Tag: Cherokee

November 5 – Daily Feast

November 5 – Daily Feast

 

Secretly, we are afraid others will see what we know is true – that we don’t have what it takes. The Cherokee says we are not u wo hi yu – we lack confidence and we suspect others can see it. But no one can do everything – and, even if they can, they seldom do it. What we fear, others fear. Our needs are others’ needs. Our thoughts, our worries, though hidden from view, are not in the heart of just one person – but all. There’s no need for a stumbling block. We may not be superhuman but we are spirit, and spirit has no limits. Spirit is not dwarfed by circumstances. It has all power and makes us worthy.

 

~ He has done nothing for which an Indian ought to be ashamed. ~

 

BLACK HAWK – SAUK AND FOX

 

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Advertisement

July 16 – Daily Feast

July 16 – Daily Feast

If time were a dollar – how careful we would be with how we spent it. We wouldn’t spend it on worry, for we know fretting is not profitable. Anything limited makes us conscious of what we do with it, whether it is time or money or the people in our lives. How we value what we have decides what we keep. The Cherokee doesn’t want many things, but they know the wise are, I yv da, careful or mindful of what is important. Such caution teaches us to think before we talk, to slow our pace and find peace of mind. It eventually gives us more resources, and more time to enjoy them.

~ If we could have spared more, we would have given more…. ~

CANASSATEGO

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

July 15 – Daily Feast

July 15 – Daily Feast

A shallow river that is not deep enough to hold all the water that runs into it during the rainy season is always in danger of pushing out of its banks. When it overflows, everything is in danger. Those who live near such a river know the must be prepared. They have seen havoc wreaked on everything in its way. But they have the same feeling about people who are so like the river. Such people have no control and no depths, and tend to push into the lives of others persons. Many of the walls we build are to protect us from intrusion. The Cherokees remember that need for a li s de lv to di, safety or protection, and will not again be caught in the floodtide.

~ No man of my race has ever stood there before. The flood rises, looking upward I see a steep, stony path. I lead the way up…. ~

STANDING BEAR

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

July 14 – Daily Feast

July 14 – Daily Feast

Never quit when the going gets tough. Now is the time to bear down even harder. It would be a shame to quit and find we had almost reached our goal. If a person that can’t swim panics in deep water, he will sink. But if he rolls over and floats for a while, he can get his sense of balance and make the distance easily. The Cherokee believes he can endure, he can work, and he can fight. He will not be a tsv na, turned back. We owe it to ourselves to see what we can accomplish. And it may well be that we can do what others said is not possible.

~ You showed me….the spirit shape of things as they should be. You have shown me, and I have seen. ~

BLACK ELK

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

July 12 – Daily Feast

July 12 – Daily Feast

The fragrances of the countryside are exhilarating after a summer rain. Wildflowers and morning glories have spread profusely along fence rows, and bittersweet vines abound wherever they can take hold. One breath of fresh air, one beautiful smell of petunias on the evening breeze, is never enough. It has to be repeated and held in remembrance for another time, another place. A pill doesn’t exist that works better than a country lane after a rain shower. Huge drops make secret symbols in the dust and are a da to li gi, a blessing on the head of a Cherokee. It is a special message, a private baptism from the Great Spirit.

~ This country is mine, I was raised on it; my forefathers died on it; and I wish to remain on it. ~

CROW FEATHER

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

July 9 – Daily Feast

July 9 – Daily Feast

When people are secure, they can let someone else have the credit for doing something worthwhile and not complain. Sooner or later, the truth comes out anyway. Life always balances the credit. People have thought many times they were getting something for nothing – but listen, nothing stands for nothing. There is always compensation. Call it what it is. The only thing we don’t pay for is love, real love, which the Cherokee calls a da ge yu di. What we give, we receive. Life is reciprocal, it requires us to do the best we can and to leave judgment and balancing to Him Who works out all things to their perfection.

~ Tell your people….that since we were promised we should never be removed, we have moved five times. ~

A CHIEF, 1876

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

June 19 – Daily Feast

 

Some of us have kindred souls that understand what we feel, what we think, and what we need. These special people seldom bother with a lot of talk – but their quiet companionship is balm to the spirit and enough without words. Wherever we are on the pathway – the Cherokee calls it ga lo hi s di – one of these special persons has known loneliness, felt the solitary hours, heard the empty echoes, and is there to mark the way for us. We are assured of company, told that we will make it – that we are almost there now. Suddenly there is a corner to turn, a light to shine, hope and a hand to support us. Then, in quiet communication, we reach back and take someone else’s hand.

~ They were kind to me, those old men, when I was working hard to learn from them these sacred songs. ~

PLAYFUL CALF

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

June 18 – Daily Feast

Talking too much is a little like painting a picture. It is frequently what we leave out that makes it the masterpiece. We don’t have to tell everything we think – not use every color on the palette. Subtlety makes someone else think, and that is more important. Our tendency is to think that no one understands unless we spell things out for them. It is hard to keep our mouths shut when we want to say something so much – usually with a da li s ga na ne hi, irony or a degree of sarcasm, according to the Cherokee. Silence can be as unkind as saying too much but in the long run it serves a better purpose in preserving friendships. There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence, but it is a person of rare sensitivity who knows when the time is.

~ Tell your children of the friendly acts of Indians to the white people who settled here. Tell them of our leaders and heroes and their deeds. ~

INDIAN COUNCIL

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Daily Feng Shui Tip for Monday, June 11th

Many moons ago I started studying Native American spiritual concepts and cultural ceremonies. And I learned that many Native American tribes refer to their god as the Great Spirit, and they would honor this powerful Universal force by offering blue corn as a gift. So on this ‘Corn on the Cob Day’ I am reminded that corn has a played a central role in North and Central American religions for thousands of years. The Maya and the Navajo both believe that humans are created from corn, and nearly every Native American tribe wove corn into their sacred ceremonies. The Corn Mother, perhaps the most widely worshipped deity in pre-Colombian America, symbolized fertility, resurrection and eternity, so corn was considered a magical a gift to the Mother Goddess. The Hopi tribe used it as part of their prediction processes. In fact, each of us can learn to bring that ancient exercise into our modern lives. Fill a small bowl with exactly thirty kernels of dried corn of any color. Then, concentrating on a specific question, take a random number of kernels from the bowl and place them on a table. Divide them into groups of four. If there is an even number of piles with an even number of leftover kernels, the answer to your question will be favorable. However, if the piles and leftover add up to an odd number, then the answer to your question will be negative. Lastly, if you are left with an even number of piles but an odd number of leftovers, confusion could reign. Finally, an old wives tale says that hiccups can cured by naming three kernels of corn after three friends, placing them in a receptacle of water and holding it over your head. Corny as that sounds, I’ve tried it and it works!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’
 
What we take for granted someone else thinks is beautiful. What we want to get rid of is someone else’s treasure. Sometimes we stand so close to something dear that we cannot see that it is dear. Our lack of awareness robs us of what we assume is ours forever. We have many eyes, but most are closed or glazed over. The eyes of the mind and spirit perceive far more than our physical eyes will ever see. The eyes of our hearing detect sound but also feelings and attitude – and the music of he sphere. There is a word in the Cherokee language, agowhtvhdi, which means sight. When we touch something we not only feel but we also see the gentleness or the hardships, the depths and the heights. No, we are never blind except when we close ourselves off and deny the very Spirit of Life.

~ Give heed, my child, lift up your eyes, behold the One who has brought you life.~CEREMONIAL SONG

 
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler