I would like to introduce you to a multi-cultural ceremony that a friend of
mine has been doing for the last two years on Mount Ashland in Oregon. Just
as we circulate loving energy through our bodies with yoga, this ceremony
uses snow and the water cycle to circulate loving energy around the whole
Earth.
Please consider doing these kinds of ceremonies blessing the Earth wherever
you are. There may not be snow, but there is always the water of life.
All blessings to Mother Earth, Guru Prem Kaur Khalsa
Mission Support multi-cultural ceremonies to bless mountains, and, with the snow on them melting into the water cycle, all beings and the whole Earth. Feel thanks, touch the snow, spread the blessings.
When we stand together in ceremony, the receptive crystals of water in the snow feel the gratitude that we have for the Mountain. These feelings spread from the snow beneath our feet, down the rolling slopes and under the trees all around the Mountain – a blanket of blessings. In the warm sun of springtime, the snow crystals full of love become water flowing downhill, into the creeks, into the rivers, into the ocean, rising and falling again as rain or snow, carrying our blessings to all beings.
For the last two years we have done ceremonies on Mount Ashland, in Oregon. This experience has been so inspiring that we have decided to create an organization and a website to support this ceremony, and to encourage other folks to do similar ceremonies everywhere that there are mountains and snow.
This year there will be two ceremonies:
Blessing Mount Ashland To view a poster of this event click Thursday, April 16, at 1 pm, at the Ski Area in the quiet time after the close of the season. For a video of last year's ceremony, see:
We are now in the process of inviting people to offer prayers, spoken and musical. So far we’ve heard back from these folks who will be participating again this year: Ed Little Crow (Dakota); Tim Chips (Lakota), Native American drum and songs; Nancy Bloom, vocals, hand drum, and Talia Rose & Rico Herrera, vocals, harp, guitar, percussion, flute and pennywhistle. New this year will be Pastor Ted Myers, Ashland First United Methodist Church; Elise Peters, vocals, guitar; and Van & Kathleen Fleming, Earth Family Sound Blessing; and others.
At the culmination of the ceremony we will all reach out, touch the snow, and spread the blessings.
Blessing Page Mountain Sunday May 3, 1 pm, at the Snow Park on the Siskiyou Crest between Takelma and Happy Camp near the Oregon/California border. Earl Huitt (Modoc/Paiute), a Raven Dancer and Storyteller, will faciliate this multi-cultural ceremony.
An essential part of the ceremony is bringing together people from different backgrounds, reflecting the diversity of the Earth, honoring natural harmony as a model for human harmony. For example, Native Americans of several Tribes, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Buddhists, Zoroastrans, Pagans, environmentalists and others have all offered blessings on Mount Ashland.
Whatever our spiritual tradition, or non-spiritual tradition, we recognize that our larger home needs attention.
Different Cultures in Prayer for our Common Ground ~ Mother Earth Mountains, with their far-ranging views, are a good place to go for a sense of the whole Earth. In this region, mountains have an especially important function as cloud catchers, snow holders, and water givers -- providing humans, plants and animals with cool clear drinking water in the hot and dry days of our rainless summers.
A ceremony with the snow that covers mountains in winter gives us a dramatic way to understand and give thanks for this water cycle. When we touch the snow, we touch the water that, in the warm sun of springtime, will flow downhill, into the creeks, into the rivers, into the ocean, upward to the sky, and down again, reaching all of life.
This is why we want to encourage folks to go up on mountains in the snow and express their positive feelings – about mountains, snow, water, Earth, life in general, and each other.
Following traditions shared by many cultures, we call these feelings “blessings,” and call the events "Blessing Mountains in the Snow." Like the Earth, they are open and free to all.
No matter where we come from or what we believe, we all have some common problems to solve. Getting together on mountains in the snow can help us to feel our unity, the enormity of the issues, and how we can all reach out to help.
Please visit www.blessingmountainsinthesnow.org let us know what you think, and spread the word. People are encouraged to do ceremonies near where they live. We would be happy to post info about them if you do. The first ceremony of the season was recently done by a family in the mountains of Mendocino County, California.
This is an all-volunteer, open process, so your suggestions are most welcome . . . and donations too. If you’d like to help, please get in touch:
