A STORY FOR YOU TO ENJOY. Created by Tina van Nispen.
There once was a man called Zan whom was wondering the streets, thinking and pondering, he was unaware of his surrounds when he bumped into a woman. He apologised to her and mentioned how he was not thinking about where he was, nor the people walking down the street. Asha could see how he was distressed and asked if he would like to talk. Asha told Zan she was a medicine woman and would like to help him. Zan was hesitant, but could feel there was something comforting about her sincerity, her genuine compassion. So Zan followed his insight and humbly accepted to share a pot of tea and talk. As Asha only lived 15 metres away from where they were, it did not take long to get to her place.
Asha walked Zan to the raspberry archway, the entrance to her back yard, she asked him to go and find a seat whilst she went inside. Zan walked along the quartz pebbled path, admiring the lush plants and trees, that filled the back yard, with sculptures and crystal light poles. Zan noticed how the path curves and crosses with another, as he was enjoying the walk, he decided to stay with the outer path. Zan noticed the various fruit trees and the abundance of fresh fruit, the sweet smelling aroma was stirring up his appetite and taking his mind off his concerns. He was intrigued as to what else was in her garden, as most of it seems edible. As he looked up above eye level he noticed a sculptured eagle spread out in flight. With curiosity he followed the path towards the eagle. It did not take too long before the sculpture was in full splendor. It was a totem pole atleast 4 metres high. From the bottom up, there was a lions head, a radiant peaceful womans face, a strong yet gentle males face with the soaring eagle on top, inbetween all was a coiling snake making its way up to the eagles feet. Zan used his hands to feel the detailed artwork of the totem pole, how the faces were so smooth and the outer details so striking and raw. He was intrigued as to what it meant and where it came from.
Zan happily relaxed in the sculptured blackwood chair, he did feel calmer within himself as he gazed over his surrounds. Asha appeared with a plate of fruit and cups. Asha welcomed Zan to her garden and asked him to taste the freshly picked fruits, there were white strawberries, strawberry guava, pepinos, pear, nashi pears, apples, with black, blue and rasp berries. Zan was appreciative and enjoyed the exquisite tastes of her garden. She asked if he wanted to try a herbal tea? To his surprise, Asha picked along the lush green coverage at their feet and placed it into pot beside the circular fireplace. As she lit the firewood, she explained to Zan it was herbal and would help to induce a relaxed atmosphere. Zan was thinking how could he get more relaxed than this, but was open to it. The burning lavender, rosemary, pine, yarrow, cinnamon radiated with intense flames and light, with the sprinkle of frankincense and myrhh it helped create a sweet smelling aroma, it was calming and relaxing. With a fresh cup of chammomile and honey tea, Asha asked Zan what he was thinking about when he bumped into her down the street? As he felt comfortable with her presence and in his surrounds, he told her how he felt something was missing from his life, even though he has a job he enjoys and a wife he loves. Asha asked him if it was something within him or external. Zan contemplated whilst sipping his tea, eating the berries, then said both. He told Asha he felt as though he was detached from something within him, and that there was a feeling of discontentment with his life that he does not know how to explain. Asha said that back in her ancestors time, the medicine man or woman would help people with their logical thinking brain by balancing with the creativity of their spiritual nature within. One way of doing this is by telling them a story and going into dreamtime. Asha asked Zan whether he would like to hear one of these stories? Zan agreed.
Asha had been told many stories of her ancestors and she decided to share with Zan a light hearted story of her ancestors lifestyle, thinking it may be insightful to him and give him something to ponder later on. Asha had been taught by her ancestors, (and she embraces) how she is to share unconditionally and to expect nothing in return, knowing the energy will be balanced in a natural way. Back in the ancestors time, the family communed with the land and the sky, they respected how they were inbetween, (on top of the earth, yet below the sky). The man of the family would wake up, hug and kiss his wife and children, then have breakfast together, this began their day in unity as a family. Then the men would become hunters, whether out on their canoes or on the land, it was ritual done with respect of their prey and with appreciation for feeding their families. The men enjoyed coming together, sharing stories, and utilising their innate hunting skills with the awareness of the natural laws. The various food (animal) resources was dependent on the seasons, as the animals themselves had their own cycles, of where to drink, eat and reproduce. In this way man was attuned to his surrounds, he lived in harmony with the natural cycles, the men would also communicate with their ancestors, sky spirits to help guide them to the animals that were ready to sacrifice themselves. Mostly all parts of the animal was used, as an act of respect for giving up its life. The fish bones were grounded down and mixed in with other foods such as grains, the animal skins were used as clothing or shoes. Throughout time this hunting ritual was highly regarded as a way to commune with the Earth and animals, man realised he was a part of his surrounds, he was equal and just as vulnerable as the animals and all living creatures on the Earth. For it was his connection with his ancestors, the sky spirits that helped him to see how important and different man was compared to the animals.
