Sacred Grove Wellness

11/26/2025

Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address
“The Words Before All Else”

Note: “Haudenosaunee,” meaning “People of the Longhouse,” is the name the Iroquois people call themselves. For them, having a day of “Thanks” is something that happens *every* day.
The Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy is comprised of six tribes: Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.
I feel honored and blessed that I was able to live among these wonderful people off and on during my growing-up years.
~ Rebekah Myers
Sacred Sisters Full Moon Circle

“Greetings to the Natural World

The People

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people.
Now our minds are one.

The Earth Mother

We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our mother, we send greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one.

The Waters

We give thanks to all the waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms- waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of Water.
Now our minds are one.

The Fish

We turn our minds to all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send our greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one.

The Plants

Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come.
Now our minds are one.

The Food Plants

With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting of thanks.
Now our minds are one.

The Medicine Herbs

Now we turn to all the Medicine herbs of the world. From the beginning they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines.
Now our minds are one.

The Animals

We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us as people. We are honored by them when they give up their lives so we may use their bodies as food for our people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.
Now our minds are one

The Trees

We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many people of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life.
Now our minds are one.

The Birds

We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds-from the smallest to the largest-we send our joyful greetings and thanks.
Now our minds are one.

The Four Winds

We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help us to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the Four Winds.
Now our minds are one.

The Thunderers

Now we turn to the west where our grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We are thankful that they keep those evil things made by Okwiseres underground. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunderers.
Now our minds are one.

The Sun

We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.
Now our minds are one.

Grandmother Moon

We put our minds together to give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the Moon, who lights the night-time sky. She is the leader of woman all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.
Now our minds are one.

The Stars

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to the Stars.
Now our minds are one.

The Enlightened Teachers

We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring teachers.
Now our minds are one.

The Creator

Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.
Now our minds are one.

Closing Words

We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.
Now our minds are one.”

~ This translation of the Mohawk version of the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address was developed, published in 1993, and provided, courtesy of: Six Nations Indian Museum and the Tracking Project All rights reserved.
Thanksgiving Address: Greetings to the Natural World English version: John Stokes and Kanawahienton (David Benedict, Turtle Clan/Mohawk) Mohawk version: Rokwaho (Dan Thompson, Wolf Clan/Mohawk) Original inspiration: Tekaronianekon (Jake Swamp, Wolf Clan/Mohawk)

https://americanindian.si.edu/environment/pdf/01_02_Thanksgiving_Address.pdf

Art: Chholing Taha, “Lift Your Hands”
Cree Artist

11/20/2025

The Bear Who Held the Broken Tree

In the far hush of an old forest, where the air smelled of pine dust and forgotten winters, there stood a tree so ancient that even the mountains bowed to its memory. Its trunk was split, its bark worn by storms, its center hollowed by time. Yet it remained standing—in defiance, or perhaps in quiet acceptance—of the years that had tried to unmake it.

And wrapped around this tree, almost as though he were holding it together with his own body, was a bear.

His name was Rokan.

Rokan had not always been a guardian. Once, he had lived as any bear would—roaming, foraging, dreaming only of simple things: berries in summer, cool streams in autumn, the comfort of sleep in winter. He never questioned the way things were. Life was straightforward when the world did not ask anything of you.

But seasons, like stories, have a way of changing their tone.

One spring morning, after a storm that felt like the sky itself breaking open, Rokan found the great tree wounded. A long split ran through its trunk. Chunks of bark lay around it like fallen shields. Birds circled overhead in confusion, unsure where to land. Small creatures sniffed the air anxiously, as if searching for a familiar scent in a world that had shifted while they slept.

Something inside Rokan stirred.

He approached the tree slowly—not out of fear, but reverence. His claws traced the torn ridges. His breath warmed the cold scar in its center. The tree did not speak, yet he felt its exhaustion, its fragility, the weight of its many years.

Rokan understood.
Not with words.
Not with thought.
But with the quiet instinct of a heart that has finally learned to listen.

So he did the only thing he could.
The only thing that felt right.

He embraced the tree.

He pressed his massive body against its fractured trunk, fitting himself into its brokenness as though he had been carved for that purpose alone. His paws curled around its sides. His weight grounded the earth beneath it. And in that moment, something remarkable happened:

The tree did not fall.

Days turned to weeks. Rokan stayed beside it, leaving only to eat or drink. When the wind pushed too hard, he leaned into it. When rain poured down, he shielded the exposed heartwood with his fur. Animals of the forest watched silently, humbled by the sight of strength given freely, without reward.

Some said Rokan was foolish to cling to a dying tree.
Some said it was pointless—nature would do as it always does: take, replace, renew.

