Over the course of the last two years, Pearl has been learning about Native American Lifeways and Spirituality from Grandfather Rick McBride. After 22 years of studying meditation, different approaches to healing, angels and spirituality, Pearl says that it feels as if a door to a whole new, but in fact very ancient, world has opened and provided a gateway to an understanding of many familiar metaphysical concepts at a significantly deeper level. Pearl took the "Teachings of the Medicine Wheel" workshop twice and achieved many breakthroughs on personal issues as a result. Pearl has invited Grandfather Rick to lead a number of different events so that many more people can take the opportunity to learn and grow through his teaching.
workshops and lectures are not ceremony
Grandfather Rick is a mixed blood Tsalagi who has been a life-long student of American Indian Lifeways, actively participating in Native American ceremony for some 25 years. He is a sundancer and traditionally trained and authorized inipi (sweat lodge) leader with deep experience. Truth is, the so-called mainstream is in trouble and that trouble has extended itself into the rest of the world, socially, economically, politically, and environmentally. And so, he sees his place as that of "translator" of the Lifeways to help anybody sincerely interested in learning how to become a better human being, his hope being to help achieve a proper balance in human race consciousness. Rick was formally taught advanced principles of the Medicine Wheel by Cheyenne Elder Hyemeyohsts Storm in 1994. For more information, visit his website: www.mxdblood.com
Native American Teachings
and Drumming Circle in Palm Beach County, Florida
ABOVE: This Spider lives in the corner above Rick's computer and lends her creativity to his work.
BELOW: A vacant house ready for furnishings.
Native American Lifeways and Spirituality
Many western people are surprised to learn that American Indians do not practice an organized religion. Their Lifeways, or way of Life, are holistic in that they incorporate and associate everything they do with the Great Mystery as a matter of mundane, everyday Life. Spirituality takes on a completely different meaning in this context and when allowed full expression, will bring whole villages into balance, show how to live in harmony with the environment, and teach values leading to true happiness independent of materialism.
In today's workshop Grandfather Rick McBride will introduce us to some of these ways, including the Medicine Wheel, Inipi (sweat lodge), Sundance and prayer as commitment. We will also have the special privilege of learning The Hollow Bone: a process to help us get centered and bring us into full alignment with the Great Mystery and the powers available to us for healing. We will conclude this afternoon with a question and answer session.
To visit mxdblood.com, click on
Many Bloods
At the start of the Prayer Circle, Grandfather Rick will call the Four Winds through song, putting us in Ceremony. The Talking Stick will then be passed for us to hold as we pray, either aloud or in the silence. The group energy will facilitate powerful prayers!
The Pipe
The Pipe is a sacred tool that is the cornerstone of Native American ceremony. Given to the People so long ago nobody knows for sure, to be the keeper of a pipe for the people is a sobering responsibility. This talk touches on:
Who can "carry" a Pipe, and what does the term actually refer to
When is a Pipe used and what is a "pipe ceremony"
How did the Pipe come to the People
What is the symbolism of the Pipe, Pipe care, Kinnick-kinnick, tobacco
By attending this lecture, you will learn to respect the Pipe and how to conduct yourself around the Pipe and Pipe carrier so that you will get the maximum benefit from participating in any Native American ceremony involving the Pipe.
Loom Beading
In this new craftshop you will learn to bead on a loom. You will be introduced to a craft that can be taken to the level of fine art. Introduced to Indian Country back in colonial times, Native Americans soon mastered the art of beading and are now known world-wide for their incredible talents. In fact, an entire wing of the Haye Museum in New York City is devoted to examples of Native Americain beadwork. After you learn how to bead on a loom, considered by many as the place to learn beading, you will be able to adapt your skill to peyote stitch and lazy stitch. In this workshop you will create a simple pattern on a wooden loom, but you will leave having mastered the skill. Looms will be for sale. Registration deadline April 16 as materials need to be prepared ahead of time, but please register early to be sure of your place as the number of participants will be limited.
Journey With the Drum
Among the many uses of the hand drum, the journey is one of the lesser known. To journey with the drum is experiential, but it's not ceremony. Nevertheless we still ask for protection, smudge, and do the Hollow Bone when starting. Prone or sitting, (your choice), we first quiet the mind. We then sequence into our heart-mind connection. For accomplished meditators, this will be easy and the "third-eye" sensation will not only start up on the forehead, but in the heart-solar plexus area as well. If you're new to this, you'll learn how this is done and how to strengthen it with practice.
A single drum in the background sets a slow and easy pace to begin your guided journey; a few words are spoken, loosely guiding you out of the material world, closer to the veil, where you take off on your own. But you'll be safe at all times, the drum ensures that. If you've ever wondered how the ancestors were able to communicate with the spirits (of the animals, of the plants, of the stone people, the Helper Spirits and so on) you'll come to understand this as your consciousness shifts.
On the day of the workshop please eat lightly (fruit is recommended) and be well hydrated. The Journey helps develop the intuition, and is ideal for those exploring new ways to still the mind, such as Reiki students and practitioners.
Dreamcatcher Craftshop
Learn the techinque of weaving the web of protection that separates the good dreams from the bad ones. You will learn the weave on a covered fixed steel hoop, but we use sinew rather than monofilament line so you will get used to using more natural materials. We will also demonstrate how to make vine hoops, which you will quite likely prefer once you've mastered the art of weaving the Spider's web.
