Getting Grounded: My Linkage to the Earth’s Nourishment
In our lives we walk on the earth, drive on it, fly over it. But the earth is a place of stability for our Souls, where we find healing and comfort. Earth is also a formidable force with many forces acting upon it. This week we embrace the wonder of the earth and how it provides a true north for humanity.
Stand with your hips and knees bent slightly. Stand on the right foot, tap the ball of the left foot as you move the left leg toward the right foot, then slide the left foot back to its original position and stand on it. Tap the ball of your right foot as you slide it closer toward the left foot. You should notice a natural swing to your arms. Focus your gaze downward to the floor. Your torso will also naturally swing a bit from side to side. Give yourself the freedom to walk forward and back and side to side. Stay on the balls of your feet and develop a pattern for yourself, as your Spirit guides you. You’ll find that this dance works well with drums or percussive instruments should you choose to use them. If not, you’ll find that you create your own rhythm. Try to move your feet as fast as you can once you get the hang of it. This will be called fast feet.
This week we focus on sacred dance Practices from the central region of Africa, including what we know today as Cameroon and Chad. The Sao civilization lived in this part of the continent, near the Chari River, from about the sixth century BCE to around the sixteenth century. Rhythm in movement and in sound made work lighter, whether that was internal self-reconstruction or concentration on perfection of the mundane tasks of daily life. People danced sacredly, meditated on the connection they had with the gods, revered the earth, and contemplated the Universe and their place in it.
What we do on earth anchors us. Internal anchors include beliefs, practices, ideas, or thought patterns, including how we talk to ourselves, how we regard people, and how we think about ourselves relative to the earth. Sometimes, internal anchors limit us because we don’t notice we’re even affected by them. External anchors are created by where we live, whom we interact with, and how we structure our routines. Routines can be very comforting, or they can become mechanical, without any thought or feeling.
While you know Mother Nature is beyond your control, depletion of the supply of the earth’s bounty isn’t. Be ever mindful and courageous enough to voice the truth to others that we should look upon the earth as a member of our family and a receptacle for all our manifestations.
Yesterday, you may have noticed your shoulders getting into the action while you moved your feet. So today, with the knees slightly bent and leaning forward a bit, with the feet planted squarely on the floor, toes spread out, contract your abdomen and roll your shoulders forward and then backward as you open your abdomen. The accent is on the shoulders moving backward. You want to think of this as a connected move. Do this shoulder dance slowly a few times and then fast as many times, then slowly again. Create a rhythm for yourself. Sway the body to the left and right, moving your head in the same direction as your body. Rest your palms on your thighs, and let them gently and naturally slide up and down your thighs with the moves. Lean forward, and rise back up to the slightly bent-forward stance as part of the pattern as well.
The concerns for health, wealth, and procreation were at the core of several African religions. As such, Africans developed institutions for healing, commerce, and the general well-being of humanity here on Earth and with the ancestors. Ancient African cultures, especially the Bantu people of Central Africa, viewed duality and polarity—male/female, right/wrong, good/bad, etc.—as essential in the cocreation and universal order. The Bantu people thought of life as resting on the premise of being and becoming. After the process of becoming had taken hold, it was then that one received a Life Force. That set people up to be able to change and engage in forward motion. In the origin myth, importantly, the Life Force was the organizer of chaos. The Life Force was considered to be the first aspect of creation.
Ancient Africans really reveled in the notion of opposites but lived in a sense of the need to be able to synthesize contradictions as well as to be peaceful and cooperative. They didn’t like strife or strain. They also saw men and women as equals and weren’t judgmental of good or evil. Rather, their beliefs were based on the idea of the utility of complementary natures: both sides of a duality were needed and important to maintain a world of calm and remain outside of chaos.
Within many cultures, feminine and masculine principles are considered equal and aren’t gender-based because both are needed. In the same vein, the cultures avoid making hard distinctions between the two aspects of a duality or labeling one good or the other bad. Each exists because of its opposite interacting with it in harmony. Inside everything is a balance between masculine and feminine in different degrees.
What are three “feminine” and three “masculine” situations in your life today? Write them down in your journal, and try not to judge them as good or bad.
Today we add pelvic motions to yesterday’s dance. Lean forward slightly, with the knees bent, and place your weight on the balls of your feet with your toes spread out. Contract your abdomen and roll your pelvic area forward, then backward as you open your abdomen. Add fast feet from February 1 and yesterday’s shoulder dance. After you have gotten the hang of this, walk forward and back a few times. Keep your knees slightly bent, and exaggerate your forward bend from the hips. Now, lean your torso to the left, and take a few fast-feet moves to the left. You’ll almost be walking in place, along with keeping the pelvic tilt. Take it to the right again while walking in place. Keep this rhythm going until you can feel the isolation and the syncopation in your body.
Manifesting the upwardly spiraling Spiritual Awakening is the goal, and being grounded is a requirement. When we have spiraled upward even the tiniest bit, we often find ourselves isolated because there are fewer of us as we dance the path toward the Ultimate Reality. We must leave people behind in many instances, though they are still here with us physically in some cases. We may feel isolated as well when changing old beliefs and still honoring those who have taught and cared for us. Our work is not for the faint of heart, nor for those who fear isolation as a result of knowing and growing. Isolation brings authenticity in the transition from one vibration to another.
At the same time, syncopation, or disruption, purposely enhances a flow or draws in a meaning. In our work, we use it to ground us in the idea that we can purposefully attract higher experiences by utilizing the unusual, by harnessing multiple aspects of Practices to move us forward and upward on the Spiritual Path. Isolation can be chosen and not imposed, and syncopation can feed beauty into it. We can take this ancient learning from the Sao peoples, who knew the power of combining syncopation and isolation for manifestation, and bring it to our Practice here and now. Both are required as the Life Force guides your Inner Mystic Dancer.
Have you been isolated or isolating? Sometimes this shows up as shunning a group because you no longer subscribe to its beliefs or choosing to avoid going out or talking to people. Isolation could also happen when your life is so overbooked with activities that you don’t take time to be with yourself—that is, you don’t have to be alone to feel isolated. What kinds of syncopative events can you identify that have pushed you either into or out of isolation? Such events are when you were forced to take an action or ask for guidance or help. Write about isolation and syncopation, and put down an example or two, from recent or older past, in each category.
Refresh yourself on the dances done the past few days. Imagine you hear someone drumming near you; add a quick jump to face that drummer, and continue with the dances you’ve learned. Imagine you hear another drummer nearby, and jump toward him or her. Add your shoulder and pelvic isolations at the landing of each jump. Keep jumping to face these drummers, taking small jumps to the right, casting your arms out in front of you as if gathering a sweet aroma, until you return to the original position. Make sure to land on the balls of your feet after each jump.
Call from the Spirit and response to it, very important aspects of Sacred Dance Meditation, come to us from the Central African peoples. The relationship between living on the ground and connecting to the Supreme through ancestors has influenced cultures all over the globe. Through dance and music, which were considered inseparable among ancient Africans, the call from Spirit (music) and a response to it by people (dance) show that Being is always connected. Community, family, extended family, tribes, and so on were integral to call and response within Sacred Dance Meditation in ancient Africa. Unification through the response to the call from Spirit produced an intimacy only achievable through Sacred Dance Meditation to heighten the spiritual experience.
Remember that we are being called by the Divine and are responding in our various ways as we muddle through the physicality of the earthly existence and tap into the isolation and syncopation needed to engage with the upward spiral. Part of this call and response, though, coupled with isolation and syncopation, necessarily requires living in communities.
What calls from Spirit have you heard lately?
Begin by practicing yesterday’s dance. After you jump in response to the drum, walk toward it, and imagine the drummer is playing for you alone. You add pelvic and shoulder abdominal isolation. At the end of each jump, walk out to a curved arch on the floor to the left, and walk back. Then walk out to a curved arch on the floor to the right. Turn a bit to the left and then walk it back again. You’re making a pattern on the floor that looks like spirals from a central point.
Western culture sometimes brings with it the concept of original sin or the belief that a human is otherwise born with less-than-desirable tendencies. These perceptions are not found among the ancient African beliefs of the Sao people; rather, they believed in original goodness and that, although evil exists, it can be brought against oneself by the way one treats others. Humans, in community and individually, have a choice in how their lives are conducted. In Western culture is an emphasis on the individual and a seeming neglect of community. Ancient African cultures focused more on the community.
We are all connected in some form in community. If we consider that the Soul is pure and we understand that humans are endowed with free will, then we should embrace our original goodness. We can therefore come to believe in and definitively know our inner value. With isolation and syncopation and with the ability to hear Spirit’s call and respond to it, we gradually replace deeply rooted old and outdated beliefs and awaken to manifest our deeply desired life.
As you dance today, think the following: The ebb and flow of my spiral carries me forward more than it takes me backward. I need to realize that I am pure and originally good, and so are all people. Some may act in ways that seem to deny this truth, and so might I from time to time, or I’ve been that way in the past. For sure, none of us is perfect, though we must try our best. When my Spirit receives more information, I adjust into new awareness.
Choose one or two people you’d like to engage with on the spiritual plane today. As you practice today’s dance meditation, incorporating what you’ve learned this week, carry the thought of them with you to the edge of the spiral and offer them up as they are. As you return, envision them transformed as pure. You will want to repeat the sacred dance of the spiral and create a small circle on the floor.
Many ancient Central Africans marked, adorned, scarred, tattooed, or masked the body during rites of passage, celebrations, funerary services, worship—really, in all aspects of community life—to point out connections to the Cosmos and spirits. These masks, marks, and adornments connected the individuals and communities in their physical journey. During communal Sacred Dance Meditations, the spiritual was embodied through masks, along with other special and purposeful clothing, with the human element concealed. These adornments helped bring the reality of the Supreme Being and Deities to the earth and community and allowed participants to embrace the reality that earthly life is ordered and accompanied by Higher Intellectuals and Beings.
Increasingly in our day-to-day lives we must actively seek community connections. In community, we wear figurative masks all the time to hide who we are or to keep our beliefs hidden. We mask our personalities, and spirits hide us and guard us while simultaneously serving us. What about what we wear and how we view clothing and accessories—or tattoos and piercings—of others? The key is to not judge.
