Is it spirit, or what?

The Sweet Medicine SunDance Path is one in which we don't separate spirit from body, or from emotions, or from our sexuality.  It is all part of our desire for and path to growth.

In the first year of the Red Lodge Longhouse, we look at our 5 aspects, and what we call "proper choreography."  In other words, what do we do with our physical body?  Do we determine with it - e.g., the strongest person gets to be the boss?  Or do we give with it - e.g., taking care of everyone else's needs while our own go neglected?  What do we do with our emotions?  Do we determine with them - e.g., the person who screams the loudest or cries the longest wins?

How we coordinate our spirit with our bodies, our emotions, our thoughts, our sexuality, is an important part of spiritual growth as we speak of it on this path.

Some traditions, in some periods of time, have a perception of the body as evil :
"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."  The King James Bible,  Romans 8:13

That is not the case in the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path.  We ask, what have we come into human form to learn?  What is our spirit, our soul, demanding in this lifetime?  And so every part of us contributes to our spiritual growth.

How does your spiritual tradition work?

Personal Posessions and Healing

I have been a student of Harley Swift Deer Reagan and the Deer Tribe Metis Medicine Society for over nine years. As time goes by I gain an ever increasing respect for the power of these teachings and how they continue to improve my life.

In the last several months I have been taking stock of what is imporant for me to be carrying forward into the next phase of my life.

I find myself going back to a healing ceremony. I was asked what I desired my life to be like. I replied that I wanted everything in my life to be well ordered and well maintained. This summer I spent about two weeks, mostly full time, taking care of repairs and maintence in my house and yard.

It is hard to explain the incredible amount of joy I experienced in talking care of one niggling detail after another. Who knew that fixing the handle on my guitar case (40 minutes of effort total including the trip to Home Depo) could bring me so much happiness?

Who knew even months later how much pride I would feel everytime I open the hall closet. It took two days to going through everything in my hall closet, give half of it away, and purchase the perfect transparent storage containers for what remained, but now in place of a non-functional mess, I have a beautiful and well functioning system that takes almost no energy to maintain.

Need a towel or a wash cloth? No problem. Need a muffler or a pair of gloves? No problem. Need an extra blanket? No problem.

I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Healing can be just that easy. Is something a problem? Has it maybe even been a problem for a long time?  No matter.

At any time I can make a new choice. I can take the time to not just fix the problem, but create a thing of beauty there instead. Instead of an ongoing energy drain, that part of my life can become an ongoing source of joy. The choice is mine. Thank you Deer Tribe for helping more clearly realize this.