Outside the Temazcal

The medicine wheel in my back yard.

Having missed yesterday, due to illness, writing a post dedicated to Jordan's mission in Manaus Brazil, I decided that it was time to visit a medicine wheel that I had made and frequented near my home. The Oso Mario, in Durango, Mexico, had introduced me to the medicine wheel, and I read about it in John G. Neihardt's book, Black Elk Speaks.

During the waxing moon of mid-June, when I returned to Durango, the Oso Hector asked me, in the temazcal, to share with the fellow caminantes how I dealt with the four years away from the temazcal while in the U.S. Hector knew that I had moved from Durango to a small village just below the Mescalero Apache Reservation in the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains, in southeastern New Mexico. There, the Apaches, my brother, Kelton told me, do not traditionally practice temazcal, or sweat lodges, as they're known in most of the United States.

Because I had no nearby caminantes with whom I could practice, I decided to supplant the weekly temazcal ceremony with regular hikes, during which I would practice mindful walking and ritual thanksgiving. I practiced thanksgiving, during my hikes, by making a medicine wheel in sites that drew my attention that I found on each of my hikes.

The medicine wheel has been important since my move away from Durango, because it has provided me a means of practicing healthy ritual. Such ritual facilitates my focus and reels my mind into my practicing body. Visiting today helped me refocus my thoughts toward Jordan and helped keep me on track toward my own health and well-being. Jordan, thank you for the opportunity.

...con todas mis relaciones!

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