Thank you for participating in last Saturday’s drum/prayer circle. I thought to take a moment to finish my little talk on Animals since things got a little chaotic and it was cut short. It has been some three years since I’ve been able to lecture with any regularity, so I admit I was not in top form. I also changed some of the imagined scenarios and tried them for the first time. That, and being rushed with advancing storm produced unfinished and unclear results. That bothers me. The scenarios are structured in such a way as to give participants clear choices in what Relative they choose to help them. It can also give insights into how a person thinks and feels. For instance, does one ask for help in understanding a situation better before acting. Or does one go immediately to revenge? The first list of Relatives -- eagle, buffalo, hawk and so on -- I call the Fantasy Romantic Indian Glamor list. It has all the standard, “glamorous” Relatives normally associated with Indigenous culture. The second list I call the Also Ran list. It has all the others, but an overwhelming majority of all the Relatives yet alive. Unfortunately some are repugnant to some people, such as rat, or vulture. After all, who wants to be known as Billy Bob Two Maggots? But if you had something happen in your life that was eating away -- rotting even -- at you, who would be better suited to help? A bear or an eagle? Or a vulture? I make the claim that if one studies the behavior of a Relative, their medicine -- their strong power -- will become evident. So, yes, bear medicine might be helpful in healing, or in removing onesself from a bad situation, but vulture medicine is all about purification. And sometimes we need to let go of whatever it is that’s “eating us” before we can even think about putting ourselves back together. Granted, these activities -- releasing and proactive healing -- are closeley related and dependent on each other, but when we initiate the process of recovering from a bad situation, we might want to think of letting go first. Then we can focus more clearly on replacing that old energy with something better. Our thinking is clear again, unclouded. The point of the exercise, then, is to illustrate there is great value in the Also Ran list, those Relatives rarely considered as helpers. So when we are looking for help from a Relative, we need to consider ALL of them, not just the go-to fantasy list. I presented this as part of the Medicine Wheel teaching at Lily Dale in New York some years ago. Presenters have a Lily Dale resident in the room in case the presenter should need something. They typically stay in the back of the room. At this presentation, my helper was an older gentleman. When I swapped the white board from the Fantasy list to the Also Ran list, he let out the loudest “Ewww...that’s the evil list!” It was funny, initially, but right away it struck me how prejudiced we can be when it comes to the Relatives. I thought it very sad. But, his reaction was not new to me. In virtually every Animals lecture, invariably someone would react. People have even refused to participate on that list. Bottom line: All of the Relatives have meaning and value. Value in their own right, value not connected to our needs. They are not here to serve us. They are here to live their own lives. But if we can genuinely open ourselves up to what they can teach us, to that Great Hoop of Life, we will benefit. So, when you consider your next “Animal Spirit Guide,” or “Animal Helper” please take the blinders off. If you confine yourself only to the Glamour list, it might just be your ego you’re hearing and not Spirit. Study Relative behavior in person whenever you get the opportunity. Take the tme. They will teach you, but you must pay attention. I stopped reading books about these things long ago, especially those written by non-Indigenes. Among the many problems there are with some books, is that once someting is in print, that’s the truth of it, that’s all there is to it and anything not in the book is a fiction. This is simply not true. I have seen relatives do things I never could have imagined, things that many people would judge outrageous, even impossible. A large bird flying upsdie down, for instance. I believe these behaviors were shown to me to help me let go of my mainstream, common culture, book- learned ignorance. An ignorance destroyed by what the Relatives showed me. I have a long way to go, but I am confident I am on a better path. To summarize: Open yourself to ALL of the Relatives, especially those indegenous to Turtle Island. Initially, I encourage you to stick with locals. To work with Relatives you can engage right where you are. It makes little sense to try working with a deep see squid, for instance. Work with the Relatives that know your terrain, climate, geography and so forth. Trust your sense of which Relative to work with, provided you are not shackled to the Glamour list. As soon as you are comfortable with your decision, take a moment to figure out what it is about that one you are tapping into and what it might reveal to you, about you. (Someone hurt me. Do I want revenge, to move ahead, to heal a relationship, to reflect on my own actions etc.) Let go this idea that your Medicine Helper, Animal Guide -- whatever you call it -- is a lifetime commitment and there can be no other. I pointed out earlier that before we start some kind of healing -- be it mental, emotional, physical, social, economic etc. -- it might be best to first purify, in the deepest sense. To purify yourself in thought, emotion, spirit, even physical. Who helps you with purification might be the best there is for you in the moment, but maybe there is one better suited to pick it up from there and carry you into the healing you need. For literal decades Hawk and Owl have walked with me. But if I see a need some other Relative can better help me with, I have no problem asking for help from that Relative. And when our walk together is complete, I say thank you and we both move on. Working with the Relatives is a two-way street. Or it should be anyway. So, when you can give direct help to that Relative’s nation, please do so. In fact, helping ANY Relative’s nation is helping all nations.. Communicatioin can be quite stunning. I can tell you so many stories of Relatives responding directly to my “words” you likely would dismiss me entirely. I am not saying they understand