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GRIEF IS A TRICKSTER
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Since my brother died five weeks ago, I have learned something about grief.
Grief is a trickster. It keeps changing its moves. Grief hulks, it preys, it retreats. It pounces and tears into you with its teeth and claws. Then it nods off and makes you believe it's going to be docile and undemanding from now on. Then, just as you start to believe it, it attacks again.
Sometimes Grief tells you that you made a hundred mistakes in your relationship with the person you loved who has died. Sometimes it tries to persuade you that you don't even have a right to grieve. It whispers that you're going to die from this experience... and Grief knows that to be so, because Grief itself is what will kill you. One morning you wake up angry--at the person who died, because he died, and at everyone else in the world because they have the gall to remain alive. By afternoon, you are touched to the bone by the kindness of people, from friends to strangers to the officials of death whom you hope you'll never see again.
Grief drives you crazy because, no matter how many sages and holy people there have been since the dawn of human intelligence, not a single one of them can tell you for sure what has happened to the one you grieve.
Grief presents itself to us in all these guises because it knows that any one of them alone could break us. By shifting its approach, Grief is actually kind to us because it allows us to survive and ultimately to heal.
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RE-INVIGORATING A LANGUAGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week my husband and I had the honor to visit the Faithkeepers School, a grassroots, non-profit school that teaches the traditional Seneca language, ceremonies, and culture of the Longhouse tradition. The school, located on the ancestral lands of the Seneca in western New York, was founded by Lehman "Dar" and Sandy Dowdy to, according to the school's mission statement, "re-establish our identity as traditional Allegany Senecas by preserving our language, culture, and customs as specified in our spiritual guide--the Gaiwi:yo:h. Gaiwi:yo:h is a spiritual guide based on principles for healthy living that incorporates strength, love, compassion, and the ability to think with a 'good mind.'"
Currently only about thirty Seneca people speak their native language fluently, and all of them are in their sixties, seventies, and eighties. Knowing that without its language and traditions a culture loses its roots, the founders and teachers have made it their life mission to pass these teachings on to the younger generations.
Imagine how difficult it would be to learn a language when only a few people speak it. Imagine, further, how tough it would be if you're a young person for whom communication and the exchange of ideas primarily takes place via computer, texting, smart phone, and television. I asked one of the students, Blaine Tallchief (standing in the middle in the photo), if his perception of the world has changed since he began learning Seneca. He said his understanding of relationships has shifted, that the language has taught him more about connections than he had previously imagined.
In Books & Islands in Ojibwe Country, Louise Erdrich discusses the subtleties of her own native language, Ojibwe: "Mookegidaazo describes the way a baby looks when outrage is building and coming to the surface where it will result in a thunderous squall. There is a verb for the way a raven opens and shuts its claws in the cold and a verb for what would happen if a man fell off a motorcycle with a pipe in his mouth and drove the stem of it through the back of his head. There can be a verb for anything." Of course every language is different, but I have no doubt that the Seneca language also has such precision and poetry for talking about the world.
The goal of reviving a language and with it a grounded, deep, comprehensive grasp of the culture that formed and was formed by it is an extraordinary vision, attracting exceptionally motivated youth as students. The Faithkeepers School is in great need of financial help, and all contributions are tax-deductible.
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GLOBAL EARTH EXCHANGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
The second annual Radical Joy for Hard Times Global Earth Exchange is on Saturday, June 18, less than two weeks away! So far we have about fifty events happening all over the world, including a nuclear power plant in Japan; on a plain of endangered trees in Bolivia; at a hospital in Tel Aviv where patients await bone marrow transplants; and for a variety of waters: the Chicago, Susquehanna, Allegheny, Willamette, and San Antonio Rivers; the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans; creeks and ponds and wetlands; at Superfund sites and underneath highways and autobahns; on behalf of endangered dolphins, pelicans, ancient elm trees, and wild medicinal plants.
For this international day of affirmation that all places in the world are valued parts of the cycle of life, individuals, friends, and groups are going to wounded places to face what is often ignored. They will affirm that, although the place has been damaged, it is still a deep part of who they are. They'll sit and walk quietly at the place and find beauty in surprising ways. And they will give back an act of beauty in the form of the RadJoy bird made out of found materials and any other expression of beauty they are called to create.
There's still time to join! Contact us by June 12 about where you plan to go and why that place is important to you, and we'll send you a T-shirt and support materials and put a "pin" for you on our world map. Or just go to a place on June 18, and find and make your beauty then. Whatever you do, send us a photo of your event, and we'll include it in the slide show we'll be posting on our website starting June 18.
To read some of the stories and see photos of the 2010 Global Earth Exchange, click here.
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MOONWALKING FOR DISCIPLINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
In 2007, the head of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, a maximum security prison in Cebu, Philippines, got a new idea for how to maintain discipline among the prisoners while providing them with exercise: teach them dance numbers.
Click here to see all 1,500 male prisoners in their orange uniforms (except for one in drag) dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
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TWO GREAT OFFERINGS FROM FRIENDS
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Two friends and colleagues of mine are offering enticing programs in the coming weeks--both inner and outer journeys, one in Tennessee and one in Nepal. Read on, check out the links, and join if you can!
Earth Beauty Qigong
Healing Tao Retreats, near Ashville, NC
June 18-23
with Kazzrie Jaxen
In this four-part qigong form we'll retrace our primal journey and reawaken to our birthright: a mutually creative relationship with the Earth and the Universe around us.
1) Conception: The Enneagram Crystal: nine aspects of the soul are breathed into being.
2) Gestation: The Infinity Clock: the embryo growing; the heartbeat connecting Creation and Creativity; the flowering of the heart.
3) Birth: The Tree of Life: the newborn is present, grounded in a body, holding heaven and earth.
