Pow Wow

week 31

Out of the list of prompts, this one jumped out. I've only ever been to one pow wow in 2006 and that was a lovely weekend, with lots of colour, dancing and creative people. I enjoyed it. I keep meaning to go to another but haven't done yet.  Is it pagan? No, not really, well not this one anyway. I should imagine like morris dancers, most of this lot were Christian.  If 'pagan' is the umbrella term for anyone who doesn't believe in one god, then are Native American's pagan?  The revere the Great Spirit. They revere nature spirits... so by definition, they aren't pagan as they have the one great spirit... pah! Pigeonholes and pedantics ... who cares?!  I don't lol.

My friend Fred told me about a pow wow at the Bison farm not far from Stonehenge. I love Native American things and went along for the weekend.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but what I found was special.  People, normal people, dressing up in traditional ceremonial dance costumes and taking part in traditional Native American grass and fan dancing.  Everyone was invited to join in, regardless of dress. And those little steps really tire you out!  Fantastic drumming and I don't mean some out of rhythm bongos or African drums, these were proper pow wow Indian dance drums. The sound was very intoxicating and I found myself trancing out at times, which is what they are supposed to do, tap into that part of you, and take you away with the beat and lead you into ecstatic dance.

The bison farm, farms bison for the meat market. Bison is a very low fat meat, dense and really tasty, there was owls and other animals there too. Anyway... the pow wow.  Feathers, tassles, coloured beads (not plastic ones either!), big elaborate costumes. No one was pretending to be an indian, which I was afraid of, but they were dressed up in the dance outfits and honouring the Dance. I've since watched Treme and seen the 'indians' that do Mardis Gras - each area has a tribe and they make huge colourful outfits, play music and dance their territories. There are many animals and birds that do this display for territory and mating purposes, so to me, this is no different.  They did it for fun though and I was envious of the efforts that had gone into these outfits.

Also there were some licensed traders of Native American crafts. Kind of like fair trade but for the tribes, you can only sell genuine crafts if you have a license.  I bought a bone, horn and glass bead Mohawk bracelet, a cedar seed and blue bead necklace and some porcupine quills.  It was at the pow wow where I met Blue Deer who made flutes. I commissioned him to make me a bog oak flute with turquoise inlay. These are all happy memories that I have just recalled after finding these pictures on my computer. I have 50,000+ images, all memories waiting to be revisited.  Here's a selection of images I took... enjoy.

My friend Fred

ever look at someone and see their totem? Guess what his is .. 

She bangs her drum

and hollers some more

Stomps about

The circle is hers

She twists and twirls and

Dances the dance of the demented

She stops to breathe, scents of nature

Bangs her staff on the ground

The earths dull thud, thud, thud

She hollers again and dances some more

Twisting, turning and spinning around

The dance of the demented

(by me, about... me?)

Ostara

week 30

It seems only the other day that the days were short and chill. And now it's August and the first harvests are already being reaped.  As the Starks say, winter is coming... you can feel it in the air at night, and it won't be long until you can taste it in the air, smell wood fires and start wearing coats again.  Summer arrives with the housemartins nesting and ends when they fly back to South Africa.  Cycle of life measured by the creatures around us and the land as it is reborn, blooms, fruits, dies and then is reborn again. This is a poem I wrote ages ago. I can't think of anything else to share, so here's the poem.


Naked trees
Bare blue skies
Last years leaves
Litter the ground

Cold winds blow
A mighty chill
Rain turns to snow
The sun climbs higher

Daffodils and crocus
Snowdrops and catkins
Life has burst thru
The cold hard earth

Life is imminent
It's waiting to bloom
Green shoots and colours
Birds return home

Colder weather will come
Life still breaks thru
Defying frozen death
Under frost and snow

New life breaks thru
Winters death begins to wane
Sunny days and blue skies
Wake us up within

New life in Springtime
The lambing season not far
Cold winds may blow
Spring has been announced

Spring is also the time that my brother died. He had cancer, he was told he had 2 weeks left in November, so we all went and said goodbye.... and then he didn't die. He seemed to be getting better! He wanted to last til Christmas. He did. He kept setting targets and shocked all the doctors by still living. He wanted to see the daffodils that he'd planted in the garden, and he did. Then he died. It was March 23rd 2013.