RBCS Newsletter

Shamanic Ceremonies For a Changing World

Although copies of this wonderful collection of 66 personal ceremonies have been selling “like hotcakes”, there are still copies available. . To purchase a copy to be shipped to you go to: http://www.shamanicmedicine.ca or email one of the following addresses to arrange to pick up a copy at a location near you!
Toronto: info@shamanicmedicine.ca
Calgary: rbscal@gmail.com
Vancouver: rbsvan@gmail.com
Ottawa: rbsott@gmail.com

RBCS Circle for Self Governance

The next annual meeting will take place on Gabriola Island, B.C. from August 11th to August 15th, with August 8th to August 10th as an optional opportunity to work with new ceremonies. In addition to discussing the ongoing business of the Rainbow Bridge Ceremonial Society, members will participate in the Earth Dance, having the opportunity to review and determine their lives from the eight directions on the Wheel of Life.

The larger dream of the RBCS is awakening! The RBCS Community and Mentoring committees are preparing proposals to be voted on at our annual general RBCS meeting. Because of this work, by this fall, groups of people will be able to officially establish themselves as Rainbow Bridge Ceremonial Society Communities, gather together, do group ceremonies for solstices and equinoxes and other special occasions, drum and sing, and learn and discuss medicine wheels together. In addition, mentors will begin to be available to support those who wish to do individual ceremonies with a little guidance.

We invite anyone who has an interest in a ceremonial path of healing and a desire to share in supporting this journey to join our Circle. If you are interested in finding out more about this and becoming a member on the Circle, please write to rbstor@gmail.com. Enthusiasm, a true intent to work on behalf of the people, and a calling to enhance and heal our own experience of life and that of others are the chief requirements. We look forward to hearing from you.

Community News

Calgary/Edmonton
Sweat lodges will be held as follows: June 19th in Calgary (with an Intending Ceremony at 12:00 p.m.)
July 16th in Calgary; July 18th in Edmonton.
All community sweats are followed by a feast. For information, please write to rbscal@gmail.com.

Ottawa Region
This community will be offering its annual Earth Dance on August 21st and it s Ceremonial Weeklong from August 22nd to August 28th. This is a great opportunity to do ceremonial work. These events will take place on beautiful farm land in Maberly, ON. For information, please write to rbsott@gmail.com.

Toronto
At the end of May the Toronto RBCS community moved the sweat lodge to its new home - in another backyard just a 5-minute drive away. So if you saw a sweat lodge strapped onto the back of a pick-up truck driving around Toronto streets, it was probably us! We would like to thank Kris for allowing the sweat lodge in his backyard these last 2 years and thanks to Nancy for keeping her eye on it! It has been such a gift to have the ability to sweat and do our healing work in the city!! We also look forward to bringing our ceremonies into a new space!
Due to this move, it is necessary to cancel the June 16th sweat, alas. It is anticipated that the next sweat will not be until the Fall.

Images of the Sweat Lodge Move!

However, our exciting drum team, the Thunderbirds, will continue to gather, except for the month of August. All are most welcome. Neither your own drum nor previous experience are necessary. If you are interested in adding your voice and enthusiasm, please contact Pat, the RBCS Drum Chief, at windhorsessc@gmail.com.
Two successful workshops have taken place in recent months. The first focused on the creation of a Power Wand, the second on fashioning individual talking sticks and contributing towards one for our local community. Great learning and beauty abounded!

Power Wand Workshop

Vancouver Area
This community has a variety of ongoing activities and upcoming events. For more information, please write to rbsvan@gmail.com.

Ceremonies of the World

In each Newsletter, we look at a ceremony from a different culture.

National Sorry Day in Australia

National Sorry Day is an Australia-wide observance held on May 26th each year. This day gives all people the chance to come together and continue the healing work for families and communities torn apart when children were forcibly removed by Australian government policies. These children are known as the Stolen Generations.
National Sorry Day gives people the chance to write messages and sign “sorry books” as a way of showing their commitment towards reconciliation. They pledge their support towards fulfilling the recommendations from the Bringing Them Home report. It is estimated that over one million people have signed the “sorry books” and written messages since 1998. Many school children take part in National Sorry Day activities, which include essay competitions, lighting candles for Indigenous Australians who were taken away from their families and communities, and inviting local Indigenous Australian elders to speak with students. Films that focus on the Stolen Generations may also be shown to students for discussion.

