Nicole Kidman Plays Didgeridoo. Hugh Jackman bounces around on one leg…

It is not surprising that Nicole Kidman attempted to play the sacred instrument, the Didgeridoo – an instrument forbidden to women, a ceremonial  instrument of many thousands of years.

That Hugh Jackman would bounce around on one leg parodying traditional dancers and think nothing of is most likely because they are anglo-Australians who reflect the  ignorance that  some….many….Australians have regarding Aboriginal protocols and Cultural Respect.

All of us white-kids of the 60’s and 70’s eras grew up in a country that had long ago turned sacred symbols into tea towels and souvenir’s, had forbidden traditional Aboriginal language to be spoken in government institutions and were taught the “A,B,C of Racism” through the example of the adults around us.

We grew up in a country where Aboriginal knoweldge was dismissed, rights were taken away the cultural practices were targeted for annihilation.

Click here for more of that story:

Nigger and the A, B, c of Racism in Australia…

Nicole and Hugh most likely did not intentionally set out to offend, the footage shows an atmosphere of fun and levity, delighting the audience with their antics…..and that in itself says a great deal about how ignorant non-Aboriginal Australia will remain until we develop meaningful relationships with Aboriginal people on a far wider scale than currently happens in order that understanding and respect can develop.

Many people have expressed delight and appreciation of the role of the Aboriginal boy in the high profile film “Australia” though as far as a true representation it is a film made by white~Australians about the romanticism of colonial Australia at a time this country was immersed in the slavery and apartheid that defined post-European invasion of ’settlement’.

The young boy mentions that the white woman coming is a sign of things being made better…the missionary-rescue story re- told black people relying on white people to determine their destiny.

Perhaps one day Nicole might have the privilege of sitting with the Elders, learning about the role of the didgeridoo in ceremony and celebration…perhaps Hugh might be invited to dance with the Men and experience the process of dancing with the rhythms of thousands of years of Dreamtime….

Until then the disregard for Cultural protocols , regardless of the role that fictional Aboriginal boys play in films, will probably continue during these very early days of recovery, recognition and respect for traditional Aboriginal values and practices.

The map below shows how many hundreds of Aboriginal groups existed in Australia prior to the invasion by European armed forces in 1788. Each First Nation group with its own extraordinarily beautiful art, music, ceremony, Spiritual and societal practices

Create New Dreams…Seeding the Future Vision

We had a wonderful weekend camp…thanks to the gorgeous Goddesses who came from two Communities up north to join us in the Riverland.

Along with the Mandala art and making clay beads, we work-shopped the Vision for the Womens groups…then painted terra cotta pots and planted the Sunflower seeds that will grow along with the new changes..

Thankyou to the Women for allowing us to photograph the art work and capture the many wonderful moments where Nanas and great grandchildren, Community leaders and members sat and enjoyed the  creative processes  together….what better way to spend a weekend in the Riverland sun?

Deanna Nungala and I feel very privileged to have been invited to host the Celeberating our Community camp and look forward to our Miminis Nopin Inc ventures in 2009 when we can return the gifting by visiting the Women and seeing how the Sunflowers have grown….

Miminis Nopin – Women on the Move…

 

We think we have found art based activities that everyone- young and old -can enjoy together…and sme1954 …you may find new pathways open when you get creative too!

 

Deanna and I wearing the clay necklaces we made during the Apology week, to honor the Mothers whose children were stolen from them.  Nungala is a Stolen Generation survivor and a Warrior Woman of the heart in the truest sense….

 

Our Vision Workshopping Board….

 

Painting the clay beads they have rolled earlier in the day is wonderful for concentration for the little kids and fun~creativity for all ages…

 

Little sister can create and paint her own beads too!

 

 

This pot-painter will seed some fantastic changes for her  Community I am sure…

 

 

The gorgeous goddess with the smile that lights up rooms and hearts…

 

Our Chef extraordinaire took time out from her delicious food-making to paint a pot of her own…

 

 

Lady birds for good luck turned up on the top of this artists work….

 

…as you can see….

 

Mother and Daughter creating together……they have a vegie garden at home and the new Sunflowers might fill that garden one day! One single  seed births the seeds of many new flowers over one single season… 

 

…seeding the Vision is a journey of process, attention, watering and ….patience….

