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Why Drum for Peace?
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Celebrate For Peace December 2002 The article below was a preamble for an invitation to Drum for Peace events held December 2002 and repeated in January 2003. I honour all my teachers and especially Kimberly Herkert, Daniel Goodenough, Caroline Kit-Shearer, Eduardo Parra of Geotran and Armand Huet DeGrenier, my shamanic teacher, for sharing much of what I share below. WHY CELEBRATE FOR PEACEAt this time there is the potential for a war to start. AND there is much we can do to avert war. Because we are all energetically connected, our thoughts, feelings, and actions make a difference to the whole. One of the most important things is to build up a vibration on the planet of joy and love - the antidote to aggression and fear. My teacher Kimberly says it is important to see the seriousness in the situation so you can meet and match it with the love in your heart AND not take the situation so seriously that you get hooked into feeling fear. The power of love, harmony, and beauty are far stronger than fear and take us to the joyful feeling that is our birthright. Owning and expressing that joyful childlike feeling of wonder and excitement - that you can see in a healthy two year old - where play is the most sacred activity and it's all a game and a chance to learn and grow is the place for us to be now. If there was ever any time to do your thing for peace on the planet, it is now. The next few months are critical time in world history. Anything you can do will be helpful. And feeling guilty about what you are not doing is not helpful - just do what you can with love! And we all make a difference whether we ever know what that is or not. My Geotran teachers tell a story that I can't exactly remember but the gist of it is about a war and a General needs to be in a certain place at a certain time to win a battle. His horse is lame though, because a horsehoe fell off because someone did not deliver horseshoe nails in time to the ferrier. So the General is late and the battle and war are lost, all for the want of a horseshoe nail. Any of us may be the one who is to deliver the horseshoe nail that is a tiny thing that makes all the difference. And Angeles Arrien, anthropologist and storyteller, says that if you think one person does not make a difference imagine a stalled car in rush hour traffic, especially in her city of Los Angeles! Listed below are some things you can do. Details follow. I am sharing these because I have found them helpful and because I love this beautiful planet of ours and want to preserve her. 1. Feel and express joy, love, harmony, and beauty in your everyday life. 1. FEEL AND EXPRESS JOY, LOVE, HARMONY, AND BEAUTY IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE. Every thought, feeling, action of yours affects the whole. Bringing love, harmony, and beauty to your everyday activities and feeling that joy that is our natural authentic state and holding those vibrations as much and as often as you can is a wonderful thing you can do for the whole right now. Examples: lighting a candle on your desk to remind you to feel peace, saying "I love you" to someone close to you, visualizing the world you love and peace on this world as often as possible as I wrote of in my last email. 2. LOVE YOUR SHADOW SIDE - DO YOUR INNER WORK The outer world reflects and mirrors the inner state of human beings right now. Conflict is bubbling in the world because it is bubbling inside many of us. We are also affected by the outer conflict, so for many of us our inner conflicts are more evident now. So many teachers are saying that creating peace between the warring inner parts of ourselves is a tremendously important contribution we can make towards peace on the planet now. How do you do this? Make love, not war - love your inner monsters and demons, it's the only thing that works. Carl Jung called these our shadow aspects - they are just as much a part of us as the qualities we think of as good that we show to the world. We may have "monster" aspects that were created when we did not honour an inner need. Or the qualities we suppressed because we thought they were not good end up distorting so their positive and helpful aspects cannot be expressed. Often we created them to protect ourselves from perceived hurt. For example - I have thought that being vulnerable would seem weak and leave me open to getting hurt by others so I suppressed that vulnerability. So when I have felt vulnerable I have often lashed out in anger at those closest to me. This has tended to drive away the people I need most. When I love that angry, hurt part of me and am compassionate towards it, it softens and the authentic quality within the bluster is able to be expressed - the ability to honestly express my vulnerability and ask for help. When I feel this coming on, I also know it as a signal now to check inside for what I need and to offer that to myself, usually by nurturing myself. After loving this part of myself a lot, it rarely shows up in that angry, blustering way anymore. I seem better able to ask for help and to look after nurturing myself. Fighting with these inner parts of yourself or trying to suppress and ignore them doesn't work - they fight back or erupt later. Love and compassion towards these aspects are the keys. Jung called this the work of integrating the shadow so you can positively express the power and the gifts that are suppressed and distorted in there - the gold in dark places. We all have the whole range of human capability within us - from saint to axe murderer. And it is natural and okay to have this range - just not helpful if we act on the unhealthy parts of the range. Remembering this can help us be less judgemental of ourselves and others. We all have inner aspects like George Bush and Saddam Hussein, like it or not, and recognizing and loving those aspects within ourselves makes a difference to the whole! 