Take on a figurative mask or point of view, adorn yourself with fabrics and jewels, use body markings and piercings if you choose to, and so on. That will put your Inner Mystic Dancer into a sustained higher state, ready to help make our community a better place and keep yourself consciously connected to the Supreme Being. What are your reactions to the idea that tattoos and piercings show the world a commitment to attain a higher realization?
Today would be a great day to invite others from your community to this Sacred Mystical Dance if schedules and space permit, either physically or live on social media. Regardless, please bring the spiritual community you’re involved with into your immediate consciousness and invite them to the sacred circle. Perform the sacred dance from this week until you reach a trancelike state, which you will know you’re in from moments of feeling release and escape. After you have attained this state, write a few reflections in your journal.
Getting grounded means being in community and understanding that the earth is in relationship with people and the Divine. Both sustain us. It’s especially important to show love and respect for the earth, to recognize it has an invisible Life Force. Consider that the earth is a sphere, a set of circles in a fractal pattern of its own, embedded in the larger fractal circular pattern of the Universe. It’s the manifestation of thought and the receipt of the feminine principle.
You might have certain opinions and feelings about the state of the earth, its origins, and our relationship to it. Or you may consider yourself and community in isolation, not impacting anyone else. And, if you think humans are tainted from birth, there’s no way to fully change the Soul. So, review what you think about tattoos, or yin and yang, and calls from Spirit and your response. Think about what you can bring to make life a little lighter.
Spiritual Storms: Remaining Steady
We live in a Universe constantly changing, never stagnating. Storms are a manifestation of change, cues to new opportunities on the horizon, and a part of perfection. The human tendency is to ask why things happen. We sometimes never will know why, but some things happen because it’s what happened.
This week’s dance will call back to last week’s. With the knees slightly bent and leaning forward a bit, with the feet planted squarely on the floor and toes spread out so you can feel each one, contract your abdomen and roll your shoulders forward and then backward as you open your abdomen. The accent is on the shoulders moving forward. Do this slowly a few times, then fast for as many times, then slowly again. Create a rhythm for yourself, such as three fast, then one slow, and three fast. After this, return to the Sacred Dance Posture.
Ethiopia and Somalia are the Horn of Africa countries where human beings began around 100,000 BCE. The ancient Egyptians called the area, in English translation, G-d’s Land, or the Land of Punt, at about 2500 BCE. It was rich and beautiful, having a plethora of earthly products such as gold, spices, herbs, and fragrant agriculture. It supplied the world, sitting across the Red Sea from Arabia. The region was led by queens, including the Queen of Sheba, who were open to various beliefs in multiplicities of deities.
The Oromo tribe of ancient Somali believed that after death individuals existed in Spirit form, and the tribe didn’t believe in suffering after death. If one fell short in life, he or she had consequences while still alive. The Oromo visited the Galma mountain, where they’d perform a ritual dance called dalaga to achieve a trance state, which often culminated in possession by a higher Spirit. The eskista dance, or the Dance of the Shoulders, was performed by the ancient Ethiopians.
Since the beginning of time, people have been questioning the meaning of life. Why do things happen the way they do? Why am I here? Who is G-d? What happens to us when we die? The answers are unsatisfying because really, we only have theories. Sometimes we become apathetic, which can be worse because life then becomes something to be endured rather than enjoyed. What questions do you seek answers for? What have you stopped asking about?
If you have neck problems, you’ll want to adjust the intensity of the moves in today’s dance. First, roll your head to the left a few times, then in an opposite circle to the right. Then roll your head forward and backward. Stand with your feet firmly planted on the ground, knees slightly bent. Create a rhythmic pattern for this move as you did yesterday, like a set of four to the left and a set of four to the right, and make sure you pause in between sets. Be aware that the moves will make you dizzy! Keep your eyes open, as that tends to help until you get the exercise into your muscle memory.
The ancient Ethiopian people considered the internal essence of the person as eternal. At the same time, they believed that all who pass from life to death dwell with the living. In their belief system, no one suffered in any way after they left the human body, and their religious and spiritual Practices supported the notion of original goodness. This set of beliefs supported the notion that the Divine was within people. Sacred dance played a key role in all these beliefs, transitions, and rites of passage.
In the West, little attention is given to dealing with death until it hits. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler wrote extensively on the theory of the five stages of grief we go through when dealing with death. These stages have often been applied to other situations—divorce, changing jobs, moving our residences, getting married—anything life changing that causes grief. Grief is the result of loss, even if the loss results in a positive change. Without dealing with grief or death, we lock into patterns of behavior that blunt feeling and prevent us from being in community and growing toward our Divine Nature.
What do you believe will happen to you when you reach the end of your life? Do you believe the answer drives all of spirituality? Make some notes.
Stand with the feet shoulder-width apart with your weight forward on the front of your feet. Do a few toe-taps on each side, letting the arms swing naturally about eight times on each side. Next, make short jumps, landing with knees bent. Set a rhythm so that your jumps are interspersed with the toe-taps. Then take a small jump to the right with your body angled out to the right, and next take a small jump to the left with your body angled out to the left. Make sure to look where you’re going! Return to the Sacred Dance Posture when you’re done.
Living on earth brings many events beyond human control; as we know, the earth has its own Life Force. To deal with that, ancient Ethiopians learned to appeal to the gods, deities, ancestors, and each other to continue life with lack of rain, crop infestations, disease, and all manner of disappointments. Furthermore, the ancient Ethiopians had technological innovations to abate some of the disasters, as they spiraled upward through their connection with Spirit. Disappointment was nevertheless part of the process.
