AoH - ritual and ceremony - The Art of Hosting2024-03-29T11:31:34Zhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/forum/topics/aoh-ritual-and-ceremony?feed=yes&xn_auth=noKathy wrote down her remember…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-09:4134568:Comment:325022011-08-09T09:16:47.882ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
Kathy wrote down her remembering and some learning i<a href="http://shapeshiftstrategies.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/hosting-ceremony/" target="_blank">n a blogpost</a> 'Hosting Ceremony' on her blog Shapeshifters - what's in a name?!?
Kathy wrote down her remembering and some learning i<a href="http://shapeshiftstrategies.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/hosting-ceremony/" target="_blank">n a blogpost</a> 'Hosting Ceremony' on her blog Shapeshifters - what's in a name?!? And a beautiful quote, send i…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-09:4134568:Comment:325012011-08-09T08:50:46.689ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>And a beautiful quote, send in by Monica:</em></p>
<p>"Dear friend,</p>
<div>reading your description of events has brought the Hopi quote to me several times...</div>
<div>......... "And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt."The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! <b>"Banish the word struggle from your…</b></div>
<p><em>And a beautiful quote, send in by Monica:</em></p>
<p>"Dear friend,</p>
<div>reading your description of events has brought the Hopi quote to me several times...</div>
<div>......... "And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt."The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! <b>"Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.</b></div>
<div>"We are the ones we have been waiting for." Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation"</div>
<div><div>Monica</div>
</div> And to close this circle, bac…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-09:4134568:Comment:324012011-08-09T08:47:54.623ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>And to close this circle, back to Pawa, who had send out the initial email, asking for support:</em></p>
<p>"Klahoya (greetings)</p>
Northern Lights blessed the night sky as my month long journey in Mi'kmaq territory came to a magical close. It was ancestors dancing with pride and joy that blood memories are being activated by practicing ceremony! From Regina Saskatchewan to Edmonton Alberta, two provinces celebrating in dance! <br></br><br></br>Eagle flew over my path & welcomed me home,…
<p><em>And to close this circle, back to Pawa, who had send out the initial email, asking for support:</em></p>
<p>"Klahoya (greetings)</p>
Northern Lights blessed the night sky as my month long journey in Mi'kmaq territory came to a magical close. It was ancestors dancing with pride and joy that blood memories are being activated by practicing ceremony! From Regina Saskatchewan to Edmonton Alberta, two provinces celebrating in dance! <br/><br/>Eagle flew over my path & welcomed me home, Chilliwack Sto:lo territory, British Columbia. Klecko Tseekwatin (thanks Eagles) for your generous spirit & gift of good will. Klecko thank you for all your attention, care and financial contributions to this important work. Klecko for holding a global container allowing us to explore teachings & conversational patterns held in rich indigenous ceremony. Klecko to the ancestors for being in flow. Klecko Kathy, Sarah, Ryan, Robin, BobWing & the team that stood together to see this project through. The depth of relationship this community practices fills me up & helped keep this movement going in the face of adversity. <br/><br/>It is an honor to be in circle with you & I offer a deep bow of gratitude to each of you. We are working for Creator, RAINBOW WARRIORS UNITE<br/><br/>The teachings are still percolating and the brew smells delicious. More to report on as the teachings are digested. <br/><br/>In Solidarity,<br/>~Pawatsqwachitl" Reply by Martin:
"
Sounds lik…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-08:4134568:Comment:322112011-08-08T13:25:00.517ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>Reply by Martin:</em></p>
<p>"</p>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sounds like Coyote and Raven were afoot. Wise to let structure go and put the ear to the ground.</font></font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> </font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">To listen to what the wind and heart speak.…</font></div>
<p><em>Reply by Martin:</em></p>
<p>"</p>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sounds like Coyote and Raven were afoot. Wise to let structure go and put the ear to the ground.</font></font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> </font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">To listen to what the wind and heart speak.</font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Throw away the tools.</font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Listen to what stirs after you leave as you stare into the coals of the fire.</font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Inside and out.</font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> </font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Well done</font></div>
<div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> </font></div>
<div style="clear: both;"><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">With gratitude<a style="font: lighter 10px Verdana,Arial; color: #000000;"><br/></a></font><div><font color="black" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Martin Siesta</font></div>
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<p></p> Reply from Tim:
"
Thanks Kath…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-08:4134568:Comment:323012011-08-08T13:09:38.221ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>Reply from Tim:</em></p>
<p>"</p>
<pre>Thanks Kathy. Sounds like good learning (the point of all of this ...) took place. I love how ceremony is finding itself deeper and deeper into the work, especially when it is lead by those who have lineages to hold them.<br/><br/>Looking forward to checking in with you and Sarah in person when I get home.<br/><br/>Love<br/><br/>Tim"<br/></pre>
<p><em>Reply from Tim:</em></p>
<p>"</p>
