Mitakuye Oyasin
As luck would have it, I got invited to a New Year’s Sweat Lodge 
We were 16 people - including Reg, the Medicine Man.
We bring in the rocks (The Stone People) into the sweat lodge, one at a time, and Reg (our Medicine Man) says a prayer for each of them, another person will greet them by touching them with a sacred piece of wood, and then Reg will put herbs on them to properly honor and welcome them to the sweat lodge ceremony.
There are 4 rounds in a sweat. In the first round, we honor and pray for the female aspects of life. In the second round, we honor and pray for the male aspects. The third round is for healing, and the forth round is for the personal self.
I usually sit in awe with my brothers and sisters from all walks of life/colours, and creeds, and I ask that whatever wants to show itself to me, be shown. And then I have an open heart and a humble spirit as I receive what the GrandMothers and GrandFathers want me to know.
By the third round it usually gets pretty hot in the sweat lodge and that is about the time when I start seeing the messages and visions from the sacred spirits. This time I saw a polar bear which I knew was there for me to support me in life. I also saw a huge eye watching Reg very tenderly, and I knew that was the gratitude from the GrandFathers and GrandMothers telling him he is walking the right path as a Medicine Man. I also saw a lion that seemed to have a peculiar nervous energy about it, and it said it was there for Reg. I then asked it if it was there for his highest and best good. The lion beast disappeared in an instant.
When we had completed our 4 rounds, the pipe was passed around and we all took a few cleansing puffs of the purifying tobacco. Then, as is the custom, we take turns shaking hands and thanking each other for participating in the sweat and making it such a good one!
Then the party/feast started! I had brought small cocktail wieners, liver pate, crackers, pickles, and Swedish Meatballs Then there were two buckets of KFC Chicken (of course – what sweat lodge would be without it, lol, too funny!!) homemade stew, buns, cinnamon buns, flapper pie, and a bunch of good Gatorade to wash it down with! (And as always, the Creator got to eat first, before all of us, to allow us to give thanks to his presence in our lives).
We had a great time visiting and connecting – old friends and new.
When I got there I only knew five people, and at the end of the evening I knew everyone!! :~) Wonderful people.
Hope You Had A Magical New Year’s Eve!!
Morganne T. Delmars
www.madamofmanifesting.com
www.telequestlink.com
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I found the following explanation of Mitakuye Oyasin here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitakuye_Oyasin
Mitakuye Oyasin (All Are Related) is a traditional Lakota Sioux prayer, with its opening phrase used as a refrain in many Lakota prayers and songs.[1][2][3] It reflects the inherent belief of most Native American traditions and belief systems that “Everything is Connected”.[4] The Lakotas, Dakotas and Nakotas all the Native American tribes revere the prayer. It is used in all Yankton spiritual ceremonies and activities, like Peyotism, and employed as a prayer to end other prayers, after which the sacred food or sacred pipe is passed around. [5]
In 1940, American scholar, Joseph Epes Brown wrote a definitive study of Mitakuye Oyasin and its relevance in the Sioux ideology of “underlying connection” and “oneness”, and it has become a catchphrase and greeting in the animal rights, womens’ rights as well as human rights activism.[2]
Translations and themes
The phrase translates as “all my relatives,” “we are all related,” or “all my relations.” It is a prayer of oneness and harmony with all forms of life: other people, animals, birds, insects, trees and plants, and even rocks, rivers, mountains and valleys. [6][5]
The Prayer
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin….All my relations. I honor you in this circle of life with me today. I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you in this prayer….
To the Creator, for the ultimate gift of life, I thank you.
To the mineral nation that has built and maintained my bones and all foundations of life experience, I thank you.
To the plant nation that sustains my organs and body and gives me healing herbs for sickness, I thank you.
To the animal nation that feeds me from your own flesh and offers your loyal companionship in this walk of life, I thank you.
To the human nation that shares my path as a soul upon the sacred wheel of Earthly life, I thank you.
To the Spirit nation that guides me invisibly through the ups and downs of life and for carrying the torch of light through the Ages, I thank you.
To the Four Winds of Change and Growth, I thank you.
You are all my relations, my relatives, without whom I would not live. We are in the circle of life together, co-existing, co-dependent, co-creating our destiny. One, not more important than the other. One nation evolving from the other and yet each dependent upon the one above and the one below. All of us a part of the Great Mystery.
Thank you for this Life.
