It had not been a hard journey to come to the site, but it had been a month of changes and Windwalker was looking forward to this month's ritual for renewal. As she stood on the trail looking down the Canyon, the power and beauty of the place again struck her. Staring at the grandeur that was the Grand Canyon she could hear the Wind Spirits as they came and went in welcome. She felt the warmth of the Sun's kiss on her shoulders and could feel the vibrations of local lei lines as they hummed beneath her feet. Just being this close to the Thunder Gods gave her strength and renewed hope. The sky was a bright, crystal blue and the clouds appeared more to be strategically painted in place to add to the beauty than a collection of hot and cold fronts. Windwalker knew she could stand and be lost in the immenseness of the place, but that if she didn't get to the site soon she would miss the spectacular sunset she was going to need to ground and center before arranging the Medicine Wheel. She turned and headed towards her car and made her way to the west end of the north side of the Canyon. The drive down the empty road seemed long, but it gave her time to go over the list of supplies she brought with her one more time.

Finally the Tower came into view and Windwalker pulled into the large parking area and popped the trunk. This was a popular site to see the sunset and the crowd rambled along the many paths and flattops to choose their place for the event as if they were at a Broadway show. Windwalker smiled to herself at the analogy and had to admit this was probably the best production put on, with of course the best scenery. Taking the large duffel from her trunk she went into the large stone area outside the Tower, chose a place on the wall surrounding it and sat. Dusk was approaching and she wanted to have the chance to relax and open herself to the ancestors. With her Walkman in place and the `'Music of the Canyon'' tape playing she closed her eyes and reached out with her being until she felt the answer from the Spirits of the people who had gone before. "Mitakuye oyasin", palms extended in greeting..."weti kishku". She felt the whisper of a touch brush her face and opened her eyes. The sun was setting behind the southwest wall and the symphony was beginning. Removing the Walkman she could hear the calls of the birds as they sang farewell to the Sun for this turn of the wheel. Then the northwest wall exploded into color as if it had been set on fire. The yellows and reds in the clay were capturing an essence from the sunset so that they glowed with an inner and outer heat. The southwest wall was darkening to the color of midnight and below in the Canyon the campfires were dotting the landscape as night had already fallen for those making their way along the riverbed. As the twilight deepened, those that had come to view a simple sunset were beginning to gather their belongings. As Windwalker looked into their faces she saw that they had seen much more and been touch by the hand of Wankan Tanka. The sunset reflected in their eyes and their faces held a glow lit by the last rays of the setting sun. They would never forget the beauty that had unfolded before them. After a short time the area was dark and empty and Windwalker rose to begin setting up for the next step in the dance of beauty. Just as she rose she saw Robin had arrived in a timely manner and as she set up an area where she would continue drumming throughout the ceremony, Windwalker opened her duffel…

…Dancing Skygazer walks on bare feet on the path toward Windwalker, and letting a large duffel bag slide off her shoulder to the ground, she embraces Windwalker, kissing her on both cheeks. She is in awe of the majesty of the setting, and a tear of joy escapes the corner of her eye. With a telltale tinkle at the ankle, she steps back and scoops up her duffel bag, and rummages around inside.

She has come to drum, and drum she does.

   "Dum ditty dum, dum ditty dum,
    dum ditty, dum ditty, dum, dum, dum…"

…Windwalker removes containers and candles, geodes and smudges from the bag. Softly to the rhythm being set by Robin and praising the ancestors as she worked she started from the eastern border and began to create her Wheel. First she took out a cedar smudge and lit it. After it was smoking well she slowing worked her way in the circle, cleansing the area and opening a gate to the other planes. Next stopping by Robin and handing her a grey dove feather fan, she watched as Robin sent the smoke over her head and down her body. Then she placed the still burning smudge stick into an abalone shell at the entrance to the stone top area and left the fan beside it for the arrivals to cleanse before entering. Beginning in the East again she lit a sweetgrass smudge and repeated the procedure until it too was placed in a shell on the wall opposite the first. Back to the East and placing one of the four large geodes at that point she silently thanked the Spirits of the East. She placed a yellow candle next to the geode, into which she had carved the symbol of a Butterfly on one side and the figure of a Wolf on the opposite side. Taking out a small pouch from her backpack she searched for the one with yellow sand and began to pour a thin line in a circle till she reached the southern point of the circle. At this point Windwalker set the second large geode in place and thanked the Spirits of the South. Then set out a white candle with the figures of Badger and Hawk carved in. Taking out a pouch with white sand she smiled to herself. She remembers long ago when she had tried to devise a way to color sand, finally learning to use a bottle of Rit and then letting the sands dry out again before use. Slowly she walked the circle pouring the white sand till she reached the west. The third large geode was placed and the Spirits of the West thanked. The Red candle with figures of Bear and Frog set next to it and the pouch of red sand out to draw the line leading to North. Realizing how much lighter her backpack was Windwalker removed the last large geode and placed it in position, thanking the Spirits of the North. The black candle with the figures of Mountain Lion and Turtle was placed and the final small pouch removed. The line led east to complete the outer circle.

