I was sitting in a "traditional" Inipi (sweat lodge) last Saturday, once again wondering what happened to the offerings of tobacco robes and ties we once made when we sat before those Tonka Oyate and the Tunkashilas. I mean I make my 14, 25, 50+ "Thank-you" ties and hang them above me, but I'm talking about the ones for the lodge itself. Then I got to wondering about the lack of Canunpa on the altar.....
I remember, back maybe 8-10 years past, when I would sit in lodge and the people would put up the robes and ties as thanksgiving offerings in every lodge that took place as well as having a filled Canunpa on the altar.
I remember my Grandpa Wallace teaching us, that these are offerings to the Spirits to thank them for coming and sitting with us, for hearing and answering our prayers....like that. That the Spirits come in the Initi (lodge) and see the robes & ties and pass through them and around them (dance around them is Grandpa's term), and they are happy with those offerings we made.
That the Canunpa is what takes our prayers to Creator... for as it sits on that altar between the Initi and the Peta (Fire), that those Spirits pass through it, around it...like that and pay attention to the prayers that go into it.
So then, as I think about those things....I wonder what the Spirits think, now that we are neglecting to make those offerings of thanksgiving... Will there come a day, when the Spirits begin to feel neglected and unappreciated? Will there come a day, when the Spirits decide not to come when we call?
I don't know...just wondering aloud.
Mi Takuye Oyacin
I remember, back maybe 8-10 years past, when I would sit in lodge and the people would put up the robes and ties as thanksgiving offerings in every lodge that took place as well as having a filled Canunpa on the altar.
I remember my Grandpa Wallace teaching us, that these are offerings to the Spirits to thank them for coming and sitting with us, for hearing and answering our prayers....like that. That the Spirits come in the Initi (lodge) and see the robes & ties and pass through them and around them (dance around them is Grandpa's term), and they are happy with those offerings we made.
That the Canunpa is what takes our prayers to Creator... for as it sits on that altar between the Initi and the Peta (Fire), that those Spirits pass through it, around it...like that and pay attention to the prayers that go into it.
So then, as I think about those things....I wonder what the Spirits think, now that we are neglecting to make those offerings of thanksgiving... Will there come a day, when the Spirits begin to feel neglected and unappreciated? Will there come a day, when the Spirits decide not to come when we call?
I don't know...just wondering aloud.
Mi Takuye Oyacin
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