One of my favorite memories is when I was 4 twirling across a large stage in front of a huge crowd of parents and grandparents and friends . My ballet company was one of the biggest things in my life at 4 and I remember it still at 52, like it was yesterday.
I danced for love and it came back to me and continues to return.
We have come to be danced
not the pretty dance
not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
but the claw our way back into the belly
of the sacred, sensual animal dance
the unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
the holding the precious moment in the palms
of our hands and feet dance
We have come to be danced
not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
but the wring the sadness from our skin dance
the blow the chip off our shoulder dance
the slap the apology from our posture dance
We have come to be danced
not the monkey see, monkey do dance
one, two dance like you
one two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
tearing scabs & scars open dance
the rub the rhythm raw against our souls dance
WE have come to be danced
not the nice invisible, self conscious shuffle
but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
the strip us from our casings, return our wings
sharpen our claws & tongues dance
the shed dead cells and slip into
the luminous skin of love dance
We have come to be danced
not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
but the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath & beat dance
the shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
the mother may I?
yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
the Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free dance
the everyone can come to our heaven dance
We have come to be danced
where the kingdom’s collide
in the cathedral of flesh
to burn back into the light
to unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
to root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be dance We have come
Later in life , I found myself participating with some Vedic Theater actors . This work was so satisfying for me as a young mother . To express my acting in the Vedic tradition and carry on with theater in a sacred way.
Growing up in a house with two teachers and musician and artist was a great opportunity for me to begin acting in elementary school and bring in my dancing and music.
My father and mother bought me a cello at the age of 7 that was about the size of a small cat.
Music and theater was a portal for me from a young age.
I could go places away from the unexplained life I was living as a young child.
It still does
Back in the early part of 2000, I was asked to participate in a project called the Masks of The Goddess.
This Program was part of what Lauren Rain and Macha Nightmare created and it has continued into a new birth with the Masks of the Numina.
Ann Waters is producing a wonderful Awakening here in Willits with the same artist and shamanic visionary, Lauren Raine.
I had written to Lauren earlier in the year about this reoccuring dream of a place of power where I often go to collect my energies and visit spirit helpers.
From this dream she told me about a woman who recently passed away after creating a basket mask.
She then was inspired to create this mask below.
Soon after she sent me the next phase of this Medicine Basket Piece.
I was stunned by how exact she had recreated the mask I illustrated in words to her .
The way the womans face came to life through the mask was exactly like how I experience it in my medicine power place.
It is now time for all the participants to collect their work and create their steps and costumes for the March 15th and 16th " Ides of March " Performance .
I had been thinking about my experiences with the Native People of North America and my history living with these amazing people .
Nearly all of us have some indigenous back ground and more and more of us ( like me ) have a whole collection of Nations we represent.
Thank goodness for the openminded people who have continued to pave the way for the Rainbow Bridge.
But dancing this mask is not just about the Native Americans.
The Basket Dance is everywhere as well as the Ghost Dance
If you look you will find that many traditionalists take up the Basket as a symbol of collecting ones "Self".
I am not performing the traditional Ghost Dance as it takes days of dedication to perform this dance .
I am dancing my own Ghost Dance / Round Dance.
A dance where I will find my clarity to forgive those things I could not forgive in the past and to offer up all the strength of universal Truth, as it is endless and the one True thing in life.
You can see that it is becoming more and more a "thing" to dance out your emotions.
Zoomba is big as well as the latest 1 million raising.
Gabriel Roth and the 5 Elements of Dance .
The lists continue to grow and with it seeds of hope.
We are returning to Dance and Sing from our Soul.
This medicine is what rocks our Mother Earth and keeps the stars laughing in the sky.
If more were to take time to dance and sing, I wonder what life would be like.
The Awakening is about waking up and seeing we are the keepers of the Future.
We are the chosen ones who hold the keys to unlock ignorance and take responsibility for the future by our own individual responsibility of daily mindfulness.
I am carrying the Medicine Basket in this production.
I carry it for those who have gone before me and for those who are ready to receive it's message.
Make your basket strong with integrity as your pitch .
Carry your emotions like potions of renewal and remember the respect for those who took part in weaving this basket you now take into yourself.
Collect yourself with thanksgiving songs daily and choose your words like gemstones to offer and not to harm others.
I found that many of my medicine friends have passed over since my work years ago.
Dancing this Ghost ( Round ) Dance is not about the 5 days of no sleep and sacrifice,
It is about me remembering. Re "Member" ing who I am as a peace keeper and a wisdom keeper.
It is about sharing my life with others in a healthy and strong way.
It is about balancing this basket and all its endless treasures with such care,
that it may inspire others can carry their own baskets of truth.
We need nothing other then to realize we contain all we need within .
It is the search with out where we find ourselves lost.
"This is about your song.
It will lead your feet to find your way home.
Dance your medicine dance and sing your medicine song.
You know the tune .. You know the steps
Twirl and hum
Whistle and sing
Dance and remember you are part of everything.'
M. Youngbear
I chose long ago to take ordination with Nephthys .
She is Isis's twin Sister of the Night .
She carrys the sorrow and protects all beings.
She steers her boat of wisdom on a river of our tears.
Her symbol is a basket or chalice that she carries on her head.
May I be a chalice of endless Light and Song .
May my footsteps be as full as they were when I was twirling around the stage at age 4, and may I remember that the Great Mother is and always will be seeded deep inside my inner temple.
I offer my dance to all people to find the clarity and certainty of Peace and Truth.
This same Peace and Truth that comes with the dawn each day.
Walk in Beauty .
Mana Youngbear A Human Being...
