized possession - but drive back was 3 hours on a logging road and another hour and half. I was hungry and lacking in energy. Yet I decided to get all the energy I needed from my environment, to breathe deeply, to bathe and to give thanks - and this would be enough fuel for me to drive home.


I sat back with my journal watching the apple bobbing in the water.


As there is synchronicity in you reading this today, you will know when it the time arises for a "give-away" puja.


I would love to hear about your experience when it happens.


LIVE EASEFULLY, PEACEFULLY & USEFULLY.


 


There's one more question left to ask ~>
what's the best that can happen?


Sending love,

Heidi


H E I D I L I D H O L M

love life, live love.

devotion in motion to being you.

heidilidholm.com

 
 

Powered by:
GetResponse

    This is an online snapshot of a newsletter created by the owner of Empowered Entrepreneur Ezine (HEIDI LIDHOLM, 154 Avenue Courmayeur, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) and sent via GetResponse on 2022-01-23. Report abuse