Bring your Native American style hand drums and rattles as we pray and sing for Global Peace and Personal Healing by drumming up the Spirits of the Land. Great personal healing occurs as the vibrations call the Spirits and wake up our hearts. Please feel free to join us even if you do not have your own drum or rattle: there will be some drums to share and learn on. If you do not wish to drum, join in to help us pray, sing and enjoy listening. You will have the opportunity to stand in the middle of the circle and receive an individual drum healing from Grandfather Rick. Absolutely no alcohol or drugs. There is never a charge for ceremony.
Rattles are similar to drums in their use as musical and healing instruments. And, they can be built as birds, bears, buffaloes, and any number of other shapes. These are often done to honor a Medicine Helper the rattle-maker might have. In this workshop you will build one "hafted" rattle (rattle with a shaft, or handle), and be shown how to build a palm rattle.
NOTE: Bring your own hafting material, such as stick, antler section, bone etc., if you have something you'd like to use. We will also have all materials you need, including hafting dowel.
The Medicine Wheel is perhaps the most intriguing gift from ancient America: a physical structure typically made with stones arranged in a circle, big enough for people to enter. In this workshop you will learn to use the Wheel as a personal Life guide. Each point on the Wheel represents distinct qualities and spiritual characteristics. On those points, you'll place medicine helpers that you've chosen, at times for no obvious reason; just seems like the right animal/tree/gemstone, but you will soon see that the Spirits are guiding you. When the energies of the medicine helpers combine with the aspects of the point on the Wheel where they've been placed, a story emerges that will guide you, revealing the acquired traits or core beliefs that have previously blocked you. These are personal Healing Wheels.
You will also learn about personal Free Form Wheels. Where Healing Wheels are a direct reflection of your Life-patterns, Free Form Wheels are open to the guiding influences of the Spirits (Personal Spirit Guides and Helper Spirits.) You will learn how to prepare before creating either kind of Wheel. Personal Wheels are usually small (on the dining room table, bed, living room floor), built for a specific session, then taken down until needed. Free Form Wheels are used in determining & executing Life Purpose, and in tandem with Healing Wheels, for manifesting.
The Medicine Wheel works because it reveals unsupportive core beliefs, pointing you in a better direction, anchoring that new awareness into your physical body-memory through movement: placing stones and totems, moving about the Wheel and locking onto answers the totems have brought you, what Jung called "gestalt”. Now aware of these energies, you'll have better control over your life: old, self-defeating patterns will cease, empowering you to manifest your dreams more easily. The Medicine Wheel is a non-threatening but effective teacher and workshops are kept small and confidentiality respected. You will learn how to work your own Medicine Wheel and it will bring your stuff up; it takes courage to face fears, perceived shortcomings, self-judgments, but those energies can be converted and you are worth the effort.
Includes 42 page manual.
A one day workshop dealing with fear and uncertainty, Medicine Shields is based on the teachings and practices of the Warrior Societies, and is a response to the escalating latent tension, or fear "baseline" people are experiencing due to personal situations, the economy, terrorism, deteriorating social order and so on. We begin by creating a physical shield out of rawhide and natural vine. The remainder of the class is dedicated to overcoming irrational fears and phobias. Attendees will work on a particular fear they have to deteremine what the true cause is. Once this is understodd, they will be able to choose the Medicine Helper best sutied to their needs. Since most fears evolve out of past traumatic events, there is discussion of Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR.)
Making your own sacred begins with the idea, is made more concrete in acquiring the skills and materials necessary to create it, and finally, in the actual construction of it, which is typically done in a ceremonial setting*; smudging, offering tobacco, and a prayerful attitude. After the drum has fully dried, which takes anywhere from four to seven days, it is then "awakened" in ceremony. The process of creating, then awakening a sacred drum is akin to birthing a child and similar care is given throughout the entire process.
Rick McBride has been building hand drums for over eight years and has helped many people to create their own sacred drum, a process he fervently believes in, especially if the reason to build the drum is for use in ceremony. As he teaches how to physically create the drum, he is also teaching about the drum; when to use it, drum etiquette and technique, and even about catching songs. He will also meet the workshop participants again after the drums are ready in order to wake them up.
*Drums are built in deference to the Spirits and with their help, but the actual process of building a drum is not ceremony.
Understanding Animals as Medicine Helpers
The Native American teachings, traditions, and lifeways help us to understand the relationship between humans and nonhumans. These relationships were established long ago between the ancients and the animal nations in order that they might all get along with each other and help each other survive. Today, the challenges to both humans and nonhumans in this world have changed dramatically. Yet, the Medicine Helpers are still honoring their agreements with humans. It is not only a benefit to engage the help of Animals, and of Trees and Grasses and the Crawlers and Winged Ones and Fishes, it is necessary for our mutual survival. We leave these nations out of the process of our own evolution at our peril. And theirs.
When you establish a conscious relationship with a particular Medicine Helper nation, you not only benefit yourself with its guidance, you become part of a small but unique group that has done so for millennia and that has been the very basis for the survival of humanity and the balance of the Earth. Creating a relationship with an Animal nation has as much to do with the success of the whole village as it does the personal success of any individual.
