1.) PURPOSES:
This is an era of decision. Do we allow ourselves to cut the throat of
the Mother Who has nourished us as a species since we "came down
from the trees"? Or do we work to walk in Beauty and Harmony
with Her, and cherish Her, and work to see Her healed? The resurgence
of Shamanism, the primal Earth Religion of practically all of the
Earth's pre-Agrarian cultures, is an important thing, foretold by the
Paiute prophet Wovoka and in the Hopi Prophecies. It was said that
both the Red Man would return to the Ways of the Old Ones and that
the non-Native would also embrace the Lifeway. There are non-Natives
who respectfully have chosen these Ways, and are carrying them on in
a reverent way. If the Lifeway was only given for the Native peoples,
it would die out within our lifetime. There are simply not enough
traditional Elders left.
It has been shown to some of us that Our Mother The Earth is not
willing to die quietly. She has demonstrated this by the increase in
natural disasters of the past decade, which continue day by day. The
Hopi prophecies state that, when the "bowl full of ashes"
(most interpret this as the Thermonuclear Bomb) is overturned, that
Our Mother shall rise up in Her righteous anger and destroy humanity.
This prophecy is coming true, although it may yet be reversable.
Perhaps it is we who reverence the Ways and walk in harmony with Our
Mother that may stay Her hand.
The Lifeway Fellowship is here for those who wish to honor Our Mother
and Our Father, Earth and Sky, and to honor The Giver Of Life, from
whence all things flow in the Universe. Our world-view is primarily
allied with that of the Navajo/Dineh, Apache/Teneh, and Hopi peoples.
However we do not represent ourselves as the keepers of those ways.
The secrets of those Nations are for them alone, unless Usen' wishes
to reveal them to us. Our mission is to help heal Our Mother, The
Earth, and to help each other walk in closer harmony with Her. We
also exist to provide a way for urban and sub-urban people to learn
and practice the root Shamanic techniques that aid us in finding our
True Vision and True Way of Power, and following that Vision and that Way.
We identify ourselves as Pagan (Webster's New World Dictionary "1.
b) ... a person who is not a Christian, Moslem, or Jew (by faith);
heathen. Pagan specifically refers to one of the ancient polytheistic
(or pantheistic) peoples.") and as unashamed Pantheists and
Polytheists. The Lifeway is truly a religious commitment. No-one can
make a commitment to the Lifeway and to the worship of Life Giver,
The Earth Mother and The Sky Father and remain a worshiper of other
Paradigms of the Deity, much as one cannot be a Christian and worship
the Greco-Roman pantheon. However this does not imply the
condemnation of other Paradigms, nor impel a duty to
"convert" others.
We stand by other Pagans who do not share our paradigms, IE. Wiccans,
Asatruans, Hellenists, and other Shamanic traditions, (African and
neo-African(Santeria & Voudoun), Australian, Siberian,
Traditional Native American, and Polynesian, to name a few) and even
though we may disagree with some or all of their practices and
beliefs, they are Brothers, Sisters and Cousins, and in times of
persecution as well as times of goodwill we must defend them. We may
even share in their open rituals and allow them to share in our open
ceremonials. But that which is ours must remain ours, just as that
which is theirs must remain theirs.
2.) THE(A)OLOGY:
As our Fellowship is inherently religious, we must declare a
The(a)ology. (The strange spelling refers to the fact that we
acknowledge a Goddess as well as a God) This is summed up very
easily. There are three main powers we worship, Usen' the Life Giver,
The Earth Mother, and The Sky Father. The latter Two are emanations
of the First, as all, including the God and the Goddess, are
emanations from Usen', which is the primaeval First Cause.
Usen': One cannot look upon The Life Giver as either Male or Female, for
The Life Giver is beyond those distinctions. Usen', and The Life
Giver, are names for this First Cause, this Force that pervades all
and caused all to come into being. From Usen', the God, Sky Father,
and the Goddess, Earth Mother, emanate, as the lesser Deities emanate
from Them.
The Earth Mother: We live and walk and are sustained from The Earth
Mother, which is our Earth. She is alive, and we all exist within Her
as part of Her structure. Science, through the Gaea Hypothesis, has
finally acknowledged Her existence, and some even have learnt the
lesson that our duty in this life is to care for and honor Her. This
is a lesson that all must learn, for as long as we despoil Her, we
risk Her wrath. She is expressed through the faces of White Painted
Woman, Who is The Woman Warrior, through Corn Mother, Who is The
Nourishing Mother, and through Spider Woman, Who is The Wise Woman,
The Ancient One, The Custodian of Wisdom. Women are acknowledged as
being human representatives of The Earth Mother.
The Sky Father: Just as among we Humans, there is both Man and Woman, so
there is no Earth Mother without Sky Father. Sky Father is the air we
breathe, the flame that gives us warmth and cooks our food, and
brings forth the rain that fertilizes Our Mother and allows Her to
provide us with the crops and animals that sustain us. Sky Father is
also expressed as The Hunter, The Warrior, and First Shaman, and is
also expressed in Killer Of Enemies and The Child Of Water. He is
also present and acknowledged as being present in every Man.
There are other spirits that exist in the Universe, some beneficient, some
maleficient. But most important is Usen', Earth Mother, and Sky
Father. By walking in harmony with the God(esse)s, one can tell the
Good from the Evil, welcoming in Good, and protecting each other from Evil.
3.) ETHICS:
We have our code of Ethics. It is neither lengthy nor overly
restrictive. We do not include ancient taboos in this list, such as
Mother-In-Law avoidance or the taboo against Fish, because they may
not apply nowadays. If you wish to not eat fish or to avoid your
Mother-In-Law for religious reasons, it is your perogative. But it is
not a requirement.
