Obaitori

Dolphin Dreaming

Today, I spent time in my sitting place & gratefully watched a pod of 12-15 Dolphins .

In Indigenous culture, the Dolphin is associated with the human spirit. The lessons we can learn from the Dolphin; it shows that we, like the Dolphins, must have a balanced life. Outside the serious survival issues of life, we should take time to enjoy the simple things that are around us, such as family, the sun and the waves. On a more serious note, below the waves, the dolphins main issue is survival. It must hunt, nurture and feed its young and avoid predators to survive.

Remember, take time to today to smile, frolick & dance like the Dolphin.

 

 

 

sisters in the light

I've just made a donation on behalf of us all at Obaitori and from those who attended the Red Tent this year to Oxfam. The total was $400.55. I split it up into lots of three.

$150 to Aboriginal Women within Close the Gap Campaign

$100 to Timor-Leste Campaign*

$150.55 Typhoon Haiyan Appeal 

$40 Syria Crisis Appeal**

*Just providing simple tools - like a spade and a watering can - to families and communities is life-changing. Umblina De Jesus said,

"There was big change, actually. There was a boy - my cousin. He was very malnourished at the time. And I talked to his mother and I involved the kids in the nutrition program ... And actually there was a girl [in the village] who was not able to walk. But then, after the program, she was able to walk and is growing up now."

 "I just want to say thank you very much to you, because my children were malnourished and they have good nutrition now."

** Later I found $40 in my lap top bag - I can't remember who or where this was from - I donated it to Syria. So the grand total is $440.55.

Thank you so much to everyone who has attended any Obaitori gathering this year. You made a difference to our little community of women here and  a difference to many women and children in remote areas of Australia and families in Timor-Leste and Southeast Asia.

A big thank you also goes out to the Central Coast Montessori School - Dimitri and Michelle - for allowing us the space to gather once a month for Obaitori.

Personally I want to thank you for your support, love and encouragement. We've had many laughs, shared wisdom, knowledge, spiritual teachings and experienced the blessings of community. May your inner light continue to shine, illuminating your path and those of the fortunate others who walk around you.

mia mia amongst the malalueca

I woke up cold this morning. I love cold. I pulled the light quilt up and said a few prayers. The sun had just started highlighting the trees with it's golden rays. As much as I like to be in bed I love being awake pottering away in those quiet early hours. I love to go outside first thing to reconnect with Mother Earth. I carry my tea around the garden and absorb the goodness and generosity of the healing flowers, herbs, plants and trees. We have many paperbarks around us. Within Indigenous belief it is said that these trees are highly valued, they carry spirit and trees are known as the people of the landscape. The paperbark or Malalueca are used for many reasons and purposes, for dug out canoes, as roofing for shelter, medicinally and also to make wrappings for the deceased. They are really beautiful to sit amongst. They are cool and quiet, they turn the mind inwards towards calm. Here is a look at the paper bark with the very gentle Luke Walker.

I've been thinking about the shed/cubby that we are currently building. I wanted a name for it other than shed or cubby or studio. The building shelters within the paperbarks and so I've decided to call it Mia Mia. This is the Indigenous name for a place of shelter.

{this moment}

 

A Friday ritual;   - a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

Inspired by Soule Mama.

Wishing you a beautiful, peaceful day. May you dream of magic and mystery, angels, artists, muses and bees, fairies and love.

Aboriginal Birth Cave

 

We reached the ancestral birth cave of Willie Gordon's father in the afternoon of the Rainbow Serpent walk.

There is a warning sign as you approach the birth cave. It is a very large depiction of a man turned and painted upside down.

We sat down. Willie asked one of the walkers if he had been present at the birth of his children. Yes. What sort of day was it? They were the most incredible days of my life. What did you do at the birth? Held her hand, gave her water. How did you feel? Useless, inadequate. A bit like that guy up there on the rock? Yes.

At Aboriginal births men were not present. They were often close by but never in the birthing cave where women's business was going on.

