Making Friends with Wolf: The Beat Abides

Posted on February 27, 2024 by doogie

It was a dark cloud covered night as I sat outside playing a drum at my Chupadero valley home north of Santa Fe in 1982. It was more like the drum was playing me–or we were in a conversation like close friends. There was only the drum in my immediate awareness, no thoughts of conscious control or direction of the beat. A slight breeze began, then light rain. I asked whatever, whoever was listening in the darkness if I might see the moon and then watched how seemingly in response it appeared from a circular opening in the clouds. I kept drumming. A feeling of oneness with life welled up that was humbling amid this kinship with land, sky, water, air–an intimacy with the natural world I had not known fully before coming to New Mexico. The feeling was both new and anciently familiar.

The beat abides.

Years later I learned that what happened this night in 1982 was the experience of many people in many cultures, this relationship of thought, intention and prayer between drummer, drum and the natural and noumenal world. Some say the drum was the first instrument used by humans and that it has the power to aid in healing and influence the weather. Stories about drummers being able to induce or dissuade thunder, rain and other elements through the vibrations sent into the atmosphere are common among indigenous people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPn6eZHhoo0

The Native American drum I held in my hands that night came to me through a creative performance production called Luna. I was singing as well as playing my old instrument from grade school, the clarinet. Friend Jim Berenholtz https://composers.com/composers/jim-berenholtz had composed the music and choreography for the performance based on the cycles of the moon. Singers, musicians and dancers from Taos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque joined the creative collaboration. After the performances, the one-sided Taos drums used by the dancers were for sale, and I bought one, not really knowing why or what to do with it. But the drum was calling me to listen to its voice–the language of the tree, the animal, the earth, ancient cultures of the world and my own heartbeat. Over time it has become an abiding companion on lonely nights, on Earth Walks journeys I have led throughout the American Southwest and Mexico and at monthly full moon drum circle gatherings in my home for over 20 years.

After living in Chupadero, I was fortunate to find a home in the Upper Canyon Road area of Santa Fe, near the national forest. On a hot summer day in June 1989, I walked with friend Judy on the unpaved road from my house. Judy was and is a wise mentor and confidant and at the time a highly respected director of substance abuse programs in Santa Fe. Despite our easy-going conversation and smiles, I felt a certain sadness and slowness in my step because Judy was dealing with breast cancer. It was a huge ordeal for her, but even so she maintained a sense of hope and optimism. I wanted to help in whatever way I could, and had called her to offer a healing session with my drum.

That may sound like I knew what I was doing with the drum. Yes, I had studied methods of healing through use of the drum with Michael Harner and other teachers and experienced what are called “journeys” to other states of consciousness where I encountered “animal allies” and insights into issues with which I was wrestling. The Way of the Shaman But to help someone else? I thought it over repeatedly and drummed on my own seeking guidance. Ultimately, I felt it would be worth a try to share this with Judy during her battle with cancer. She was open to the experience.

As we found our way to a secluded side canyon, there were a few drops of rain among Western meadowlark warbles and cooing Mourning doves. Judy got comfortable on the ground and I sat next to her, gently drumming. I closed my eyes, letting a rhythm emerge from within, without trying to construct one. What happened next are best described in Judy’s own words which she wrote in 2014:

“...friend Doug called and wanted to do a drum healing ceremony for me. He also played the flute, a hauntingly lovely sound heard years later as it wafted over us at my 50th birthday party, five years into survivorship. He does music; comforting and healing music, lodged firmly and deeply in his unique spiritual perspective and practice. On this June day in 1989, we walked into the Audubon protected area near his house on Upper Canyon Road. A meadowlark sang to us both as we entered the soft sunny woods, and again later as we left. I laid on my back in the sun as Doug gently drummed. As I slipped away, my hawk flew, circling above me and then came down to rest near me.

What seemed to be a snarling dull gray wolf was off to my right in the trees. I was afraid as it seemed ominous and scary. My hawk flew low and fast over me, I thought to protect me from the wolf. It then landed on the wolf’s back. I was no longer afraid, as the wolf now seemed friendly and non-threatening. The wolf walked over to me, hawk on its back, and wonder of wonders, stretched out soft and warm, nurturing along my left side, with its muzzle restring on my shoulder, sweet as can be. It was incredibly touching. The hawk then spread its wings and covered my body with them while resting on my stomach. I felt safe and embraced with healing light. I remembered another time in the early days of diagnosis, while visualizing the cancer, a snarling wolf had appeared and I pushed it away as it seemed frightening. Now it seemed like an ally; what had been frightening was now a helper. Extraordinary experience; extraordinary Doug.”

I do not consider myself extraordinary, but am humbled and grateful to Judy for this extraordinary opportunity. It was a healing experience that opened some unnamable healing currents within myself as well. Our experience was testimony to the power of the drum, the power of prayer and positive intention.

In the book “Black Elk Speaks,” by John Neihardt, Oglala Sioux holy man Black Elk says this: “Since the drum is often the only instrument in our sacred rites, I should perhaps tell you here why it is especially sacred and important to us. It is because the round form of the drum represents the whole universe and its steady strong beat is the pules, the heart, throbbing at the center of the universe, it is the voice of Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit) and this sound stirs us and helps us to understand the mystery and power of all things.” https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bison-books/9780803283916/

It is important to know that Judy was the victor in her battle with cancer. The beat abides.

Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe–the Beat Abides!

Posted on February 7, 2024 by doogie

In the beginning there was silence. Then came the big beat that some call the bang—intense vibration, energy, rhythm–sustained and steady. Since time began, that cosmic beat has remained through creation, war and turmoil, joy and transformation, chaos and dislocation–an ancient universal messenger keeping memory and hope alive across countless generations and cultures on Earth. And one beat of a drum opened a doorway of awareness for a young man who had just stepped out of the gates of incarceration.

It was 1998 and five of us were sitting around a low table in the little office space on Second Street that was assigned to a Santa Fe, New Mexico community corrections program. Three of the group were on probation from juvenile court. One of us was an Indigenous American woman named Sapokniona, White Feather Grandmother. One of us was me. All had drums in our hands. The faces of the two young men and one young woman on probation look bored or irritated and seemed to say, “OK, let’s get this over.” Sapokniona spoke gently, quietly, with what felt like reassuring confidence.https://sapokniona.wixsite.com/whitefeather

I had been asked to present some of my studies in cross cultural earth related traditions to these youth who were considered “high risk” having had numerous run-ins with the law. But when I got the go ahead, I puzzled about how to offer my experiences and studies to some who might not be remotely interested. I had a Master’s degree in criminal justice, had been a juvenile probation officer, worked part time in a Colorado youth prison and served a year as a counselor in an Army jail where the word “counselor” was an anathema, so I had some reason to wonder about what to present.

In the middle of my muddle came the thought: drums. Drumming was physical and could be energetic and noisy and an attention getter. Local drummer Eric Gent kindly loaned his drums. Eric and his wife Elise had sponsored African dance sessions in Santa Fe for decades. Then I thought of Sapokniona, an acquaintance of Apache heritage who led teaching circles, ceremony, workshops and retreats that included work with veterans’ groups. She kindly agreed to lead the group of youth that day.

“I want each of us to play one single beat, in unison,” Sapokniona said. I was expecting something a lot louder and more physical, but went along with it, as did the others. One beat at a time, like the steady rhythm of a pulsing heart. Each hand with a beater rising then falling on the face of the drum. First softer, then louder, then softer, then it was over. We went around the table to talk about the experience. It came to one young man who looked confused, withdrawn. He hesitated.

Finally, he said, “When I closed my eyes for a while, I saw a bear.”

“Well,” Sapokniona paused, then responded. “My people believe that the bear represents the direction of the west. And you are sitting in that direction. I’m not surprised.” But the rest of us were, including the young man whose face lightened a bit, almost into a smile.

The beat abides—your vibe attracts your tribe.