When the earth produces an earthquake, volcanic eruption, tsunami, tornado, hurricane, famine, or other disaster, we don’t expect it. When our loved ones leave the earth before we’re ready, we’re taken aback because we did not get to spend more time with them. Disease, political disruption, and unforeseen life events can be debilitating and problematic. Many situations leave us disappointed.
What disappointments do you clearly recall or are happening to you right now? What were your expectations? What do you expect from yourself? Do you believe that having no expectations can alleviate disappointment and provide stability?
Today, combine the pieces of the sacred dance from the last few days. Let’s roll the shoulders, roll the head, and do the small jumps. Stand with your feet firmly planted at shoulder width. Do a pattern of three quick shoulder rolls, then one slowly. Now roll the head three times to the right, with a pause, then three to the left, with a pause. Jump three times to the right and angle to the right; next, roll the head twice to the right, and pause. Jump three times to the left and angle to the left; roll the head twice to the left, and pause. Do the same pattern a couple times. Jump to the center of your starting place, and roll the shoulders with a patterned rhythm. Return to the Sacred Dance Posture when you’re done.
Peoples of the Horn of Africa enjoyed knowing the Divine and the certainty of the spiritual realms; they were prosperous, wise in matters of life and death, and connected to the world at large. Still, people feared being tricked. They were warned about wandering too far from the path and the tribe. That voice of caution helped steer the course and ensure prosperity for the community, which in turn ensured it for the individual.
We fool ourselves into believing certain things are false, and we refuse to believe other things are true. Self-deception—when we live in denial or lie to ourselves—comes out our thoughts and beliefs, behaviors, emotional reactions, relationships, and how we treat the earth. If we are driven by something outside of our awareness or consciousness, it can be problematic. Sometimes we deny aspects or events of the world that threaten our self-image. When we grieve, self-deception can fall away so that we can see the true Self. But often if we sense that our character was built on falsehood, sometimes we add more self-deception; otherwise, admitting the truth is too painful. We go back to daily routines, buy stuff, and conform.
Can you accept that your life is supposed to be directed internally by Source but is instead often overridden by delusions? How can you honor internal guidance instead of conforming to delusions? How can inner guidance help you find stability?
Kneel, if you are able, on top of kneepads or a cloth, so you can protect your knees and slide them across the floor. If you are unable to kneel, repeat the dance from last week. With the knees at shoulder width, move them toward each other and then away from each other. Then move your body to the left. Roll the head slowly, being mindful of your limits and avoiding injury, and then roll the shoulders. Now move your body to the right, roll the head slowly, then roll the shoulders. Try to develop a pattern and rhythm, and move in a circle. Nod your head as you stand up and return to a toe-tap side to side.
The ancient Ethiopians knew that their Spirits were not their bodies; the temporary life of a body carried the Spirit. They dealt with changes in life by using Sacred Dance Meditation to soothe, celebrate, and expand their horizons. They mastered the art of looking within for answers, looking to Spirit when they longed for connection.
So, let us look within. It’s important for us to acknowledge our longing for love, assurance, comfort, relief, and knowing. A longing Soul either does not know its Higher Power, wants more connection to It, or feels the absence of Spirit. With a longing Soul, we seek to be satisfied with knowing we are on the path.
Sometimes, especially during grief, change, and instability, we turn to the external—work, family, romance, sex, money, food, drink, drugs, and everything else the world has to offer—to try to fill the longing. We long to know why things happen, why we’re here, and what we need to do to make our lives better. The worldly answers always seem to leave us unfulfilled, and so we’re back to longing again.
What are you longing for? What has been a lifelong longing for you? How are you satisfying it? Write these questions and your answers in your journal.
Review and repeat the elements of the dance meditations in the order presented this week until you feel a sense of stability from them.
Ancient Ethiopians aligned themselves with Good, looked within for Soul satisfaction, sought to avoid self-deception, and positioned their lives according to Earth and the planets. They carried out these practices in community, under the guidance of Spirit and the deities and ancestors, moving up through unseen worlds through dance meditation. To be sure, imperfection existed—people doubted what they knew—but they desired to see clearly. So they were able to draw into themselves and their community the power they needed to acknowledge and fulfill their Souls’ longings.
In our human form we dance meditatively, and we receive power from turning to our Inner Selves and realizing this is where creation occurs. We call on faith and love as we traverse our experiences, and we know that we are sane when we can be authentic and honest with ourselves and those around us, which provides for a community that deals with their limitations while receiving abundance and cocreated Good.
Today repeat the Sacred Dance Meditations given this week and add your own improvisational rhythms and pauses, head rolls, shoulder rolls, small jumps, and toe taps until you feel you’ve reached a trancelike state.
With Earth’s changing trade winds, currents, and seasons, the ancient Ethiopians turned to their Source for stability. In transitions from birth to death and loss to gain, doing so was part of the daily communing. Occasions for change were celebrated, welcomed, and required. Although the people experienced sadness and grief and were not always model human beings, their Practices nevertheless show us that humanity exists in relation to each other and to the Universe. This understanding restores sanity, recognition of love, and the awareness of the spiritually foundational nature of our lives.