<pre>Thanks Kathy. Sounds like good learning (the point of all of this ...) took place. I love how ceremony is finding itself deeper and deeper into the work, especially when it is lead by those who have lineages to hold them.<br/><br/>Looking forward to checking in with you and Sarah in person when I get home.<br/><br/>Love<br/><br/>Tim"<br/></pre> A harvest - report after the…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-08:4134568:Comment:320272011-08-08T09:47:01.730ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>A harvest - report after the days were over, by Kathy:</em></p>
<p>"</p>
<pre>Dear friends,<br></br><br></br>Pawa flew home Friday night, Bob is on his way this morning. It is difficult to know exactly what to share here as we are still trying to understand our<br></br>experience in Membertou. The hosting team - myself, Sarah, Ryan, Pawa and Bob - were aware of and appreciative of this wider circle the whole time we<br></br>were there. <br></br><br></br>We went to do a training in Art of Hosting and Warrior…</pre>
<p><em>A harvest - report after the days were over, by Kathy:</em></p>
<p>"</p>
<pre>Dear friends,<br/><br/>Pawa flew home Friday night, Bob is on his way this morning. It is difficult to know exactly what to share here as we are still trying to understand our<br/>experience in Membertou. The hosting team - myself, Sarah, Ryan, Pawa and Bob - were aware of and appreciative of this wider circle the whole time we<br/>were there. <br/><br/>We went to do a training in Art of Hosting and Warrior of the Heart. In the end, we did very little "training" as we tend to know it in a 3 day<br/>training. We offered very little to nothing in the way of methodologies. We did practice Warrior of the Heart each day and we were hosted in ceremony<br/>every day. We created a design for our first day together. Elders began our day with pipe ceremony. It started and ended in its own timing. For the<br/>rest of the day, we used a few things from our design and let the rest go. <br/><br/>A few little disturbances showed up in the field in that first day. We had dinner with an elder and agreed we should go into ceremony with a ceremonial<br/>fire the next day intended for healing and teaching. As a hosting team we were no longer under any illusions that we had any control over what was<br/>happening in this space. We did no more design work for the rest of our time there. We checked in with each other, deeply and often. Sometimes the<br/>whole team including Pawa's team there, sometimes the hosting team and sometimes Bob, Pawa and I since we were staying together. Sarah and Ryan<br/>were staying with an elder and they also did their own checking in and conversation.<br/><br/>On day 2, we built a fire pit on the grounds of the school where we were gathered, removing the sods and setting them aside, removing dirt and<br/>setting it aside, ringing the pit with stones, smudging the pit, building the fire with ceremony, tobacco offerings, pipe ceremony for which Pawa was<br/>invited to sing (all 3 days) and her voice and songs were beautiful and moving. Ancestors, spirit and vision were all invited into our circle.<br/>Elders, governance committee members, youth and us as invited guests. When the pipe ceremony was completed, an elder offered a teaching and then the<br/>eagle feather fan was passed around the circle. Many voices and much gratitude was heard. In the afternoon, some WoH with a focus on the warrior<br/>and mid-wife and then a close with participants sharing with each other the gifts they see in each other with some time for individual reflection. The<br/>sacred fire was tended all day and at the end of the day the ground was put back the way we had found it.<br/><br/>On our last day together, again ceremony. All morning. Again, powerful and beautiful with full attention of everyone present.<br/><br/>We were honoured to be part of this circle. In Sarah's words, we were lucky humans.<br/><br/>With Pawa's team members who were really looking forward to learning in the Art of Hosting practices we shared that the core essence we are usually<br/>wanting to get across in training is that it is not about the methodology but it is about what else we are hosting in our space, about paying<br/>attention to what wants and needs to happen and surrender into that emergence. It was really clear that what was not so much needed from us was<br/>teachings and process design. On the surface, it may be hard to really know what it was we did there although WoH was a big part of it. We are pretty<br/>sure that something happened there that would not have happened without us.<br/>In reflection, Bob and I feel like maybe we were hosting the elders to host the youth in ceremony and we got to be the beneficiaries of that as well. <br/><br/>One of the main goals of our work was to activate blood memories. Pawa says when we feel shivers or those little energy shimmers in us, blood memories<br/>are being activated. That happened often in our time together. Even on our own, we were drawn to ceremony, smudging and meditation. For "doing" very<br/>little, we were holding a lot - evidenced by how tired we were at various points in our time together and for me in the decompression that happened<br/>once I was home.<br/><br/>We know we hosted growth. Pawa saw increased youth participation and engagement. We witnessed it in the reflections, questions and curiousity of<br/>Pawa's team and we feel it in ourselves. We feel this story isn't over yet and not sure how it will continue to emerge - but it will. <br/><br/>With your financial contributions it seems that our expenses may have been covered, including gifting bokkens to both youth and elders who asked. Once<br/>things have settled down and we have a chance to do the reckoning, we will let you know how your contributions have been distributed in this work.<br/><br/>I have been deeply moved by this work. I have a whole new depth of understanding of what it means to host and hold space and be completely<br/>unattached to form. It is the least amount of design work I've ever done and the most demanding work around presence and tuning in that I may have<br/>been called to do so far. I am different as a host and as a person. In our conversations yesterday, Bob and I both feel there is some learning here for<br/>the stewards of our community and reflecting on that as well.<br/><br/>As the little poem on conversation suggests (Thomas Hillman?), not just any talk is conversation. Conversation is that which continues to reverberate<br/>long after the conversation has ended. Yup. Reverberations for sure.<br/><br/>Deep gratitude and yet another bow to this circle of people I am honoured and privileged to call friends."<br/>Kathy<br/></pre> Another report of how it was…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-05:4134568:Comment:317452011-08-05T08:29:54.404ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>Another report of how it was going:</em></p>
<p>"Things are very well in this land of letting the flow take us moment by moment; as people and timing keep changing to accommodate a lot of ceremonials: pipe, fire, circle. And how all that powerful prayers and intentions, by spiritually powerful people, influences what is next with the work, let alone the influence of the profound changes in ourselves. Glad that you all are along with us in this. <br/>Bob"</p>
<p><em>Another report of how it was going:</em></p>
<p>"Things are very well in this land of letting the flow take us moment by moment; as people and timing keep changing to accommodate a lot of ceremonials: pipe, fire, circle. And how all that powerful prayers and intentions, by spiritually powerful people, influences what is next with the work, let alone the influence of the profound changes in ourselves. Glad that you all are along with us in this. <br/>Bob"</p> An update from the hosting te…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-04:4134568:Comment:315162011-08-04T11:54:46.132ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>An update from the hosting team:</em></p>
<p>"Janie, an elder from Membertou, joined the hosting team for dinner last night. Today we will light a sacred healing fire and sit in circle around it until we are complete. There is much alive and bubbling here. Pawa, Bob and I sat in our own little circle late into the night last night. We are completely in service of the community and what wants to happen and feel supported and well held by all of you. You feed our inner fire. In deep…</p>
<p><em>An update from the hosting team:</em></p>
<p>"Janie, an elder from Membertou, joined the hosting team for dinner last night. Today we will light a sacred healing fire and sit in circle around it until we are complete. There is much alive and bubbling here. Pawa, Bob and I sat in our own little circle late into the night last night. We are completely in service of the community and what wants to happen and feel supported and well held by all of you. You feed our inner fire. In deep gratitude as we walk the chaordic path here.</p>
<p>Kathy</p> and immediately a flury of an…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-04:4134568:Comment:317212011-08-04T08:29:36.433ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>and immediately a flury of answers -</em></p>
<p><em>from Juanita:</em></p>
<p>" <font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;">Yes, this can happen when "friends in the work" call out to each other in the night—and in the day—for sustenance, for ideas, for prayers, and for being in each other's hearts.…</span></font></p>
<div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></div>
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<p><em>and immediately a flury of answers -</em></p>
<p><em>from Juanita:</em></p>
<p>" <font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;">Yes, this can happen when "friends in the work" call out to each other in the night—and in the day—for sustenance, for ideas, for prayers, and for being in each other's hearts.</span></font></p>
<div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;">Viva la Causa!</span></font></div>
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<div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;">Juanita"</span></font></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;"><br/></span></font></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><em><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;">from Jerry:</span></font></em></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;">"</span></font><font color="blue" face="Times New Roman" size="3">As the Amazon people say – we don’t dream for the individual, we dream for the collective. Peace to all dreaming together for our mates in Membertou.</font><p><font color="blue" face="Times New Roman" size="3">j"</font></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>from Tatiana:</em></p>
<p>"Thank you for this - and al the beauty emanating from the field holding this. It is special to tap into this energy from afar and know this is happening... as the Laika in the high Andes say, it is time for dreaming the world into being. Thank you to this circle tin Membertou for taking the time and courage to do this.</p>
<div>with love and light to all of you in this work,</div>
<div>Tatiana</div>
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</div> A crucial observation and que…tag:artofhosting.ning.com,2011-08-04:4134568:Comment:310212011-08-04T08:25:44.657ZRia Baeckhttps://artofhosting.ning.com/profile/RiaBaeck
<p><em>A crucial observation and question from Chris:</em></p>
<p>"<font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2">What is happening here? An interesting weaving of energy, intention, ideas, friends, economy, language and ceremony. It feels like we are talking to one another in the hushed tones of ceremony and ritual, a real mindfulness has descended over this conversation. It's really interesting! …</font></p>
<p><em>A crucial observation and question from Chris:</em></p>
<p>"<font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2">What is happening here? An interesting weaving of energy, intention, ideas, friends, economy, language and ceremony. It feels like we are talking to one another in the hushed tones of ceremony and ritual, a real mindfulness has descended over this conversation. It's really interesting! </font></p>
<div><div><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2"> </font></div>
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<div><div><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2">Totally emergent, and yet somehow, only possible with the voices of all who are in this circle together.</font></div>
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<div><div><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2">So something to bear in mind, no matter if you are on a beach in Membertou, or California, or Bowen Island, or a Danish lake... we are wickedly connected and bound to one another. I can see this as an eagle... something is activated. see where it goes!</font></div>
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<div><p><font color="black" face="Verdana" size="2">Chris"</font></p>
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