To my understanding, some Indigenous Americans view the strength of “bear medicine” as the power of introspection. Bear seeks honey, like the sweetness of truth and intuition inside the silent “cave” of mind and soul. Think of Merlin in his crystal cave. In India, the cave symbolizes the creative energy of Brahma which some consider to be the pineal gland located at the base of the brain. https://study.com/academy/lesson/god-brahma-overview-facts-significance.html

As I wrote these words on an early March morning in 2017, the first rays of sun touched my table, the computer, my hands, the photographs of the family “rogue’s gallery” above on the wall. I stopped for a moment to listen to the “sounds of silence” around me: the light twinkle of water in the nearby fountain, the low burbling beating of the humidifier releasing wispy curls of steam, the drone of the refrigerator, the rumbling beat of the attic heater and then…the percussive tapping of typing on the laptop with punctuations, rests, faster and slower rhythms…an opus magnum.

I thought again about the young man in the drum circle who had just stepped through the gates of incarceration. Something happened for him that day that couldn’t be put into words. His eyes got a little wider and there was something like a smile. Maybe the world, too, got just a bit wider with wonder and possibility for him and for all of us in the group, drumming that one beat together.

Did it make a lasting difference in his life in some way? I don’t know. But my thought and hope echo Ann Mortifee’s song, “Just One Voice” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_xixpmvgGY

A single note becomes a song,

A single tree becomes a forest.

A single voice that’s clear and strong

Can turn into a worldwide chorus.

Just one voice, one single voice,

If you say you can, well then you can!

The Native American drum first found its way into my hands in 1982 soon after I arrived in New Mexico. It still does in 2024 after hosting monthly full moon leaderless drum circles in my home for nearly 25 years. In the posts to follow, I’ll share some of my journey with the drum. If you haven’t picked up a drum to try it out, do so! It’s a universal, worldwide instrument. Your vibe will attract your tribe. Have fun!

Gift from Canyon de Chelly: We Are All Family

Posted on October 3, 2023 by doogie

It was early spring, April 1 2007 in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona and I walked down nearly a thousand feet of a switch back trail through 250 million years of breathtaking beauty. The red sandstone cliffs carved over millennia by forces of nature had been home to humans for over 1500 of those years, stretching back to Pueblo cliff dwellers and to the present day Dinè (Navajo) settlers. Nearly 100 years ago on this same day, Canyon de Chelly was designated a National Monument. Many who come to this place do not know the tragedy and horror that was forced upon its people by the U.S. government led by Kit Carson. It wasn’t until years later that I visited the museum near Ft. Sumner, New Mexico that I learned more fully about the shameful history in which not only Dinè but also Ndè (Mescalero Apache) people were forcibly removed from their traditional homelands to a lonely, inhospitable outpost, walking in brutal winter conditions for hundreds of miles. (Visit this museum at https://nmhistoricsites.org/bosque-redondo ) It is a story of incredible hardship as well as resiliency and courage.

As I wound my way through the cliffs and crags, I was inspired to taste the sweet and bitter berries of the junipers that inhabit the area, their pungent flavor opening me a bit to other fragrances of the canyon: pungent pinon warming in the late afternoon sun, dry roots with twists like the weathered sandstone walls themselves and a subtle aroma of the earth.

On the way down, I encountered an elder Dinè woman, the deep lines in her face reflecting the ancient rock. She was surrounded by a flock of young children who try to keep up with her steady and sure-footed pace. No question that she was a part of this canyon and it a part of her. I imagined that her destination was the hogan and fields far below on the canyon floor. On they went and gradually I did too, eventually to a small stream at the bottom, finding a secluded spot away from other visitors. Light through the cottonwood trees dappled the spring snowmelt water. There were fresh green spring signs everywhere.

The poetry of Acoma Pueblo poet Simon Ortiz described my experience perfectly: (from “Canyon de Chelly” from A Good Journey, Turtle Island Press 1977).

Lie on your back on stone
the stone carved to fit
the shape of yourself.
Who made it like this,
knowing that I would be along
in a million years and look
at the sky being blue forever?