 

…all pots are sealed with varnish and the upper torso lean, with head titled upward is a spraying skill learnt after accidentally inhaling a nostril full of varnish dust on the first ever pot.  Interesting shadow cast on the ground there….

The trip to Aortearoa (New Zealand) was a rather magical time!

 

 

 

 

EarthSong Aboriginal Healing Pathways Foundation is Incorporated…

We are very pleased to announce that EarthSong is now officially incorporated as of September 8th 2008.

Here are two of our founding members Misters John Hartley and John Williams holding our certificate of Incorporation.

If you are interested in learning more about EarthSong, who we are and what we are doing, please checkout the Facebook EarthSong Aboriginal Healing PathwaysFoundation group here:
EarthSong….Putting Action to the shared Vision for Change…

Photo update on our first working bee….

Shirley- Big Heart Big Smile

Relationships change and friendships come and go. Family is not always defined by those who swim in the same gene pool and although many years have passed since Shirley and I were in close and regular contact, when we get together those years melt into the ether…

Shirley has a big heart and has walked a big journey. She is a Woman who is never happier than when she is surrounded by family and friends and laughter.

Australian Government to enforce alcohol bans in Aboriginal Communities

A report into child sexual abuse in Aboriginal Communities has resulted in the Australian Government introducing enforced alcohol bans and medical examinations for all children under 6 in the Northern Territory communities.
Responses are polarised….in the eyes of some, these Aborignal-only laws will only add to the racism and separatism that started the cycle of anger and despair that has lead to many of the issues of abuse and violence in the first place. Others are asking what laws and enforced medical procedures will be put on the white miners who make up some of the numbers of the perpetrators of abuse….

The following is a letter to our state newspaper that I wrote on a day when the news of the bans were released across the country….with headlines that further places Aboriginal Australians in the pathologised, ‘troubled /wounded’ place of the collective Australian psyche, once again ignoring the depth and knowledge of traditional Aborginal culture in its pre-invasion state.

Some leaders are in agreeance with the decision as you can see here and others are concerned for the well being of families who will have to comply with the enforced medical examinations as you can read about here…..

Letter to the Adelaide Advertiser 22nd June 2007

There is a saying that goes, “What is impressed upon a person will be
expressed by the person”.
For thousands of years Aboriginal society was a strong culture
defined by co-operation not competition, sustainable land management
and spiritual and cultural practices that enriched and enhanced
community life. Mental well being, a sense of meaning and purpose,
mutual obligation and belonging defined cultural identity.
A comparatively short time ago land theft, internment into opressive
camps, punishment for speaking ones own language, legalised child
removal, alcohol in exchange for compliance, sexual abuse, work
without wages, lack of legal status until 1967, maginalisation and
poverty was impressed upon the heart and soul of a once strong and
flourishing society.

As a nation we are in the very early days of recovery from the impact
of abducting children from loving family arms and the consequences of
a materialistic, competitive culture inflicting its values and fraught
land management practices upon the traditional land owners.To enforce more laws, rules and restrictions in an attempt to protect
the children is a long way from the deep healing, development of
meaningful relationships between Aborignal and non-Aborginal people
and the strengthening of the heart and soul needed for Aboriginal
Australia to recover from the violence and multiple traumas
inflicted.

What we are seeing now is simply the mirrored- expression of what has
been impressed in very recent times and as Einstein wisely
counselled….”The significant problems we face cannot be solved at
the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”.
We need to think from the heart and link hands as a nation over the
coming years to recover the strength, dignity and courage that
defined Aboriginal society for so long… until us white fellas came
stomping across the country, trampling peoples lives and seeding the
current crisis across Aboriginal society today.
Let’s at least hear you say “Sorry” John Howard before you begin
issuing more of the autocratic rules and dominant culture control
that started the problem in the first place.

Moogey ~ Ngarrindjeri Nation

This is a small and very heartfelt photographic tribute to a man who I have come to love and admire greatly over the last few years.

Moogey works tirlessly for justice, cultural renewal and healing here in South Australia. He is a member of the global archaelogical society and responsible for returning the remains of the Ancestors whose graves were robbed and bones shipped to museums across the globe….

His traditional land, like all Aboriginal Land in Australia , was invaded and stolen during settlement and for many years the Ngarrindjeri people have been dispossessed of the Land which was in their custodianship for thousands of years.

With his Talkinjeri dance group Moogey and his family perform many of the ceremonies and cultural events around the state and overseas.

These photos, taken over the last few days, depict the scope and range of Moogeys calling.

The first photo was taken on the Coorong…Moogey’s ancestoral land.
We filmed there this week as part of the oral history recording of Ngarrindjeri culture…

Moogey is demonstrating how this grass-spear is used for antiseptic healing:

This is the bush that, when dried, is used in the smoking cermonies:

Video and audio recording with an Archaelogist who was able to share his research based knowledge of Ngarrindjeri culture with Moogey and in doing so, triggered some of the forgotten memories he had of hunting and fishing along the Coorong as a small child…

Today members of the first Nations gathered to on the steps of parliament house to commiserate the absence of Aboriginal representation in South Australian parliament.
A letter is to be presented to parliament and prior to handing over of the letter, Moogey performed the smoking ceremony:

Community worker, Elder, cultural consultant, performer, ambassador, healer and talking circle-facilitator….Moogey is all of these things… He is also a Husband, Father and Family Man ….and Grandfather to his gorgeous little “Mimini”….

You can learn more about the Ngarrindjeri nation by clicking here….

In Memory of the Big River Gums

Many years ago I worked in a beautiful old homestead that had been renovated to become a shelter for homeless teenagers…The House was set in several acres on land that was adjacent to a river and lushly populated with the magnificent Big River Gums that have huge green lungs for breathing the air clean along busy Waterloo Corner Road…..
This kind of setting was often the traditional gathering place in less complex times when the Land was still in the hands and hearts of the rightful custodians.

This is The House…

I left The House in the early 90’s and over the years it has undergone several incarnations…always remaining a place of service and community.
A few years ago I heard that ‘they cut down the Big River Gums’ and I decided I did not want to go back there to see the land bare of those magnificent trees that I loved for so many years…at night time I would hear them breathe in the wind, in the mornings their branches full of birds would wake up the residents with the calls of magpies and galahs and rainbow lorikeets…sometimes you could smell the euclayptus in the air and many a restless teenager found quiet time sitting under the huge branches that covered the front of the grounds.

I was in the region today and after many years of habitually ignoring the old road where The House is based…I decided to go back to the place that holds so many fond memories and images of Big Trees watching over the shelters everyday life…
I pulled into the property and realised that the tree culling had not been as extensive as I had envisioned…there is definitely a gaping gap in the area closest to The House but many of the trees on the peripheral remain…like this one….

I strolled around the property and was taken aback when I came upon the felled- bodies of the Big River Gums laying in a greying pile by the old olive grove….
It felt like I had come upon an elephants grave yard where the large bones were discarded to the elements and my sadness over the loss of these magnificent, story-laden Big River Gums was felt at a place hundreds of years back in time…

This is what I came across….

I sat for awhile and remembered the seasons and wind storms, the thunder and rains and long hot desert summers that these magnificent trees had grown through together. I remembered how I used to park my old volkswagon under the largest tree…ignoring the ‘careful of falling branches’ speak in favour or the shade and sense of always-protected-never-harmed by the Big Trees…
I wondered about the dozens of birds nests that appeared every spring and the possums habitat that disappeared in an instant…I wondered where all those restless teenagers are almost 20 years later….

Although I have never known the stories of the local Aboriginal people, I felt sure that the land by the river would have been a part of the life of the traditional owners because even amongst the car fumes and roads and buildings and traffic, the land retains a special vibration that is palpable.

As I sat reflecting on time and loss and death and rebirth and happy times and sad times, I noticed one of the remaining Trees watching me….listening to my thoughts and sharing in my loss….I felt the presence of the big River Gum, alive and vibrant, surrounded by the amputated trunks on the ground.

So clear was the presence of the Spirit of the Tree that his heavy brow, thick lips and bearded face can be clearly seen at the base of the trunk on the right hand side…

Can you see what I saw? …look at his big heavy brow and beard touching the ground as he wathces over the bodies of the “Standing People” now fallen to the ground…

I always talked to those Big River Gums ….they were a part of my life for such a long time…and today I heard them speak back to me as I sat there at the graveside of some very dear old friends…….

Sometimes it is good to go back to places we swore we would never visit again because even amongst the sadness and memories there is beauty to be found if our eyes are open……

Honoring our Elders

I have been blessed to have 4 significant Teachers in my life.

When I was a young girl, Rodney Kemp, my grade 6 and 7 Teacher saw something in me that I did not see in myself until many years later.
He brought creativity, lateral thinking, fun and play to his class room and was very attuned to the role of playing games and exercising as a vehicle for learning and group bonding.

During my teen years amidst the distrubance of going to 3 different high schools, another Teacher, a beautiful, larger than life African man, Vernon Hoffman shook his big jowls at me and said:

“You have a gift and you must use that Gift.”

Vernon died in his 40’s of heart failure and like Steve Irwin he had enormous reservoirs of passion and emotion pulsing through his body….
His heart felt interpretation of the world impacted the hearts and minds of all who encountered him on their path.

Another of my Teachers is very much alive and continues to inspire passion, insight, wisdom and possibility to thousands….
Her name is Dr Jean Houston……. Jean Houstons Web site
Attending Jean’s Law of Attraction based Mystery School- The Mystery of Time, The Mystery of Magic and The Mystery of Creation in 2001 changed my life in magical ways that are still unfolding today.

Thankyou Jean…and thankyou for creating the space and place where I met my beloved partner Sal….I have always thought I got the “Mystery School Door Prize” with the added bonus of meeting my partner in a place of Possibility and Passion.

Last weekend Jean shared the stage with Bob Proctor for the “Miracle Making Weekend” and for people in the states who can access Jeans work more readily than we can here in Oz…I highly recommend attending her Mystery School and Social Artistry events.
Jean’s training includes developing internal, ‘Energy upgrades’ that enable us to create over-riding currents to bring about change thereby putting the Magical “action” to the Law of Attraction and her Mystery School intensives are truly a one of a kind event….

You can watch Jeans videos and hear her audio presentations on her web site…”The Alchemy of Creativity” is a fantastic discussion on the pod cast section.

This leads to my Teacher Molly…

Molly was 95 when she passed on. She did not write any books or run any seminars.
Few people would know her name and even fewer were blessed to undergo her training. Molly was very olde school Spiritualist. A clairvoyant and healer who had an extraordinarily simple outlook on life.
Love
Laughter
Service
Healing
Vegetarian Food
Singing

Molly never drove a car, did not own a television, she washed her clothes by hand and was a vegetarian from when she was a little girl.
Simplicity personified how Molly lived her life.

I met Molly when she was in early 80’s…her white hair was like Einsteins, wild and crackling with the electricity of a vibrant, active Mind.

..A friend told me about ‘this amazing woman who runs a development circle’ so I went along with her and the moment Molly opened her arms in her welcoming embrace it was as if two wires connected and the connection was finally made between who I had been and who I was to Become.

Molly had a hug like a vice grip…I know how my cat Yami feels sometimes when I hug him too tight it almost makes his purr-pop….
For a tiny woman Molly had the hug of a thousand warrior Angels and the currents she emitted created a bridge between the world of the seen and the unseen…a bridge that I saw many Souls stroll across over the years that she was my Teacher.

It was during a Healing Circle one day….where we sat in a circle with the healers channelling therestorative energies to people on the stools before them….that I looked up and found Molly transifxing her gaze on me…staring me straight in the eye.
I was still new to the circle and did not consider myself at all to be in the position to offer healing Energy to others.
As Molly stared at me I could feel my hands beginning to tingle and a warmth fill my fingertips like I had not expereinced before.
Molly gave a small smile and with a brief nod of her head, she directed me to the centre of the circle towards a woman awaiting healing.

I placed my hands on the womans shoulder, feeling Mollys gaze transfixed behind me and at the point of connection felt that same circuit of energy connect with the woman before me.

Molly taught me that Love and sincere Intent really is the power that heals and whether it is Reiki or massage or contact healing or any of the other hundreds of ‘versions’…it is always LOVE that creates the circuit that connects and heals.

There were many special moments with Molly that impacted my life.
When I was still a young youth worker I was employed to provide the personal development training for a group of long=term unemployed young people, under 25, 5 Aboriginal- 5 non Aboriginal, 5 male , 5 female…who were a part of a dynamic employment initiative to build a mud brick house in six months.

I had never been on a building site before, the only one of us who had was Padraic the loveable Irish builder…but over a wet winter and in spite of only one of us really knowing anything about building houses ….we got that mud-brick house built and it is still standing today….17 years later, now owned by one of the participants who built it.

I sought counsel with Molly before the project began, sharing with her my concern that I might not be up to the job…what if…blah blah…and Molly heard me out as she always did and then said quietly;

“Running Wind will work with you on this project dear. If you find things get too much or you need an extra hand, call on Running Wind and he will help you out”.

Over those six months amongst dealing with pot-smoking participants who were banned from climbing ladders, mud bricks that accidentally became mud-pies and not knowing a thing about brick laying or ‘damp courses’ when asked by the participants for a hand…I called on Running Wind often.
Every time, without fail, as soon as the call silently went out, I would feel a shift in the breeze and the presence of this great Spirit who Molly had requested assistance from on my behalf.

One unruly day when we needed to pour concrete that was quickly setting in the unexpected sunshine, surrounded by teenage brick layers who were more interested in flirting and playing from behind their dark sunglases …I called Running Wind for help and it was a sudden gale force gust of wind that swept across the site that got the attention of the group and re-focused them on the task at hand as sheets of plastic and empty cement bags began to rise and fall over the site….Running wind exhaled with gusto!

Two of those Mud-brick house making teenagers are now women in their 30’s who are in positions of influence and leadership within their Communities and I know for certain that Running Winds and Molly’s influence over that project is a large part of how they have arrived at where they are today….

In September 2000 I sat with Molly in the nursing during her final days of her transition, four months before her 95th Birthday.

Molly was born on January 26th 1905 – Australia day -and for many years she lead the Australia Day march from the comfort of the lead car….waving her flag like the Queen and allowing herself just one day of the year to be recognised and applauded….by the end of the long march flag waving had slowed down and her hand would be aching from the special wave she gave to each and every person who called out her name….

The Staff in the nursing home, the good hearted over worked Nurse~Angels had no idea who Molly was or that she carried the stories of the origins of the Spritualist Church here in Adelaide, that she was a herbalist and healer, a psychic and medium who lived between two worlds in th eplace where those worlds meet… or that she took her instruction from the Miracle making formulas and Teachings of the Master Jesus.

The Nurses simply knew Molly as the very sweet, pure-white haired old lady, never any trouble, who always said “Bless you Dear” and “Thankyou Darling”…

In spite of hospital rules and regulations, they were very tolerant when I insisted on squashing myself into the bed next to the deep-sleeping Molly to read to her as she lay in the pre-transition state of unconsciousness and they were equally understanding when I filled the room to excess with Spring Jasmine because I did not want Molly to pass with the currents of the hospices cleaning chemicals and incontinence filling her senses.

Mollys story could not be told without mention that most of her family had long ago rejected Spiritualism and her communications between the worlds was considered not at all in alignment with their chosen religion…consequently, as their religion decreed, I was not able to honour her passing through her Mother Church.
I was very upset at the time, though understand things differently now…and the night after she passed Molly came to me in the in-between place and said “Love dear…that is all that matters. Forgiveness is Love. It is all okay dear”…

Molly continues to teach me…. the words that I write are her written legacy….the stories I have shared in my Womens group over the years are often her stories and the Love that she gave me, the introduction to Running Wind and her legacy of creating powerful circuits of Healing are a blessing that go beyond words and into the realm of the Infinite.

This is my Teacher Molly…..Molly …born Katherine White 1905 -2000…our photo was taken on the last Australia Day parade we went to together….

An Angel has walked amongst us……

Oprah with her Teacher Maya Angelou…poet and educator extraordinaire…