In your journal write down some ways you may have been acting from a place of instability. How has your Inner Mystic Dancer, which connects to the Divine through time and space, helped you realize where to turn? Write down some thoughts in your journal.
Do you see the trees?
The earth’s trees feed us, and we feed them. Sometimes we can think of the earth as the base of a universal tree, where creations manifest, including the spiritual seeker.
Stand facing eastward with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. To begin the sacred dance for this week you will bob forward with your upper body, like a small contraction, ever so slight and hard to notice. Move the upper body forward in three small bobs or contractions forward, and then return to the preparation position. Repeat the three contractions forward, and return to center.
The Maasai warriors of Kenya engaged with the sacred adamu dance, and the Kikuyu people of Tanzania engaged with sacred kilumi and ngoma dances. They performed these meditative dances in lines and circles at healing and rainmaking ceremonies. These ancient Africans believed the role of humanity was to find a life of harmony on earth to receive and expand the supernatural experience. They recognized Spiritual Forces, acknowledging they were involved in daily events. For many believers, ancestral spirits were thought to influence the living. Beliefs in magick and a tree of life were also important.
The cosmological significance of a human body symbolized as a tree epitomizes an ideal of our relationship to the Universe. Other Practices consider the human body as a temple, where the indwelling Spirit leads and guides us. In this Practice, we are admonished to allow the Spirit’s will to be aligned with the human will. Victory manifests through the alignment of power with the Spirit’s will to overcome all barriers and limitations.
What do you know of your will in relation to the Creator’s will for you? Are they the same? What obstacles are in your way?
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and the knees slightly bent. Today you will slightly bend the knees as if you’re going to sit down in a chair but stop short. The slight bend is quick, as if you suddenly realize you can’t sit down right now. Do three of these slight knee bends in a quick rhythm, and then return to the center. Repeat several times.
Much of the celebration in sacred dance in ancient Kenya resulted from taking inventory. The people appealed to their Higher Powers and looked within to explain what was happening. Did the community have enough food and clothing, housing, and other material goods, and would there be enough to set aside a reserve for when the seasons changed? These questions underlay many activities. Each person likely took stock of what they were doing and how they were being in relation to each other. Were their human traits and tendencies overriding the good of all? Were the principles of the Divine more important to them than self?
Apology was a very real part of the inventory process, whereby faults, internal and external, were noted. Change and recognition were celebrated and sought, to bring out the light and make assets outweigh liabilities.
The principles of willingness and humility underlay the very essence of who we are. We couple that with the practices of honesty, fearlessness, and love. They aid in assessing what’s happening inside us in relation to the Supreme Force in the Universe. This is difficult in today’s world, where self-promotion, accumulation of wealth, and the comparison of what’s inside us with the outside images of others are all normal.
Take an inventory of yourself: What are your assets and liabilities when it comes to your interactions with yourself and with others? Are you a clear channel for the light to flow through you?
Stand with your feet shoulder-length apart and knees slightly bent. Jut the chin forward and back so the head moves very slightly. The shoulders will move forward and up a bit. Do this motion three times in quick succession, then return to your center.
Ancient Kenyans practiced the art of reconciliation and sacrifice, aiming to ensure their assets outweighed their liabilities. People admitted their liabilities in a ritual ceremony and gave gifts to demonstrate the degree of sincerity. Through admission and giving, the individual expected to find relief—from deities, ancestors, and Divine Spirit—which would then transmit throughout the community.
We find great relief and can stand more fully in the Light when we admit our shortcomings and failures. We all have challenges, no matter where we are on our evolutionary path. Some are spiritually smug, and some still consume too much, so the need to reveal is always there.
What limiting behaviors and thinking do you need to share to find relief? Can you find a trustworthy healer to confide in? Will you seek to free yourself to enjoy the principles of open-mindedness, acceptance, prudence, and serenity in your life and community? Take a few notes, and make a list of people you may turn to, including healers and community members, and get all of yourself out in the open.
Let’s put it together today. Rhythmically bob the upper body forward, and then return to the standing position. Bob the knees as you do so, and jut your chin and move the shoulders forward. Deepen the movements so you bend from the waist and your upper body is moving forward toward the earth. Bend forward once, return to standing, then do three juts with the chin and shoulders.
In ancient Africa, individuals sought cosmic, mystical, and spiritual control over life through incantations to draw from the power of G-d and other deities. Like any attribute, the desire for control can lead to negative outcomes. Being aware of the misuse of power was important, so it was necessary to give one’s will to the entities behind mystical and sacred powers. People believed that error came from their actions and that things could be corrected through reconciliation, restoration, and peace-making. Offerings and gifts were given to restore spiritual and cosmic harmony. They sometimes also served as an outward expression of one’s willingness to change and grow. Application of will is a faculty of the Soul, which can be used to move forward an idea or desire, beneficial or not.
You are responsible for applying your will appropriately. And if you have a difficult time doing so, then it’s important to ask for willingness to do so. How willing are you to use your will to control your way of being in the world? To allow the Spirit to lead you and your decisions and attitudes? If fear of losing yourself is in the way, are you willing to ask for willingness to apply your assets to reverse your liabilities? Make a list of what you’d like to change—about your life, your dance, your destiny—but need to be willing first. How can you apply the correct use of your will to do so? Do you believe that what you do and think have affected you and the world? What about the Cosmos? Make some notes in your journal.