But the bear knew a truth that others had forgotten:

Sometimes the world does not need saving—
it only needs someone who refuses to walk away from what is hurting.

Weeks became months.
Seasons turned.
And though the tree never returned to its former glory, it did not collapse. New leaves sprouted in timid clusters. Moss grew soft along its wounds, like a gentle bandage. Birds returned, building their fragile nests in places Rokan guarded with quiet vigilance.

One night, beneath the pale glow of the moon, the forest finally understood what had happened.

The bear had not saved the tree.
The tree had not saved the bear.

They had simply held each other
through a season they were both afraid of.

And sometimes, that is enough.

Travelers who wander through the forest even now speak of a strange sight—an old tree, split but standing, with the faint imprint of claws and fur etched into its bark like a memory softened by time. They say the forest around it feels different there, quieter, warmer, as though something unseen is still keeping watch.

And if you listen closely, you might hear a whisper brushing through the needles:

“Strength is not in what you can lift,
but in what you choose to hold
even when it is breaking.”

11/15/2025

Let It All Go

Release everything that is not beneficial
to your well-being.
Let it all go.
Let it fall away like old leaves
that have reached the end of their season.

You do not need to carry
what drains your spirit
or dims your clarity.

What is heavy, let it rest.
What is tangled,
let it loosen.

In the small, quiet spaces
you create by letting go,
your breath softens,
your mind settles,
and your heart remembers
its own rhythm.

And in that stillness you find your peace again.

~ 'Let It All Go' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Olamik

11/14/2025

10/20/2025

Blessing for the Week Ahead
May this week open like flower,
slowly, softly, with promise hidden in its folds.
May you walk through its hours
with your eyes lifted toward small wonders:
a voice that warms you,
a kindness that appears unannounced,
the way sunlight bends through rain.

When challenges rise,
may your courage speak first,
steady and clear,
reminding you that grace grows
not in the absence of struggle
but in your way of meeting it.

And when evening falls,
may peace gather around you like gentle wings,
carrying all that you’ve done
and all you’ve left undone
into the quiet arms of rest.

Rivers in the Ocean

10/01/2025

Night Blessing

Night is a river returning to silence.
Lay your thoughts upon its surface,
they will drift, they will dissolve.
In the dark, may your soul learn
the forgotten language of peace.

Rivers in the Ocean

09/28/2025

The Gentle Art of Letting Go

The gentle art of letting go expands our hearts.
It is not forgetting,
but remembering with gentleness.

To release is to soften,
to make room for breath,
for silence,
for the tender weight of the present moment.

We bow to what has been,
not as a burden to carry,
but as a gift already given.

In the space that opens,
freedom arrives quietly,
not escape,
but a lightness,
a loosening,
a trust in the current of life.

And love,
love returns in a gentler, more expansive form,
unclenched,
unbound,
flowing through us freely and unrestricted

~ 'The Gentle Art of Letting Go' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Alice Mason Alice Mason Artist

09/19/2025

"Fly, Little Brother"

Go now, little brother,
the sky waits for your wings.
The sun lifts the horizon,
the rivers sing your name.

Do not fear the distance,
the mountains will guard you,
the forests will whisper their secrets,
the wind will carry your dreams.

Mother Earth is vast and kind—
her valleys bloom with laughter,
her oceans hold the memory
of every flight before yours.

So spread wide, raven of night,
taste the freedom of the dawn.
And when the stars call you home,
remember—
we are always one.

🎨: Serin Alar

09/06/2025

May calmness follow you through the day.
May your heart find stillness and contentment.
May the world feel gentle, and may you feel held.

Rivers in the Ocean

08/18/2025

Seeds of Light

May kindness be our guide,
reminding us that every word we speak
can heal or harm,
and every gesture
can build a bridge or a wall.

May gratitude be our guide,
teaching us to honor the good people
with kind hearts
who make the world brighter,
those who offer a smile when we need it most,
who lend a hand without hesitation,
who carry hope in their voices
and gentleness in their touch.

May awareness be our guide,
so we notice the small acts of goodness
that so often go unseen,
and let them inspire us
to add our own.

May compassion be our guide,
urging us to sow seeds of light and tenderness
in the places that feel heavy or forgotten,
so the world becomes softer,
more loving,
and a kinder place for all.

~ 'Seeds of Light' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Eliza Todd

08/14/2025

Feather Song

The wind came to her like an old friend,
its breath warm with stories
carried over mountains and rivers.
She closed her eyes,
listening with her soul,
not her ears.

The hummingbird hovered near,
its wings a prayer in motion,
offering the taste of flowers
and the memory of sunlight.

In that moment,
she was not separate from the earth,
nor the sky –
but the heartbeat between them,
the bridge of spirit and breath,
where woman and nature
are the same song.

🎨: Serin Alar