3. SEND LOVE TO WORLD LEADERS The world leaders who make the decisions that can create peace are having lots of ugly energy projected at them right now. Send them love to help them remember their joy and make humane decisions on our behalf. I'm thinking of George Bush, Saddam Hussein, Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat. The heads of all governments now are key though - also Tony Blair and Gerhard Shroeder and Jean Chretien who must decide whether to support a war against Iraq IF it comes to that. You may think of other leaders too. 4. CELEBRATE AND DO RITUALS OF REMEMBRANCE. This time of year in so many Northern Hemisphere traditions is a time to celebrate the light at the darkest time of year so that it will return. My teacher Kimberly recently reminded her students that indigenous peoples throughout the world believe that they maintain the energy of creation by remembering different aspects of the divine through ritual and celebration. New physics shows that we call things into being through consciousness and maintain them through conscious remembering of our vision and intention. My invitation to you is to remember an intention for peace at all your holiday celebrations. Celebrate the wondrous beauty of this world and those on it as a way to keep it going. Do your holiday rituals with intention. Invent new holiday rituals! Be joyful and spread it around! We can use this powerful time of celebration to pump up the joy and peace vibration on the planet. This is the intention for the Drum for Peace celebrations I'm organizing in Edmonton and Calgary. As an example of ritual with intention, this year I put up my Christmas tree early. I asked the tree if it was willing to come into my home. As I put up the tree, I thought of how I honour the plant realm and all the nurturing they bring all other living beings on the planet. I honoured the beauty of the tree in look and smell and welcomed it into my home. As the lights went up, I thought of the beauty of the colours in the world and how I honour them and love them. As I put up the ornaments my parents and grandparents have given me, I honoured my ancestors and where I have come from, and all the blessings they have showered on me. All the ornaments that I have collected from all over the world reminded me of my own rich life history and my interconnectedness with people all around the world. Overall, the Christmas tree is a reminder of life in the dead of winter - I give thanks for being alive and for beauty every time I see the tree. 5. WRITE OR CONTACT YOUR POLITICIANS Raising the vibration of joy and peace are important through our celebrations, prayers, and daily attitudes. It is also important to take action. One action I am doing is writing to politicians to let them know my views on my country getting involved in war. Politicians are there to serve us - it is important they know what we are thinking and what we want them to do. If you do not want to write - you can call the constituency office of your federal politician to let them know your views. In Canada, consitituency office numbers are listed in the front of the phone book under the Government of Canada phone numbers. Some tips on writing. a) If you handwrite your letter (legibly) they will know it is not a form letter and will take it more seriously. If you type it - personalize it so they know it is not a form letter. Make sure your name and return address are clearly noted. This kind of dialogue has been effective in educating politicians and shaping their views in a number of cases. Lloyd Axworthy, former foreign minister of Canada, learned much in his interaction and dialogue with peace activists and is now speaking out eloquently and knowledgably against Canada's involvement in the US's missile defense shield project. In Canada, you can write to all federal politicans at: Name of Politician NO POSTAGE NECESSARY! Letters to federal politicians go free in Canada. I am writing to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence as well as my Member of Parliament. The correct way to address thes folks is below: The Right Honourable Jean Chretien The Honorable John McCallum Rahim Jaffer (Name) If I don't see you at the drum for peace celebrations have a wonderful holiday season. Thank you for what you're doing for peace - together we are making a difference! Laureen Rama is available to lead retreats and workshops for private groups. She also teaches advanced shamanic healing techniques and offers shamanic healings in person or by distance.
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Calgary Alberta Canada crediting Laureen Rama as the author. |
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