Time passed and the sun dipped down towards the western canyon wall. Shadows lengthened and it was time to leave. There were only a few of us left in the area, but I wanted to be the last one out. As I made my solitary way back up the trail, a young Dinè couple effortlessly foot raced past me like a breeze.

Still, I lingered longer, hidden on a high ledge and above what I thought was the hogan of the elder I had seen earlier on the trail. I wanted to give her and this place of beauty the gift of music with my flute, my way of saying thank you for being here. I was giving up something, though, to do that. Or so I thought. My original intention was to be high up on the rim and play the flute to the rising full moon. Offering this musical gift to the canyon on this lower ledge below, however, became the most important thing to do.

I walked to the edge of the ledge, played the flute, then returned to the trail to leave. But before I left, I did something I learned to do years ago on another high desert place of beauty in New Mexico.

As I stepped onto the trail and turned back to “return the gift,” an enormous full moon was rising on the eastern horizon in an opening between the canyon walls. Had I been there a little earlier or later–or had I been on the canyon rim–I would not have seen that spectacular sight.

Once atop the rim, I walked to the public viewpoint and discovered in a small pool of water on the cliff edge a reflection of the moon, now higher in the sky. This called for cornmeal and another flute offering. But before I could do so, far in the canyon below a chorus of coyotes began their own offering. Next it was my turn with my flute.

The story came full circle eight years later in 2015 when I took another walk down the same canyon trail. Huge winds and lightning struck the canyon and the bare sandstone walls became filled with waves and fountains of water, glassy and glistening. Trails became adobe super-slides. Eventually the rain lessened and as I made my way back up, I encountered a friendly local man and several of his family. As we all rested a bit we engaged in conversation I felt moved to tell him about my experience playing the flute for the elder on my last visit. Turned out this man was the nephew of the woman and her name was Marie. She had just passed away that morning at 1 a.m. and now here I was, gathered with her family members on the trail above her beloved home. Perhaps that made me an “honorary” relative. In any case, to my way of thinking, we are all “relatives,” all family.

Winking at a Snake in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Posted on June 26, 2023 by doogie

I was on a solo journey to Chaco Canyon August 11, 2012, taking a favorite walk from the Great Kiva Rinconada to the mesa above the kiva and the ancient site of Tsin Kletzin. The subterranean Great Kiva was once utilized for religious activities and ceremonies. It had 39-foot passageways from the underground structure to above ground levels. Casa Rinconada is one of the many buildings in the Chaco area that have documented astronomical alignments. Many know the Great Kiva for the archeoastronomy event that occurs on summer solstice. PBS video

On the walk all was silent save for the wind, whipping around me in a deafening roar. Suddenly I encountered two large deer, or possibly elk. There were two farther on. How they survived in this harsh environment could be a lesson to us all in this time of global climate disaster. I felt blessed by their wild animal presence. Back in camp, I sat in mottled shade of the nearby low growing cliff bushes and created prayer sticks for friends facing challenges as well offerings to my home. Knees bent, “feet standing,” I silently wound colored yarn, feathers and other found objects into the sticks.

These “ofrendas” were a meditation practice given to me and others long ago at the LBGTQ Spirituality Gathering at Lama retreat center north of Taos, NM by Maria Elena. Maria Elena was of Mexican Huichol ancestry and had the gift of being a “dream healer.” She could enter into the dream world of a person and offer help and interpretation. As a young child in Los Angeles where her Mexican parents had immigrated, she occasionally found herself in that dream world, seemingly floating above her bed and having other unusual experiences. Experiences that her parents did not want her to have, as they had immigrated to the U.S. to forge a new and hopefully more prosperous life. So, they put her in parochial school to help her forget the old ways. But Spirit will have its way, no matter where we are. At school, Maria Elena said made friends with an African American maintenance man and together they went out to the desert and did prayer and ceremony, helping to further deepen her healing abilities. This secretive time in ceremony and prayer helped her make sense of her natural talents. Maria Elena said that if she had been living in her Huichol community in Mexico, the elders would have recognized her gift and taken her to be trained in the ways of their people. Fortunately for me and many others, she did not lose that gift and indeed was willing to share her healing ways.

cute <b>snake</b>' Sticker | Spreadshirt

The ofrendas had also become a part of my healing and prayer practice. As I sat there quietly making prayer sticks, slowly sliding out of the low bushes emerged a two-foot snake that just as quietly made her way under my legs, stopping briefly among the colored balls of yarn and feathers to give me a quick glance, then travel on her merry way. For some indigenous cultures, the snake is the most sacred of animals as it travels with its heartbeat closed to that of Mother Earth. I was both in awe and gratitude for this silent serpentine gift.

Earlier in the day driving into Chaco, the cell phone buzzed with a message from work at the public schools in Santa Fe. As I listened, I recoiled and contracted, wanting to be as far from an increasingly difficult work situation as possible. But soon thereafter I heard this interiorized message: “Say yes! to all that does not compromise you or your core values…keep your spirit shield firmly in place, beware delusional thinking, but do not contract in fear of change or letting go to new conditions or requirements or adaptations to the material world.” Perhaps this was the message the snake was giving me in advance of our special encounter.

And all it took was a quick wink.

Diane Reyna of Taos Pueblo: Reflections on Covid & Other Matters

Posted on June 10, 2021 by doogie

REFLECTIONS ON COVID AND OTHER MATTERS
Interactive Online Earth Walks
Monday, June 28 2021 6 p.m.
Free or by Donation
Limited Enrollment

From anxiety and stress to inspiring courage and spiritual strength, Diane Reyna, Taos/Ohkay Owinge Pueblo artist, shares a series of drawings that reflect her thoughts on the events and situations that occurred during the COVID-19 lockdown last year. With pen and paper, hope, faith, and love, Diane created the drawings between March 16, 2020 and March 16, 2021. The ink drawings embody her experience in all its dimensions, including the cultural traditions that helped her navigate the year. She will guide participants through a hands on activity that will offer an avenue for individual insight and possibilities for the future.

Due to the nature of this event, there will be a limited number of participants. Register as soon as possible by contacting: info@earthwalks.org There is no charge, but a donation is appreciated. Everyone is welcome!

Diane was raised at her father’s village of Taos Pueblo in Northern New Mexico; her mother was from the Pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh. She is an experienced facilitator, college instructor, and trainer. She retired from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2015, where she provided comprehensive support and services to first year students. Prior to working at the Institute, she spent 20 years as a videographer, producer, and director in the field of video news and documentary production. She directed the PBS documentary, “Surviving Columbus”, which was awarded the George Foster Peabody in 1993. She has spent most of her adult life in engaged in the arts, education, and facilitation.

Watch Surviving Columbus online
Late one afternoon in May 1539, the world of the Indigenous Pueblo people changed forever when Estebanico – a Black slave from Morocco – and his 300 retinue of Mexican Indians marched into the Zuni city of Hawikuh. Through wild tales and exaggerations, Hawikuh would be transformed into one of the fabled Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, and a year later, Coronado and his soldiers would wreak destruction and violence on this peaceful world in search of non existent gold. Surviving Columbus is a search for the Pueblo people’s view of these first encounters with European civilization, told exclusively through the voices and visions of the Pueblo people themselves..

Pueblo Culture and tradition–a Unique Opportunity

Posted on May 8, 2019 by doogie

Helping clear the fields and gardens

EARTH WALKS TO JEMEZ PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO June 20-22, 2019

Join hearts and hands at Jemez Pueblo with the Flower Hill Institute farm, tending the land, planting heritage seeds and experiencing traditional cultural values, sponsored by Earth Walks of Santa Fe, New Mexico. We will be joined by the summer Pueblo youth camp, elders and other community members.

Roger Fragua, director of the Institute farm said, “Farming with nature (the root of organic farming) lies at the heart of practices used by native farmers in the Southwest for millennia. Traditional cultural farming can teach us a great deal about how to build a resilient and regenerative agriculture.” A children’s butterfly pollination dance will celebrate the fields.

