Food for Thought still Relevant for Today

You must speak straight so that your words may go as sunlight into our hearts.
Chief Cochise
Ciricahua Apache

When we talk about the environment, we have to talk about spirituality…even things like food and spirituality go together. Why did God make this world? Are we going to spoil His gifts-trees, animals, water? Spirituality has to take the place of greed.
Joe Cardinal
Cree

Only a radical reversal of our attitudes towards nature can help us. While it is comforting to see the nations of the world meet and begin to deal with our environmental catastrophe, we may even mow be too late to change the conditions we have created.
Vine Deloris, Jr.
Nakota Sioux

All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the Mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
Chief Joseph
Nez Perce

We were on pretty good terms with the Great Spirit, Creator and Ruler of All…We saw the Great Spirit’s work in almost everything: sun, moon, trees, wind, and mountains.
Sometimes we approached Him through these things. Was that so bad? Indians living close to nature and nature’s ruler are not living in darkness.
Tatanga Mani (Walking Buffalo)
Stoney

I believe the Earth will renew herself and things will go back to the old way of the Indian. You will not see it, but I will.
Albert Lightning
Plains Cree

The Creator put us here with so much for our use and gives us a route to go by, but our own self-will is strong….we are always being tested as we prepare for the next world….harmonious, healthy, societies find it natural to help each other, because its members have peace of mind knowing that they are a single expression of the Creator.
Wallace Mountain Horse
Blood

The Indian needs no writings; words that are true sink deep into his heart where they remain.
Four Guns
Oglala Sioux

Teach your Children what we have taught our Children; that the Earth is our Mother. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the Sons of Earth….We are a part of the Earth and it is a part of us. We belong to the Earth. There is no death only a change of worlds.
Chief Seatle,
Squamish

Do not misunderstand me, but understand me fully with reference to my affection for the land. I never said the land was mine to do with as I choose. The One who has the right to dispose of it is the One who created it. I claim a right to live on my land, and accord you the privilege to live on yours.
Chief Joseph,
Nez Perce

It was good for the skin to touch the Earth and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the Sacred Earth.
Chief Luther Bear
Sioux

Our basic reason for being here as Indians, as whites, as any race, is to recognize our responsibilities to our Creator; to raise our children in His image, according to the laws He gave us, and to relate to all people and to all things around us within the framework of those laws.
Harold Cardinal
Cree

Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.
Chief Joseph,
Nez Perce

In the life of the Indian there was only one inevitable duty-the duty of prayer, the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal. His daily devotions were more necessary to him than daily food.
Charles Alexander Eastman
Santee Sioux

Although a lot of people think that the Grandfathers have abandoned us, what with all the bad things that have been going on in the Indian World, these Spirits have always been with us. It is we who would have forgotten about them.
Chief John Snow
Stoney

If the Great Spirit wanted men to stay in one place he would make the world stand still…
Chief Flying Hawk,
Oglala Sioux

Respect, Elders and Elder Spirits

This writing was first placed on the internet by me in 1996. I feel this writing is more relevant now. So I am placing it here for further contemplation. This is a spiritual writing and is meant to be read a minimum of four times. This is only a partial teaching of the wisdom of Respect.

Respect Life!

Respect is taking into account what affect any thought, word and deed will have on life before you move to take action or open your mouth to express your thoughts. Respect is taking into consideration whether your decisions to act would be beneficial or detrimental, to all forms of life. Respecting all life shows you love and care, for life. Love is respecting All Spirits in the Universe, and understanding you are related to All Life in Oneness.

Respect is consensus. Consensus is not a political process or a game wherein you get to hold up your hand, until you have been coerced to agree with others, through a form of philosophical persuasion, or by simply being out-waited, or having your arm get tired, forcing you into compromising your convictions, by being forced to agree to things you know in your heart are wrong. Consensus is showing you respect life and that you will take into account, the effects your decisions and actions will have on every form of life. Accept only good thoughts, words, and deeds, which will bring forth and generate a life of beauty and love.

Respect is accepting the order of life, knowing there will always be Greater Spirits than yourself to guide and protect you, throughout all of your lifetimes. It is the Creator who is the Source of all knowledge and the Source of all life and the Center of the Universe. You are merely a Spirit who emanates from the thoughts of the Creator God. Knowing from whom you are descended, holding this in your mind and heart makes you humble, not the bowing and scraping or the wearing of rags that most believe defines humility. Humility is a form of respect and a sign of great intelligence, for everyone can see that the Universe does not revolve around them. To be humble, is to accept humility.

To be Human you must accept humanity. You are one of a kind, this is your kind and you are one of them. Humanity is the acceptance your spirit emanates from the Sol/Soul of the Creator. The Creator is a being of Light and you are a being of light. The Creator lives forever, you live forever. The Creator is perfect, and you made in his image, is perfect, for no other kind of spirit emanates from a perfect being except a perfect spirit. Saying "I am only human" is an excuse to do wrong and a denial that you are descended from the soul of the Creator God.

Respecting yourself is accepting who you are. You are related to all the Spirits in the Universe, whether they be as numerous and small as blades of grass or as singular in oneness as the Sky. You are related to all of these. They are "All your/my Relations." What you do to one, you do to yourself and all of Mankind. Like a seed you were given the potential and the power to generate life, through God. For from one seed, a tree will grow, which will grow into a forest and if allowed to grow uninterrupted would blanket the Earth in trees, providing small worlds for life, likened unto the Universe. A Mouse knows the Order of the Universe because his World is likened unto the Universe. Mice are equal in importance in their world as Mankind is, in their World. At this time they are more than equal to Man in this respect, for they live in harmony with all Creation, unlike Mankind who goes against Creation, destroying all life for the use of making material possessions and for the maintenance of their own personal empires. The seed, tree and forestation of Earth, provide life for living Beings and all of these Beings are beneficial to Mankind.

You are a Spirit that emanates from the Creator and you are born through Earth, your first and true Mother. You are a Spirit flowing through a Body. You are some One, not some Body. If you want to meet Somebody, go to the morgue and you will meet some Body there. With the breath of life, you become some One, one spirit that flows through a body, here on Earth to learn how to love and grow greater, in the greater ‘Body of Oneness’. Your spirit is born only once, for like your Father, the Great Spirit, you live forever, flowing through many bodies throughout your many lifetimes. Spirits regenerate every seven years, never becoming older, making them forever young. There are no old spirits, only spirits that pre-date other spirits. The closer your spirit was born to the beginning of Creation, pre-dating all other spirits that came into existence at a later time, would make you the Elder of a Tribe upon your return. The Creator is the only one that makes you who you are, an Elder or Pre-dating Spirit.

All Elder Spirits returning to this world are reborn in the physical bodies of babies and when they are recognized, are to be respected and treated as the Elder Spirits that they are. These ‘small ones’ are very powerful beings, as they are pre-dating spirits. They have to enter this world in the same way as other spirits, flowing through a new body. This doesn't change the fact that they pre-date others. Do not let their appearance or size fool you.

Through example, an Elder and Great Spirit, the Skunk, reminds you to see beyond the obvious. For every time you encounter the Skunk, in his smallness, he quietly demands your respect and if you think you are more powerful, try to bully or harm him. When he sprays you, you will walk around alone for quite awhile, contemplating his lesson, marked by his ‘teaching of respect’. Having demonstrated your lack of respect to all others, by marking you for all to smell, this great spirit shows that he was even given the power to banish you from your own people. The Skunk will force you to take the time away from your kind, to rethink your actions and correct your way, before your actions are copied by others, multiplying becoming a greater wrong.