Women walked to the birth cave about three months before their baby was due to be born. They were attended by other women, more experienced women. These midwives stayed with them. The birth cave was always chosen for it's sacredness, it was sheltered, close to fresh running water and abundant plants providing medicine and food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sat down in the cave. It felt safe, protected from the elements and yet created by them. Australia is diverse and one of the main features is sandstone. This cave was created millions of years ago by sand and water.

In Aboriginal culture the woman are revered. They are the ones who carry life. They are the creator. Mainly it is the mother who nurtures, she provides the patience, the nourishment for life and life itself.

There are several rock art images within the cave. Here the mother and child are connected by the umbilical cord. The image also depicts a line that runs up through the body. It reminds me of the yogic teaching of sushumna nadi the line where kundalini rises to sahasara chakra. The line in both of the body images is very prominent.

 

This picture here reminds women that miscarriage was a part of normal life as were stillborns and infant death.

After the birth the father and uncles were close enough to hear the infant's cries. It was the job of the father to plant the placenta in the ground adjacent to the birth cave. Opposite the two points of birth and placental burial was where the body was buried when the person died creating a full circle.

The Rainbow Serpent Tour - part one

I had the very fortunate opportunity to meet Aboriginal Elder/teacher, story teller and operator of Guurrbi Tours, Willie Gordon. He is one beautiful man.

Photo - Courtesy of Guurrbi Tours

We drove to Gungardie or Cooktown for this specific reason. I went - without Dazla and the children - with Willie and eight others on the Rainbow Serpent walk. It took 5 and a half hours. Willie took us to his ancestral land, to his father's birth cave, rock art sites and taught us about survival, bush food and bush medicine, releasing fear and guilt and how to obtain internal peace. His tours have been described as life changing and it is easy to see why.

Over the period of time I spent with Willie - which was about 7 hours - I took five pages of notes and 600 photographs. For the purpose of this post I have condensed the photographs and will give you the main points of these sacred teachings with Willie's permission. Willie is the story-keeper and I am the story-teller.

Before we left for our trip away our family sat down and talked about what we would like to do. My list was short, walk and meet an Aboriginal teacher. Here in the lands of the Nugal-warra people this need was fulfilled and went beyond expectation.

The first teaching, the look of peace in this man's eyes conveyed his deep spiritual truth, the Rainbow Serpent. Two things are sure in our life, the need for water and sun. When these two combine we have Rainbow or light. The serpent is represented in the flow of the river. Within Aboriginal philosophy they have creation but the creator has no face. The spirit or light, that is life, is known as the Rainbow Serpent. Guurrbi is your own special place, that place you go in your heart, where it is quiet, present, where you know your own spiritual truth. Willie recommends that you go there as often as you can.

"There are as many religions as there are people" Satyananda Saraswati.

 

Sunset ~ Wahalumbaal Birri

Our walk started early morning here at Nugal.

The traditional owners of this land, went walkabout. They were seasonally nomadic. Certain factors including flowers would trigger the time to go. Before the cyclone and monsoon seasons the people would get ready to go west.

Flowers would bloom and these would syncronise with other conditions to let the people know what was happening within the land. This is an example of tracking.

Other factors in the environment told them information. When the Boxwood eucalpytus tree flowered the barramundi fish slept. A good time to catch them.

Aboriginal people never took from the environment what will not grow back and they never took more than they needed. When the wallabies and kangaroos were birthing they would leave them alone. Then another generation of animals were born and the Aboriginals could eat the older animals.

Willie said that if we understand the environment, we understand life and we survive. He wasn't just talking about this lifetime but the generations to come.

Along the way, Willie taught us about his environment, this place that he knows so well. He said, "Nganthaan-un-bi bubu." "Our land is your land."

We looked at the Bloodwood Tree. The sap that comes out of a bloodwood - is loved by possums and sugar gliders - it is also a handy disinfectant often used by midwives. The sap is mixed together with water to create a type of lather.

The leaves off a soap bush are taken off, torn and mixed with water to create a soapy lather. After it is washed off it leaves the hands feeling soft and smooth.

The Soap Bush is centred, with yellow and green leaves.

The Lomandra or Balga Black Boy's grass, that grows at it's base, is used for weaving bags.

Photo of Dilly Bag - courtesy of Guurrbi Tours

This Bunnga Grass Tree is where witchety or bunnga-ga grubs are found. When sap appears underneath the green follage it indicates that there are grubs. Often the grubs are eaten raw and are high in protein.

Further along the path and then down through this rock face ...

We came to an important cave.

It was raining so we all sat underneath the rock escarpment. Here Willie told us about the most important and oldest art, that of the teacher. The teacher's curriculum vitae, if you like, is indicated by how many lines are across his belly. In this case three are drawn. The teacher has left his hand stencil - of four fingers, indicating his initials.

When we sat under the rock face we naturally formed a circle. Willie said that this was how the teachings were traditionally given, in a circle. Anyone know why? He said that in a circle everyone can see and be seen. He laughed saying that if he put children in rows, the ones up the back would talk and fidget and miss out on the teaching.

The reason that this teacher is painted here is because it is on the path to the birth cave, it is to remind the mothers that the teachings of the environment, the rainbow serpent are the most important, a matter of survival.

As we continued along the track, we walked past this enormous frog. The photo does it no justice as this boulder was over 4 meters high. On the top of it is Tiddalik - the frog who wouldn't laugh. This is a beautiful Aboriginal story which I shared here in Stories on Sundays.

And one last teaching for today.

We were walking towards the birthing cave. A large gully ran along the left side of the huge Tiddalik boulder. Willie stopped the group. He looked at me and said, "Can we change where you were born." No. "Are you Australian?" Um, .... yeah. "Why the hesitancy?"

I have always carried a lot of guilt over the genocide of the Aboriginal people that my ancestors carried out. A lot of guilt. I have done a fair bit of healing too but this walk stirred quite a bit of energy in my belly, things like 'imagine if we had listened to these people and together adopted a system of bush medicine...' Tears quickly sprung up and ran down my cheeks.

Willie said to me that carrying this guilt, like any guilt is totally unneccesary. He had three rocks in his hand. He asked which of the three was my size of guilt, small, medium or large. Medium. He said, "Right this is what we do when we need to let something go." And with that he threw his rock down into the precipice. My rock followed. I felt lighter, more peaceful.

Again he turned to me and said, "Where will you go when you die sister?" Back into the earth. "Yes, where you came from."

More, later, on the birthing cave, placenta burial, death, tee trees, figs and bush coconuts.

crocodiles, bush food, damper and a little knitting

Whilst away I took some bamboo/silk wool, a skein of moss green and a pretty glowing pink. I had planned to do several things with it. One of those things was to mainly knit. This proved a little difficult as keeping it clean was tricky and looking up all the time to supervise the children was also tricky - with you know, crocodiles and all... The wool proved particularly handy and we created nature mobiles to decorate our campervan, made necklaces and played string games. On our last evening whilst staying at a friend's home I managed to knit a spring cat collar for Yogi using the moss green wool that would match his eyes. I knit this one with ten stitches across for a cooler effect. Turns out, as usual, he loves it!

I'm re-reading, soaking up and want to actually eat this book, Bush Food; Aboriginal Food and Herbal Medicine by Jennifer Isaacs. This book is a rare gem and is approved by lay people, professionals and Aboriginal people Australia wide. There is not another book like this one. It is filled with gorgeous photographs and extensive knowledge of bush food and medicine, the religious rules on where to find it, how to harvest it and techniques on cooking too.

Throughout our trip I read and used this book on a daily basis. My bush lore is very bad and if it was up to me our family would have either starved to death or I would have poisoned them. Thank God for Dazla's skills of gathering coconuts, 'catching' fish and making friends who gave us food and of course the local fruit and vege shops, delicatessans and wineries, we survived.

I did create a beautiful damper one night along the Annan River. We had a strong, hot fire and when the fire quietened down and the ashes went white, I placed the damper or bread onto the ash. The flour was an organic wheat that I bought from a store in Cairns. The damper was cooked on both sides for about 10 minutes. When it was ready I took it out and patted the ash off. We opened it up, divided it into pieces and spread it with butter and drizzled on golden syrup. It was a magical experience eating from the prana of fire, listening to the flow of the river and gazing deeply into that life giving, magical fire.

I'm joining Ginny today and lots of other lovely knitters and readers over at the Yarn Along. Pop over, become inspired, join us!

 

A Bush Birthday

We celebrated Indira's fifth birthday on the road. The preparations began the day before.

We were staying near Mossman Gorge; on the south side the Annan River. This river marks the boundary of two Aboriginal nations. The Guugu Yimithirr tribal lands to the north and the Kuku Yalanji to the south. Each has its distinct language and culture.

Dazla went out night spear fishing with some local Kuku Yalanji men who are highly experienced in their skill including the whereabouts of the local crocodiles. I asked Dazla - a veg-aquarian since the age of seven, a sometime fisherman uninterested in the killing side of the sport - if he thought he could spear something. He was quite unsure but he certainly wanted some man time. That night Dazla said that he could see crocodile eyes flashing back at him from torchlight. All was well. The fish get scared of the crocodiles so they jump. Soon there was a fish that jumped into the boat - he claimed it as his. The next morning his wild, generous fishing friend returned with the cleaned fish, 2 others, a mud crab and 12 mussels.

We stopped in town to visit the baker for some cup cakes and with the last of the preparations for Indira's party we headed out to the traditional country of the Djabugay Aboriginal people to Dinden National Park through Davies Creek National Park.

Davies Creek cascades over huge granite boulders as it flows through eucalypt woodland from its source in the Lamb Range. The rare wet sclerophyll forest is home to the endangered northern bettong: a small marsupial found only in a few parts of north Queensland.

Coincidently - in the back of no-where - our friends were camping here. They contacted us a few days before hand and we were looking forward to being with them. We were excited to see the birthday signs they had left for us along the way.

At last we found the camp site. We hugged our friends Jesse and Rosie, their daughter Lily, kissed the baby Cedar, went swimming, found an enchanting fairyland, a strong play gym and before sunset began preparations for the birthday dinner feast.

Indira walked around the circle of five candles in an adapted campsite Montessori birthday ceremony. Lily Lotus sang Indira a traditional Steiner birthday song and we sang the other happy birthday song with a variation on the end.

We laughed, feasted, sang more songs, drank mango champagne and felt so united around that fire in the middle of no-where with dear friends. I cried too and said thanks for our sweet child who we have been allowed to care take for five whole years.

