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SPIRIT
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The 37 pages in this Main Information section are below.
Spirit Names & Their Medicine
by Cinnamon Moon
A friend and I were talking about
Spirit Names recently, she asked me: "What's in a name?"
And so we discussed that. I thought about the members here at
Spirit Lodge and how some of you would like to consider the
power contained within a Spirit Name. These names 'hold the
Medicine' in a sort of nutshell. If one knows how to see that
they can open that nutshell and understand that person's Medicine.
Some people have several Spirit
Names they acquire over the years and those names run together
to tell a Medicine story. So I am going to share with you how
this works. You've heard me discuss how when we are gifted with
a Spirit Name it marks a time of initiation, a time of receiving
that Medicine and learning to understand it, walk with it, and
thus master it by experience. So the Spirit Name someone walks
with tells others of the Medicine journey they take in life,
how they walk their talk and how they use their Medicine. Someone
saying to you: "I was gifted with a new Spirit Name"
is telling you they are initiating to that understanding and
will not hold the fullness of it for some time. If someone says
"I am called __________" they have likely achieved
mastery (even though we continue to grow in understanding always
being a work in progress, our abilities are brought forth this
way and we do master how 'we' use them).
I'm going to make up some names
here to exemplify what I'm talking about and demonstrate that.
Let's say someone's name was DancingBear…what's the nutshell?
Well it's definitely Bear Medicine but what does the DancingBear
do? In this case it would be someone who, through sacred Dance,
could heal others. This is someone who holds Bear Medicine and
Bear Ceremony that allows them to Dance through life in a healing
manner to serve Spirit and others.
Bear Medicine is not just about
healing in the physical sense, it's also about the ability to
journey inward introspectively, to do the deep soul searching
that is necessary to retrieval work, shamanic journeys, and
finding hidden causes and answers to old wounds that can be
healed…those wounds to the Inner Spirit and our relationships
with others in the world. Through Dancing, this individual would
be able to do Ceremony and enter into a trance state that would
bring this Medicine into play.
Now let’s say that another
name were passed to this individual and that new name was LaughingCrow.
Crow Medicine has entered into this individual's life and they
will enjoy bringing Spirit's Universal Law into the world by
dropping little gems that sparkle and catch the eye/mind of
others. Crow can bend those Universal Laws and shapeshift and
this individual would be able to do the same. They would enjoy
taking different forms and mastering illusion as this is how
Crow hides the secrets in those gems…like seeds.
Someone with this Medicine would
know that humans struggle to understand Sacred Law and how it
is balanced with those laws of society as well as the illusions
that evolve in that process. Because of this they would seed
the truths to maintain the balance of the sacred. This would
be someone who walked their talk speaking their truth and being
aware of why that was important.
This individual would then walk
as DancingBear *and* LaughingCrow for several years before another
turning point in their evolutionary path came about, until their
Medicine had been mastered and blended enough that it could
take on more and another Spirit Name might be gifted to them.
This third Spirit Name given as LizardInShadow…a Medicine
that would come into initiation through work in the DreamLodge…this
Medicine is that of Shadow…the Shadow of reality.
The individual would come to know
and understand the DreamWeave and how it is manifested. They
would be able to travel among the Stars understanding the past,
present, and future involved in the visions of others. They
would know symbology and work heavily with it. Perhaps their
work would be dream interpretation but it would always tie into
destiny in that it would relate to the DreamWeave of that individual…knowing
what purpose that person had been born to fulfill and in this
way could direct someone to the path they were seeking to bring
it into being. Perhaps they would forewarn or forearm that seeker
and save them a great deal of time understanding their own journey.
In this way, once mastered, they would enter the DreamLodge
and work there.
Okay…so we have an individual
that walks with 3 Spirit Names…DancingBear, LaughingCrow,
and LizardInShadow. Take the images of these three names and
you have the depictions on a Medicine Shield that would symbolize
the personal Medicine of this person. If you run the names together
you have a Medicine Story told symbolically, and if that individual
shares those stories in detail you will be hearing how that
Medicine came into being and how it is used. That individual
would likely introduce themselves to other Medicine People saying:
"I am LizardInShadow who watches LaughingCrow perch on
the shoulder of DancingBear." perhaps. Those Medicine People
would know what that meant through the introduction or seeing
it painted on a Medicine Shield symbolically. Others who did
not understand the Medicine would think the names or depictions
to be interesting or unique but not be able to grasp the fullness
of what they contained.
What's in a name? The Medicine it
holds. Sometimes we will be given one name, sometimes several,
it all depends on the purpose we were born to serve. It does
not matter if you have one name or many, one name indicates
a great power within that individual and a strong focus based
on that Medicine in a specific direction. Several names will
indicate a combination of Medicines that create a great power
within that individual and a strong focus based on those combination
In either case, they hold the context of the individual's Medicine
and their Medicine Path. These names, because of how they are
gifted to us, because of the Medicine they contain, because
of the Path they address, are sacred and they define how we
walk our talk. Many of you know me personally, all of you know
of me, so I'm quite comfortable discussing my name and using
that as another example. I use only one of my Spirit Names openly
in pubic, CinnamonMoon. It comprises a large portion of my personal
Medicine but by no means all of it. It is what I show openly,
the rest of my Medicine is used in my pathwork and my other
Spirit Names are given when called for on a private basis. One
applies to the sharing and teaching I do, another applies to
what energies I weave etc., etc., so I am private about those
names sharing them with a limited number of individuals and
depending on the Medicine I'm working with where they're concerned.