Having been an effective teacher, you will give the small one and his relatives a wide berth on your next encounter. The skunk’s reputation as a great teacher rides before him on the wind, saving many in the family of Man, from this up close lesson on respect. The skunk wears the colours of his conviction, black and white, much like robes of office for all to see. Black is the colour one wears when requesting respect, when one asks to be taken seriously and white is the colour of spirituality, showing the pureness of purpose. This great spirit, the skunk, faithfully teaches all others a lesson of respect, fulfilling their purpose given to them by the Creator God.

Elder Spirits are the Leaders and the Spiritual Mothers and Fathers of their Tribe and are far wiser than any Younger Spirits, for they have gained knowledge from living many more lifetimes. Younger Spirits in older bodies are not the Elders of the Tribes of Mankind. You are not the Body. Bodies are merely the vessels through which your spirits flow. Elders are called Grand Mothers and Grand Fathers. The word grand means great, not old or grey. It is the title given to a Pre-dating Spirit who has generated many offspring, through whom their spirit flows. This is what an Elder Spirit is. They are not elected but elevated by the Creator.

This does not take away from the need to respect our physical Elders, as they too are deserving of our respect, for their experience in this lifetime. Having fulfilled their obligation of supplying you and your spiritual relations with bodies to flow through, it is your duty to respectfully listen to all they are to teach you. Therefore they are to be listened to with respect, treated with kindness and honoured as your spiritual guides on Earth. Your Mother represents the Earth and your Father represents the Sun, as your physical family is based on the Order of the Universe. Whatever you do to the Lesser Order in the Universe, you do to the Greater Order of the Universe. You are to honour and respect your physical Mothers and Fathers. Do this willingly and out of love for one and other. This will make your Earthly family strong in oneness.

You were born once as a Spirit at the beginning of time, and before you were ever born as a human being, you were many other beings first. You were supplied with a different bodily form in each lifetime. In this way the Creator taught you how to live in harmony with one and other and all life. Whatever beings you were, you still are. If, you were an Ant in a past lifetime, your spirit still flows through an Ant in this lifetime. You are descended from many spirits. They form your spirit system. Some peoples still have records of the major spirits they are descended from, for they were recorded on their family shields, crests, flags, heraldry, totems, etc. You must always remember that you live forever, for in remembering this, you are motivated to cherish all life, for you return continually to share in life with all others. What you teach your Children becomes the World you return to!

Should you disrespect the life of a lesser being and harm them physically, know that you may be harming yourself or someone dear to you. You are a spirit that lives forever, for you exist continually throughout all time, on every level of the Universe that you have ever existed on. Whatever existed, still exists because if it didn’t you would not be here now. Destroy one level of the Universe closer to the beginning of time and you will destroy all levels of life that were generated from that level in time. You are related to every living thing. Do not kill Lesser Beings indiscriminately. We are all related through the Oneness of the Universe. Care for all of Our Relations!

Listen respectfully to your teachers in life, speak respectfully of life, act respectfully toward all living things. Know that you have the power to cause the future of every living thing, and it would be wise to make your decisions based on the respect for all life. Respect all Life, for You are Life. Those who do not respect life do not deserve to share in life. You are the Children of God and the Reasons for Creation. Life Should Respect Life. Listen with respect, speak with respect, act with respect, for respect creates harmony and causes closeness amongst you. When you respect one and other, you produce harmony, which shows caring, becoming love, growing greater to Oneness. In Oneness, we will sing the Song of the Universe, “One Heart, One Mind, One Soul" and share in Peace and Heaven on Earth.

