A Day of Celebration and Blessings
April 20th was a glorious, sunny day as we celebrated life and dedicated the land in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to union and living heaven on earth. We embraced old friends and welcomed new ones as almost 60 children, men and women shared the day of prayers, blessings, festivities and food. This land was once Cherokee hunting ground, and we wanted to weave the threads of past and present together by honoring the ancestors who came before us. We invited Yona French Hawk, a native Cherokee man and spiritual teacher, to open our ceremony around the sycamore tree with prayers and songs in his traditional language. As his voice and the beat of his drum rose into the hills, we felt ancestors, animals, spirits of the land, water and sky and spirit guides surrounding us and blessing us. Our hearts were full of the union we felt with all life. Flo led a beautiful ceremony of dedication by reading an excerpt about the vision of peace from I Remember Union. The names of those who have already given time, money or energy to the land were read from a scroll, placed in a glass jar, and buried in the earth so that their vibrations could be held there. Waters and earth collected from all over the world were offered to the land. We each wrote a prayer for peace on strips of cloth and tied them to a Peace Pole. The ceremony concluded with a universal dance of peace. Afterward we broke bread together with the delicious foods that people had brought to share.
It was a wonderful day of community and strengthening bonds with each other. Thank you to the planning committee and everyone who co-created this beautiful event. This summer we will start offering classes and events here, so please stay tuned!