The woman also had this knowledge, as did the children, for when the women interacted with the plant kingdom, they acted with a similar intent to the hunting man. It was known among the tribe that woman could easily communicate with nature and the sky spirits, that is why the woman with their gentle hands and hearts would nurture the plants and soils, as they would be able to pick up on the energies of the plants, whether it was time to harvest or give the plants more time to absorb the nutrients of the sky and earth. The plants were a vital part of the tribes diet. The plants were also a daily indication of the constant changes to their environment. If the plants were starting to go off balance, the women knew this could also affect them, so by maintaining the health of the plants, they were also maintaining their health. There was deep respect to the art and rituals of the co dependency of all living creatures, and how this helped maintain the balance within themselves and their environment.
When the sun had passed through most of the sky, the people would come together and prepare their food for the last meal of the day. As the children had been playing most of the day, enjoying the attributes of their curiosity, with each other and watching the animals, it was time now for them to learn the ancient rituals of food preparation. The men would gather the boys and teach them how to dissect the fresh killed animals into parts that could be eaten or for clothing, or for pouches and other useful resources. The girls would join with the woman to ground the grains, seeds and learn how to blend with certain roots, leaves, fruits, flowers to enrich the flavours and create tasty meals. It was during these activities the parents would teach their children how important it was to be in the moment, to centre and focus upon each activity, as the energy pondered upon goes into the energy of the meal. Thus the adults would try to make explanations of adding the foods, or dissecting the animals to be fun, respectful and totally present in the moment.
The tribe would come together to collect the firewood, and each member would have its turn of lighting the fire with the welcoming ritual of the fire element. As the sun was near the final stages of moving through the sky, the tribe would come together, give thanks to each other, the sky spirits, the Earth, all living creatures for the joyful day and then eat together and enjoy the feast. There was lots of laughter and sharing amongst all the generations of the villagers. Each one was valued and respected as an equal to creating the community it was. Each night as the sky shined its sparkling array of stars, the medicine man would help the villagers to connect to their gentle natures, to go into dreamtime by telling stories by the warmth of the fire, that he had been taught by his ancestors. Night time was about connecting to our inner nature, our sky spirits, our ancestors. The medicine man knew this helped his villagers to go to sleep peacefully, and have dreams of wandering out in the sky, to converse with their ancestors in their own way, as they slept.
Asha looked over to Zan and even though his eyes were closed, she knew he had listened to her story, she was happy to see him looking very relaxed. She gave Zan as much time as he needed to bring his awareness back into her backyard. Zan thanked Asha for the story. She made another pot of herbal tea for them to share. Zan told her he enjoyed the story but was not sure how it related to his life. Asha told him she wanted to share with him how important it was to her ancestors, to be aware of their innate connections with their environment and to know we are always connected to our sky spirits, ancestors. Asha gently suggested to Zan, that may be the disconnection he feels within is the disconnection to his natural nature, of being the hunter and connecting to his environment.
Asha in a nurturing manner explained to him she is not suggesting he goes out and kills animals for his meals, that may be if he is willing, to take a moment when ever he feels ready and to look within himself and see how his ancestors blood is being able to express itself. Asha highlighted that she is sharing with him what she knows, in no way is she asking him to change his lifestyle, she is gently giving him another perspective to consider and whatever Zan does with the information is totally up to himself. We are clever intelligent loving beings, we are capable of changing our inherent skills into productive sources in this modern environment. Zan could see this being reflected in her edible garden. As the sun moved through the sky, they talked and shared their thoughts and feelings, about the seasons, the natural cycles of our selves and our environment. It gave lots for Zan to ponder.
I truly hoped you enjoyed this story, I have created for this website. This does give you an example of the stories told during the meditation classes. Please do not reproduce this story, as it is apart of the stories, meditation booklet I am still creating. Thank you.
For comments, questions, etc, please feel free to contact me:
TINA VAN NISPEN
0412 777 375
goodvibes7@optusnet.com.au
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