GIVING THANKS
O Great One, Creator of all things, we come before you in a humble way, offering what gifts we have. Giving thanks for the gifts of life that we have been given amidst the beauty of this Great Creation, so that we may learn to walk the path of Good Medicine as we give thanks to the Creator and each of the Four Directions.
To the spirit of Fire/Sun (warm and light) in the East. The East is the Sacred Way.
To the spirit of the Wind (wisdom and giving) in the North.
To the spirit of the Waters (purity and strength) in the West. The West is the place the storms come from.
To the spirit of Mother Earth (peace and renewal) in the South.
We give thanks to Mother Earth and the Sacred Fire, which burns brightly in our hearts, offering us the precious gifts of clarity, openness, strength and wisdom as we walk this path of peace. We give thanks to all of our relations and for the beauty of all things, for those who walk along side of us, for those yet to come, in harmony and balance, we give thanks, O Great One, we give thanks. Wah doh.
WHY WE GIVE THANKS TO THE FOUR DIRECTIONS
From Egela (Fire) we receive the heat that makes our hearts alive, pulsing with vitality and flickering with vibrance.
From Inole (Wind) we receive our first breath of life and experience the Giveaway of our last sigh.
From Ama (Water) we receive the life stream of our blood, flowing ever outward before returning once again to the source of beginning, only to flow again outwards giving life to us, completing the circle.
From Elohine (Mother Earth), we receive the solid form of our physical being that which we know as the body, made of all the same substance that makes up every living thing in our world.
This is why we give thanks to the Four Directions, that which makes us what we are, both in substance and form.
And in the Center is our Spirit, the ever-changing, ever-lasting connection with all that is, all that moves, flows, breaths and flickers. We are one with all that is and all things are connected like the blood that united one family.