4.) GROUP STRUCTURE AND INITIATION PRACTICES
There is only one Initiation, which is the Initiation that makes one Kin
within the group and in the sight of The Deities. It is given after
one has taken their first Vision Quest, has found their Power
Animal(s) and has met the Shaman Within. It can only be denied to
those who have met these requirements, is younger than the legal Age
Of Consent (in most places, 18 years) is not of sound mind, and/or is
under suspicion of being a Law Enforcement Officer or other person
antipathetic to Pagan and/or Shamanic belief who requests initiation
for fraudulent purposes (usually to infilitrate to either sabotage or
publically discredit the Fellowship) Initiation must not be denied on
account of physical disabilities, blindness, deafness, or sterility,
nor on account of sex, race, nationality, political belief, or sexual preference.
There are no set offices within the Fellowship. Ideally, leadership should
be by consensus, with true leaders being temporary and
purpose-oriented. Facilitation of rituals may be done by any Initiate
of the Fellowship. ANYONE WHO REPRESENTS THEMSELVES AS A HIGH
PRIEST/ESS OF THE LIFEWAY SHAMANIC FELLOWSHIP IS A FRAUD, AND IS
DOING SO CONTRARY TO THIS STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES AND ETHICS.
Support of the Fellowship is done on a purely voluntary and mutual basis. No
tithe or dues should be assessed unless they have been agreed upon by
all members, initiates and non-initiates alike.
Membership is extended to all. But initiation is reserved for those who meet
the criteria mentioned above. Non-initiates can participate in open
ceremonials and in basic workshops, but may be denied participation
in certain ceremonials and advanced workshops.
5.) THE QUESTION OF RECOGNIZING SHAMANS
In traditional societies, the title Shaman was not just an honorific,
or recognition of talents. Nor was it the highest initiatory level in
a Shamanic society. The Shaman was, in most cases, above the Chief in
decision-making power and was judge, doctor, father-confessor, and
intercessor with the Deities for the tribe. Some Shamanic societies
are now providing their membership with "Shaman training
seminars" and "Shaman apprenticeships" that can be had for an
exorbitant price. This implies that the cost of being a Shaman can
be paid in money and in a set amount of time. This is not the case.
Many tribes believe that the office of Shaman is not one that is
earned, but one that one is born into. Certainly, the skills are
never something one is born with, and this is not merely hereditary.
Rather, when a child is born, the current Shaman would recognize that
the child had the POTENTIAL of being the next one, and the child's
training would begin when they were considered ready by the Shaman.
At adulthood, they would be tested. If they passed the test, they
would become the next Shaman. If they failed, usually the test was
such that they would either die outright, or they would go insane.
Many "heroic quest" tales, and most notably the Arthurian
legends have echoes of this practice within the ancient Shamanic
traditions of Europe.
But the point that is being made here is that we should not go back to
that sort of way of doing things, because in this society it is nigh
on impossible. The stand I am offering here is that recognition as a
Shaman can be conferred only through shared vision, and signs from
the Deities. It is not my place to say what the signs are ... it will
be obvious to the Fellowship. I am not Shaman myself, and will not
brook anyone calling me that. This is something I place in the lap of
the Deities to decide. I cannot do anything more. It is a mockery of
those people that can truly be called Shamans, who are respected,
powerful people of traditional tribes, to do anything less. In any
event, to claim such a title is definately not enough, and is
punishable by withdrawing Fellowship from the one who claims to be
Shaman falsely.
6.) FESTIVALS AND WORSHIP DAYS
The festivals are reckoned as they have been for centuries by most
Southwestern tribes, by both the Sun and the Moon. The seasons begin
on the first full moon after a Solstice or an Equinox. The Solstices
and Equinoxes themselves are times of celebration as well, and
perhaps the period between the two (which usually works out to be no
more than a week or so) could be considered a time of Holiday. Lesser
ceremonials are held on New Moons and Full Moons between the first
Full Moons of the seasons. Optionally certain Pagan festivals could
be celebrated in conjunction with other groups, but they are not to
be adopted as official Lifeway Fellowship ceremonial days.
There are other ceremonials that are personal in nature, and can be held
at any time, although synchronizing them with the Festivals and the
New and Full Moons is advisable. They are Naming, where a newborn
child is named in the presence of the group and their Life-beads
given; Coming Of Age, where the child's physical maturity is
acknowledged, and where, for a short time, they become Child of the
Water (if a boy) or White Painted Woman (if a girl); Initiation,
where a person becomes a full-fledged member of the group, given
after a person becomes a legal adult; Joining, where a man and a
woman consent to be married; Unjoining, where a man and woman who are
married consent to have the bond dissolved, which is to be done only
after four reconciliation attempts fail or after evidence of marital
infidelity or abuse is given before the group; the Moonlodge, which
is a special sweat for women in their Moon-time; and Release, where a
ceremony for a dead member of the Fellowship is done to guide their
soul Back Home. Other ceremonials that are dreamed or envisioned by a
person or group are also encouraged.
7.) SUMMING UP
A few quick ones: One can be either clothed or unclothed at
ceremonies, but it should be known that none of the Southwestern
tribes did ceremonies in the nude. However, one should disrobe for
the sweat lodge, as clothes are not only uncomfortable within the
sweat lodge, but interfere with the cleansing process of the lodge.
This Statement can be accepted or rejected by individual groups that
federate themselves with Lifeway Fellowship. But federation can be
denied to those groups who stray too far from some of the basic
guidelines, or do anything that would sully the reputation of the
Fellowship in general.
Hi-dicho ... this is finished.
May these proceeds please Life Giver Usen', and the Mother and the Father.
ENJU!
Chihacou White-Puma, 1988.