Stopping to admire her work Windwalker noticed the moon had crested the Canyon wall and that the colors of the circle were almost luminescent. The outer circle took almost the entire area of the stone top because those coming to this FMR would stand within the Wheel and merge their powers with the ancient ones of those who walked before.

...And the drum has continued, softly in the background,
   like the heartbeat of Mother.

   "Dum ditty dum, dum ditty dum,
    dum ditty, dum ditty, dum, dum, dum."

Dancing Skygazer smiles approvingly at Windwalker, and at the circle set in the sand, and as the circle is completed, the volume increases, comes to a crescendo, and then, a stop!

   "dum, Dum, DUM!"


There are a few moments pause, while Windwalker and Dancing Skygazer admire the Moon rising, and then another, more somber and steady rhythm arises...

   "Dum dum DAH, dum dum DAH,
    diddy diddy diddy diddy,
    dum dum DAH... "

Windwalker took out the last remaining geodes. These 8 stones were smaller. She placed 2 from the East inward, then placed a small quartz crystal and to represent the Human Kingdom 2 small carved figures of a man and woman. Since this was to be the final moon of summer and to represent harvest, Windwalker had chosen to make the final Circle in deference to the Corn Maiden. Removing the final pouch she laid a line of yellow corn to the South. At the south Windwalker placed 2 small geodes towards the outer circle and then a second crystal and a small potted sage plant to represent the Plant Kingdom on the inner. Walking toward the west she laid a line of White corn. 2 geodes towards the outer circle and on the inner the third crystal placed in the west and a small pile of her working stones to represent the Mineral Kingdom, Windwalker moved north placing red corn in a line. At the North and final point the last 2 small geodes towards the outer circle, then back to the inner one to place a small hand carved fetish of raven made from jet and the last crystal. Raven would represent the Animal kingdom. The final line of the inner circle would be made of blue corn. Having laid them in place Windwalker walks to the center. Conveniently a large air vent is here. A large stone walled structure with a solid top placed over short pillars. Just working height, it will make a suitable altar. >From the last section of her duffel bag Windwalker removes a smaller bag which contains a green candle for Mother Earth and a blue candle for Father Sky. She lights these and then takes out the fetishes for the directions and Corn Maiden, 4 small bowls, which she fills with the remaining corn and places them in the appropriate directions. Then she places the fetish for each direction in place. Wolf is made with a muted grey-blue stone, Badger is a shade of tan soapstone, Bear is white soapstone, Mt. Lion is jet, Eagle is also a type of tan stone and mole is also jet. Finally placed is Corn Maiden, only 2 inches high, but what was so appropriate to Windwalker when she bought her is that she is carved in three connected forms of tortoise shell. The final piece to this wheel is a large doe skin pouch where the offerings will be place to make the medicine bundle.

Having finished the Wheel, Windwalker stands and begins to focus the energies she is feeling around her. She feels the power of the Mother rising up through her now bare feet. Also the bright light of the moon that has made her presence known in the time it took Windwalker to arrange the Wheel. And finally the energy of the Wheel itself as it absorbs and focuses the power inside to those who stand within. Feeling flushed and full of endless boundaries Windwalker opens her arms to the sky and as her form changes to her spiritual one, she transforms. A covering of White feathers becomes her cloak and Whitehawke turns to welcome those who would finish the circle of power...

...For the East, the drumming changes, now, subtly
   Lightly, fluttering, butterfly wings only fingertips...

   "Pitty pat,
       pitty pat,
              pitty pat pat pat.
   Pitty pat,
       pitty pat,
              pitty pat.
   Pitty pat,
       pitty pat,
              pitty pat pat pat.
   Pitty pat,
        pitty pat,
              pitty pat…"

...Jess joined the circle, fanning herself with the glowing smudge. The pungent smoke drifted over her, taking with it the thoughts and annoyances of the outside world.

She took her position to the East at the start of the bright yellow arc of sand. She closed her eyes, stretched up and out (toes crackling embarrassingly), and inhaled deeply. She called forth the memory of a humid August dawn: The eastern sky just beginning to pale, two shrill songbirds calling across the neighborhood, the stillness of a city fast asleep. The memory filled her with the excitement of something about to happen, something numinous, something wonderful. She opened her eyes as a warm desert breath stirred the pale yellow blossom tucked behind her ear. Breathing deeply again (had she been breathing all this time? She wasn't sure) she called "Grandmother Spider! Welcome! Join our gathering! You who spin the web we live in!

"Tonight let us open our ears and our hearts, not to the sounds around us, but to the sounds within us. Follow your hearts, follow your guts, brothers and sisters. The answers often lie within, if we will only stop to listen. The Wolf hears, the dawn listens. Let us begin with them."

Jess lit the candle at the East and listened as...

…The drumming changes now, for the South,
   louder, more insistent,
   crashing,
   like badger through woods,
   or like fire through forest...

   "Badda boom boom boom,
    Badda boom boom boom,
       Badda boom, badda boom,
          badda boom boom boom…"

…Ma'at climbed up to the circle from the South, smiling at Dancing Feather playing so beautifully on the drum, at Whitehawke and Jess waiting for her. New to this Circle, she calls upon her sense of faith in the power of innocence and trust for the strength to meet this new situation.

Her white robe glows in the moon's light, a bright sun embroidered in red and yellow over her chest, and red cord wrapped as a belt around her waist. Pausing to catch her breath after the ascent, Ma'at inhales deeply, the scent of cedar, and sweetgrass tickling her nose.

Moving around the Medicine Wheel, she takes the smudge stick and inhales deeply, filling her body with the cleansing fragrance. Holding the dove fan in her right hand Ma'at directs the heavy smoke over her entire body, cleansing her of the day's residue.

She moves again to the South and, with a deep breath, steps over the sand circle, standing in front of the intersection of yellow and white sand, with the yellow corn line between her feet. She waits a moment, letting the energy of the Medicine Wheel fill her, listening to the drum's thunder, echoing through the canyons.

Ma'at raises her arms high above her head, outstretched to catch the Moon's light.

"Hail to you First Woman, ancestor of us all!
White robe of the sun, Fire-bringer, knowledge-giver,
She Who Opens our Hearts to the Divine Light of the Universe
Welcome!

With love in my heart, and peace in my soul I call to you Welcome!

Join us in our Medicine Wheel this full moon eve,
Your brother the Badger sits beside me,
Your Sister the Hawk flies above me,
Welcome!"

Ma'at feels the heat of the noon sun on her face, smells the crackling heat of a fire, and hears the soft sounds of animals moving across the open plains. Smiling, she lowers her arms and bends to light the candle at her feet.

She listens quietly then as...

…Sunspider steps forward, smiling at Miranda who has woken her from her trance. She breathes in the scent of the sweet-grass and cedar, letting the soft smoke cleanse her and renew her. The fullness of the Grandmother Moon has energized her. Robin's drumming has called forth memories from the depths of her soul, memories of long ago ancestors who beg her to remember... remember us, remember...

She has worn her cream buckskin dress. Raven feathers adorn the single braid in her dark hair, blue beads holding them in place. Her feet are bare as she follows the line of white sand to the western place and the red candle. She raises her arms to the gentle breeze and embraces the gentle warmth of this sacred canyon. Opening her eyes, realizing others are waiting, she begins...

"Changing Woman, You who ebb and flow and cycle as the tides of the great sea, be with us now. Teach us to grow and change as you do, ever walking in the beauty of the circle. Spirit of Bear, brother and kin, bring us your strength and your wisdom, lend us your power so that we, too, can see within ourselves.

