We awoke to a beautiful day.  I had been called to Spider Rock but had no idea how powerful this experience would be for all of us.

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One of the concerns that John had expressed was that Spider Rock might not be accessible.  There were 33 river crossings the truck would have to make and no one was certain as to the condition of the road as it led further into the canyon, yet this was my whole purpose in traveling to Canyon de Chelly on such short notice.  When I first opened my eyes the two companions, the crows appeared and there was no doubt in my mind the road would be clear.

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We would need to travel 20 miles on a dirt road deep into the canyon. We left that morning with Lupita as our guide and for me a deep yearning to return to  the place I had known before.    I was grateful to be with this wise grandmother wisdom keeper as she was willing to share her story and pass on the wisdom of her people.  She began by sharing the ways of the Navajo people.  She told us that when someone died they were buried in the earth mother and would return as a blade of grass.  They become the sentinels or guardians in the stones that wait for their descendants to seek their wisdom.  The Navajo tradition allows one to grieve for four days and the grieving must then end, as the people must move forward with their life.  What a powerful message for our journey.  It is appropriate for us to grieve our old way of life and then to let go of the hurts, disappointments and betrayals of the past and focus on moving forward.

Lupita assigned Anita and I the task of counting the river crossings as we were off exploring the magnificence of the canyon taking in a new picture around every corner.  All seemed to be going rather smoothly until we came to the 9th crossing.  This had been the very thing John had been concerned about.  That we would come to an area that we would not be able to pass.   Lupita stopped the truck and surveyed the situation.  “This may be as far as we can go.”

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When She spoke those words, I instantly thought about the journey I had taken in 2004 to New Zealand.  Many of you will remember the story of the morning we were traveling to the Temple of the Four Winds, the most sacred sight of the Maori and we reached a part in the road that was not passable.  Everyone stepped out of the bus at that time and gathered together.  27 of us focused our collective thoughts to see the bus somehow make it up this strong incline.  A place no bus had ever traveled and I am convinced has not traveled since.  As the rain stopped and Calvin our driver stepped on the accelerator the prayers of 27 people seemed to lift the bus into the air and in the flash of an eye it had made it up the hill.  If we could move a bus on a stiff incline, surely the eight of us could somehow get this truck across this river crossing.  Within a few minutes a red truck came upon us from behind and the driver stepped out to observe the situation.  As Lupita and the driver spoke in Navajo the voice of Grandmother Spider spoke that we would find our way to her if we just believed.  The driver decided he would make an attempt to cross the river to see how it would be best for our much larger truck to make the passage.  As he pushed the petal of the gas, he drove straight down the hill and became stuck in the mud.  The situation looked even worse as now the truck blocked our passing.  A few minutes more passed and a blue truck approached from the other side of the river.  Everyone jumped out of the blue truck, surveying the situation.  The passengers of the truck quickly hooked a large chain to the red truck pulling it from the river.  The path was clearly laid out where NOT to drive our truck.  I closed my eyes and called upon grandmother spider to weave a web for the truck to follow that would carry the truck safely to the other side.  Lupita and the driver exchanged words and the driver of the red truck got into our vehicle to attempt the passing.  Just like the bus in New Zealand, our truck seemed to effortlessly fly across the river.  The stones along the rivers edge created stepping-stones to carry each of us across the river to the other side where our truck now waited.  I smiled as I thought how it took everyone working together with focused intention including the stone people to make this happen.

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I was grateful for this part of the journey, as the adventure was now getting more exciting.  We all piled back into the truck and continued on our way as I thought this was similar to what our nation was experiencing. We had driven ourselves into what appeared to be an impassable river, finding ourselves stuck in mud and yet with focused intentions we would come through this time, stronger, more aware, wiser and more in harmony with each other and the unseen world.

As we continued into the canyon, mile after mile it began to feel more like home.  We seemed to stop after every turn because the beauty was so spectacular you wanted to drink in every part of the experience.  God and the Goddess were alive in every area of the canyon.  Just as we approached Spider Rock a magnificent Red Tail Hawk flew from the tree directly across the path of the truck.

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As I watched the hawk soar I felt free.  I looked back to see the magnificent Spider Rock towering above me and her companion  Speaking Rock ever watching his beloved.  It is said that Speaking Rock guards the path to Spider  Rock and warns her of any danger.  Because we were with Lupita we were able to travel to an area in the canyon far removed from any other traveler.  We gathered under one of the trees and sat around Lupita, children listening to the wisdom of a great grandmother elder.

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As she shared her story of the Navajo people she shared her personal story.  I felt a sharp pain enter my heart as she told of being taken from her parents and her beloved land when she was ten and taken to white man’s boarding school.  Her hair was cut and  her traditional clothing taken away only to be replaced with white man’s clothes.  She was no longer allowed to speak her native language or practice her customs.  Instead she was told she must follow the way of the Christian faith.  I began to cry as I listened to her story and felt her pain, a pain that the land held.

When I was the same age as Lupita, I remember sitting in chapel at Saint Mark’s listening to the priest.  In that moment I felt there was something wrong with his message.  I had been speaking directly to God since early childhood and the God that spoke to me would not judge the child who lived on the other side of the world who would never hear this message.  My God was a loving God who would accept and embrace everyone.  I had been told by a beautiful presence that it was not my way to worship in a cement building on a particular day of the week.  Instead this loving presence asked that I see her in everything and everyone.  It was important for me to do ceremony to acknowledge the helpers that worked with our world, the human world.  I was taught in the dreamtime to never fall asleep and forget who I was and my connection to the web.

This was the way of the First Nation People and as Lupita continued to share their traditions I felt truth in these words.  I also knew I had heard these words spoken by every Shaman, holy man and woman I had met as I had traveled the world weaving the web of light that began in this sacred space.

Lupita then shared that her people would come to Spider Rock when they were experiencing sharp times in their life and felt like the sticks of the cactus had pierced their skin.  They would come to Spider Rock when they were confused as this was the place where the holy people lived.

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Spider Woman would help them to live a better life by restoring the memory of who they were.  Grandmother Spider is the master of the mind and can clear the mind of negative thoughts, doubt and fear.   As  Lupita finished her story I saw within the clouds the image of three presences and remembered the words of Grandmother Spider from a few days before.  “Here you will find Isis, the Black Madonna and White Buffalo Woman waiting to share with you”.  I left the group to find my place on the top of a small hill directly in front of Spider Rock.  I felt the illumuniscent threads coming from the rock and began to weave them by pulling them towards me much as a spider weaves its web.  I felt myself being filled with light and the wisdom of the holy people passed on through this exchange of energy.

I had come home to the source of the cosmic spider web, which weaves its light around our beloved earth embracing everything and everyone.  I saw that here seven generations ago the elders had prayed for us.  Prayed that we would have strength and courage to move through these times.  I was told I must return with others to this place to pray for the generations to follow.  The elders had prayed  that at this time we are moving through,  we would awake and remember the source of our being.  Prayed that we would not lose our way and would follow the web to the source of our being.  This is also the teaching of the Black Madonna as she extends a golden thread to guide us through the dark times of uncertainty but we must look for this thread in the unseen world that can be found only when our heart is open and free of judgment and pain.

I prayed for our President who was not just the leader of the United States but I believed he would lead the world back into oneness.  I remembered that just before the election in the United States Indian elders, holy men and women prayed for this President so he could fulfill his destiny.  I prayed that mankind would let go of the past energies so we could all move forward.  Let go of the hate and the separation that divides us.  Let go of the fear and judgment that paralyzes us.  I prayed we would join together and see the beauty of our world that I was seeing at this moment surrounded by the friends and family that I loved.  I saw the faces of each of you for you were with me, there at the source of the web.  I saw the golden thread of the Black Madonna that joins us together, all of us from the Rainbow nation that are awake.  The healers, teachers, leaders and wisdom keepers that had incarnated at this time to weave the web.  I took a deep breath and realized even then this journey had just begun.

Next posting after the Full Moon.

Wishing you magic from the light of this most powerful Full Moon.

Love and rainbows, Robbyne

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One Comment

  1. Robbbyne,
    Thanks for taking this journey on behalf of us all and for reconnecting to source and Mother Earth and the healing energies of the Ancestors. I am deeply moved and appreciative. love, Judith

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