When it does this, it is calling the attention of the spirits to the offering that is being made. When cedar is put in the fire with tobacco, it crackles. It also has many restorative medicinal uses. Like sage and sweetgrass, cedar is used to purify the home. It is usually burned at the beginning of a prayer or ceremony to attract positive energies. Sweetgrass is used in prayer, smudging and purifying ceremonies. It is also used for cleansing homes and sacred items. Sage is used for releasing what is troubling the mind and for removing negative energy. Because it is more medicinal and stronger than sweetgrass, it tends to be used more often in ceremonies. Sage is used to prepare people for ceremonies and teachings. For example, the Mohawk people use traditional tobacco that they grow themselves and that is very sacred to them. Traditional tobacco is still grown in some communities. Traditional people make an offering of tobacco each day when the sun comes up. It is put down as an offering of thanks to the First Family, the natural world, after a fast. We express our gratitude for the help the spirits give us through our offering of tobacco. When you seek the help and advice of an Elder, Healer or Medicine Person and give your offering of tobacco, they know that a request may be made as tobacco is so sacred. When you offer tobacco to a plant and explain why you are there, that plant will let all the plants in the area know why you are coming to pick them. Tobacco is always offered before picking medicines. When you use it all things begin to happen. It is like the key to the ignition of a car. Tobacco has a special relationship to other plants: it is said to be the main activator of all the plant spirits. When we make an offering of tobacco, we communicate our thoughts and feelings through the tobacco as we pray for ourselves, our family, relatives and others. It opens up the door to allow that communication to take place. Traditional tobacco was given to us so that we can communicate with the spirit world. ![]() “Always through tobacco”, as the saying goes. It is used as an offering for everything and in every ceremony. Traditional people say that tobacco is always first. ![]() Elders say that the spirits like the aroma produced when we burn tobacco and the other sacred medicines. It is said that tobacco sits in the eastern door, sweetgrass in the southern door, sage in the western door and cedar in the northern door. All of them can be used to smudge with, though sage, cedar and sweetgrass also have many other uses. The Four Sacred Medicines are used in everyday life and in ceremonies. Three other plants, sage, cedar and sweetgrass, follow tobacco, and together they are referred to as the Four Sacred Medicines. It is the main activator of all the plant spirits. This symbol is similar to that representing the State of New Mexico, where the CSWT orginated.Tobacco is the first plant that the Creator gave to First Nations Peoples. The outer rays, in the four cardinal directions, represent the sun, an important entity in Cherokee beliefs and symbols. The outer circle contains the name of the community, and written in the Cherokee syllabary, Squanijesdvi, the Cherokee word for New Mexico, the place of CSWT's founding and 1999, the year of founding. The inner circle represents an enclosure of protection and harmony, where all Cherokees, those who are members of the three federally recognized Cherokee entities, as well as those of Cherokee descent, non-registered, plus friends and families, have a place, a community, a township where they may come together with other Cherokees in good fellowship. Seven is the number of totality or completeness. The seven clans of the Cherokee are symbolized in the seven sticks of wood. It also burns in their hearts today, wherever they may be. ![]() From time immemorial the Cherokees kept the sacred fire burning in their land. Atsila Galvkawetiyu, the honored or sacred fire, the fire of the Tsalagi, was revered above all things.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |