A quote for today

Via Cecelia at Ojibway Migisi Bineshii:

“You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round . . . The sky is round, and I have heard that the Earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours . . . . Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a person is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.”

-Black Elk-Oglala Lakota Medicine Man

I love this quote for so many reasons.

First, it sums up the basics of my personal religious belief system.  Everything is connected, and everything exists on a spiral or circle.  The idea that life itself and all of it sources has no beginning and no end is so profound and beautiful to me.  Birth is a re entry and death is only the next step b/f the next beginning.  The cycle of life and the Sacred Spiral in Paganism blend together beautifully.  Identifying w/ this faith system gave me the first real inner peace I had ever experienced.

Also, it drives home the fact that far beyond anything any form of Christianity offered me (personally) my faith and my racial identity could be harmonious.  The love of the Earth and all that she holds all fit together, and we are embraced as a part of it, both responsible to and cared for by her.  The way that Native culture praises the love of the elements fits together inside my soul perfectly.

Lastly (at least listed here in this space), it makes me appreciate the way that I have made friends on these tubes that help me connect and identify w/ my culture and identity.  The things I missed being away from my extended family and Tribe in my teen years are easier for me to connect w/ and appreciate now thanks to friends like Cecelia.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the friends you make in Bloglandia aren’t as real or as important as the ones you meet in Meat World.