Mic Mac Story

Mic Mac Story One cold, autumn morning in a low valley a great, gray stone sat covered with dew. The rock was very old and had sat there for many, many moons. It had seen the passing of many animals and many seasons but this day as Niskam heated the rock and the dew rose as a mist from it Niskam decided to give life to this rock. So as the rock grew hotter and the steam from the dew hovered over it this one old rock was given the body of an old, old woman. This was Nukumi. Kluskap had been watching the birds and the plants and the animals and learning all he could. Now there came a day as he traveled that he wandered into this valley and there he met Nukumi. As Kluskap talked to Nukumi he realized how much wisdom she had and he wanted to learn all that he could from her. Nukumi explained that she would be happy to be his grandmother and share her wisdom but as an old woman meat was necessary for her. She could not live only on plants and berries. Kluskap was so happy to have a grandmother that he called to Marten swimming in the river. He asked Marten if he would give his life so that Kluskap's grandmother could live. All of the animals were friend to Kluskap and Marten said he would do this for his friend. Now Kluskap told Marten that for this sacrifice he would make Marten his brother. So Nukumi snapped Marten's neck and placed him on the ground but Kluskap felt so bad that he called to Kisúlkw to return Marten to life. Now Nukumi used her wisdom to speak with Kisúlkw and Kluskap and Marten was brought back to life so he could return to his river but where he lay on the ground was the body of another marten. Nukumi told Kluskap that from this point the animals would be brother and friend to Kluskap. They would be there willing to provide food and clothing, shelter and tools but always they must be treated with the respect given a brother and friend because they would only be there to provide what is necessary for life. Marten will always be the first of Kluskap's friends. Kluskap asked Robin to fly to the place where the lightning had hit the ground to give Kluskap life, and bring the sparks that were there to him. Robin flew to the place but he had to use two dry sticks to carry the sparks because they were so hot. As he flew the wind caused the sticks to burn and robin's breast turned red. Still he brought the fire to Kluskap and Nukumi put more wood on this fire and Niskam breathed on the sparks so that they burned the wood and created Great Spirit Fire. But all robins after this had red breasts and when two dry sticks are rubbed together they make fire. So the first meat was cooked over fire and Kluskap and his grandmother started their time together. Kluskap would help his grandmother survive and she would share her wisdom and knowledge with him.

The Illuninarie's

The Illuminarie's...this phrase has whispered it's presence for several days...then comes a definition..."that which bears light."
People come to mind...Akasa Wolfsong being the most brilliant,the most prismatic,the most gentle.
" That which bears light." The light of a candle easily depresses the darkness,and lends a sense of warmth and tranquility.
An Illuminary also depresses the darkness, and also lends warmth and tranquility.Yet, it does ever so much more.It branches far into the universes. It embraces the now and yet to be,until both merge into eternal oneness,thus rising in exquisite glory, to scatter myriads of grace upon all who see and honor,"That which bears light."

The Web

One afternoon, my husband and I were cleaning the house with a high-pressure hose and along the way battering the top of a plastic watering can.
“This hose is cleaning the house,” he said, “but it won’t budge this.”
In the mouth of our watering can were strands of a cobweb that would not break even under the force of the water. The silk is so tough it can last for years if undisturbed, which is why cobwebs seem to appear wherever you look. In fact, there are all kinds of spider webs practically everywhere. Our deck on summer mornings looks like a construction site, with guy wires strung from house to chair to geranium plant.

These wires are the initial bridges of the familiar spiral-shaped orb webs. To set one up, the orb-weaving spider trails a strand of silk from a prominent spot like a grass tip or a deck chair, and the breeze catches it and tacks it serendipitously to another blade of grass or corner of the house. The spider then walks this bridge back and forth paying out silk to reinforce it. When the bridge feels sturdy and taut, the spider ties another line to it and drops down to secure it below. Next, in a methodical, craftsmanlike process, the spider builds radial spokes and two sets of spirals – one temporary scaffolding, then one permanent — until the day’s web is complete and ready to snare flying meals. A black and yellow garden spider takes a half-hour to an hour to complete the engineering of an orb web 1 to 2 feet in diameter.
I’ve never seen the whole building process from start to finish, but I watched an Araneus diademetus spider ride an orb web fastened between the outside mirror and the door of my car unharmed through 55 mph wind all the way to my house one evening. When we stopped in the dusk light in the garage, the spider fussed with some threads for a minute or two, and then in less than five seconds dismantled the whole thing and retreated under the mirror for the night.

Orb weavers are programmed by instinct — whatever that is — to construct orb webs, while other spiders make cobwebs, sheet webs or funnel webs, which you can see on the lawn covered with dew in the morning. They’re a few inches or a foot wide, and have a funnel in the center where the grass spider, for example, waits for insects to get tangled up, then darts out to capture them. There also are minimalist “reduced webs” that may be only an H shape or even just a single strand.
The silk of an orb-weaving garden spider is about .00012 inch in diameter; at this size, it’s stronger than steel and more difficult to break than rubber. Spider silk can stretch up to 15 percent of its length before it breaks, and in some cases more. This toughness has been compared to Kevlar, which is used in bullet-proof vests and stretches to about 4 percent before breaking. The strongest natural fiber known is the silk of Nephila genus spiders in the South Seas, which islanders make fish nets out of.
You’d think a fiber like this would be manufacturable, but so far no one has been able to figure out how to farm it. To produce the silk in sufficient quantity, you need a lot of spiders, but it turns out you can’t keep too many spiders together in one place because they eat each other.
Spiders’ silk, which is a protein, is produced by glands in their bodies and dispensed through spigots mounted on spinnerets on their abdomens. They spin tiny threads together into single strands, and can generate seven different kinds of silk for different purposes, including insect traps, as well as shelters, egg cases, and nests for mating and in some species nursing their young. Some spiderlings throw out a line of silk from a high place, let the wind take it like a sail, and go “ballooning” off to seek their fortunes in parts unknown. Great clouds of voyaging spiderlings have been reported miles out to sea.
I’ve watched garden spiders carefully making repairs to webs, working the claws at the tips of their legs as dexterously as if they were sewing or knitting. It seems there must be some consciousness of what’s happening in an operation that intricate — the spider clearly makes judgments about strength, tautness, elasticity and shape. Some orb-weaving spiders are more attentive to symmetry and perfection when young, then get a little sloppier as they age. Are spiders aware of what’s functionally necessary and of what’s decorative, or beyond?
How you would ever know the answer to this question, I’m not sure. What spiders think of their silkwork, I do not know, though I’d like to. At least, it’s my instinct to wonder, and I’ve left those cobwebs practically everywhere in one form or another.
Here is one of the stories of Grandmother Spider:

When the Universe was still so dark that not even shadows could be seen in the night, Grandmother Spider sat in her web in the Sky World, waiting and watching. No one knows how old Grandmother Spider is, or how long she sat waiting for the Universal Mind to awaken. But, every Creature Being who has ever lived knows her song and dance as the weaver of the Web of Life.

From her web, Grandmother Spider observed the first thoughts as the Universal Mind awakened from the dream. Seven energy beings floated out from the shining light in the center of the Universal Mind and solidified into bright, shining stars who went out to take their places in the Sky World. Grandmother Spider took a very deep breath and softly began to sing her weaving song while she danced across the Sky. As she spun her thread, Grandmother Spider envisioned the Web of Life. Within moments, she had woven her web connecting the seven stars and creating the Spirit Doorway through which all of the rest of life would enter.Art by Lyndia Radice

The seven stars reflected the spectrum of all colors within their glow. Dancing with the colored light, shadows came into being as the darkness took form. More thoughts flowed from the Universal Mind, entered through the Doorway of the Seven Stars, and took their places in the Sky World. These became more stars, suns and planets. Then, many other thoughts entered the Universe, each one taking a specific place according to the universal dream of harmony.

