Tag: songs

Blue turd on the window sill

A recent discovery at Monkey Valley inspired me to write this homage to John Denver:Blue mouse

  • Blue turd on the counter makes me happy
  • Blue turds in my bed can make me cry
  • Blue turd means the mouse has found the poison
  • Blue turd means the mouse is going to die

I was very moved by this ditty, although not as much as by the original song by Mr. Denver.

Singing in the sweat lodge

Water bucketAs I mentioned earlier, there were four rounds in the sweat lodge: The first round was for calling in the ancestors and spirits. The second round was for praying. The third round was for healing. And the final round was the “going home” round. At the beginning of each round, more rocks were brought in. During the round, Munro used a dipper to scoop water from a bucket and splash it onto the rocks, creating steam and raising the heat in the lodge.

Each rock was blessed with herbs as it was brought in. Herbs commonly used are cedar, sweet grass, sage, lavender (for gentleness), copal (resin), and osha-root or bear root. Each has its own magical scent, but I found that the osha-root was especially captivating. I later learned that osha is associated with dreaming and helps one to realize that there is magic in everything, including each one of us. It helps to lift a veil between the conscious and unconscious worlds. Osha is a powerful, spicy-smelling root that was sometimes ingested to cause a sweat or fever that could release toxins from the body.

During the first round Munro taught us songs for welcoming in the spirits of the seven directions. Here is one of the songs. I have adapted the lyrics slightly. Each line is repeated twice.

  • Power in the East, standing there, we are humbly praying
  • Power in the South, standing there, we are humbly praying
  • Power in the West, standing there, we are humbly praying
  • Power in the North, standing there, we are humbly praying
  • Power in the Sky, standing there, we are humbly praying
  • Power in the Earth, lying there, we are humbly praying
  • Beloved in my heart, abiding there, we are humbly praying

Desert cactusWhen I was out on the vision fast, I added lines to pray for individual people:

  • I pray for Dorrie, I pray for Dorrie, I pray she is warm and safe, I pray she is warm and safe…

Another song he taught us is the Stone People song for honoring the grandfather stones:

  • Stone people, stone people
  • Stone people, stone people
  • You are the first people, thank you for coming, thank you for praying with us
  • Stone people, stone people

This is a great, simple song that can be adapted to honour all of the creatures in the natural world: tree people, cactus people, sky people, cloud people, grass people, ant people, and so on. I made up lots of different lyrics during my vision fast. Singing to the plants and animals is a way of opening my heart to connect with them and appreciate them. It is also a lot of fun!