Mural by Taos graffiti artist turned muralist, Scripture, depicting his grandmother, Rose Concha, who serves as a significant influence in his life.

PROPHECY FULFILLED

Alliance of the 13 Grandmothers

Hopi prophecy foretells a time of global societal collapse, known as the Great Purification, caused by humanity's spiritual imbalance with nature. The Hopi term for this state of discord is Koyaanisqatsi, meaning "life out of balance", also meaning "life of moral corruption," "crazy life," "life in turmoil" or “a state of life that calls for another way of living“. This prophecy is not a harbinger of inescapable doom but a warning and a roadmap for returning to harmony. 

There is another Hopi prophecy accompanying this time of imbalance that says When the Grandmothers come from the four directions and speak, the world will heal.

This prophecy came to fruition in the fall of 2004 when the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers first gathered from all over the world—Alaska, North, South and Central America; Africa; and Asia. They came together in upstate New York and, within three days, they formed a Global Alliance.

“We gathered from the four directions in the land of the people of the Iroquois Confederacy,” says the Global Alliance Statement. “Affirming our relations with traditional medicine peoples and communities throughout the world, we have been brought together by a common vision to form a new global alliance. We are the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. We have united as one. Ours is an alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children and for the next seven generations to come.”

We Are All Related...Ageless Wisdom For Our Times - Spirit of Change Magazine

Find more about their story and mission at grandmotherswisdom.org

Grandma Aggie - Conversations from Penn State

For the Next 7 Generations (trailer)

Watch the full film here.

PROPHECY UNFOLDING

The Great Turning with Joanna Macy

Joanna Macy is an environmental activist, author, and scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She is most renowned for her book "Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World" and the Great Turning initiative which she discusses here in this short film.

EMBRACE FOR IMPACT

Katsi Cook – Matrilineal World-Making: Embracing for Impact

Katsi Cook has, for 5 decades, been a visionary leader in the defense of Indigenous women’s health, from her groundbreaking environmental research tackling PCB contamination among her people, to helping solidly reestablish traditional Indigenous midwifery in North America, to founding and/or running a number of significant organizations. Katsi’s latest mission as leader of the Spirit Aligned Leadership Program is to elevate the lives, voices, and dreams of Indigenous elder women who desire to intentionally transfer their knowledge and experience to younger women. She shares stories of some of these remarkable women and what they can teach us about the Sacred Cycle of Life, covering such topics as the regeneration of Indigenous lifeways, ancestral healing, the world-building biocultural characteristics of matrilineal descent and rematriation, and addressing the maternity care crisis in Indian Country through kinship connection.

MODEL COMMUNITY

CLAN MOTHERS HEALING VILLAGE

Our original governance systems were matrilineal in nature, directed by Grandmother Councils and Clan Mother Systems. Today, we are witness to an incredible time of resurgence world-wide, as Indigenous women assume their natural roles as leaders, tackling some of the biggest challenges facing humanity.

We believe that healing is only possible when we return to our Indigenous models and methodologies of healing. This includes re-imagining agency governance. In this regard, we have developed a governance structure for the Healing Village and Knowledge Centre that will enrich the organization by creating a modern version of our traditional governance.

Historically, ikwe [women and those who identify as female] were understood to be inherent holders of unique maada’ookii [gifts], which include niigaanii [ability to lead] in ceremony, in community and family life, and themselves as individuals. Clan mothers formed the foundation of all governance, and held the responsibility for making decisions, selecting, or removing leaders, and representing the general will of the community through mediation, by providing guidance, and adjudicating in disputes…

ANCIENT SCIENCE

Grandmother Moon with Jan Longboat

Mohawk Elder & Traditional Herbalist, Jan Kahehti:io Longboat of Six Nations teaches us about the Grandmother Moon. She is joined by geologist Peter Croal of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society.

Together they compare traditional wisdom stories about the formation and role of the moon alongside newer scientific findings that corroborates ancient wisdom in a compelling way.

GOOD MEDICINE

Wisdom of the Grandmothers

The grandmothers are speaking, and listeners are lifted by songs and stories that remind us of our wholeness, wildness, and belonging. By opening our minds and hearts to indigenous elders, with their sage wisdom, we find and refine the vital skills inside ourselves that are needed at this time.

Preview linked in image. Full film here. Series below.

Voices of the Grandmother’s part 1: Sage Wisdom

Voices of the Grandmother’s part 2: Heart Intelligence

Voices of the grandmother’s part 3: Sacred Ceremony

Voices of the Grandmother’s part 4: Healing Path

EMOTIONAL WISDOM

How Empathy Will Shape Our Future

Much of the world’s conflict comes from a closed, heavy heart. We suppress emotions that cause us pain, we suffer from worry, fear and trauma. We encase our hearts in layers of protection, a fortress around our most sensitive selves, and the heart becomes rigid and closed.  So our heart loses its shine and the spirit becomes restless, and unable to authentically express itself.

But we can learn to soften our hearts, recognising that we don’t need the armour it thought it needed to keep it safe. You have the choice to free yourself of the emotional burdens you are holding onto. By opening your heart, you help yourself, others and the world to be a more loving place. Let go, choose love, and let your spirit soar.

Filmed in Theefontein, South Africa.

Featuring Antoinette Pienaar (kruiekraaikoning.co.za)

FLORA & FAUNA

Embracing each”otter”

After just seeing a family of 8 otters traveling down the Rio Grande together, I had to include our local otters as a symbol of female leadership, love and care.

River otters are highly social and live in large, extended family groups. In these groups, a matriarch presides over the family unit and older offspring may assist in caring for new litters. This behavior is similar to the human concept of a grandmother as multiple generations contribute to raising the young.

LISTEN

Yael Deckelbaum - Prayer Of The Mothers

The song "Prayer of the Mothers", was born as a result of an alliance made between singer-songwriter Yael Deckelbaum and a group of courageous women leading the movement of “Women Wage Peace”. The movement arose on summer 2014 during the escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, and the military operation “Tzuk Eitan”. On October 4, 2016, Jewish and Arab women began with the joint "March of Hope" project. Thousands of women marched from the north of Israel to Jerusalem in a call for peace. A call that reached it’s peak on October 19th, in a march of at least 4,000 women half of them Palestinian, and Half Israeli, in Qasr el Yahud (on the northern Dead Sea). The very same evening 15,000 women protested in front of the priministors house in Jerusalem. The marches were joined by the Nobel Prize for Peace winner Leymah Gbowee, who lead to the end of the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, by the joint force of women.

Yael Deckelbaum - women of the world unite TED talk

WOMEN WAGE PEACE!

The Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace

It started with a dream…

In December 2011, Leymah Gbowee (featured in the music video above) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her role in helping to end the devastating civil war in Liberia.

She had mobilised thousands of women to take part in daily, non-violent public protests calling for peace – which pressurised ruthless President Charles Taylor into meeting them.

When he agreed to peace talks, a delegation from The Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace followed Taylor to Ghana. When talks stalled, they barricaded the room, refusing to let anyone leave until a peace deal was reached.

Within weeks, after continued pressure from the US and other West African nations, the former warlord had resigned and gone into exile.

Watch this PBS video to learn about the visionary backstory of the movement that ended a 14-year war.

BBC interview here.

COSMIC DRAMA

David Little Elk - The Story of Uncila Unk

With this Creation story of competition turned collaboration, frustrations turned blessings and hostility turned friendship, David Little Elk reminds us how life is always conspiring not against us, but for our highest benefit and in support of balance and unity everywhere at every level of Creation. Others may be conspiring against us and wish us ill will out of sheer ignorance, but it’s good to remember that we are all playing out a bigger plan that is moving us all towards unity and wholeness. As I see it, even the Devil works for the Divine.

THE ART OF FRIENDLY RIVALRY

Bboy Competition - Conrad vs Run

An example of good-spirited competition. This form of competition is called a “cypher” in which a high-vibe circle of supporters gather to allow b-boys and b-girls their chance to shine. The setting of this kind of competition is designed to support individual expression and bring out the best in the other.

There are no rival teams and no rival allegiances. The audience is equally supportive of both competitors in this spirit. Everyone in the circle, whether dancing or observing, contributes to the overall energy. Dancers are encouraged to cheer for others to elevate the atmosphere and keep the cypher's vibe strong. A good cypher has a good flow of people entering and exiting, creating a constant, moving flow of energy and exchange. 

The “battle” is actually a conversation. One makes their statement, then the other. The b-boy stance at the end of each statement is a punctuation mark. It is a creative non-verbal exchange.

The cypher operates on unwritten rules of respect and etiquette that are essential to the culture. This includes knowing the history of hip-hop, not "biting" (copying) another dancer's moves, and handling disputes on the dance floor instead of with aggression.

An example of how friendly competition evolves the art form here.

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Historically, this style of dance competition producing new and creative forms  of expression and artistry is rooted in the good-spirited competition between black African-American dancer "Master Juba" (William Henry Lane) and co-performer in the blackface minstrel, John Diamond, a white Irish-American. The blackface minstrel shows were a melding of Irish folk dance with the “Patting Juba”, a style rooted in Africa that evolved on plantations during times of slavery. The new style further evolved by Master Juba would eventually influence, Jazz, Step Dancing and Tap. Yet another example of embracing very different forms from very different cultures for artistic and cultural (r)evolution.

EPIC COLLABORATION

The Kiffness - Alugalug Cat

Enjoy the magic that comes together with this epic international interspecial symphonic collaboration.