A special part of the gathering will be with Abbess Hosen guiding the group in the practice of mindfulness in action as we assist in the beautiful organic gardens at the Zen Center. Meditations in the zendo are an option as well. Lodging is dormitory style at Bodhi Manda Zen Center where there are relaxing hot springs alongside the Jemez River.

Cost: $375 (two nights lodging and meals) A limited number of private rooms are available at additional cost. Volunteer for one both days only at no cost except for meals.

Registration/information: info@earthwalks.org

Register for Earth Walks to Canyon de Chelly October 19-22, 2017

Posted on July 25, 2017 by doogie

Spider Rock Canyon de Chelly

Includes:

Guided walk on trails into the spectacular red sandstone canyon (equipment brought by truck; transportation option for those who choose)
Two nights camping (final night motel/optional camping)
Traditional sweat “bath” (lodge)
Day of solitude at Spider Rock
Day of service on a weaver’s family farm in the Canyon
Cost: $615 Does not include: transportation to and from Chinle, AZ, last night in motel (free camping option available), meals outside the canyon, gratuities to guides

To register: Deposit to save a space for you on this journey is $200 (trip is limited to 14 participants). Remainder is due September 19, 2017. Make checks payable to: Earth Walks/PO Box 8534/Santa Fe, NM 87504. (A limited number of partial work exchange scholarships may possibly be available.)

Information: Contact info@earthwalks.org

Itinerary:
Thursday, October 19 travel by carpool from Santa Fe, past Shiprock, NM

From there cross the Chuska mountains to the town of Chinle. Dine (Navajo) friend Daniel Staley and his family will guide us into the spectacular red sandstone canyon to his family land where we will be camping. Those who wish will hike to the site; others can ride vehicles which will be carrying our camping gear. The first evening we will participate in sweat lodge, a powerful way to begin our stay in this land which has been sacred to local people for so many generations. (Those who wish can stay outside the sweat and assist with the fire and prayers.) Meals in the canyon will be a group activity (preparation and clean up.)

Friday, October 20 we travel by truck to the Spider Rock for contemplation and time exploring the spectacular area around Spider Rock in the quiet of the canyon.

Saturday, October 21 we visit Kathryn Pemala who has been a long time weaver on her family farm in the canyon. An important element of every Earth Walks is “service learning”–learning about traditional cultures while we offer service and “return the gift” of living in this great land. We may be clearing weeds from farm land and orchards, helping with the animals, doing repairs or a variety of other activities. Kathryn will share her method and meaning of weaving with us and we will share lunch together as well.

Kathryn Paymella, Dine (Navajo) Weaver

Our final evening, participants have the option of staying at the Sacred Canyon Lodge near the entrance of the canyon. There is free camping available adjacent to the Lodge. We depart on Sunday, October 22.

Contact Earth Walks for registration details and information: info@earthwalks.org

Walk in Beauty! Doug Conwell/Earth Walks

Earth Walks Director Doug Conwell

Walk in Beauty

Posted on October 4, 2016 by doogie

In September 2016, Earth Walks traveled to the spectacular Canyon de Chelly with 12 participants. It was a deeply memorable time, which included camping in the canyon under a blanket of stars, Dine (Navajo) friend and guide Daniel Staley playing his beautiful flute music to the echoes of the notes and his ancestors and a day of service on the family farm of Kathryn Pemala.

Our canyon campsite was on Daniel’s grandparents’ land where he maintains a fruit orchard and a traditional hogan.

One magical evening found us around the campfire with Daniel playing his flute and singing traditional Dine chants in his native language. One participant had just acquired her first drum and she sent it around the group, asking each person to add their own drum beat, song or words to empower it for future drumming. The group spent a day of solitude near the powerful Spider Rock. That evening the group participated in a traditional sweat lodge. Our final day in the canyon was spent in a service activity on the family farm of Kathryn Pemala, long time weaver, who has lived her entire life in the canyon. As she weaves, she hears the voices and stories of her ancestors which are woven into the fabric of her work.