Repeat the dance as you performed it yesterday until you can do it without thinking too much. Then add a jump after you return to the standing position. The jump can be high if you’d like, or you can keep it low. Jump three times, then return to the beginning of the sacred dance. Repeat as you’d like.
Ancient southeastern African spiritual Practices drew on the love and kindness of G-d, deities, and ancestors, assuming no separation between human beings and the Higher Power, to shape the individual and the community. Whereas human will had the acknowledged capacity for destruction, the community also recognized it could be used for the positively creative. To commune with the Divine, people understood the importance of allowing for new thoughts and ways of seeing. The African Practices were transmitted by oral stories and parables, which were an essential part of internalizing, hearing, and acting from the Spirit.
Being ready to have our shortcomings—fears, anxieties, and lack of faith—removed helps us to use our body temple in the appropriate manner. Through self-compassion and knowledge of the Light, we use kindness to access strength to change, to honor the internal Spirit that inhabits our body temple.
Identify the deities, ancestors, or chants and mantras that will help you focus, and incorporate them into this sacred dance. You will use them tomorrow, so it’s a good idea to jot the names and mantras down today.
Refer to the list of names or chants and mantras you wrote yesterday. Begin practicing the dance moves you’ve learned up to this point, performing each in a pattern of threes, returning to the center between each move. Add a chant, an ancestor’s or deity’s name, names for the Lord of the Universe, or mantras as you dance through the phrase. Call out on exhaling and with the rhythm of the dance.
It wasn’t enough to become willing to commit to change; one had to acknowledge the people who were harmed. In ancient African sacred dance, with the entire tribe present—the living and the ancestors, all the deities, and so on—people acknowledged that actions harmed or soothed like a ripple in a pond by a thrown stone. Everyone and everything were viewed as connected and inhabited by the Life Force. The Soul of the individual needed to be strong and healthy. Foods, ceremonies, healing, and every aspect of life were geared toward recognizing the sacred body temple housing the pure Soul. This aided the community and the earth to maintain harmonious balance. Using chants and mantras was common, and with it, people were able to identify and acknowledge those who received the shortsighted impact of the use of one’s will. Favorable ancient traits included forgiveness, calmness, brother- or sisterhood, thoroughness, responsibility, tolerance, and objectivity.
We sometimes rub our fellow travelers the wrong way. Write down names of a few people you’ve hurt. Knowing what you know now about your Soul, would you be willing to make amends to these folks? Why or why not? Now, write down the names of some people you’ve helped, along with how and why. Reflect on what you find.
Put it all together today, including the chanting, and get into a trance.
Ancient Africans knew the value of apology to make change and to go in sacred directions. As was shown through “Meditation and Practice” earlier this week, gathering community to join the sacred dance, engaging with the Life Force, and being received within the body temple were expected activities. The goal was to focus on the inner truth and how that connected with the Supreme Being and to disconnect from old ways of being that no longer served the Highest Good of all. An apology requires directly acknowledging the event that caused harm, making restitution, and committing to sustained change without any expectation of praise or gain.
Spiritual power is released during this apologetic process. In other words, patterns and underlying themes in our lives are revealed when we engage this process. It focuses only on you and airs what you have done. So often we want to justify what we’ve done or blame the person we’re apologizing to. The apology is for you, for your healing and growth. After you admit the action you took or the behavior that caused the problem, admit that you caused suffering. Next, say what you are doing to implement sustained changes of your attitudes and behaviors. And you should not expect to be forgiven. Change—revision of points of view, beliefs, ways of being, etc.—necessarily involves people, communities, organizations, and the self. Said differently, the apologetic process and the process of change require us to choose a new way of relating, a new self-opinion, and a new approach to being who we are. It’s not easy because such a change will unmask our authentic selves—it’s risky to show others ourselves as spiritual being. With apology, we must decide what to do differently, how to become, or what to evolve our lives into. We align our will with that of the Divine.
Do people, cultures, institutions, or aspects of your life warrant an apology? Have you acted, spoken, or thought in ways that aren’t reflective of your authentic being? Do you need to apologize to yourself? Please reflect and write.
The earth is a metaphor for wholeness; bearing fruit comes from practice.
Gratitude begets gratitude. With gratitude on the tongue, in the mind, and in the heart, more is manifest for the spiritual seeker. It’s the mantra of all mantras, and any practice requires diligence.
Fast footwork governs this week’s sacred dance. With the knees slightly bent and your weight on the balls of your feet, tap the left ball of the foot ten times, and then do a tiny jump to shift your weight to the left foot so you can tap the right ball of the foot ten times. Repeat on each side a few times, and begin to reduce the taps by even numbers—eight, six, four, two—on each side. Then tap and hop imperceptibly from one foot to another. Vary your rhythm of the hops and taps so that you have three on the right, then one on the left; then switch so that you have four on the left and then two on the right. If you have them, wear percussive instruments on your ankles, wrists, and waist. Let your arms and torso move naturally.
