Bird of Pray

During the time of the Summer Solstice I committed to the Earth and Red Eagle that I would not immediately assign meaning to things before I have had time to express and reflect. I promised to be mindful of the blessings of Earth. I promised to balance and to continue to be observant. I also promised that I would not just guide, but be a guardian. It is in these promises that I understood that I was to be a Bird of Pray.

To me the Bird of Pray is the guardian of the soulstice practice; the being that encourages flight - transcendence - through behavior or word offerings that are of petition, praise, or gratitude. It is as a Bird of Pray that I believe I will be able to help initiate those that will one day be called elder. In the words of Rachel Hickson (2009), I want to "lead others into their inheritance too...[and] help people discover the place of satisfaction and fulfillment in their lives" (p. 49).

Soulstice

It came to me during the summer solstice that the practice I should create to remember - to honor - my quest experience should be called a SOULstice. In knowing that a solstice occurs twice a year when the sun is at its farthest point from the celestial equator (in June and December), I find it fitting that my quest - my third birth - is in June, and December is the ritual remembrance of the inspiration for my second birth - the birth of Jesus Christ.

It is in this line of thinking that I have come to understand that soulstice is the ecopsychological practice that I am creating to help people return to balance when they find themselves far from their spiritual or celestial center. Soulstice is important because "it is sometimes necessary to go to her [the Earthly Mother], to fast, and be alone with her, so that we can fully remember the kin relationship between our bone and her stone, our blood and her rivers, our flesh and the body of nature" (Foster & Little, 1980, 1987, 1988, p. 24).

The Power of Story

This desire to share with you begins after I began to contemplate the power of story. I told a community of students my thoughts on the matter, and there are moments when I would say things like 'we are all responsible for telling our children the stories of our youth, our ancestors;' and I would feel power in those words. Actually it was more like I felt power in the moment those words chose me to speak them. I did not travel this path mindlessly, and I do not continue this journey without intention. There is power in story. This begins mine.