lorenzo is ojibwe and lives with his family on curve lake reserve north of peterborough. each day that he works at my school, we spend time together laughing and talking about our lives and sometimes talking about my work as a teacher. see, part of what i have to teach my students is about his heritage. about his people. his people’s sacred life. his people’s spiritual beliefs. his people’s pain. his people’s healing.
there's an irony about that isn't there . . . . .
smudging is a ritual way to cleanse a person , or a place of negative energies, spirits or influences.
the smudging ceremony involved the burning of some sweetgrass that lorenzo had gathered north of the city.
lorenzo spoke to us of the story of sweetgrass. he had braided the herb into a sixty centimetre long length which he lit at the end with a match and then, placed in front of each of us.
we pulled the smoke towards our heads and over us like pulling water from a pool.
i had gathered some russian sage for lorenzo a month ago, and so, without my asking or wishing, he gave in return. after he smudged the classroom he offered the smoke to each of four of my teacher friends and my principal. the calmness in the room was beautiful and we shared stories.
the resulting peacefullness still fills me.
some excellent writing that details the purpose and the process of smudging can be found here: http://greenfield.fortunecity.com/dwellers/564/ceremony.htm
this too is an excellent resource, beautifully written: http://www.asunam.com/smudge_ceremony.html
No comments:
Post a Comment