Some Inuit looked into the aurora borealis, or northern lights, to find images of their family and friends dancing in the next life. For others they were invisible giants, the souls of animals, a guide to hunting and as a spirit for the angakkuq to help with healing. They relied upon these shamans for spiritual interpretation. The nearest thing to a central deity was the Old Woman Sedna, who lived beneath the sea. The waters, a central food source, were believed to contain great gods.
What have we lost from our ancestors that made the world around them so animate? What have we done to cut ourselves off from this deep and rich source of comfort and wisdom? How can we ever begin to feel this wisdom again in our lives?
Draw your family around you, sit with them by the fire and dream. Tell stories of departed friends and relatives, of more distant ancestors, remember how the animals once spoke to us in languages we understood. Let their images grow in the fertile ground of your children’s spirit. Slowly, slowly let the tales take seed and root. Feed your children with love by being there for them in the quite moments between night and day. Sing to them the story of the earth and our connection to it all.
And bless your food – something we take for granted every day – what a great gift it is! Sit around the table and talk about where your food came from, who toiled long and hard to bring it to you, how many miles it travelled, what sights it saw on the way. Tell your children why you are eating it. Appreciate it and love the kitchen in which it was prepared, love the hands that cooked and served it and love the ones who now are eating it.
And during all this, continue to know that there are helpers all around YOU; in the mist that you see hanging over the town at dusk, in the coffee granules at the bottom of your cup, in the way the fire draws breath as it lights. Look at the patterns in the stars for they are there to guide you and if you ever lose faith in the world, know that it is your absolute right to draw all of this around you like a blanket of love, healing and protection. For love, heal and protect you, it will.