Each thought was a spirit essence who dreamed an individual dream for manifesting life. Grandmother Spider spun her web around each new energy being and the Universal Web of Life shimmered in the reflection of Great Mystery's light.

Singing her song and weaving the Web of Life, Grandmother Spider continued with her work. The Sky World filled with light and life as her creative process unfolded. As the stars, suns and planets prepared to give birth to their children, Grandmother Spider spun her cord even longer, so that all of the newly born could be included in the Web of Life. Grandmother Spider continues to weave the Web of Life throughout every cycle of creation.

All life everywhere in the Universe is connected by the Web of Life. We are not separate beings. We are each a part of the Great Mystery, manifesting as an individual awareness in a separate physical body, but sharing the same energy as all other life. The energy web is anchored within our center and is our connection to the Great Mystery.

Along with Grandmother Spider's web cord, we carry within our center our dream for living that includes a promise and a purpose. Before we came into the Earthwalk, we chose the gifts and talents that help us create the reality that we envisioned. We also chose the lessons and challenges that motivate our learning and growth.

Our dream for living carries a specific vibration of sound and color that guides our spirit essence in it's flight from the Universal Mind, through the Sacred Cave, and into the womb of our physical mother. During our Earthwalk, we live our choices and lessons, and develop our talents and gifts, as we meet each situation and challenge of our growth. We must remember our purpose and promise and focus our life in this direction if we are to be happy and fulfilled.

Grandmother Spider weaves the Web of Life around us when our spirit essence enters its physical body inside the womb of our mother. From feet to head, our spirit essence is woven together with our physical body as Grandmother Spider sings her weaving song to us.

When she completes her weaving, Grandmother Spider does not cut the cord, but leaves an energy trail with her weft thread that goes out from our center to connect with the next Creature Being that will enter the Web of Life.

The gift of Grandmother Spider is the personal energy web that we walk with throughout our entire life. This energy web allows our spirit essence to experience our senses, emotional feelings and physical pain and pleasures. This connection also allows our physical body to develop an intuitive perception of Universal Wisdom. Through the web, we can work with energy for creativity and healing. Our personal energy web maintains our connection to the Web of Life and the Great Mystery. This gift of Grandmother Spider insures that we are never alone, for through it we always share the love of All Our Relations.

Our energy web surrounds our physical body, enveloping it with a vibrating energy that is our personal rhythm. Our energy web is connected to our physical body through energy centers that are the communication channels between our physical body and spirit essence. Our mind is the link between body and spirit essence, interpreting and directing the flow of energy back and fourth. Breathing and movement enables our body to direct energy and our thoughts to affect our physical health. To live in comfort, we need to maintain a balance of body, mind and spirit within our personal energy web.

Grandmother Spider is always busy with her work, as the creation of life is happening at every moment. After connecting each Creature Being within her vibrating threads, Grandmother Spider goes on to the next, spinning out a continuous cord in her never ending dance. A Creature Being enters the Earthwalk, then a Plant Person, a Stone Person, a Water Person, a Four-Legged, a Two-Legged, and on and on. For each of these, Grandmother Spider weaves a personal energy web and extends her cord out from this Creature's center to continue on with the weaving of the Web of Life.


The Web of Life is a beautiful braid that holds the energy of all life together. Grandmother Spider's dance of spinning and weaving continues indefinitely, as new patterns within the web are being woven every moment when each new life enters the Earthwalk.

At the other end of Grandmother Spider's tapestry, the web is always unraveling, as every spirit essence travels back through the doorway of the Sacred Cave to the Spirit World when life is complete.

All life shares an equal place within the Web of Life. The gifts and contributions of each and every Creature Being are very important for the survival of MotherEarth. Each Creature Being, in following through with the performance of their specific life task, affects the welfare of all the other Creature Beings in the web. Without the benefit of even one Creature's work, the Web of Life would lack the energy of wholeness necessary for the circle of life's cycles to continue on with their rhythm.

Altair

Suspended over the fir trees out my door on summer evenings is the star Altair. It’s the brightest in a flat diamond of stars poised at an oblique angle over the trees, making up part of the constellation Aquila.