WRITTEN BY Del Ashkewe and Paula Johnstone-Whitehawk Permission is given to copy these writings provided they are left unchanged and in their entirety. Copyright November 20, 1996

Creator Father,

Look at our aloneness
We know that in all Creation
Only the human family Has strayed from the Oneness of the Sacred Way
We know that we are the ones who must come together
To walk in the Sacred Way once more.
Creator Father, Sacred One,
Teach us love, pride, honour and respect,
That we may heal the Earth and heal each other.
Chi Meegwetch, Thank You

An Ojibwa Prayer

The Ghost of Gluttony and his Family

The Ghost of Gluttony has cast his shadow over the homes of increasingly indolent Nations. The Children of Gluttony are the goblins of Indolence, Misery, Indulgence, Greed and Voracity. Illusion is the wife of Gluttony. The Children of Gluttony hide behind their Mother’s skirts as Gluttony leads them in his insatiable quest to bind Souls and to eat the Hearts of Love.

As in any type of war one needs to first identify the enemy. One doesn’t want to defeat a by-product of the Enemy. Obesity is a by-product of the evil family of Gluttony. Other by-products of Gluttony are all the Diseases that Gluttony and his family spawns, such as Diabetes, Cancer, Heart and Stroke, Alzheimer’s, and all types of Addictions. In order to defeat Gluttony you have to know his name and see through the one he hides behind…his partner the Spirit of Illusion.

There is an army of Evil that grows larger and has made plans to further their agenda for control of the Earth and All Life. Part of that evil army is very active in the World of Man. They work hard each day to further the agenda of Gluttony, while those that are asleep or lost in Illusion’s skirts are being swept into a deep hole. Each day One must choose wake up to see through Illusion and give no heed to her Children. Her Children are placed in our Path to cause weakness and defeat. We must choose our strategies to defeat this evil Family of Spirits for Our survival and for Our Loves.

“A hungry man is not a Free Man”. Nor is a Man that has indulged to the point of Glut! Notice how the Child Indulgence can bring you to his father Gluttony. Indulgence has learned how to use guilt to deceive the Mother’s and Father’s of the Nations. Indulgence loves irresponsibility. Indulgence keeps people in long debates about liberalism and leniency, details and conflicting studies kept to divert right actions, that are known by the Heart. Indulgence teaches One to favor themselves and their wants above all Others, even One’s own Children. Indulgence points through his mother Illusion, that every want, favor or privilege rightfully belongs to Self without concern for Others. Eventually, the One listening to Indulgence even looses site of what’s good for their Individual Body (Soul, Heart and Mind-Self Care), for their Cultural Body (Family, Tribe), for their National Body (Nation, Country) and for their Universal Body (The Greater Soul we all Share in, God, Oneness).

The hand that lures belongs to the Child Greed. Greed has grown extraordinarily large and has become filled with the False power of his mother Illusion. Greed likes to possess every One and every thing in his path. He has eyes he shares with Others through his cousin Lust. They make the weak envious and desirous of things One doesn’t need or belongs to another. Through their mother Illusion, they like to falsely justify their right to hoard while Others do without. Greed is an Opportunist. Greed will take every opportunity to exploit, without principles or consequences. Greed is forever hungry and never satisfied. Greed desires to possess the very Body your Spirit flows through. Greed’s hidden agenda is to enslave every One and rob One of every possession One has. Greed and Lust eat up every Ones Future. Morals and Sharing are not concepts that Greed understands.

Greed’s sister is Voracity. Voracity is a consuming Spirit. Voracity has a gaping mouth and an insatiable appetite for destruction. Voracity likes to eat, consuming ever increasing amounts, never satisfied whether she is eating Food, Trees, Metals, People or Countries. Voracity is unethical and doesn’t know the meaning of Constraint. Voracity seeks to destroy and devour the Environment and World Health. When Voracity is hiding behind her mother’s skirt, the skirt of Illusion; she likes to keep every One busy. She will use wars, personal and political, social and immoral. She likes to keep every One occupied in Illusion, lying that she is liberating them when in fact she keeps every One agitated and fear filled. Terrorism and Religion have become her allies. The methods of confusion, fear and hatred, are the tools Voracity wrecks havoc with.

