The Invitation
By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting in your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit in pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tip of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from the Spirit’s presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Hopi Prayer For Peace

“Great Spirit and all unseen, this day we pray and ask You for guidance, humbly we ask You to help us and fellow men to have recourse to peaceful ways of life, because of uncontrolled deceitfulness by human- kind. Help us all to love, not hate one another.

We ask you to be seen in an image of Love and Peace. Let us be seen in beauty, the colors of the rainbow. We respect our Mother, the planet, with our loving care, for from Her breast we receive our nourishment.

Let us not listen to the voices of the two-hearted, the destroyers of mind, the haters and self-made leaders, whose lusts for power and wealth will lead us into confusion and darkness.

Seek visions always of world beauty, not violence nor battlefields.

It is our duty to pray always for harmony between man and earth, so that the earth will bloom once more. Let us show our emblem of love and goodwill for all life and land.

Pray for the House of Glass, for within it are minds clear and pure as ice and mountain streams. Pray for the great leaders of nations in the House of Mica who in their own quiet ways help the earth in balance.

We pray the Great Spirit that one day our Mother Earth will be purified into a healthy peaceful one. Let us sing for strength of wisdom with all nations for the good of all people. Our hope is not yet lost, purification must be to restore the health of our Mother Earth for lasting peace and happiness.

Techqua Ikachi – for Land and Life!”

From the book “Hotevilla: Hopi Shrine of the Covenant; Microcosm of the World” by Thomas E. Mails and Dan Evehema, published in 1995, comes the following prayer offered by representatives the Hopi Nation on one of their trips made to the “House of Glass/Mica” (United Nations).

Native American 10 Commandments

The Earth is our Mother, care for her.
Honor all your relations.
Open your heart and soul to the Great Spirit.
All life is sacred; treat all beings with respect.
Take from the Earth what is needed and nothing more.
Do what needs to be done for the good of all.
Give constant thanks to the Great Spirit for each new day.
Speak the truth; but only of good in others.
Follow the rhythms of nature; rise and retire with the sun.
Enjoy life’s journey, but leave no tracks.

Wae Wae Non Ne Mot
Menominee Tribe – The Menominee Version Of The 23rd Psalm

“The Creator above is the Great Spirit and the Great Mystery, His gifts are plentiful therefore you want not. He holds out a branch of love and protection and He draws you to where the ground is undisturbed, where the air is pure and the water is clear and clean enough to give life.

You walk, you breathe, you feed, for you are pleasured. The times when your heart is weak, your circle is out of balance, He lifts you up again and draws you to the good Menominee road, for He is strength and wisdom.”

Dance To Heal The Earth
By Dee Smith

Whenever you dance, wherever you dance, dance to heal the earth!

Dancing is power. Dancing is prayer. Some say that all is dance. Maybe. Now there’s a big dance coming, a dance to heal the earth. If you’re reading this, you’re probably part of it. You take part whenever you do whatever you do to help heal the earth. When you recycle. When you choose to show love, to fight for justice, to bring healing, to bring out what is good in others. When you avoid cruelty and dishonesty and waste. When you are outraged. When you speak out. When you give. When you consider the generations to come. When you protest to the oppressors and encourage those who feel the cutting edge of injustice. And, of course, when you dance. There is a tree that all the prophets see, and whenever you let your love show, you make the flowers grow.

Soon this dance will be done in a big way, in the old way, on sacred ground. All living things will take part. If you want to, you can take part. No one is twisting your arm. You can stop any time you need to, and start up again whenever you’re ready. If you’ve read this far, you probably know what I’m talking about. You’ve probably been doing it in one way or another for a good while. Soon will be the time to make no bones about it! Cut loose!

Anytime you dance, anywhere, whether at a party or in church, dance to heal the earth! Let your feet beat a healing rhythm into the earth. Let your feet beat a strengthening rhythm for those who struggle the hardest. Let your feet beat a life-giving rhythm for all peoples, regardless of race or national boundary, regardless of whether we’re human or whether we’re the trees, the air, the fish, the birds, the buffalo, the bear, the crow. We come out of hiding, we come back from the dead, and we dance, and our dance is a prayer, and our songs and our rhythms and our breath give life.

Is the music they’re playing some mindless jingle? Never mind, as long as it’s not bad music, and you can dance to the beat! Make your own words, and make the words a prayer. A prayer for the end of exploitation, a prayer for the end of lies, a prayer for healing, for justice, for life. Remember your prayer-song, feed it and let it get strong and pass it along. Dance and pray, whenever you dance, dance to heal the earth.

Have you seen anything? Wear it out! Make it so that all can see what you see! Take a white T-shirt and mark it with your dreams. Is there anything you’d like to tell the world? Take your shirt and mark it with your song! This is the way it has been done, so you can do it too. Use any color except black (there are reasons for that that will become clearer later), and you’ll probably find that a loose, pure cotton T is most comfortable for dancing in. Because this is an actual dance, you dance hard, you sing and breathe hard and sweat. Wear it when you plan to go out dancing, to dance to heal the earth.