In either case, they hold the context of the individual's Medicine
and their Medicine Path. These names, because of how they are
gifted to us, because of the Medicine they contain, because
of the Path they address, are sacred and they define how we
walk our talk.
Many of you know me personally,
all of you know of me, so I'm quite comfortable discussing my
name and using that as another example. I use only one of my
Spirit Names openly in pubic, CinnamonMoon. It comprises a large
portion of my personal Medicine but by no means all of it. It
is what I show openly, the rest of my Medicine is used in my
pathwork and my other Spirit Names are given when called for
on a private basis. One applies to the sharing and teaching
I do, another applies to what energies I weave etc., etc., so
I am private about those names sharing them with a limited number
of individuals and depending on the Medicine I'm working with
where they're concerned.
CinnamonMoon elicits an image of
a Harvest Moon. It holds my Women's Medicine teachings, the
reflective and clairsentient abilities and their reflection
in the world. The Harvest Moon is a time of sharing and I share
what I see by doing readings for others professionally. I share
my knowledge of the sacred ways through my writing and here
at Spirit Lodge. I am active in the DreamLodge doing pathwork
there as well. The Moon rides high in the sky and the associations
to reflect the bigger picture as well as focus light on what
is hidden for others so that they can see things is all tied
into that. There is a great deal of Moon Medicine tied to the
work I do.
Cinnamon has other implications as
to the Medicine I walk with as it purifies, enhances Dreaming,
strengthens and protects, attracts and stimulates the mind and
prophecy. Cinnamon is going to bring understanding of immortality
and things associated with the Inner Spirit's journey along
those lines as it raises the spiritual vibration so that one
can tap into these in-sights. It is a warm healing energy when
focused in that direction and holds astringent properties that
cleanse. When added to other Medicines it increases their power
and potential. When I call upon the Medicine within Cinnamon
and combine that with the Moon Medicine I carry it reflects
to the world in my Spirit Name the path I walk and the work
I do upon it in a major way.
When I unify all my Spirit Names
it brings me deeply into union with my Self, the Oneness with
Spirit and guidance, so that I may enter into council with them
and foresee through what is shared with me the course I am to
take for myself or with others. It allows me to manifest and
give form to the weaving I'm to do and bring things into being
when that's called for. There are many aspects to the work I
do, and if one knows all my Spirit Names they know the fullness
of my Medicine or at least they have an idea of what it contains.
Add to a Spirit Name, or series
of them, the Medicine that is comprised through our Totems,
and the things we learn along the way as we study and explore
our spirituality in general, the ways of the Seven Sacred Directions,
the Medicine Wheel, and the areas of interest we hold you begin
to see how it all comes together and forms a unique mixture
that defines the individual. Naturally this combination is going
to be a mere overview of the complexity of any given individual,
but like any symbol or nutshell, if understood it tells us a
great deal and helps us understand the ways of others.
For these reasons a Spirit Name
is a very sacred thing and we need to see they are not given
nor received lightly. And as we walk with our Medicine we bring
it forth into the world and share it with others. What we are
given to receive is then able to be passed on as a gift that
keeps on giving…we become the Hollow Bone through which
Spirit feeds to the world that which is needed.
I was telling my friend how I love
the words of Frank Fools Crow, a Teton Ceremonial Chief, spoke
when he said: "The power and ways are given to us to be
passed on to others." His path was to share Native spirituality
and understanding beyond his People by taking it out into the
world. His path was great and filled with many challenges...it
spanned the globe as he spoke to large assemblies about Native
spirituality. Nothing could stop him, not the Elders who objected
to what he was doing-they saw him breaking tradition but he'd
been given a vision and a mission to serve Spirit this way and
he would not be stopped. He could not be stopped by those that
tried to suppress him, nor his family who tried to take his
words back after his death…they were put down
in books, they were distributed, already in the possession of
others. Spirit gave him a very specific mission and like his
name, Fools Crow, like Crow, the gems he loved so much he shared
with the world and he fooled others in the process. They could
not reclaim what was his to give and he succeeded by passing
it on. Bless his spirit and his work. He was a true Crow, he
carried the Medicine into the world by sharing Universal Law…Spirit's
law and he served well.
I'll leave you with this and let
you all munch now.
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Libraries
are on this row
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INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
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INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
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©
Copyright: Cinnamon Moon & River WildFire Moon (Founders.)
2000-date
All rights reserved.
Site
constructed by Dragonfly
Dezignz 1998-date
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