Wed 20 Dec 2006
John at Holiday Celebration 2003/2004 in Sedona
As we prepare our celebrations for the New Year, thoughts of John come. It was a week or so into the New Year in 2004, that I last talked with John. In that last call, he talked about his New Year’s celebration, among other things. So I thought I’d share what John taught about New Year’s Drumming.
There are so many different ways to celebrate the New Year. It is a time of catharsis, of new beginnings, of rejuvenation and new starts. Yet many celebrate this very important time by trying to forget. May auld acquaintance be forgot…
But this can be an exciting time to remember. To remember all the very important parts of your life that you have enjoyed or that you have neglected. It doesn’t matter, because the promise of the New Year is that there are always new opportunities to enjoy even more deeply or to attend to those parts of your life that you have neglected, and in so doing, find resolution and perhaps even emancipation and joy in the process. Remember, when you are drumming and singing and praying that it is always about possibilities and promise. There are 364 days out of the year to worry about the details. Take this night to concentrate on the promise of freshness and newness in every new day and in every new breath..
There is a Cherokee song that we sing in the sweat lodge when things feel very hard. It basically says “the dew is on the grass.” But in saying that it is pointing to the freshness that is important in the spiritual experience. The dew is so delicate, so special, and it usually comes just before dawn in the “wolf tails ” time of the night. It is a cool, fresh, quiet time of the night. The song suggests that our experience of life when we are truly in tune with our Creator is very much like that. New Year’s Eve is a good time to affirm and celebrate this…
We’ll be drumming with you my friend.
Hugs, Tracy ~ take what you want…find your truths…leave the rest…I share because I care.