Some people do this dance while fasting, and dance for several days straight. But even a few minutes of dancing helps, and joins with all the other dancing going on, everywhere on Earth. Not everyone can fast these days. Besides, you never know when you’re gonna dance, and you have to eat sometimes! But if you plan to dance, hold off eating till later, or just have a little. It’s easier to dance if you don’t have a hotdog weighing you down.

Some people say, do not do sacred things where people are drinking and partying. But all the universe is a sacred place. It really doesn’t matter what others are doing, you can make a place sacred wherever you are, with your intention and your prayers. Some people use smoke to make a place sacred; a cigarette or incense stick will do fine. You can dance to heal the earth anywhere, even a party or a bar! The earth is everywhere, so you can dance anywhere to heal her. Only one thing. Please hold off drinking or using any other intoxicants till you’re done. It works better that way.

The Lie has gone far enough. It spreads and makes everyone sick. Now is the time for this dance to begin. It, too, will spread, and it will bring healing to all. In the beginning, they say, God put a rainbow in the sky, to let us know that Spirit never forgets. Now is the time for us to put a rainbow across the earth, to let God know that we, too, remember.

Dance to heal the earth. Not just when you’re dancing, but always. Live the dance, whenever you move, in all you do, dance to heal the earth.

An Indian Prayer
By H. Kent Craig

My grandfather is the fire My grandmother is the wind
The Earth is my mother The Great Spirit is my father
The World stopped at my birth and laid itself at my feet
And I shall swallow the Earth whole
when I die and the Earth and I will be one

Hail The Great Spirit, my father without him no one could exist because there would be no will to live. Hail The Earth, my mother without which no food could be grown and so cause the will to live to starve. Hail the wind, my grandmother for she brings loving, lifegiving rain nourishing us as she nourishes our crops. Hail the fire, my grandfather for the light, the warmth, the comfort he brings without which we be animals, not men. Hail my parent and grandparents without which not I, nor you, nor anyone else could have existed

Life gives life which gives unto itself a promise of new life.

Hail the Great Spirit, The Earth, the wind, the fire praise my parents loudly for they are your parents, too. Oh, Great Spirit, giver of my life please accept this humble offering of prayer this offering of praise this honest reverence of my love for you.

For All People
Black Elk, Oglala, Sioux

It is true that many of the old ways have been lost. But just as the rains restore the earth after a drought, so the power of the Great Mystery will restore the way and give it new life. We ask that this happen not just for the Red People, but for all people, that they all might live. In ignorance and carelessness they have walked on Ina Maka, Our Mother. They did not understand that they are part of all beings, the Four-legged, the Winged, Grandfather Rock, the Tree People, and our Star Brothers. Now our Mother and all our Relations are crying out. They cry for the help of all people.

Wisdom, Knowledge And Understanding
By Larry Kibby

Great Spirit Grandfather, I send these words to you, Hear my prayer. For these are my words, To Father Sun, To Grandmother Moon, To Mother Earth To all my relations, That have been Created as I. To the Four Winds, That bring us the Seasons of Life.

To the East Where Father Sun rises Bringing to us a new day A new meaning of life, A light in which to see The path before us. To the South Where the warm air comes to us Bringing heat and warmth, The seasons of spring And summer. To the West Where Father Sun goes To bring to us darkness, So as we may see the universe And search for the questions Of our life. To the North Where the cold winds come from Bringing to us the seasons Of fall and winter.

Oh Great Spirit Hear my words For to you I offer My heart and soul You made me What I am And I am Indian America’s Prisoners of War. I pray for my people of the past Whose blood covers this our Mother Earth I pray now as an Indian Blood of my Ancestors. Great Spirit Grandfather, Look down upon Your people, For we are humble Before you. We seek your guidance, So that we your people May walk forever In a proud manner Before you.

Great Spirit Grandfather, You gave your people The breath of life, So that we may live With dignity and pride, To always know And understand That life was meant for us Your most humble Traditional people, And all that Was Created And given The breath of life. Great Spirit Grandfather, Let my heart Soul and mind Be always strong with Wisdom, knowledge And Understanding. Great Spirit Grandfather Hear my words For wisdom So that I may open My eyes and See all that Is good around me. Great Spirit Grandfather Hear my words For wisdom So that I may open my ears And hear all that is good Around me. For I am humble Before you. I seek the strength To continue on this path That I travel on before you In a most Sacred manner. Great Spirit Grandfather Hear my words For they are words That come from the Heart, soul and mind, And are filled with Wisdom, knowledge and Understanding. Great Spirit Grandfather My words are for you To know and understand That in a most Sacred manner I honor and respect I seek the strength To forever continue Upon this Sacred path.

Great Spirit Grandfather Upon the four winds Are my words for strength For they come from the Heart, soul and mind Words I send to you In a Sacred manner. Great Spirit Grandfather Let all The wisdom, knowledge and understanding Be my strength To continue on this path That I travel on before you As a Traditional Native American Indian, Now and forever.

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