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Tansi, ahnee and hello.
This morning there is new snow.
Each individual flake spirals lazily through the purple haziness of early morning like a dancer.
If you close your eyes and listen, the right way you can almost hear the beat of the drum they follow.
In the wind is an honor song. Morning emerges elegantly, gracefully like a planned thing.
Snow.
In the past few days there has been the teasing presence of a false spring. The river opened up a little and the people everywhere were walking with the extra jump to their step that comes from warmth and sunshine.
>From my window, those mornings, I could see the grass again and the hard grey face of the pavement. Perhaps if I had tried hard enough I could have believed that this evidence pointed to the early arrival of springtime. I didn't.
This is the first moon of the year. The old ones called it the Earth Renewal Moon. This is the moon that is born of the longest and darkest day of the year.
It travels through what's left of the old year and on into the new. It brings with it an elegant motion inward. It is a time of contemplation.
The color of this time of year is white. The pure glistening white of the snow that falls outside this window. It is the color of purity and wisdom. It is the only color that is a combination of all other colors. A balance and a harmony.
Maybe it's just coincidence that the snow is falling as I prepare myself to enter a new year. Maybe the climatic conditions just happen to be occurring this way.
Maybe the snow this morning is just old winter man announcing his continued control over things until the real springtime chases his into shadow once more.
Maybe.
One thing I've managed to learn and believe over the last few years is that nature seldom does anything by accident. In every small change in rhythm and condition there is something there for me to learn or use.
With this in mind the snow this morning becomes an indication that it's time to remember the thing the Old Ones said about this time of year.
It is the time of renewal. Underneath this soft blanket of snow and ice, the earth is gathering its energies.
The tiny seeds which will become plants and trees are coming into harmony with the ground. The animals which are the sleeping ones are resting and allowing the universe around them to offer them protection as they rest from one season of growth and prepare for another.
It is the same with human beings.
In the old days the elders told stories and legends around the tribal fire. Because everything was in a state of rest they believed that the spirit world was in the same state.
They could talk about the good and bad spirits safely without fear of angering the unhealthy spirits.
When the teachings and stories were finished, the people had more time to dwell on their meanings. There wasn't as much activity during the winter months and there was less distraction.
The people had more than enough time to contemplate the teachings of the elders. Through the long winter nights they could go inward and see how these teachings applied to their individual families and lives.
In this modern world it is possible to do the same. At the turn of the year the fashionable thing for people to do is to make resolutions.
This is the time when all kinds of promises are made to ourselves to either quit something or start something. This is the time when we assess the good and bad things in our lives.
The time when we focus on things we'd like to change or add to the daily routines of our living.
The winter is the direction of the north on the Great Wheel of Life. It is the direction of wisdom. This is the time on the Medicine Wheel when human beings reflect on all the teachings that have come their way throughout their travels around the Wheel in the past year.
This is what the snow has reminded me of this morning. Sometimes it is so easy to take things for granted. Sometimes I can get so caught up in the day by day events in my ife that I forget to put them into the proper perspective.
I forget that making a success of life in this modern world for me is based entirely on belief and practice of those old teachings and traditions.
Nature is a great reminder. The biggest thing I can do for myself on a day to day basis is to stop moving around first thing in the morning and take a good long look at what is happening in the world around me. Even a small winter thing like falling snow has its message. Our world is the greatest spiritual teacher.
This morning I am into a new year and a new decade. The 1980's were a great learning time for me. I grew up there. The 1990's hold a great deal of promise. What I need to remember as I move into them however are all of the hard lessons I had to learn through the old decade. As I move into this new year I need to recall all of the lessons contained in that one year of 1989.
This is the Earth Renewal Moon. Like the moon I move graceful from one year to another. Like the moon I take the time to contemplate all the teachings in the travels I have gone through in the last year. I gather my energies and move into the coming seasons with grace and dignity.
Until next week, Meegwetch.
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