Recovery of a Cracked Soul

People who have severe addictions, drugs or alcohol, often speak of a hole in their chest. This hole is best understood as a cracked soul. The recovery and healing of the soul is done by ceremony by spiritual healers.
The negative impact of alcohol and drugs (the toxicity of the substance) has a spirit. This negative spirit creates the feeling of hollowness, thereby creating a climate of negativity in the person and the immediate environment of the person and anyone touched by that environment.
You can see that in the effects in all the directions (mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually) in the little children who are affected by that person and environment.
Anyone who observes this is affected by that negative spirit.
The crucial question then becomes: how do you heal that cracked soul, and those affected by that cracked soul? There are many approaches to this dilemma, by other traditions different from Native traditions. Native traditions have been healing cracked souls for millenia - cracked souls can happen from many different kinds of negative spirits (violence, war, trauma, physical illness, etc...)
Just like there are many Native traditions, likewise there are many different types of ceremonies that address the issue of cracked souls. The approach that I use is a Pipe, Sweat Lodge, Bear Grease, and Talking Circles and One-on-One Talking. There is no wrong or right way to do Ceremony. What our spiritual masters emphasize is healing the heart.
There is a lot of trickiness to that negative spirit. For example, THC is the active substance in marijuana that alters a persons perception. It can have both a positive and a negative physical affect. The negative spirit enters through the cracked soul thereby invoking trauma and in many cases violence, and other emotional damage. The Traditional medicines address the imbalance and the pain experienced by the individual. When Traditional medicines are used in ceremony they help free the person or people from that negative spirit.

An Elders Perspective on Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous Knowledge grew from thousands of years of "research and development" in the natural world. The major premise of Indigenous Knowledge is a deep respect for all forms of life. The knowledge grew from the territory itself, as did language, and the people lived in a context of relationships and responsibilities with all of that natural world, the Creator, and the invisible helpers.
An IK approach to the roles and values of each aspect of nature creates a paradigm in which relationships, and a relational guide to all human choices, holds the key to understanding. Language defines our relationships to the land, to each other, and to Shkagamik-Kwe (Mother Earth).
Language informs our spiritual understanding and the traditional structure of community.
Debwewin is truth, which instructs our own personal truths. the Ode-min (Strawberry), the first berry that grows in the spring, informs our hearts - the link to truth. The teachings around Ode-min inform us in multiple dimensions.
Our language provides a comprehensive overview of traditional teachings passed on by our Elders, commonly referred to as oral teachings.
This paradigm has been utilized by the Aboriginal community for millennia. Passions in our communities run very deeply when it comes to oral tradition and the like.

The role of the clan is to provide a safe space for community members to live, work and play.

An excerpt from my book, The Hollow Tree:Fighting Addiction with Traditional Native Healing:

"A long time ago a loon was badly hurt. His spirit was broken, and his mind and body were confused because he drank too much alcohol This loon lived on the lake of firewater and he was surrounded by many other loons who lived in the same state of confusion The lake was polluted and the surroundings of the lake were not very pretty to look at because all the loons that lived on the lake drank too much. One day the loon met three other loons from a different lake. The confused loon, the one with the broken spirit, began to talk with the visiting loons. The two loons, Eddy and Michael, were generous and took time to communicate with the loon. The talked and walked the sweetgrass road with the broke-spirited loon. The told him that 'only through simple honesty and kindness are we able to build our true fire. If we cannot build this fire we eventually die.'" (p.39-40)

I wrote this book to help other people, who, like the broken-spirited loon, need help to fly. My prayer is that everyone who reads this book will discover their own inner fire and ability to fly. I hope that you will have the opportunity to find this book and read it and pass on the wisdom you gain as you read. That wisdom comes from your inner fire as you engage with the teachings contained in the book.

May you walk well with the Creator.

Update on Elders events

On April 28, 29, May 1, May 2 we will be doing a 4 day Fast in the traditional Anishnaabe way, out on the Land. We will end the Fast with a Sweat Lodge Ceremony and a Feast on Sunday, May 1, 2010.

On June 16-20 Herb will be at the 10th International Conference, "Celebrating Indigenous Knowledges: Peoples, Lands, Cultures" held at Trent University, Peterborough, ON. He will be speaking on June 18 on "Climate Change from the Medicine Wheel Perspective" and will post his comments prior to the conference.

At the end of August at Laurentian University there will be a Language Conference where he will be presenting the Seven Grandfather Teachings and the Fire Teachings.

Herb has one more year of teaching before going on sabbatical in 2011-2012. Individuals and groups who would like him to plan for presentations should schedule early with him. In Nov. 2011 he will be traveling to Brazil for a Canadian Studies Conference.

Fire Teaching

Fire - All humans have a fire within. The Earth also has a fire at Her center, and we humans have a connection to Her fire. The fire keeps the Earth in balance along with the Life Force. Global warming creates an imbalance with the Life Force and the Earth. Extreme weather and the melting ice represents that imbalance. This is a teaching from our ancient wisdom. Humans have to begin listening to our Mother to rebalance the Life Force and the Fire.