Indolence is the habitual lazy one in Gluttony’s family. Indolence has learned many tricks to keep her appetites fed while lying about. Indolence likes to play the push and pull game. She has learned how to manipulate those she wants to destroy. She has developed a large strategy of getting into the Minds and Hearts of every One. She knows that One is what One eats, too. She learned from watching her brother Indulgence, that what one feeds the eyes and ears, will destroy the Body of Mankind too. She also has figured out that her best friends Infamy, Gossip and Sloth, will work in her favor. Together since they like sitting around, they help the Media and Entertainment industries. Playing push and pull, they developed a built in sensitivity for public reaction and cynicism. They have become so good at push and pull that millions of their followers participate in the willful destruction of Lives, private and public. What their followers haven’t realized is the largest weapon they use is Propaganda. Indolence’s mother Illusion has shown her how to have everyone pay for the wires that keep them hooked to their couches, while their Bodies grow wide and their Mind’s get lost in ego and id. Once Indolence has every One bound in the wires, she sucks and feeds them, pushing and pulling, until Indolence consumes them.

That is when Misery joins the foray. Misery loves to feed on left-over’s. When Gluttony and Illusion, with the help of Indulgence, Greed, Voracity and Indolence, are finished eating; Misery who likes company, moves in to see what is left over.

Misery is really close to her mother Illusion. Misery is the pet of the family. Indulgence loves to help her when she needs to wallow in self pity, he is always there. Greed allows Misery to eat from his table, only Misery knows he has incestuous intentions. Voracity likes to help Misery throw tantrums and makes excuses for her destructive behavior. So Misery prevails in Gluttony’s house. Misery has many friends. Misery is a Miser. She resents her friends and just uses them, enabling them to become co-dependent. She doesn’t care for others and only uses them as she is afraid to be left alone. Pain, Suffering, Agony, Distress, Depression and Calamity are a few of the friends she uses. Illusion has taught Misery how to manipulate Corporations and Governments to cause every One anxiety. Misery has had so much experience over the years that most of the Earth labors to see the difference between the Corporations and the Governments. They are so close that their aims seem to be the same. Misery was shown by Greed that they want to eat Gold . Misery feeds their Populaces and she gets to wallow in the Blood, Sweat and Tears, left behind them. The Non-Entity Corporations and Governing Bodies share with Misery while they live off more and more Victims in their quest for ever more Gold . Gluttony, Illusion and Greed are filled with false pride for Misery. Misery has a large appetite.

Well, now you know the Family of the Ghost of Gluttony. One can defeat those that they can Identify. Name the evil One wants to Pray away and defeat those that are allied with them. Knowing their weapons of destruction and their favorite games, can be of help to every One that needs to break the bonds of Gluttony and those spells his partner Illusion may have placed on You and Yours.
One becomes what One eats! Fill your Minds, Hearts, and Souls with Spiritual Thoughts and your Body will be filled with Light, Love and Health.

Exercise/Exorcise Your Spirit of Gluttony, Illusion, and the goblins they gave birth to. Empower the Holy/whole some Spirit of Self Control. Empower Kindness, Respect, Goodness, Love, Faith and Hope. Focus on Love of The Creator of All Life and the Positive in Life on Earth. Envision Heaven on Earth. Take steps to Free yourself from debt and the wires and thoughts holding you down. Encourage One and Others. Nourish the Spirit! Teach One and Others about the Goodness in Living Right. Eat the Blessings of God as His Children. Feed on the Love for Family and the Fruit that a Family can bear. Hunger no more. Eat the Food of Freedom and drink the Wine of Justice. Our heritage is to live in a Good Land, on a Fruitful Earth, cared for by every One for our Children and for our Future, the next 7 Generations. We are to live in the Body of Oneness, the natural home of Harmony and Balance. Let the Creator of All Life, the God of Sacred Laws, sustain and nourish Our Lives and Loves! Peace.

Love Always and Live Forever,
Paula Johnstone-Whitehawk, DNM®, Doctorate of Natural Medicine®
RNP®, Registered Naturotherapy Practitioner®