Gentle Frog, who calls the rain to cleanse and heal us, bring us your energy so that we may be pure in spirit and grow as the mighty river after the storms. Welcome, Spirits of the west wind, to our circle."

Sunspider kneels before the red candle and lights it, the flame glowing in the night. She places a small red pouch of tobacco next to it, hoping Whitehawke approves. The drum-beats pulse in her heart as she takes her place to wait...

…Drumming for North requires movement across the heads of the drums,
   changing the tone so it falls in pitch,
   Like stones rolling and tumbling down the side of the mountain to the Earth...

   "Badda badda,
             badda badda,
                           badda badda,
                                       BAH!
   Badda badda,
             badda badda,
                           badda badda,
                                       BAH!…"

...Cailean arrives a bit late, a bit disheveled, a bit out of breath. It has been an overwhelming few weeks. She smiles her apologies to all gathered here and takes her place. She takes a few deep breaths to rid herself of the anxiety, the stress, to feel the power of the land rising up from under her feet. She lets the beats of Robin's drumming fill her. She begins to sway gently with the rhythm. When the connection is strong, she begins.

From her little bag, she pulls a baggie of sage and spreads it in a circle around the candle placed by Windwalker. She pulls another baggie of tobacco and tosses it to the wind in offering. Once more she bends to reach into her bag and pulls out a pipe given to her by her adopted Lakota grandmother. She stands straight and send her spirit out to ether regions, calling as it goes...soon there is a response, the growling cry of a mountain lion echoes through the rocky terrain.

Now that the spirit of mountain lion is there lending her strength and purity of purpose, Cailean is ready. She raises the pipe in both hands and says

"Spirits of the North, Powers of earth and strength, hear me. Spirit of Mountain Lion, Guide us and protect us as we seek the Great Spirit. White Buffalo Woman, you who taught the Lakota to pray, who brought to the people the lessons of the pipe, be with us now. Guide us in our prayers so that Great Spirit will hear us and heed us. May your wisdom and your compassion be in each heart..."

Cailean lowers her arms and takes the pipe to the center and places it there in hopes that it will be used after. Returning to her place, she lights the candle in the center of the sage circle and stands back to wait for the next...

…As the call to the West begins, another figure becomes apparent in the Moonlit night. A small figure, tentatively at first, steps from behind Dancing Skygazer, and the duffel bag. It is a little girl, Miranda is her name, and she has tiny silver finger cymbals on her little hands.

...Her mother sets up the beat on the drum,
   lightly again, dripping droplets of dew...

   "Biddle-ee deet deet deet
      biddle-ee deet, biddle-ee deet,
   Biddle-ee deet deet deet,
      biddle-ee deet"
                      "Ka Ching!…"

…At this point, the spirit of the drum fades into the background as Dancing Skygazer feels the draw of the dance, and of her totem, birds. Setting her drum aside, she is drawn into the center, and spinning around, she dances the dance of the Eagle, arms flapping gracefully, like the wings of an Eagle soaring on gentle air currents high above the circle below. Seeing others in the group so moved, she nods to them, and as she dances, the sound of the silver ankle bells tinkle in the dark of night...

   "Chinka chinga,
       chinka chinga,
       chinka, chinga
                    Ching!…"

…At WhiteHawke's nod, Topaz moves forward with anticipation to join Robin in the dance of Eagle but first walks unobtrusively to the altar to place a bowl of fresh picked blueberries. She isn't sure if this a "correct" offering, but she feels moved to share the bounty of the season. Then she retrieves a pouch of tobacco and sprinkles it about in offering while whispering a prayer of thanks. With a deep breath and stilling of her thoughts, she begins to dance, moving slowly at first, then meshing her rhythm with Robin's. Round and round they "fly" about the Wheel, spiraling clockwise while their pace becomes faster and faster with each successive turn. As the spiral gets tighter towards the center and the dance reaches its peak, an unspoken thought passes between them and they stretch upwards in unison as Topaz calls out ~

"Wise Eagle,
Guardian of Above!
Share your medicine
Touch us,
Honor us,
That we may know you too."

A momentary rush of wind on feathers and they feel the unmistakable energies of Eagle settle over the Wheel. Their task complete, Topaz hugs Robin tightly and smiles then returns to her place to wait for...

