October 6, 2006, I will perform a ceremony called “When Nature Comes Together“.
The ceremony will be performed at 11:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time in the United States of America. The ceremony will be 15 minutes in duration. Any individual, world wide, may participate by going outdoors and think about what you personally can do to protect nature from the harm mankind has imposed. If for some reason you are unable to physically go outdoors, have someone obtain something from nature such as a stone, a stick, or some dirt or sand to hold in your hand. The timing, of 11:00 PM EDT is very important; therefore, make sure your area corresponds with the time in the United States.
The story behind the ceremony is as follows: In the early 1830’s, nine Native American medicine men, known as the council, gathered to discuss the recently signed Indian Relocation Act and how it would affect all Native Americans in the eastern United States. After the second day of discussions, the men retired for the evening. That night all nine men reported having a dream that had nothing to do with their reason for being there. When they met on the third day as each council member discussed their “dream”, they soon realized that each one of them held a piece to a prophecy. The prophecy was that Man would turn his back on Our Mother and for many years would hurt her. Then at some point in the future he would realize what he had done to her. When mankind finally reached the point that they saw the danger of their actions they would try to save her from their self-destructive actions. At this point, a person would receive three signs from Our Mother. After receiving the third sign, he or she would have three full moons to inform people about the ceremony and to perform it.
Our Mother, or nature as we refer to it, was considered one of the same by the council. They believed that the Great Spirit, who created everything, also created Our Mother to feed, clothe and shelter us. They also believed that everything is a part of nature and all things contained a spirit. As you can imagine, this prophecy was very disturbing to the council. They could not understand how man, a part of nature, could turn its back on nature and what the Great Spirit had created for them.
I became involved in this ceremony because a distant Grandfather of mine, named Small Hand, was the one whose family was to receive the three signs. Over the generations certain family members have been told to look for the signs and keep its secrets. My Great Grandfather, Paws Like Bear, told me, Gray Hawk, the prophecy and the signs to look for and out of respect for him and my ancestors, I am keeping my word.
The following are the three signs. The First Sign - You will meet a woman that you have seen in a dream. When you meet her, something unusual will happen and Our Mother will show you her name. The Second Sign — On the day the woman is to be married, you will see her and her husband’s namesakes together. And the Third Sign — One day you will see the namesakes of the woman, her husbands and yours all together.
On July 3, 2002, I realized I had received the first sign. I met my son’s new girlfriend and the moment I saw her I realized I had seen her in a dream twelve years earlier. When I tried to take her picture, my auto focus camera kept focusing in on a female Cardinal sitting on a branch about twenty feet behind her. This should not have happened since she was closer and much larger than the bird. After three tries, I put down the camera and under my breath I asked the bird to leave. The bird left and I gave the girl the name Red Bird.
Two years later, I received the second sign. Red Bird and Red Turtle (my son’s name) were getting married. The morning of the ceremony I got up at sunrise and while having a cup of tea in the parking lot of the hotel, I spotted something across the parking lot under a Pine tree. When I went over to investigate, I spotted a female Cardinal and a painted turtle with red stripes under the tree.
On July 19, 2006, I received the third and last sign. I was looking out my kitchen window and I spotted a female Cardinal sitting on a branch at the edge of the woods. As I watched the Cardinal, it flew to the ground next to something in the grass. I picked up the binoculars and saw that it was a turtle. Out of nowhere, a Hawk landed next to them. The third sign had appeared since my Native American name is Gray Hawk.
The ceremony I will perform is simple. The Mothers of Red Bird and Red Turtle and another woman of my choosing will each take a lace made from a deerskin. The women will braid the laces together and then place the braided laces between the couples clasped hands, while the other end of the braid is buried in the in the ground. The laces represent an umbilical cord from Our Mother Earth carefully constructed into a braid by the mothers and attached to their children. The third women’s deerskin lace in twined with in the braid represents all the other mothers of the world. By performing this ceremony we are bringing mankind back to nature/Our Mother where we belong. Then I will ask the participants if they will help protect and heal Our Mother, and teach others to do the same. Once all have agreed, the ceremony is over.
I am not so naïve as to think that everything will dramatically change overnight once the ceremony has taken place. All my ancestors are hoping for is that mankind will join together and help heal what we have harmed in the last century. Although these men were quite astute, I am sure they could never have imagined our world as it is today. On a personal note, they have handed me the monumental task of getting the word out about this ceremony. To do this, I have decided to spread the word as they once did. Long ago a message would have been carried by runners from camp to camp or from tribe to tribe. I have decided to follow my ancestor’s traditions by using you, the citizens of the world as my runners through e-mail to get their message out. At the end of this letter I have written a generic e-mail you can copy and paste to your mail to simplify things. All you have to do is send it to your contacts and it will be up to them to decide whether they want to visit this site. As I see it my greatest hurtle will be getting this message out to those who do not speak English. So for those of you out there who are bilingual please help me by finding a website that will carry this message to all around the globe.
Unlike our ancestors long ago modern man knows a protective layer surrounds the earth known as the ozone layer. The rain forests around the world supply most of the oxygen we breathe. We also know that water, which is the lifeblood of this planet, can not be reproduced, so what we have is all we get. Our ozone layer is weakening; we are destroying the rain forests; and polluting our air and water. These are the global problems we all face. Please help and be part of the solution, not the problem.
In closing I would remind you that the men who had these dreams respected and loved Our Mother Earth. These men had the foresight to see that it would take the combined effort of the world community to save Our Mother. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. If you decide to participate in the ceremony it will not cost you any money, it requires no special skills, and its only requirement is fifteen minutes out of your busy lives. This time is to be spent in a positive way, thinking how you can do something, however small, to help the situation. Also I am not affiliated with any environmental group or organization, so if some one contacts you for a donation on my behalf or on behalf of the ceremony, please contact your local authorities.
Sincerely,
Donald Loock, Native American name (Gray Hawk)
Please copy the paragraph and URL below and forward, so the message can reach as many people as possible.
Dear,
I have found a website that I think may interest you:
The site contains the story behind a Native American ceremony that will be performed on October the 6, 2006 at 11:00 PM. Eastern Daylight Time in the U.S.A. At that time they invite the world’s inhabitants to participate in the ceremony in an effort to protect the environment from man’s intervention. They do not ask for any contributions and they are not selling anything. All they are asking is for 15min. of your time to think about what you can do to help save us from ourselves.