Eagle invites us to view the highest perspective of our lives, both the light and the dark sides, in order to see our higher purpose, to see those areas in which self growth is needed. Acquiring the power of Eagle requires us to have total trust in Great Spirit. Eagle invites us to see beyond our immediate horizon, to catch glimpses of greater possibilities. As a bird of prey, Eagle is excellent at obtaining what it needs, with minimal effort. It is proficient at soaring close towards the Sun, but not getting scorched, i.e., it is willing to take risks, and trusts in Great Spirit to keep it safe, to push itself to the limit to facilitate alchemical change. As it soars, dips and rides the winds, it searches for the lost child within in order to heal itself on all levels. Eagle has the ability to live in the realm of spirit and yet remain connected and balanced within the realm of Earth. It knows that hard work and challenging tests will result in the increase of its personal power. Eagle is revered in many indigenous societies and its wings are often used for healing purposes.

What can you learn from Eagle? Where are you with your connection with Great Spirit? Have you complete trust that you are supported? How committed are you to “soaring” into your dark side in order to find both the gems and the places that need healing? Do you pull yourself away from your day’s activities to dream into your life from a higher perspective? Have you the willingness and courage to look for challenges that will take you to a new place? How committed are you in healing your precious child within? In your daily life, are you able to be with your spirit and allow that aspect of yourself to manifest balance and harmony? Can you stalk out what it is you need with minimal effort?

Ceremony of the Soaring Eagle
Intent: To journey with the power and gifts of Eagle in order to have a greater connection with Great Spirit; to open yourself to greater opportunities in your life, and manifest what you need with less effort.

Materials Needed
Smudge Stick or smudge and shell and lighter
Picture of an Eagle and/or Eagle Feather (both optional)
Note book and pen

Creating the Space
This ceremony can be done inside or outside. Choose a time in which you will have at least an hour during which you will not be disturbed.

Ceremony
Smudge yourself, the space, and the picture and/or feather of the Eagle, if you have them.
Sit comfortably and call in the energies of the five directions: East, West, South, North, and Centre, in your own way, and ask for the presence of whichever spirit energies are willing to assist you in your ceremony.
Go into a meditative state, and picture the majestic Eagle hovering above you, and call in its energy. Ask it if it is willing to work with you. Begin to visualize it beckoning you to journey with it to a beautiful mountain top. You are there and Eagle perches on a branch slightly above you, its wings flapping slowly as it looks for an opportune breeze for both of you to begin your venture together. You feel exhilarated and totally open to what comes next, allowing all fear to be carried away by the winds. Eagle swoops down and invites you to climb onto its powerful back and wings and you do so effortlessly, feeling completely safe, feeling the strength beneath you. Feel the power of the winds, and as they gently lift Eagle, you begin your dialogue. Ask Eagle about how you can strengthen your connection to Great Spirit and listen to the wisdom shared with you.

As you soar on Eagle’s back, ask that a vision of your entire life be shown to you and identify those areas needing your attention. See that your life is a continuum consisting of so much more than your current circumstances. Get a sense of how all that came before this moment was necessary to bring you to bring where you now. Ask Eagle how you can walk in your daily life with your consciousness in spirit. How can you learn to trust that you are always supported by Great Spirit? How can you have the courage necessary to take risks to catapult yourself beyond your current limited idea of who you are? What does Eagle see as your blocks? What are those pieces in your shadow self that need healing? Ask Eagle what his magic is in managing to get what he needs with little effort. Query Eagle on whatever else you wish to discover in your journey.

As you return to the mountain top, and slide off of Eagle’s back, thank Eagle for coming to you and for all the information gleaned from your journey. Release Eagle and slowly "come back" to your sitting place. Take as long as you need to record what you now know in your note book. Thank and release all the energies that came to assist you in your ceremony and return your ceremonial space to a place of beauty.