Ancient Yoruba culture, located in what is today Nigeria, flourished from around 500 BCE to 200 CE. Yoruba philosophy stems from the sacred powers of wise aged women. Women are associated not only with wisdom but also with the keen ability to lead fair and equitable trading and selling of goods and services, governed by the higher awareness of the good of all. The sacred dance masquerades are an important feature of Yoruba spirituality. Like other sacred dances in Africa, the gelede dance draws on ancestors as a collective and vital force. In addition, gelede taps into the sacred powers of mothers to bring up social and spiritual matters, helping to shape society in constructive ways.
Yoruba religious Practice encompasses several practical methods of growth and spiritual attainment for each person. It’s necessary for multiple perspectives to come together in our daily Practice. One perspective is that we are what we eat. We could extend that to include we are what we read, listen to, think about, watch, buy, sell; we are where we live and who we surround ourselves with. In other words, we have choices and must align them with our will.
Turning off awareness and letting other people or institutions dictate what we will do or think is easy. It’s entirely different when we see the world from above so that we can manifest it here below. Our ancestors and elder’s ancestors know this. Being present every day affords us many benefits, like the opportunity for small course corrections, letting go of expected outcomes, making apologies, and refraining from judgments. It is important during this process to be aware of self-deception and be willing to live in Truth and Light.
Today, consider at each moment what you align to your will. What is difficult about being aware through this process? How do you react to the idea of being utterly present and constantly awakened? What impact does this have on your community and its reach? How can you harness this feminine energy? Make some notes in your journal.
Revisit yesterday’s tap-and-hop sequence. Once you’re moving in a rhythm, lean your torso forward while you tap the balls of the feet. Keep your hips loose and your knees slightly bent. When you shift your weight from one foot to the other, come upright, and clap your hands or thighs. Bring your feet as close to each other as you can during the tapping.
Yoruba tradition emphasizes a progressive ascent toward the Divine, or Divine’s desire to make life on earth, with Oduduwa being a location of ultimate compassion. Oduduwa, the power of the womb that brings form into existence, represents omnipotence, and affects and reconstructs the physical reality at will, is the principle that created the physical reality.
Gaining initiation and stability with Oduduwa is an intentionally directed spiritual aspiration for human beings, requiring daily diligence. We can arrive at this awakening and manifestation of the Spirit by daily seeking the will of the Divine as it relates for the good of all. Each day we awaken knowing we want to remain in conscious contact with the Higher Power. And by doing so we can easily see manifestations of the Spirit in our community, providing a salve to the earth’s planetary wounds. The manifestations of the Spirit take daily practice, and, when effective, act alike a magnet to bring Souls to you. It’s therefore important to attract by your behavior, rather than preach from your speech.
Yoruba religious Practice, while intricate, encompasses several practical methods of growth and spiritual attainment. It uses will and knowledge from the point of view of “above,” internally, and from “below,” externally, with the goal of making individual and collective life aligned with Spirit. It’s necessary for multiple perspectives to come together in our daily Practice.
Yesterday you added clapping to the tap-and-hop sequence. Today let’s add arm movement after your clapping. Here you will simply extend your arms up and out away from your body when you return to the standing position.
In the Yoruba Tradition, ashe is the Life Force emanating from Olorun, the Supreme Unfathomable Being. Olorun, also called the Mystery of Source, is beyond human comprehension. Olorun created Olodumare to run the Universe. Olodumare, who is like the G-d of the Heavens, contained every potential form of Being that could be manifested. Ashe leads to manifestations of the Spirit. An interesting aspect of the Yoruba tradition is that it makes room for spiritual changes in Light. It avers that we each dance a spiral, explaining the Universe we can see, in order to be whole, creative, awake Spirit Beings. In our unique vessels we must make room for change, revision, apology, and new knowledge as we receive new information along the path. Yoruba tradition is adaptable and makes room for spiritual changes: for example, Obatala, the Spirit Entity that was originally tasked with molding creation, got drunk, and the task of creation was reassigned to Oduduwa. Being a whole human encompassed the entirety of existence, and the gelede dance reflected this.
Being a whole human means being awake to interactions between ourselves and others and to the fact that some answers are not revealed to us. We can still be whole humans, being where we are on the spiral path, without knowing the Source of the Source. Reflect on and jot down your beliefs and feelings about being whole. What will you say to someone who asks you about how to be whole while in the vessel of the body?
Begin by turning around in a circle in place. Practice turning to the left and right a few times, spinning on the ball of your foot, and try to get all the way around in one sweep, keeping your arms at your sides. At the conclusion of each turn, add the rhythmic sequence from yesterday’s dance, keeping your torso slightly bent forward, and see if you can lean a little forward on the turn as well. Keep your knees slightly bent. As you turn, look at a spot on the ground until you must turn your head to come full circle. This is called spotting. If you find a spot to focus on, or perform a longer sequence of ball-of-the-foot taps in between the turns, you won’t get as dizzy!
As above, so below, as the saying goes. A tree is a wonderful image for spiritual growth and practice because it keeps us grounded while we are in flight. The tree roots reach below the earth while the branches reach toward the heavens. We are Spirit, and our consciousness is in contact with our Higher Power while we dance here on the ground. Like all people since the beginning of time, we must attend to our spiritual and physical needs. We can show manifestations of the Spirit by carefully and mindfully aligning daily spiritual diligence with daily physical practices. That means eating healthy foods, drinking good water, spending adequate and safe time in the sunshine, conducting our life’s work in moderation, sleeping, recreating, resting, and dancing. Before drinking or eating anything, practice thanking the Universe for it. Thank your Inner Mystic Dancer for bringing every nutrient to its full use while it travels through your cells. Slow down, and enjoy what has been provided.
