The Earthkeepers

We all have lessons to learn and John was not exempt from this. Part of the earthkeeper walk with John Armbruster, was to learn about functionality through experiencing dysfunction. I am grateful for these lessons, even though I came kicking and screaming at times! Thank you John.

Some of the unintentional lessons were:

~ each person has a degree of dysfunction or we wouldn’t be on earth.

~ yin (negative) and yang (positive) are part of life.

~ dysfunction comes when it is enabled by those involved.

~ we think we are being tolerant when we say, “live and let live, or to each his own”. However, it enables the current paradigm, be it functional or dysfunctional.

~ it takes hard work to keep functionality alive…that’s why dysfunction is so prevalent in our world…because it’s the easy way out.

George Soros said, “Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition, there is no shame in being dysfunctional, only in failing to learn from it.”

Hugs, Tracy - take what you want…leave the rest…I share because I care.

As our family continues to sing, dance and drum the Appreciation of the Ancestor’s earth ceremonies on the shores of Lake Michigan, it becomes more and more evident to us that prayer is a joyous act of people in love with life.

With each beat of the drum we are reminded that…a smile is a prayer. With each note we sing we know… laughter is a divine ritual. And with each step we take we understand… ceremony is about discovering the hidden power of your heart.

John used to say,

“The EarthDance way is a celebration of life. That it manifests in better health, more prosperity, and better relationship between people. It also heightens our awareness, our concentration, and our commitment to our Spiritual Path.”

These used to be just words. But as we continue our family ceremonies, this wisdom has come alive. We know earth ceremony as one of Creator’s masterpieces. It has brought us to an earlier heaven.

Hugs, Tracy - take what you want…find your truths…leave the rest…I share because I care.

Sharing what John wrote in June of 1998.

Hugs, Tracy - take what you want…find your truths…leave the rest…

The Power of the Individual
by John Arbruster

Central to any spiritual practice is the power of the individual to maintain a sense of clarity and integrity in his or her life. One can look at all ceremonial, meditative, and self-help practices as just that… practice. They are training programs to help us find our strengths and expand them. They will reveal our weaknesses so that we can better understand, compensate, and ultimately release them. We can do this with the help of our own discipline, a personal deep spiritual faith, and with a real feeling for the faith of those around us. So it is always advised to look for the power within even as you begin to understand the greater power all around you. You too are part of the Great Mystery. Your spiritual understanding breaks down the first illusion of being human. That illusion revolves around a widespread conviction that we are not divinely inspired in every thought, feeling, and action.

To bring light and harmony into our lives, we first learn to allow it in our lives. Once we choose to see our lives as a divine spark, a miracle of creation, we can begin to allow miracles to happen. We begin to see things in a different way. It is a productive creative way. It is a path of joy and revelation of the power of the spirit of life all around us. This is a power of laughter and good feeling for all those around us.

On the other hand, we can choose to allow fear, jealousy, and a sense of inadequacy to confuse ourselves into thinking that is not true. That is what spiritual practice can help us with. It can begin to clear our minds so that we might feel comfortable with choosing the power of joy. It helps us face with purpose the terrifying confusion of our mortality.

When we come to the realization that we are evolving spiritually, we begin a great adventure. Whatever path we take, we truly must expect the unexpected. We face day to day the inner workings of our heart. We see the emptiness. We experience the thrill of discovery. We feel the uncertainty. But there is no day that is the same as the last.

The EarthDance Way is such a path. Because it is not theological or dogmatic, it is a path of personal discovery. It is like a closet full of alternative realities which we can try on. Those that are in accordance with our spiritual mission will fit well. Those that don’t won’t. The decisions about which is which have always been between my creator and me. There have been those who would have it otherwise, but something always swept them out of my life.

My only task has been to not shirk from the adventure. To embrace the uncertain road with certainty. To look into the darkness and sense the goodness coming towards me.

In this adventure knowledge is gained. Some of the knowledge helps me create beliefs that allow me to observe the miracles of life when they occur. This knowledge is like re-wiring a circuit so it can carry more current.

Other knowledge adds to my knowing, my sense of life. Just this summer when an 8ft Grizzly was standing over me just 20 ft away growling, I understood the medicine of the Bear. I can describe it to you, but I cannot transmit that knowing through those words. What I can do is transmit that knowing through the way I live my life. In the same way, all the sunsets I have truly seen and allowed to touch me are in my eyes. All the sweet waters that I have bathed in, that I have allowed to caress my body and exercise their buoyancy on me are in my touch.

And so it is, in the process of learning about ourselves, we learn about the world around us. We often tempt the limits of our knowledge. When we enter into that empty space of not knowing, we are filled with the thrill of discovery. The Earth gives us thrills in abundance. We dare not challenge her power, for it is awesome. However, when one throws open the gates to life the secrets often come in out of the cold. Knowledge comes in its own time and of its own accord. Our job is to be willing participants…

…and so we sit by the fire. The smoky smell a sweet perfume in the night air. The Drum carries us into the dreamtime. We make our prayers. We smoke the Sacred Pipe together to seal our intent and honesty into them. We sing the sacred songs to carry them around the planet so all will hear and believe us. We dance in the sacred way, giving ourselves to the rhythm, giving ourselves to the people and the goodness of life. Our feet act out the completeness of our prayers so the spirit of the land will have no doubt about what it is we are requesting… And in this way we walk into the distant lands of our spiritual adventure. There is no way of knowing where it will lead us. It is the beauty of the Mystery of Life.

Using the Passive Method of dowsing, reading the auric field around the body can give us information about the workings of the subconscious and unconscious workings of mind. These aspects of our thinking process link us directly to our emotional responses to situations surrounding family, friends, work, financial decisions, health, and legal decisions which might be problematic in our everyday life.

Those ideas, beliefs, and attitudes which serve us have definite energetic signatures. Those that don’t serve us have a different signature. By defining those attitudes and ideas that don’t work we can begin to vision and rethink the world in a way that is in alignment with your inner truth.

Inner Truth

The fundamental principle here is that when we are aligned with our inner truth our lives function more efficiently, with maximum joy and purpose. From a karmic point of view, the more we are in alignment with our inner truth the more we fill our birth agreement to clear our karmic path.

Auric Readings help us to find that inner or fundamental truth of our lives. At every reading, certain exercises are prescribed which will help retrain the mind and heart so that they are good tools in the soul’s pursuit of its life path.

There are many different kinds of Auric Readings:

• Life Path Reading- basic reading concerning 2 or 3 decision
• The Visioning Reading- rediscovering essential life dreams and goals
• The Affirmation Reading- developing affirmations which truly match your inner truths The Soul Retrieval- deep work with rejected parts of yourself
• Meditation Readings- fine tuning your meditation techniques
• Forgiveness/Grief Readings- working with hidden denial and resentment Readings generally last 1-1.5 hrs.