…Dancing Skygazer smiles and returns to her drumming, flush from the dance she'd just completed...

...meanwhile Fairymoon takes a deep breath, calm fills her and she proceeds into the circle. The warm breeze rustle the purple satin of her ritual dress. She starts to sway under the rhythmic sounds of the drums. In her arms she is carrying a bountiful gathering of sunflowers. she places them in the circle.

She starts to dance around the sunflowers in harmony with the music. As she moves to the sound, her feet are stomping on the ground... The drumming starts to get louder and she almost losses her self in the trance but stops, enclosed in the palms of her hands are sunflower seeds, as she lifts her arms towards the luminous sky, she releases the seeds to the wind..

"As we look to our guardians of above we must look to our guardians of below." " Great spirit of the mole, we call on you and all protectors of nature, the salamanders to the fairys. all of you who protect the embodiment of the Great Goddess... For nature is her body, the earth her great womb of life... come Celebrate her with us." " For all that protect her, become the spirit of her"

Feeling the energy in the circle coming from above and below, but not crashing into one another rather flowing together, feeding and grounding itself in one continues flow. The sound of drumming whispers by fairymoon ear. For she forgot it was still there... as the normal level of the sound comes back to her she takes her place back in the circle, and waits…

…Whitehawke caught up in the rhythm of the drums sways gently and then catches herself getting lost in the rhythms set by Dancing Skygazer. She wonders briefly what the campers below think of the changing rhythms knowing how the sound carries in the Canyon. She knows that the drums carry the message of this Wheel to the Spirits above, for she can feel the power within the rhythms. Slowly walking to the Center she raises her arms and calls out to the night winds.

"Now is the time of Harvest, the gathering in of crops of all kinds and the preparing for the future of dark days. We call to you Corn Maiden, you who have given us the yellow corn medicine of healing, to keep us in balance with the world. Of red corn medicine which has given us abundance that we have used in ignorance, till we see the death of other creatures through our greed. And of Blue corn medicine that helps us call out to our ancestors to show us more wisdom than we have shown in the past. But mostly we ask that You show us the white corn medicine that will heal what has been broken in our race for material gains. Open our eyes and ears to the signs that the Mother gives us as a people, so that we may change and become one with all life and begin the healing. Join us now in our circle of power so that the healing may begin with those present and reach out to those lives we touch everyday."

Bringing her arms back to her side Whitehawke recites the prayer that is her daily devotion:

"Grandfather in your love and mercy; be close to me each day, so that in my weakness and through my strength I may be a channel of blessing to someone. Grandmother lend me the strength you see I have need of, so that all that surrounds me, comes to me or goes from me is in harmony with the greater whole…"

…Dancing Skygazer returns to the duffel on the ground; it conceals the largest of the drums yet, and she wrestles briefly with it, her daughter helping her to pull it free. Readying the heel of her hand against the hide, she looks to Red Deer, who nods, and sweat begins to glisten on her brow, as she pulls out all the stops...

"BOOM,
   BOOM BOOM BOOM,
      BOOM,
   BOOM BOOM BOOM,
      BOOM,
   BOOM BOOM BOOM,
       BOOM,
   BOOM BOOM BOOM!
          BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM..."

...and Red Deer, once again lost in that state which overtook him earlier while in the act of a smudge, looked about himself at those gathered. Closing his eyes, Deer knows the winds through and above the canyon - he rides out and up, climbing so high as to lose perception of those gathered below, then diving into one turn or another of the sublime vertical landscape below him. Opening his eyes, Deer finds himself standing again in the Medicine Wheel so beautifully crafted by WindWalker, that otherworldly consciousness momentarily at bay, fixed in the wisps of smoke still rising gently from its abalone bed. Among those gathered, he stands buck naked... tonight clothed not even with his customary jingle. Deer prances backwards, thrice against the sun around their Wheel, before stopping at the altar to offer seed for the medicine bag. Here, the occasional breeze moves his braids - affording brief views of the great raptor outlined on his neck.

Deer then turns away from Whitehawke and admonishes the night sky:

"Who one silly, God two-faced
rain the cries and sun the laughs."

"Within us take
- words the beyond
- actions the through
us connect."

"Which truth with us shock
storm the after happier us leaves.
When night this illuminate
us gifted who She and Corn the honor we.
Sky to head to heart - reverberate
drum the to dance our heartbeat Your."

"Being Thunder
- destroyer and shaper
- hunted and hunter
presence Your of awareness with us grace."

"Who one silly, God two-faced
rain the cries and sun the laughs."

With a whoop and a jump, Deer raucously returns to his place among the group. His eyes glaze over and he again goes wing to wing with the brother somewhere further down the canyon. Few worries remain - not even his slack-jawed stare as the others gathered proceed with the Wheel - and those few are gently assuaged by the falcon he races. "Brother, you Tradition is not of the People, but you embrace heyoka with passion. Let all reflect upon your actions, your words and your context. Now is not the time to worry, rather to race the wind!"

So Deer waits - seemingly in another place yet aware of all that happened about him - and then...

…Whitehawke now turns to welcome all that would speak in the circle. She adds new smudges to the shells and makes sure they are well lit ...gently reminding those who would enter to cleanse their spirits with smoke at the entrance to the Wheel and offer thanks to the powers that have gathered here at our calling.

Whitehawke walks to the altar and lights a large blue candle...into the medicine bundle she places a butterfly fetish and a handful of blue corn for food, a handful of sweetgrass and this prayer... "Grandmother lately it seems a lot of people need healing and patience myself included. I know it has been a busy month for me and I thank you for all my blessings, but with this offering I send to the ancestors a wish to teach me to be patient, especially with those who seem to want to provoke me and with myself in achieving my goals". She steps away from the altar and encourages any other petitioners to come forward before the light of another day closes this circle of power…

...and on the perimeter of the wheel, Red Deer still stands with jaw slack and eyes glazed. At the same time, he climbs higher and higher into the night, still wing to wing with the canyon falcon who named him "Brother." From the base of a hovering cumulus, he watches as the other turns beak down and tucks into a steep dive, then follows. As the wind presses wings ever closer, the dive accelerates and so does that wind. In the last moment before groundfall, Deer sees his companion pull out of his dive just over their altar - and hears the loud compression waves which shock the green and blue candle flames momentarily higher, before slamming headlong into himself. Any watching might have noticed the gradual return of awareness to Red Deer's eyes, and of waking expression to his face.

Deer looks skyward in the direction of his brother's departure, then bounds to the center of their circle. There, he reverently regards the tiny Corn Maiden standing amid the bowls of corn, and leaves a small but still branched fulgarite at her side. Deer again raises his arms to the night and speaks:

"Stand I, me before beauty with
Stand I, me behind beauty with
Stand I, me of right to beauty with
Stand I, me of left to beauty with
Stand I, me above beauty with
Stand I, me below beauty with."

"Be should it as."

"All me give,
wanted ever have I that."

He then returns to his place among friends, and watches as...

…WingedWren approaches the sacred Medicine Wheel from the East. She wears a long purple dress with stars and moons. Around her neck she wears a necklace of abalone shells. In her hair she wears feathers. She is barefoot and the tiny silver bells around her ankles jingle when she walks...

   Jing jing
      jing jing
         jing jing…

She is awestruck by the beauty of the canyons that Windwalker has chosen for this ritual. It is somewhat foreign to her as she is most familiar with the ocean and the lake. But somehow it seems appropriate to be surrounded by the canyon because this year of the new millennium has been full of changes and new experiences for her as she begins to spread her wings

Until recent years she had been only known as Mermaid in past and present lives. But as she begins to explore this path that calls her, she has been visited by Wren and Hummingbird and Eagle as well. Part of her path she now recognizes is to learn how to balance her winged side with her watery side. Mermaid and the fishes have long been her guides (even when she didn't know it!) She knows that her new winged friends have much to teach her as well.

In one hand she carries a small basket. Under her other arm she carries a small djembe. Like Dancing Skygazer she too is a drummer and a dancer. Although she is too shy to dance and drum tonight, she will soon. .She stops to fan herself with the sacred smoke, then she walks to the altar, reaching into her basket she puts on the altar a moonshell from Martha's Vineyard, a scallop shell from Sanibel Island and 2 feathers, one black and one white she has found on recent walks.

