Spirits of the North

Mitakuye Oyasin, I am Lieven. Spirits of the North, Waziyata, thank you for allowing me to stand here and speak. The North is the direction of our ancestors and the wisdom of our elders, both living and deceased. The realm of the great return to the spirit. It is the direction of hardship and discomfort for people. I know the North as the path from the head to the heart. I know the North as the path on which we count our blessings. And I know the North as the path of endurance and leadership. It is also the path where we learn to practice patience.

I'm grateful for the night full of beautiful stars that help us put things into perspective. I am grateful for our thinking that teaches us to get out of our thinking. I am grateful for the darkness that teaches us to appreciate the light. I am grateful for the cold that teaches us to appreciate the warmth. I am grateful for the ice cream that boosts our immune system. I am grateful for the inner healing and insight of those who have gone before us.

I pray for support and honor the bison on this trail. I pray that we may face adversity in our lives with as much strength and grace as the bison. Help us to surrender with grace every day the things of our youth. Help us to listen to the silence and find beauty and comfort in the silences that grow longer. Give us wisdom so that we may be able to make wise choices in all things presented to us. I pray for courage on this path. The courage to endure trials, the courage to keep going when we want to give up, the courage to see light at the end of the darkness and the courage to be gentle with ourselves. And when my time for a change of the world has come, let me go peacefully without regret for the things I have failed to do while walking on my path.

(Where the Elders, who through their long lives Have learned and stored Wisdom and Knowledge. And Learned to Walk in Balance and Harmony with our Mother, the Earth.)

Aho