Dine (Navajo) weaver

The group help harvest corn and plums, pulled weeds and enjoyed conversation with Kathryn and family members. It was all too soon that we had to leave.

Helping Harvest Corn

One of our participants, Sallie Bingham, is a writer and published author. Her blog on the journey is well worth the reading. You can view it at: https://salliebingham.com/the-beauty-way/#comments

Earth Walks plans to return to the canyon in the fall of 2017. We will also travel to Chaco Canyon, NM http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/353 in late May. This coming spring, we will be based at Bodhi Manda Zen Center in Jemez Springs, NM http://www.bmzc.org/ helping with an organic farm in Jemez Pueblo http://www.jemezpueblo.com/ as well as making traditional flutes with Pueblo resident Marlon Magdalena http://www.aluaki.com/

If you would like to join us on these or other journeys or create a special Earth Walks for yourself, family, friends or business please be in touch. Meanwhile, Happy Trails and may we all Walk in Beauty!

Earth Walks Director Doug Conwell

Solitude at Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly

Posted on July 18, 2016 by doogie

Spider Rock is one of the most awesome and sacred places in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. Earth Walks will be there on the next journey, September 8-11, 2016 and there are only a few spaces available for those interested. On the second day of our journey, we will travel through the red sandstone canyons, past groves of green cottonwood trees and a trickling stream to Spider Rock where there will be time for solitude and meditative time at this place of awesome beauty.

Spider Rock Canyon de Chelly

Spider Rock is the home of Spider Woman who is highly honored as a deity among the Dine. Some say she chose the top of Spider Rock as her home and is the teacher of weaving. On our final day in the canyon, Earth Walks will spend time helping with a variety of needs on the family farm of long time weaver Kathryn Pemala. Kathryn will share the practical and mystical meaning of weaving for the Dine.

Kathryn Pemala, Dine Weaver

We will camp in the canyon on family land of our Dine guide who will lead a sweat lodge. The final evening, participants have the option of staying at the Sacred Canyon Lodge near the entrance of the canyon. Free camping is available adjacent to the Lodge. We depart on Sunday, September 11.

Cost: $420 Includes guiding fees, meals while in the campground, sweatlodge preparation and materials, transportation in and out of the canyon.

Deposit: $140 due August 8, 2016. After this date, deposit is nonrefundable due to obligations with guides and those making arrangements from out of New Mexico. Remainder of fee due August 22.

Not included in cost: Carpooling to and from Canyon de Chelly, personal snacks/food, last night at motel ($113 per room, double occupancy–each person paying half of this amount; single supplement available); last night meal

Contact Earth Walks for registration and information.

Only a few spaces available!

Happy New Year from New Mexico

Posted on January 2, 2015 by doogie

Feliz Ano Nuevo from New Mexico! This is New Year 2015 and this is a totally new blog. Please visit the pages listed above including the slide show of all the events and activities of EarthWalks over the years. Thanks to those who made this site possible as well as those who have been “EarthWalkers” over the years. Here’s to many more in the years to come.

If you are not a blog subscriber and would like to be, please fill out the form at the bottom of the page. I promise not to overwhelm you but would love to send out a few thoughts and resources from time to time related to multi cultural health and healing principles in the American Southwest and Mexico. If you are interested in creating a special EarthWalks, contact me, Douglas Conwell, at info@earthwalks.org Thanks for letting others know who might be interested in EarthWalks and related information.

I spent my New Year’s eve at a favorite placs in this part of the planet, Bodhi Manda Zen Center http://www.bmzc.org/ Although not a Buddhist, I am a meditator and welcome the opportunity Bodhi extends to us all on this special evening as well as throughout the year. May you have a wonderful 2015 filled with wonder, gratitude and the simple gifts of love and friendship. Here’s a few photos from the event:

EarthWalks

Exploring the ancient cultural and earth wisdom traditions of the American Southwest and Mexico through guided journeys and service actvities.

Category Archives: Healing