7 Days from today.....Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Yvsa

Yvsa

Joined
May 18, 1999
Messages
15,395
Well I have a confession, but First things First. New Years is coming up soon and choice of the night before will determine how people wake up on the First Day of 2,002.;)

The old time Cherokee had a Very Special Ceremony every year that helped us to all live better lives.
It was a coming together of all the People. New clothes were prepared, food was cooked, our houses cleaned to perfection and our yards and fields were all tidied up and the cooking fires in all the homes was put out for the reception of the New Fire.
The New Fire was brought into our homes from the Lady of each household from the Sacred Fire "Atsila" in the Council House which was never allowed to go out!!!!
And The Sacred Fire Atsila is Still Burning Today in a few places even after the Trail Where We Cried and to this day is still carried out to rekindle other Cherokee Fires around our beautiful country!!!!

I'm gonna try to keep this a bit shorter than it otherwise would be by not going in sequence and such.;)

The new clothes were layed out on the river or creek bank and when the priests called the people everyone would come to the river.
Upon the priest's instruction they would shed their old clothes and then immerse themselves into the water for a total of Seven times.
Then again upon the priests instruction the people would come out of the water, don their new clothes and a New Year would Begin!!!!!!!
This was Very Important to us because when the Ceremony had been completed all the ill's, grieviences, insults, blood debt's and the like that caused our people so much harm was forgiven.
(The person who had killed your father the day after the Ceremony last year which you could have rightfully killed the day before was free to go and come as he pleased without fear of harm from the ones he did wrong too.
Didn't mean you had to like the person however nor watch him for further screwups where you could rightfully kill
him.:))

It has became a Tradition for some of us that I started here at our Lodge, in the ndn crowd we hang around with, to have a Special Sweatlodge on New Years Day.
This year will mark the Eighth Annual New Years Day Sweat for us!!!!
Since we no longer have the Old Priests Nor do we have their Old Language, different from regular Cherokee, we have pretty much lost our Old Ceremony even though some of us try to substitute a similar day.
Our Annual New Years Sweatlodge takes the place for the Old Ceremony for us here.
It helps us all a great deal by laying aside the petty squabbles that people/family sometimes have and gives a gentle place to resolve and forgive anything we may have slighted or felt slighted about.
It's Definitely A Good Thing!!!!

So is anyone in the group gonna make any New Years Resolutions? I am.
Did you make any last year? I did.
Did you keep any you made last year? Not as well as I could/should have.

The confession? Well it doesn't have any connection with New Years for me, But is often a resolution for many on New Years. I myself have made the resolution in past years and never kept it.

On November the 15th at 11:30 p.m. I smoked/ put out/ my last cigarette hopefully from now on..... It is something I had thought long and hard about and finally decided to stop smoking. Notice I didn't say quit. I don't think anyone can quit, but they can stop. IF They want too.
Call it a play on words if you wanna.;)

There were several reasons I did this in spite of Absolutely Loving to Smoke!!!!!!!!!

1st of all I decided it wasn't right to browbeat my docs if I wasn't gonna take care of myself.
They can give me all the medicines in the world and if I still continue to do those things that are making me feel bad then I have no right to complain to them.....
(I had quit once for 4 years about 7-8 years ago and liked Not Smoking.
I liked the way my home smelled. The car, my clothes, my mouth felt clean, I didn't cough up wads of nasty stuff etc, etc.....)

2nd. I wanted to be able to keep playing my Flutes!!!!
And I aquired a brand new Very Beautiful Hand Made Didjeradoo from a very good friend of mine. You have to have lots of air to play one of those!!!!!!!:D
And one of my thoughts on living and what I have always told and helped others with is...........
"What are you willing to give up to get what you want?".......

If I can't walk my talk then I'm not who I say I am so I decided that my Flutes and the New Didj took precedence over my smoking let alone all the side benefits that go with it.

Am I saying you should stop? No.
But I did want to share my story with y'all. For me it's quite an achievement. I did it cold turkey, with no help from the docs or patches or gimmicks. I just simply "stopped."
And that part of me is feeling better anyway!!!!!!!:D

May the Great Mystery Bless and Keep each and Every One of You and Yours for the New Year to Come!!!!!!!!
 
Great post, Bro, and great going. I'm thinking about trying to stop again and I'll probably be thinking about it the day I die.
 
I inhaled the smoke from a burning KFC napkin as a wee lad. Haven't had the urge to smoke since.

Besides, it would take more than cigarettes to make me look cool. :p
 
This was Very Important to us because when the Ceremony had been completed all the ill's, grieviences, insults, blood debt's and the like that caused our people so much harm was forgiven
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I like this idea very much.:) It sounds like a very healthy(physical as well as spiritual/mental)thing to do for the individual as well as community. I am guilty more than I'd like to admit of holding grudges. and nothing feels better than finally putting one to bed(grudge that is. Didn't want anyone to think that I meant "rubbing out" the one I had a grudge against;) Although that would make me feel good too;) :D ).

we have pretty much lost our Old Ceremony even though some of us try to substitute a similar day.
Click to expand...

As you know, one of my pet peeves is people who always try to create a silver lining in every situation--sometimes things ARE just bad. At the risk of sounding that way--I think its a tragedy that any of the old ways were lost, but its great to hear that "new" ones are serving the same purpose and helping people live better lives, and get along with one another better.


