"Micky Mousing It"

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"Mickey Mousing It" is a term used by Grandfather Wallace Black-Elk 

? Why do people my age feel compelled to preach/teach through the Entire Inipi when they are sitting behind the bucket? Why can't they be like our Elders...saving their thoughts/words for when the door is open or before ceremony? Why won't they just shut up and let us pray? Isn't praying what we came there for?  How are we supposed to be able to hear the Spirits speak to us when all we can hear is the lecturer? Where's the respect for our prayers?

I mean...if you are so busy preaching how will you know if someone is in need of help? Aren't you supposed to be be praying for the people in the lodge & being mindful of what the purpose of the lodge is? Aren't you supposed to be taking ...care of the people in the Initi?  I don't believe you can do this if your thoughts are focused elsewhere.

This is one of the reasons I no longer go to ceremony, it seems to be about people hearing themselves preach/talk, not about helping the people who are praying (or trying to).....

 

Another ?: In Inipi the Elders (not my peers) always pass Mne/water after the second round as "medicine", because they know we are becoming dehydrated & going into the strongest prayer round... So why is it my contemporaries refuse to pass water to the people unless someone almost begs for it? And even then, it is given to us grudgingly. What the hell is with that? Don't people get ill from being dehydrated?

 I realize that some may choose to suffer through sacrifice, but, not all sacrifice must be accompanied by suffering....

Most of the medicine people tell us that "We are not here (in Inipi) to suffer, but to give our suffering up to the Tonka Oyate"...so why are they trying to hurt the people by depriving them of Mne?

I'm just trying to get this clear....because This Is NOT how our Elders taught us! So where do these contemporary people get these ideas?

Every time I go into a lodge, it's just so "half-way" from how my Grandfathers & Uncles & Aunties ran them.....who changed the ways of the ceremonies? When? & Why?

When the "traditional ways" of ceremony are changed, doesn't that effect the Spirits & how they relate to us? Doesn't it bother them that we take short-cuts? Doesn't it make them, just the tiniest bit upset to have the original instructions ignored?  Doesn't it make them want to ignore us?

You can tell this bothers me...so much so, that I don't even want to go to ceremony any longer, unless it's with one of the Traditional Elders....and as far as I know, there aren't too many of them remaining.

A sister of mine would accuse me of "letting people keep me away from my prayers"...well that's her limited view. They only keep me away from ceremony.....

Nothing Keeps me away from my Prayers nor from Creator..... Besides when going into a lodge where people "Mickey-Mouse it" (Grandpa Wallace's term), I feel as if I'm being kept from my prayers just through the distraction of the preaching, the explanation of every song sung, the denial of Mne, the lack of Cannunpa.....the half-wayness of the entire ceremony...keeps me distracted. Hence I stay at home....which is probably a better place for me, because then I'm not dehydrated & more at peace with the world.

 

MI Takuye Oyacin

 

Inipi: Elders' Meditation: March 18, 2009

"The sacred fire used to heat the rocks represents the eternal fire that burns at the center of the universe."

--Dr. A.C. Ross (Ehanamani), LAKOTA

Our Sweat Lodge represents the womb of Mother Earth. This is the place of forgiveness. The altar is the place where the Grandfathers are heated. The Sweat Lodge and the altar represent the whole story of the universe. The Sweat Lodge and the ceremonies are sacred. The Great Spirit gave these things to us to help us. He taught us to do the ceremonies in harmony with Mother Earth. We need to know and understand these things.

Great Spirit, let me understand harmony.

So for me....this is what helped me to heal & change my life....the ceremonies and that Cannunpa. All just resonated with my heart, soul & to the core of my very being. The first time I was in Inipi it was like coming "home". The comfort, connectedness, relaxation...that "Ahhhhhhhhhhh" feeling was all there. In these times, it is still what gets me through.

This is also why I keep fire...it's the being one with the Spirits and giving back to them.... It's all about love & being loved, not by the two-leggeds, but my the Spirits and the non-two-leggeds, because you are recognized when you go around them. They know who you are and they respond in a good way.

In that Inipi, all the elements are there; Earth, Water, Fire & Wind....the Four (7) Directions, the Tanka Oyate are all there...they come when we fill that Cannunpa & sing those songs and they hear & answer our prayers (although sometimes the answer is No!). It's life...it's what is REAL...that's what it's all about (as well as the Hokey Pokey).

Mi Takuye Oyacin