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In Xochitl In Cuicatl, by Francisco E Alarcon
cada árbol every tree
un hermano a brother
cada monte every hill
una pirámide a pyramid
un oratorio a holy spot
cada valle every valley
un poema a poem
in xochitl in xochitl
in cuicatl in cuicatl
flor y canto flower and song
cada nube every cloud
una plegaria a prayer
cada gota every rain
de lluvia drop
un milagro a miracle
cada cuerpo every body
una orilla a seashore
al mar a memory
un olvido at once lost
encontrado and found
todos juntos: we all together:
luciérnagas fireflies
de la noche in the night
soñando dreaming up
el cosmos the cosmos
---
"We go off in search of the miraculous and yet we are it." - Paula Gunn Allen
---
"(T)his is the Holy Land -- right here-- the very soil upon which I am standing. And, of course, it lies beneath your feet as well, wherever you may be standing." - Leslie Gray
---
The Iroquois culture has a tradition that every time we gather together to have a meeting, we open with what is called a ga no ya or opening speech. Some people call it a thanksgiving address. That talk is what everyone who is sane in the world should agree on. It's kind of like Iroquois diplomacy: we start with what we agree on and then we keep going to the things that we cannot agree on.
So what is it that we all agree on? The speech starts with an opening that we see one another; we need each other; we need people to be in the world and it's a good thing that there are people in the world; we're grateful and thankful that there are other people in the world and it's good to see them here, so we give a greeting.
(And then: to Mother Earth,) Then it goes to grasses, waters, trees, plants, winds, the moon, the stars, the sun, the universe, the whole thing. Everybody in the world ought to be able to agree that we depend on those things. These things are actually essential to us, and that's the rational mind, with a poetic way of expressing a rational Mind. Some people look at that and say that's spiritual. Whatever you call it is fine. It's us expressing our positive relationship to all the others, ever other we can think of. We have not separated ourselves from them. They are others and we are part of the others.
We do this speech at the beginning and the end of every meeting because people need to be reminded of that. It's a constant reminder.
- John Mohawk
---
All of our ceremonies are thanksgivimg. We have thanksgiving twelve months a year. ... Two things were told to us: To be thankful, so those are our ceremonies, ceremonies of thanksgiving. We built nations around it, and you can do that, too. And the other thing they said was enjoy life.... get outside and enjoy life. - Chief Oren Lyons
---
"We go off in search of the miraculous and yet we are it." - Paula Gunn Allen
---
"(T)his is the Holy Land -- right here-- the very soil upon which I am standing. And, of course, it lies beneath your feet as well, wherever you may be standing." - Leslie Gray
---
The Iroquois culture has a tradition that every time we gather together to have a meeting, we open with what is called a ga no ya or opening speech. Some people call it a thanksgiving address. That talk is what everyone who is sane in the world should agree on. It's kind of like Iroquois diplomacy: we start with what we agree on and then we keep going to the things that we cannot agree on.
So what is it that we all agree on? The speech starts with an opening that we see one another; we need each other; we need people to be in the world and it's a good thing that there are people in the world; we're grateful and thankful that there are other people in the world and it's good to see them here, so we give a greeting.
(And then: to Mother Earth,) Then it goes to grasses, waters, trees, plants, winds, the moon, the stars, the sun, the universe, the whole thing. Everybody in the world ought to be able to agree that we depend on those things. These things are actually essential to us, and that's the rational mind, with a poetic way of expressing a rational Mind. Some people look at that and say that's spiritual. Whatever you call it is fine. It's us expressing our positive relationship to all the others, ever other we can think of. We have not separated ourselves from them. They are others and we are part of the others.
We do this speech at the beginning and the end of every meeting because people need to be reminded of that. It's a constant reminder.
- John Mohawk
---
All of our ceremonies are thanksgivimg. We have thanksgiving twelve months a year. ... Two things were told to us: To be thankful, so those are our ceremonies, ceremonies of thanksgiving. We built nations around it, and you can do that, too. And the other thing they said was enjoy life.... get outside and enjoy life. - Chief Oren Lyons