May the Great Mystery Bless and Keep each and Every One of You and Yours for the New Year to Come!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Thank you my friend, and the same to you and yours:)
 
Yvsa, I'm very proud of you! It is good to hear that you are still controling your life! Chamaine is also glad to hear this! If everyone had your attitude this world would be a much greater place!

Uncle Bill, I have no doubt that you could "stop" smoking too! My dad stoped about 5 years ago after smoking for 40 years and he says he does feel much better!

I don't want to sound like your mother so just do what you need to do but please take care of yourself so you guys are around for a long time to come!!!:D
 
Hi Tom
My New Years Wish is to be here next year at this time and still be able to ghost through the woods.
Three deer in the freezer, I reckon I won`t be a vegitarian, (poor hunter),for awhile.
The squirells and rabbits are still around, but I have to do some eating to make room. The fish are there too.
Darn, I can`t spell squerll today.
The heck with it; what do you make of one that was looking at me and not chattering. I figure a personality disorder or rabid.
I was deer killing, so that was nice. It also was atypical of experiance.
Perhaps, he wished the deer to me.
 
Hi Tom
My New Years Wish is to be here next year at this time and still be able to ghost through the woods.
Three deer in the freezer, I reckon I won`t be a vegitarian, (poor hunter),for awhile.
The squirells and rabbits are still around, but I have to do some eating to make room. The fish are there too.
Darn, I can`t spell squerll today.
The heck with it; what do you make of one that was looking at me and not chattering. I figure a personality disorder or rabid.
I was deer killing, so that was nice. It also was atypical of experiance.
Perhaps, he wished the deer to me.
 
Warlock6 wrote:
Darn, I can`t spell squerll today.
The heck with it; what do you make of one that was looking at me and not chattering. I figure a personality disorder or rabid."
Click to expand...

Hi Daniel.
I figure that he or she was trying to puzzle you out. Maybe he or she figured the same about yourself.;)
 
When you live in the field you come to see things differently than people who live indoors.
I learned that the absence of something that should be there and is not, is at least as much as of an alarm as something that is there and is something to deal with.
Call me cautious. My hand goes to a weapon if I feel anything that does not belong in my enviornment.
You know the feeling Tom.
 
Here we go again, another New Year that is.

Yvsa, nice post. I will go to water sometime early this year. "Going to water" is what we call the ceremony on this side of the sticks. I bet it probably has the same name there.

I usually don't have a New Year's Resolution, as my philosophy has been that if you should be doing something, then it should be done now or at least headed in the direction of your goal.

This year, I will have my first resolution. I feel a trip to through the West is in order. Not geographically, but along the Western Winds of the Medicine Wheel- which means the Sacred Death & Rebirth.
I have kept myself insanely busy the past 5 months. I averaged about 4-6 hours of sleep and non-stop work or studying. This was OK until about the 2-3rd month and then more health problems than I have had most of my life surfaced. All because I didn't respect this body that the Creator gave me and take care of it properly.

So my resolution is to live a balanced life again, take better care of myself and to hold the Sacred Pipe a little more than before. I miss keeping up with my friends and family. My daughter just turned two years old, so I believe this will be a great year to start exploring Mother Earth with her.


The New Year is soon approaching, my best to everyone.
 
Good for you, Yvsa! It is never too late to do things differently for the better. Trust me when I say that I enjoy a great cigar meself. I used to do some serious cigarring. This has been cut back drastically ( i.e. 4 cigars in 2001).

The reason? Many. The Catalyst? March 10, 2000. I was at work (Pipefitter & Plumber) in a manbasket on a Lull booming forklift when the @#%* thing tilted forward, and I took the express elevator 30 feet to the concrete. I walked out of the ER 3 hours later just banged up but not seriously injured. Having a close call makes you think about your blessings, and how you don't want to scram too soon.
I figured my profession was hazardous enough, I didn't need to contribute voluntarily to my own health problems.

Also, I watched my grandfather very slowly walk west with emphazema and angina (Spelling?) after 50 years of Lucky Strikes. I don't have genetics OR karma going for me on this.

We youngin's got to look out for our elders to make sure they're around for further questioning when our young brains think of things to ask. ;) I hope to read about your success, but I understand the diffculty involved.

-Craig
 
Signing off to get a new pair of boots to wear to party in. After the operation, can't get the reg'lar ones to go on over the swollen ankle.

Ran across an Arapaho prayer ( so I'm told ) "Remember me. I am poor. I will be poor every morning of my life. Take pity on me." Reminds me of the Xtian "Happy are the poor in spirit".

Without realizing the poverty of spirit, we don't realize the gifts we receive. One of the gates in the wall in Jerusalem was so small it was called the "eye of the needle". One of Christ's jokes was about it being easier for a camel to enter the eye of the needle ( possible with the right camel, a bunch of grease, and a couple teams of oxen or donkeys ) and the camel might never be quite right again than a rich man to enter heaven. Must'a been a real back slapper back then.

But the point is, by recognizing one's poverty one becomes aware of the richness of the gifts Whomever is out there gives us.

Soon, brother.
 
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