Treasure like gold
The love that you hold
Be strong and be bold.

~~~

Receive the light, it comes from high;
So let it shine on all you try.

 

Ritual remains ~ after thousands of years ~ one of the most vital and precious tools for tending the human heart.

~ Lights of Passage ~

Flowers of Tropical North Queensland

 

Having just spent almost three weeks away from home I feel like I have been living a different life.

Our journey was a full one; Cairns to Cooktown, adventure, uncertainty, meeting new and old friends, seeing new landscapes, flowers, animals and foods. Sharing love, space, games. Bathing in fresh rivers, cooking and eating food from the fire, blowing on hot billy tea, laughing, driving on the Bloomfield Track, diving in the Great Barrier Reef, getting smelly, dirty and getting in touch with that special place inside - in Koori language - Guurrbi.

Over the next few weeks I plan to share some of those stories with you, dear friends.

A few changes to the website; the new banner photo is a billabong called Ngurrayin. It is just inside the Aboriginal Community of Hopevale - near Gungardie or Cooktown. This time of year the water lilies or lotus are flowering and it is a magestic site to behold. The essence of these flowers; awakening to sacredness within the self and in all life forms. I've also added a list of films that I hope you enjoy. A word on the photos, they are slightly different and for that, a very special thank you to my niece, Olivia for generously allowing me to borrow her Canon dslr for the trip.

♥ ♥ ♥    ♥ ♥ ♥    ♥ ♥ ♥

Proudly known to locals as, "God's Country" here today are a collection of flowers from north Queensland. I apologise for not knowing all of the names of the flowers. If you know what they are, please let me know so we can satisfy the botanists.

 

"All creation is the family of God. Love all God's creation. Love even the leaf; love the animals; love the birds; love the plants; love everything. This is the way to a knowledge of the mystery underlying them all."  ~ Sivananda ~

Achiote or Annatto Bush, Mossman Gorge.

These special seeds are used all over the world for their brilliant colour.

Fan Orchid with Black Flower, Cairns.

Purple  Orchid, Palm Cove.  

 

 Calliandra genus, commonly known as the Fairy Duster, Daintree Rainforest.

With so many butterflies in north Queensland this Blue Buddleia is a popular feasting tree.

Psittacorum taken late afternoon in the Daintree.

Coconut flower, a rare treat. Our hunter, gatherer for this adventure found us some delicious coconuts on the beach at Cape Tribulation. On account of their untouched white flesh and milk, coconuts are said to be one of the purest objects that humans can offer back to God for thanks and gratitude. This one had a flower inside, an auspicious blessing.

It is so great to be back. I hope that you have been well, safe and happy. I hope you enjoy our photos and stories of the Australian outback.

festivals and happiness

A beautiful and full weekend;

I learnt about hazelnut and chestnut blossom

A buddha visited, she had, 'i am the sun' written on the inside of her wrist. Wherever she goes she sheds her graceful light on all those who need it. She reaches out to those who are suffering.

We attended the 5 lands walk finale. Our children from the Montessori School sang this;

 

NAIYI NAYAWA

 

with Aboriginal elder, Gavi the 5 lands band and an 8 piece classical orchestra.

We participated in the cleansing of a Smoke Ceremony.

This years walk was dedicated to Aboriginal elder 'Jacko' Smith who died earlier this year. "He participated in much of the ceremony of the 5 Lands Walks over the years, particularly 'Welcome to Country' and with a twinkle in his eyes, took full credit for calling the whales which performed off MacMasters Beach during last year's Opening Ceremony."

A Message Stick is carried throughout the walk that passes through 5 Aboriginal lands between MacMasters Beach and Terrigal. This years message;

The Aboriginal people are the traditional custodians of our land, Australia. Their elders, past, present and future, hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Indigenous Australia.  A deeper understanding of these values carries our hope for a better Australia for all.

The Ganang Spirit Dances performed on Terrigal beach. They are comprised of Aboriginal children living in the Gosford Shire aged from 2 to 10 years of age. They learn traditional Aboriginal dance and instruments from a group of Aboriginal elders.

Bodhi, who carries a kangaroo skin was eyeing off the lead dancer. He was wearing traditional possum skin dress.

I met a woman who had both Greek and Australian Aboriginal blood, she makes bush flower essences. I asked her about the possum. She said that there is an Aboriginal law about the possum dress. I later found out more here . For Bodhi to be initiated into this level he needs to 10 years of age - about the same time it will take me to find approximately 20 possums and for Dazla, who has Aboriginal blood, to skin them.

Aboriginal women were the first Australians to make patchwork quilts. They fashioned possum and kangaroo skins into blankets and cloaks.

On Sunday I attended my local Buddhist meeting. The study material was happiness. Here is the Buddhist perspective on happiness. I left feeling very content. I also left with a full belly of true Indian delights, tulsi plant cuttings and a basketful of organic mandarins from a friend's new farm, I thanked him smiled at his excitement.

At home I proprogated 3 tulsi plants and am drying about 100 leaves.

Gave my delighted children said mandarins, they smiled.

Ate hazelnut icecream.

Also ate seared salmon on the bbq. yum!

Joining Amanda today over at Habit of Being for weekending. 

How was your weekend? What did you do?

Happiness

A person with a vast heart is happy.
Such a person lives each day with a broad and embracing spirit.
A person with a strong will is happy.
Such a person can confidently enjoy life, never defeated by suffering.
A person with a profound spirit is happy.
Such a person can savor life's depths
while creating meaning and value that will last for eternity.
A person with a pure mind is happy.
Such a person is always surrounded by refreshing breezes of joy.

Ikeda.