It’s also one of the three bright stars in what’s called in recent times the Summer Triangle: Altair, Deneb and Vega. To see the triangle around 9 or 10 p.m. this time of year, look toward the top of the sky — the brightest thing you see is Vega. Sweep left, and the star not quite as bright as Vega is Deneb. Altair toward the southern horizon is the apex of the equilateral triangle.

For quite a long time, the stars in this part of the sky have been associated with birds, or so the scholars say.

The name Altair comes from a phrase in the seventh- or eighth-century Arabic name for the constellation, Al Nasr al Ta’ir, the Flying Eagle, and means roughly “the rising one.” The Babylonians and Sumerians 3,000 years or more ago probably called it the Eagle Star, as did the Greeks later on. Aquila is Latin for eagle, the constellation’s name in Roman times. The easily visible star just above Altair is Tarazed, and dimmer just below it is Alshain, both taken from an ancient Persian name for the whole asterism, Shahin tara zed, meaning in one translation “the star-striking falcon.” Anyway it’s an image of sweeping power rendered there in the stars.

Aquila still flies there summer nights above the treetops in Maine. And higher to the east is Cygnus, the Swan, an easily spotted cross of six stars. Deneb is the top of the cross and the tail (al dhanab, in Arabic) of the swan. The central star is Sadr, the breast, and the lower star of the crosspiece is Gienah, from the Arabic al janah, “the wing,” of the swan or also the Hen for Arab astronomers. The Greeks also called the constellation Cycnos, the Swan, and simply Ornis, the Bird. Whatever you name it, that kind of grace is unmistakable there, in those stars.

Near the zenith on summer nights is Vega in the constellation Lyra, the Lyre, with one of the oldest continuously used star names from Arab sources. Indigenous Arab people called Vega Al Nasr al Waqi, variously translated as “the eagle the falling one,” or “the swooping eagle (or vulture),” or also “stone eagle of the desert.” The word Vega after a millennium of use seems to derive from waqi. The Romans called the constellation the Lyre, and the bird and music imagery were synthesized by the time Galileo turned telescopes skyward around 1610. The blue beauty of Vega, like a large bird in flight or like music, or both, is a force of grace and harmony there in the stars.

For being stationary, these powerful birds reflect kaleidoscoping wheels of motion, and they are not alone. Shot from the bow of the archer Sagittarius — who is low on the horizon (behind my firs) in these parts during July and August — and flying on a trajectory that has missed the eagle and will in some mythic future just miss the swan, is the arrow, Sagitta. Its trajectory skirted Scutum, the Shield, where one of the most graceful of all star clusters dots the sky (also obscured by trees at my house), known in the 1700s as M11 and later the Wild Duck Cluster. In a small telescope it looks, if your mind rises to its level, like a distant flock of ducks scattering, or so W.H. Smyth thought in the 1800s. The feel of it, at least, mirrors the other powerful flight taking place in the summer stars.

The ancient astronomers couldn’t see the Wild Duck Cluster, having no telescopes. And the truth is, the only constellation of all those named here whose dots connect to an image anything like its name is Cygnus. Even then, what we see there literally at a glance is a cross, not a swan. But like everything else in life, the more you watch the triangle of Aquila, Deneb and Vega, the more there meets the eye. A lot more.

Even though they’re fixed, these stars are in a special kind of flight relative to the season and the pointed firs. It’s not just that they’re enormous nuclear furnaces — so are the stars of Orion and the Big Dipper. These are revealing some cosmic motion peculiar to them that inspires a peculiar kind of awe. The awe you feel is your detection of that motion. An underlying motion, like powerful birds on the wing at night.

Thank You Grandfather

Aside from the gift of you in my life,the old one is so precious to me.He is here with me often and we share countless moments in silence,and wanderings;while others sleep,we watch,and dream,and wait.His presence is calming,his vision refreshing,his gift so priceless,so beyond words.Thank you Grandfather.

Journey of ,"The Young One"

From the furthest reaches of all the countless universes,there comes a soft whispering.It's vibration moves in wave upon wave of light.It's silent passage shall find it's destination. It's purpose shall be realized.Finally,the light descends,and comes to rest at the entrance of a cave.Within the cave,sits an old one.The eyes reflect the light hovering outside.
To the right of the old one rests a young one sleeping.The old one nods his head,and awakens the young one.With eyes full of sleep,the young one arises and approaches the cave's entrance.The light takes the form of a woman.The young one goes to her and receives that which rests upon the palm of her extended hand.The young one nods in respect and thanksgiving.The woman speaks,"Look at the ring. Allow it to touch your inner-vision. It will speak to you with great clarity."
The young one looks at the ring,which then begins to form a spiral of light around the young one.Still focused on the ring,the young one notes gems of diamond,garnet,jade,and pearl. Again the woman speaks,"Within you are the elements of each gems power...it's voice and it's vision.Hear it's voice and behold it's vision.Both will guide and sustain you." The young one answers with a smile,as the light ascends back into the deep night skies.Returning to the cave,the young one finds the old one gone;and,in the stead of the old one wait two pillars of fire.
The young one places the multi-gem-ed ring between the two pillars. A sudden vortex lifts the pillars of fire,with the ring,and carries all to the outside of the cave.
The young one runs to the outside of the cave,finding only silence and rocky ledge. The young one falls to trembling knees,crying out to the night skies,"Where is the old one? Why am I left here alone?"
Again,a whispering reaches the young one,"You are not left alone. Never is mine left alone. Sleep. The dawn comes soon. At first light begin your journey. Find your way to where the multi-gem-ed ring will lead you."
The young one lay prone at the entrance of the cave,drifting ever deeper on wave after wave of light . The old one sits near the sleeping one...softly humming.

"The Dance"

Hear me whisper your name. I am here on the cliffs-the moon rides silently high above...It's light dances with reverence upon the slow moving waters.There is sweet stillness here. The mingling of pine and cedar with the salty air cleanses every particle of our beings,and the glorious power rising from the depths of the mighty sea surges on and on-rushing ever deeper in each of us,flowing in and tru us. It is so right and so good to be here,beloved Sister.
Your smile says as much as you begin the dancing.So aligned are you with the resounding heartbeat rising from the deep living waters below.
I would dance with you,but,for now it is sufficient for me to watch.So awesome is the life energy emanating from you.The graceful movement of the higher you comes forth,until I no longer see the physical- only the ecstatic fire building-rising above the earth,moving outward over the waters;and the sound of your tears decends with incredible tenderness upon the earth. The hushed sound of tinkling bells echo with each tear as it touches down.
In the distance the sound of drums,(barely audible,)drift upon the waves.You turn toward me. The light in your eyes are actual torches of camp fire,and the drums echo a Thank You to you for your visit.

For Akasa Wolfsong

>You are so intricately woven into my life,I cannot recall when you were not.I could no more walk without you than I could stop breathing.I know and I understand that we've always walked together...as do you.That is how it is,and will always be.I know we'll always be there for each other;and,you know it as well.
There's no explaining this awesome gift,it just is.I can merely whisper,"Thank you God,for this timeless friend,as often as possible.Please know how much you have given into my life...all of which is a Sacred Privilege for me.

The gift of you is one of the most precious gifts I have ever received.I treasure this gift always and,The Giver.We have been brought together for reasons reaching far beyond ourselves.What a glorious journey !

From your Flannel Robe Sister

Harvest Prayer

You, O God, are the Lord of the mountains and valleys. You are my mother and my father. You have given rain to make the corn grow, and sunshine to ripen it. Now in your strength the harvest begins.

I offer you the first morsels of the harvest. I know it is almost nothing compared with the abundance of the crop. But since you have provided the harvest, my gift to you is only a sign of what you have given to me.


You alone know how many suns and moons it will take to finish reaping. You alone know how heavy the crop will be. If I work too hard and too fast I forget about you, who gave me the harvest. So I will work steadily and slowly, remembering that each ear of corn is a priceless gift from you.