She is nervous (this is her first time here and she hopes she isn't taking too long) so she looks to the others present and draws courage from their smiles of acceptance. She takes a deep breath and says "I am new to this path, I do not know yet where it will lead me, but I am willing to follow. Please send me the wisdom of others and a teacher so that may learn what I need to know.

She looks up towards the darkened sky where the full moon is glowing gloriously, and feels full of joy and energy. Suddenly emboldened she seizes her drum and begins to drum softly…

   Bum bum, bum bum
   Bum bum bum bum…

Then she chants some words from a song by Libana

"there's a river of birds in migration,
a nation of women with wings"

she repeats the words several times and falls silent. For just a second she senses the feathery presence of her winged friends. Feeling blessed she joins the others and waits...

…Whitehawk comes to the center for the last time...she gazes at the rising sun and the cool air leaves tiny bumps on her skin as the taste of autumn touches her heart and mind. The winter coming will be a hard one the winds tell her. So she glances at the Corn Maiden. "Sister maiden I ask that those in need find a way to get through that which comes. Thank you for coming and sharing in our circle. Spirits of the winds and thunder gods 'etch etu aloh' and be free to roam once more the canyons and the earth. Grandmother Spider, First Woman, Changing Woman and White Buffalo Woman our thanks go to all for your joining in this ceremony as we wish to be one with you in your knowledge and caring. 'Weli Kishku' to all gather here . The Wheel has turned and the time moves forward, be at peace." As her arms come down her spirit form drifts off with the morning fog and Windwalker stands before the altar. Now is the time for the mundane. She goes to the forsaken duffel and removes a small dustpan. First she gathers in the corns and tosses them over the edge for the birds and animals to feed upon. Then she sweeps the sand into the medicine bag, empties the corn in the bowls and adds all the offerings left. Tightly the bag is closed. For the last time she takes from the duffel a small shovel and walks to a tree at the edge of the clearing. There she buries the medicine bundle and covers it with a small pile of stones. The Wheel is no longer physical, but it's power will linger for a while yet. She bows to the canyon and the watches the flight of the raptors as they begin their search for food. "Mitakuye oyasin"... and walks slowly to her car to leave for home.





POST SCRIPT:

Windwalker wrote:

My thanks to all who participated in the FMR...

and Red Deer responded:

And thank you. For those of you who didn't get the "style" of my postings to this FMR (even with Windwalker's explanation) I can now - as the role is over - explain a bit more.

Heyoka (or sacred clowns) were contraries. They dressed against tradition (my small statement of being absolutely naked in this ritual - even though I generally am, I divested myself of even my bells). They acted with shocking manners, especially during ritual occasions (my offering of 'seed' for the medicine bag, whooping and hollering, fugueing out during the ritual). Heyoka commonly walked/moved backwards, and always contrary to the sun. They generally spoke backwards as well (please see my actual invocation following, for any who didn't figure it out). All of this was intended to shock members of the people out of a complacent view of life, the universe and everything. When something doesn't fit as one expects it to, the typical reaction (outside of fundamentalist cultures where the "un"fit is denigrated or disregarded) is to reconsider all that the something doesn't fit with.

I've already advised Windwalker that I didn't know this was the direction I'd head in with this ritual until I was well into writing it. My FMR style on-line is much like my RW style... look, listen, feel, absorb and then produce. If my words and actions this moon have caused anyone undue discomfort, I sincerely apologize.

Invocation of the Thunder God:

"Two-faced God, silly one who
laughs the sun and cries the rain."

"Take us within
- beyond the words
- through the actions
connect us."

"Shock us with truth which
leaves us happier after the storm.
Illuminate this night when
we honor the Corn and She who gifted us.
Reverberate - heart to head to sky
Your heartbeat our dance to the drum."

"Thunder Being
- shaper and destroyer
- hunter and hunted
grace us with awareness of Your presence."

"Two-faced God, silly one who
laughs the sun and cries the rain."

And my petition:

"With beauty before me, I stand
With beauty behind me, I stand
With beauty to right of me, I stand
With beauty to left of me, I stand
With beauty above me, I stand
With beauty below me, I stand."

"As it should be."

"Give me all
that I have ever wanted."

(the last couplet and intentional outrageous request to remind folk to seriously consider that for which they ask the Gods!)