Gently and lovingly refuse all invitations from any source to consume harmful substances or to consume more than your reasonable share. Put together a moderate schedule so you can prioritize your body temple’s nurturing to maximize your manifestations of the Spirit. Write a plan in your journal. If you need to seek professionals—physical therapists, trainers, recovery-clinic practitioners, grief-clinic practitioners, acupuncturists, nutritionists, or what have you—in this process of change, please include that as well.
The body is the home, the dwelling, the temple of my Spirit, as Yoruba tradition points out. A healthy body allows us to be of maximum service to our communities and an example for others who are being drawn to an awakening.
Just as you did as a child, today take low jumps and land with your feet a little wider than shoulder length, like doing a jumping jack. Jump and land with feet apart, then jump back to feet together. Jump out again, jump together. Then, clap hands before the jumps, spin in one direction when the feet are in the wide position, then jump with the feet together. Clap your thighs when you spin. Keep your knees slightly bent, and bend slightly forward in the jump and the turn from the hips. You’re looking at the floor during this sequence. Stay on the balls of your feet, and always land with bent knees!
It was customary that community members participated in provocative ceremonies in the days of ancient West Africa. Many of the ceremonies marked periods of change, pled for change, or expressed gratitude for abundance. Others had the sole purpose of bringing about spiritual experiences. In our current world, we can bring these practices to the forefront to take care of and rejuvenate our communities, our earth, and ourselves. They help us remain attuned to our Divine purposes.
Tasks take our attention—work, focus on self, daily chores, and a thousand and one other distractions from Spirit. For this reason, it’s good to set aside time regularly to ensure alignment of your priorities with what you do each day.
You may wish to create a provoking spiritual-experiences practice plan that considers a personal schedule of planned quarterly retreats, spiritual ceremonies, and personal reflection time, along with daily Practices; this can help you provoke those spiritual experiences and continue your ascent. Attending a few Dance in the Spirit dance meditation retreats each year is very important. How will you place yourself in position to be elevated? Write down plans to increase your spiritual experiences.
We’re going to swing our arms today in big, slow, easy windmill motions like you did as a child. The dance will want you to alternate arms. You’ll gaze over the shoulder of the swinging hand, so the head turns to the same direction as the swing. Once you have this rhythm to your liking, put the weight on the foot opposite to the swinging arm, and add three or more ball-of-the-foot taps with your other foot as your arm swings. Keep your knees slightly bent, and bend forward from the waist slightly.
You’ll meet Souls along the way as you travel the spiral path. In ancient western Africa, Souls seemed more visible, as folks dwelled in communities and tribes without the veils of modern technology and isolating structures and practices. They were still filled with human emotions, confused at times by events and how to make life more palatable. We have those same considerations today, and there are no easy or certain answers to some questions. Often we cannot find the right words, or our reactions prevent us from supporting others. But just being there for them, holding them, smiling, and giving an affirmation can soothe, encourage, and lead them. Such loving behaviors toward your fellow travelers are the most powerful influences we have.
Reflect on these thoughts: It’s not always about me, and, actually, helping others is the key to a lot of my complaints. If I am not helping them directly, I help with thinking and prayers. My Inner Mystic Dancer encourages others just by being there. I will be able to affect the course of the earth in doing so.
Let’s put the whole dance together today. Alternately tap the ball of each foot. When the feet are together, do a small jump to get the feet at about shoulder width. Remember to add claps. Keep your knees and waist slightly bent. Shift the weight from one foot to the other and swing the arms. Add in your 360-degree spins between foot taps, then add your arm swings, gazing over your shoulder each time. Improvise, and allow the dance to take you.
In ancient west Africa, people embraced not taking things for granted, which is partly why the community celebrated rites of passage and appealed to the ancestors and gods for help. Let us be grateful for polarities so that we can find a sacred middle ground.
Make it a part of your practice to express gratitude. Praise others, give credit to them, and find ways to put others ahead of yourself. Thank Spirit for multiple paths and the spiraling, seeing each issue that arises as an opportunity to improve the earth and our fellow travelers.
What I focus on multiplies; what I speak or think influences my family, friends, community, and the earth itself. Much of the focus is an internal one, not intended to magically change my external circumstances. While not falling into denial or acceptance of unacceptable behavior as I am being clearly authentic, manifesting Spirit, provoking spiritual experiences, and being a magnet for others, I express gratitude for all my blessings, realized and yet to come. I also express gratitude for appropriate reactions and clarity to see what I need to, in moving upward on the path. I encourage others when I have gratitude, and it can be infectious, eliminating unnecessary criticism, needless judgments, anxieties, fears, and depression.
In a leap year, this day is open for you to expand your focus on getting grounded. Engage with the ideas and guidance found in the moves of the bearing-fruit gelede dance. There is no need for new awareness if none comes. It’s okay to simply sit quietly in reflection and thank the earth for all its blessings to humanity.