Kindling the Native Spirit: Sacred Practices for Everyday Life - Denise Linn 2015

The Call: Remembering Who You Are

We sat huddled in silence around a tree-sheltered campfire on the side of the mountain. Holding the palms of our hands out to be warmed by the flames, we gazed up at the stars. The sound of a lone owl punctuated the stillness, as tiny embers spiraled up and dissolved into the darkened sky. I inhaled the damp night air—it smelled of moist earth, smoke, and pine—and looked at the faces of those who sat around me. Their bodies glowed like wavering, liquid amber in the flickering light. These were healers from various indigenous cultures who had gathered for a special ceremony high in the Cascade Mountains. Afterward, around the fire, we took time to absorb the events of the day. Then quietly, a Maori healer from New Zealand pointed up to the sky and said, “Do you see that star, Denise?”

When I followed his finger to the heavens, I didn’t see just one—I saw thousands of stars. I tried to convince myself that I knew the exact star he was pointing to and mumbled, “Umm, yes?”

“That’s your personal star. Each of us has a star, and that one is yours.” He said it with certainty. “I’ll ask you where it is tomorrow night, and I know you’ll be able to find it.”

I wasn’t so sure of that, but I asked him what he meant when he said that we each had a star.

He replied, “When I was a child, the Old Ones told me that when each person is born, a star is given to them. The star oversees their life, and all anyone ever needs to do—when they’ve lost their way—is to look for their star in the night sky. Their star calls to them to remember what’s truly important in life.” The other elders around the fire nodded as he spoke.

I don’t know if I can find my exact star, but I’ve found that simply looking up at a starry sky and knowing my star is shining down on me makes everything that isn’t important in my life fall away.

The call to remember who you are can come in many forms. It can come from the land, from your ancestors, from the depth of your soul, from the elements . . . or even from a star. It’s a beckoning to evoke the awareness of who you really are. It’s a hallowed request to step beyond the boundaries of your identity into the vast, vibrant realm of the universe. However, until you answer the call, there may be a kind of yearning for something that you can’t quite grasp. It’s like being homesick for a place that you can’t remember.

When you answer the call, you’ll find the ancient landscape deep within you, where sacred mountains carry memories of creation within their folds. You’ll discover inner rolling hills that hold vestigial memories of your past and your future. These memories undulate between hidden plains like great buttocks, breasts, and pregnant mounds of life. It’s where mysterious gorges within you are filled with forgotten dreams and sparkling rivers of your essence that carry the scent of life. And when you travel to the center of this inner realm, you’ll know that you’re home.

Being home means looking beneath the surface of life . . . and tapping into the powerful natural forces that dwell there. Native people understood how to access those streams of energy to gain vitality and significant insight into their lives. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to achieve a greater understanding of the potent energy influences around you. You’ll discover how to connect with the innate majesty of the elements of air, water, fire, and earth, as well as the sun, the moon, and the Spirit Keepers of the directions. (For example, you’ll learn how simply facing in the different directions can invite various kinds of energy to flow into your being.) You’ll also realize how to answer the call to activate the passionate wilderness in your soul. This is one of the most extraordinary journeys that anyone can take in their lifetime . . . and it’s vital to do this sooner rather than later.