4) Earth: The Water/Rainbow Womb: aligning humanity's three dantiens with the three dantiens of the earth, the human body symbolically merges with the earth's body, awakening a new relationship between Heaven, Earth, and Humanity to birth a New Earth.
The Heroine's Journey Nepal Trek
November 1-15
with Kinde Nebeker and Marilyn Hager Adleman
The Heroine's Journey Trek to Nepal will take us on that internal adventure through a curriculum based on the teachings of the Feminine Power Global Community. The ancient archetypal Rites of Passage form--separation, threshold and reincorporation--will be used as a natural container for these teachings. Combined with a breathtaking trek through the pristine and inspiring landscape of Solu Khumbu, Nepal, and the opportunity to interact with the people and culture of the area, this powerful and complete experience will offer a unique and adventurous opportunity for transformation at the deepest levels. &2,700
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WRITING AND WORKSHOP NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My book, The World Is a Waiting Lover, with a foreword by Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, is available from Amazon.com or from your favorite bookstore.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS from VISION ARROW
 Youth Vision Fast
(recommended for ages 16-22)
July 14-24
In the high desert of eastern California
Sponsored by the School of Lost Borders Just four places are left! To recognize and mark the moment when one turns toward adulthood takes great courage, especially in a culture that has all but forgotten the importance of honoring this transition. With the intention of finding and facing your deepest truths, your strengths and weaknesses, you then turn toward the critical questions: "Who am I to be in the world?" and "What are my gifts?" This opportunity is both a great challenge and a simple task, providing the possibility of returning home with a timeless memory in your bones and a profound connection to the Earth, ready to embark on the life-long quest of finding and making your place in the world.
Guides: Will Scott and Trebbe Johnson
Tuition: $700-$1,100 (sliding scale)
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 Lead Like a River
July 30-August 6
Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Being clear on who you are and what you stand for, defining your vision and inspiring others to act are all key competencies of your leadership. Mastering this is a lifelong journey, and this program in the Atlas mountains provides the ideal opportunity to reflect on your path, gain strength through connecting with nature, and listen to what is important and meaningful to you.
You will stay at the beautiful Kasbah du Toubkal, just one hour from the Marrakech airport. This hidden Shangri-la is pearched on rocks with stunning views of remote valleys and the summit of Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa. We will spend five nights in the Kasbah and one night in a mountain lodge that we will trek to. You will have a 24-hour solo in a wilderness place of your choosing, where you will reflect on both the landscape around you and the landscape within as you mark your passage to a new height of personal leadership.
Program is limited to ten participants.
Guides: Eugene Hughes and Trebbe Johnson
Cost: €3,300 / $4,250 (includes all meals and lodging and transportation to Kasbah du Toubkal Lodge; does not include airfare)
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 Endless Mountains Vision Quest
August 14-18
Northeastern Pennsylvania
2011 marks the 15th consecutive year for this four-day program, held in a secluded 400-acre nature preserve. The quest is specially designed for those who seek a meaningful rite of passage in a beautiful, yet accessible place. You explore many of the same processes and practices as in the longer vision quest, but with a focus on reading Nature's lessons and discovering how they apply to your own path in life. For the twenty-four-hour solo you may choose from among diverse ecological niches: glacial pond, meadow, wetlands, stream, or forest. Minimal backpacking.
Guides: Trebbe Johnson
Cost: $595, plus approximately $75-125 for one night's lodging in a local bed & breakfast
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 Path of the Lover workshop
August 26-28
Vashon Island, WA (a short ferry ride from Seattle)
The Path of the Lover is an approach to joyful transformation and soulful action that emboldens you, allures you, and points you in the direction that's already calling from deep within you.
In this workshop we use imagery, life map-making, dialogue with partners and your own inner voices, storytelling, nature walks, and other practices to:
- Discover how fascination and desire have been your allies all your life
- Recognize the persistent, persuasive voice of the inner lover in you that calls you forth into the beckoning mystery and how to mediate between it and the protective, often self-defeating voice that holds you back
- Take the first steps toward living as the lover of yourself in small ways and large
- Fall in love with your self and your own unique path in life!
Contact Drew Middlebrooks
Cost: $250 for the workshop and snacks
$350 for workshop, plus breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday
For an additional $50 per night you have the option of staying in the cabin on the island, where we'll be meeting, instead of commuting.
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 Sahara Desert Vision Quest and Camel Caravan
December 31, 2010-January 21, 2011
Southern Algeria
Following the steps of intrepid seekers throughout the ages who have been drawn to the desert to fast and pray for guidance, we venture into the greatest desert of all: the Sahara. Our guides are a group of nomadic Tuareg, a matriarchal people known for their love of the desert, poetry, camels, and beauty.
Our base camp is truly remote, reached after 1-2 days travel by Land Rover, followed by 4-5 days in a camel caravan. Your three-day solo will take place in a place of your choosing, in a desert valley or in a black basalt wilderness. To undertake this quest, you must have an adventurous spirit and be prepared to sleep under the stars, immerse yourself in the ways of another culture, experience hot days and cold nights, live three weeks without a shower, and move fearlessly into a life of meaning and fulfillment.
Guides : Sabina Wyss, Trebbe Johnson, Adem Mellakh, and Tuareg hosts
Cost : 5,555 Swiss Francs, (approximately $6,300.00), including all meals, camping fees, riding camel, land transportation in the desert, and air travel from a European city to Tamanrasset, Algeria
Call 570 727 4272 or email Trebbe if you have questions or would like to talk about any of these programs.
For a complete list of 2009 programs offered by Vision Arrow, see our website.
Call 570 727 4272 or email Trebbe if you have questions or would like to talk about any of these programs.
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