Turtle Ceremonies
the rise of the Feminine and Grandmother's council
“In the forest, I still know how to become one with a landscape rich with a thousand mysteries. The forest permits me to capture the secrets of the invisible, of which we are the trustees. These secrets will soon become precious compasses for humanity.”
- Grandmother Brenadette Rebienot, Gabon Africa
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I turn the corner of the makeshift council fire enclosure. On the floor, in the center of the doorway, is a small bowl releasing the fragrant smoke of red cedar, burning low on hot coals from the central fire. I hear a man speaking, and as my foot crosses the threshold, he begins to speak of the importance of women.
I take my seat to the left of the altar as Ivan Looking Horse - brother of Arvol Looking Horse who is the 19th generation lineage holder of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe bundle - speaks about the importance of women coming together to heal. Specifically, he says, women bringing the turtle into their healing ceremonies. He’s seen amazing things, he says, when those elements come together.
Earlier in the week, a beautiful woman entered the central council fire circle. Hair down her back, wearing a long ribbon dress and carrying an eagle feather fan, she began circling the fire.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the prophecies,” she said. “This little boy was honored over here, and that was beautiful. But what I haven’t heard mentioned here, about the Eagle Condor prophecy and other prophecies of this time, is that women, the feminine, will be leading the way.”
Then she motioned to my daughter, four year old Amara, with her fan. She told me to bring her there, into the circle of the elder’s central fire.
“This child needs to be honored too. She is the future. Along with her mama. We need to be acknowledging the Sacred Feminine and her role in leading us forward at this time.”
After that a women’s council was called.
The council gathered at dusk, in a circle around the central fire. We stood up, stating our names to the circle and to the fire. Then the woman who called the council, began to speak.
“Women carry the ancient knowledge of the Divine Feminine deep within the very cells of their being, the Grandmothers say. Because their bodies are subject to the great cycles of the moon and stars, women’s wisdom is connected to the very heavens. Their natural wisdom about the rhythms of birth, life and death are far greater than a man’s can be, and should never be subject to any religious or judicial law.”
- Grandmothers Counsel the World, compilation by Carol Schaefer
She spoke about the central issues that concern our families, communities, and the global stage at large - the distortion and misuse of different types of power. One by one, we went around the circle sharing our experience, our guidance, things that have worked. One healer and elder from Mexico, wearing a White Buffalo headdress, spoke about the way she worked successfully with the women of her community through embroidery, to heal the pains of the past.
Female leadership was addressed to again - how the women, the carriers of life, must again return to a balanced position along with the masculine. And how all this requires healing: sexual healing, ancestral healing, self love healing, sisterhood healing, relational healing. How the Divine Masculine must rise to his role of support and protection so that the flowering seed of life can bloom within the feminine.
We spoke about sons, fathers, brothers. Sisters, aunties, daughters.
Late in the night, a few volunteers brought in hot bowls of pozole and we all sat and listened to the singers in the lodge outside, while the fire burned low and the smoke of herbs spiraled skyward. I could see the stars shining through the gaps in the makeshift shelter. My daughter was in my lap, gobbling up the blue corn bread with spoon fulls of pozole, happy to be held in my arms for so many hours on end.
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It has been recognized across nations that the time of leadership is shifting into the hands of the feminine. This is an old way. And a sensible way - that the ones who usher in life and death would be central to the decision-making power of a people.
“If you ever really want to understand deeply that to be a woman is to be magic, be in a circle of women meeting regularly without an agenda. Without an agenda, women automatically create ‘enough mother,’ and everything gets done.”
- Alice Walker, poet and social activist
The rise of the feminine, the rebalancing of energetic polarities, and the restoration of Life are what the prophecies speak to. Great earth changes. Following a new compass. Remembering the teachings of the Turtle. May it be so.
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