When I was young I was taught to build many items. I took part in decorating them to make them COOL or FANCY. I enjoyed the times, the building, and learning new skills. I enjoyed the way I could get swept up in the task. I enjoyed wearing and showing off my new creations. It was fun and I was learning a skill and spending time with those I enjoyed being with. I honestly thought that was the object of the exercise. After all I had learned to competently build or design what I was shown and taught. That is all there was to it and I had mastered it. Little did I realize until years later how wrong I was, how blind and arrogant I had been. And how little I understood about why the creation of specific items had rules and stories.

Our people consider/considered the creation of many items as sacred. There is a process, a ritual, and a story base behind even simple daily use items and it took me years to understand why. It all came together one day and it was like a clap of thunder that drove me to my knees in humility, joy, and a deeper understanding of why seemingly mundane items are sacred.

You see when you learn to build or create it is a physical and mental process at the start. The very basic building blocks and foundation is being laid for a greater revelation and transcendence that shatters the illusions that constrain us and blind us to truth. Once that foundation is laid we start to imagine how we can build a fancier or better item. In that we are moving past the simple process and into being creative. Adding our own personal touches and possibly sharing, trading or even selling what we build. It makes us happy. The lights still haven’t come on yet, but there is a distant sound of thunder just on the edge of perception.

Then it starts to happen. A idea comes to light and we start a new project. We get caught up and loose hours if not days to the process. At the end we feel a sense of accomplishment and yearn to continue the process. Is That lightning on the horizon?

We continue along this road feeling good about creating, the relaxation and down time from stressors it affords. Sometimes we ask ourselves where we drifted to while creating and just shrug it off as the result of the intense focus on the task. Yet on the edge of perception there is a twinkling in the mist.

Creating becomes like a regular escape, meditation and a chance to recharge. Are those lights moving in rhythm to the thunder? Must be my imagination.

It all slowly becomes a part of who and what we are and one day you realize you are manipulating the storm, and causing the lights to dance. Each step in the creative process adds a new rythm, energy and medicine. Each stitch brings a new aspect of the energies, the spirits and the ancestors into the fold and they are all dancing for you. It all weaves together into a peaceful truth of existence that goes beyond words and allows for a connection to ALL that is. You are communing with all and with the creator without the fog and blindfold of daily illusion that we all to often mistakenly call our life. And you begin to gain a true understanding of the stories, and why there was a process and progression to being allowed to partake in many rituals. Why the creation of something as simple as a medicine pouch, a drum, a shirt and the adorning of it was, and should be, considered a sacred process. You realize that you are now dancing with and for the creator, the mother, the spirits, the medicines and everything around you. In that creation you have woven it all together in a clear, untainted, and powerful item that will serve as a gateway or connection to greater truths for the person who is drawn to and eventually purchases that creation. And in that process you are also gaining insight and connection with the truth of it all. Finally understanding why our ancestors lived and formed community the way they did. It wasn’t just out of convenience, but based on the dance with creation itself. You finally see you have been a part of the dance all along and yet blind to it and deaf to the music. Seeing division of this life and what is to come is nothing but another illusion.

I now look at people and their paths very differently and realize the importance of each choice/step they take. I realize there are no wrong steps along the road. Only the choice to step or stumble a certain way along the path. I could have read this years ago and I would have thought I understood it, not yet realizing the truth that I was still blindly stumbling along the path to understanding and really just starting to see.

Dance with me in creation Brothers and Sisters

AHO