The Bones

The Bones of the Ancestors are not silent,

The Bones of the Ancestors are not silent,

The Bones of the Ancestors are looking into the Depths of Your Essence!

The Bones of the Ancestors are looking inside of Your Mind, inside of Your Heart,

The Bones of the Ancestors were not and are not docile as you may wish for them to be...

The Bones of the Ancestors are hunting,

The Bones of the Ancestors are searching,

The Bones of the Ancestors are outraged by the buffoonery that they witness,

In the Here and Now!

The Bones of the Ancestors are intensely listening to the Voices

that are kindling the fires of the tabonucos, the sacred waters and plants,

The Voices of the Few, of the Faceless, of the Unwanted, who are calling the Ancestors and directing their attention upon YOU!

The Bones,

The Bones,

The Bones Are!

Calavera, calavera

Calavera, calavera

January 20, 2009

Calavera, calavera, Calavera Taino

White bones of the Ancestors

I call forth through your bones

The Spirit of Resistance

Of Courage

Of Warrior

Of Knowledge and Wisdom

To bring forth the Courageous Spirit of the Casike Hatuey

So that we may be able to manifest the Spirit of Progression and Action

Within the Ceremonial Grounds of the Land of the Sacred Heart of Life,

For the continuance of bringing forth the wisdom

To catapult us to the four points of the Sun where we may transmute and transform all obstacles that want to claim victories upon our backs.

Calavera Taino Yo te llamo

So that your presence may resonate in the essence of the Spirit of these Ceremonial Grounds

Where the Spirit of Hatuey is adored, venerated, and without a shadow of a doubt appreciated

For all of the examples that he left to us as Tainos!

White Bones of the Ancestors

Calavera Hueso Blanco

prayer of resistance

prayer of resistance

NOTE: I needed to put this here, because I woke up thinking about this, and because there were Taino yahoo groups at the time that would not allow this to be posted. Only the American Indigenous Injustice group allowed it.... which is sad... Relatives of Life, Mon Dec 25, 2006 I hold a prayer of resistance on this day of cultural genocide of Indigenous People of Turtle Island, South, Central and the Caribbean. As A Taino I hold a prayer of resistance during this season where to a great extent, the winter solstice is dimmed in the minds and in the hearts of many Indigenous People today within Turtle Island, South, Central and the Caribbean. Among my people the Ceibe Tree was our Tree of Life. Today many of the children and the young people, if asked 'what is a Ceibe tree' cannot tell you of it, or its significance. But if you ask "what is a christmas tree", without hesitation there is a response immediately. It is culture genocide. I wish not to rain down on what people have adopted through the horrors of colonialism, but colonialism has injured, astronomically, our mental body. Colonialism has caused us to forget, once again to an astronomical extent, the atrocities of genocide that have taken place within Turtle Island, South, Central and the Caribbean. As I hold a strong prayer of resistance, I hold in my memory a story of a Taino Casique (Chief) within the Caribbean and that Casique name is Hatuey. Hatuey was organizing a resistance to the Castillian invaders of our Lands. The Spanish Conquistadors eventually captured him and tied him to the rubber tree to be burnt. With a cross (sword) and the black book (bible) they insisted that he be baptized so he could go to their heaven. He asked "do your people go to this heaven you speak about?" They replied "yes", he said, "Then I would prefer to go to your hell because if you are this cruel on Earth then I can only imagine your cruelty in your Heaven." With this statement he fixed his eyes upon the Sun and held his gaze there without a murmur while they burned him alive. As Indigenous People we cannot continue to forget the horror stories that the Old Ones experienced and the horror stories that we are experiencing in the here and now. Hatuey's example continues to vibrate and resonate, and in that example I hold myself in a prayer of resistance to the atrocities of Old and New. The trickery that has taken place and continues to take place is deep rooted and seated within our mental bodies, and we must liberate our mental body so that the Spirit may have direction in finding and creating solutions of thriving and sustainability for all of us alike. We cannot separate our limbs and claim that we are whole. We must stop the lie that takes place within our mental body. I will continue to hold a prayer of resistance until the Ancestors request my return back into their World. Ni Bon

CAMPO PALO, A Child Learning to Make Bano!

Pruning the Raspberries, and the Love for the Spirit of the Land!

Late winter or early spring is time to prune away the dead raspberry canes and any weak canes or canes that are in the pathway.  It is very important to do this to ensure a productive and healthy season for the raspberries.  We grow raspberries for their taste, their high vitamin content, and their medicinal properties.  Raspberry leaf tea is very good as well as a syrup that we will make this year from our black raspberry early spring shoots.  Anani is a big fan of the raspberry patch.  We also have in these rows grapes and strawberries.  Our Raspberries are Black, Red, Yellow and Purple!

This pile of debris came from just one side of one row of the raspberry canes.  It is very essential to remove all these old canes and debris because leaving them next to the raspberries can make the raspberries diseased.  Raspberries are very sensitive plants.  We ultimately burn the debris to ensure no disease is spread.  Spiritually it is also important to clean up and remove debris as this helps us and the Spirit refreshen for the Spring that is around the corner!  When an individual is involved in cleaning up, whether it be pruning, raking leaves, weeding the gardens, and so on, upon a Sacred and Ceremonial Land, or even within a small Monanso, the action of cleaning is an EBO for the individual and the individual's frame of mind is very important within this EBO!  When working with these things, one MUST be grounded in Love for the Earth from a Spiritual Perspective!

This is before the pruning, showing the chaotic appearance of the canes, many are broken due to wind and snow from the very hard winter we had this year, and many send shoots into the pathway.  

Left Photo:  After pruning, you can see the shift in energy and how clean and clear the raspberries now look.  Right Photo:  This is very important.  This is an EGUN TREE dedicated to a specific EGUN which stands at the lower end of one of the rows of the canes, right at the entrance.  We know that the EGUN associated with this tree is Observing the activity with the raspberries, and since there is an Egun Tree right by the raspberry rows we have to pay even greater attention to the physical and mental energy we apply when engaging the pruning activity!

Here Anani is participating in removing the debris.  It is very important for her to be involved in these activities and to understand and learn how to caretake the various gardens and spaces.  This way she learns from an early age what is needed to caretake this Space within ATABEY!

Left Photo:  The pile grows.  Right Photo:  The end posts of the rows are visible and next to them the Egun Tree.

Here you can see the walking path in between the rows which also gets cleaned of old dead grass and debris.  You can see the Egun tree's position in the left photo and how close it is to the raspberries. In the right photo you can now see that the raspberries are all in a  neat row and the path is easily accessible and clear.

Left Photo:  This is another Egun Tree of one of the Elder Egun of the Land!  This tree is just down the slope from the raspberry rows, and this Egun is also observing what is going on.  Right Photo:  While we were working a Vulture drew our attention to him/herself because she/he was making an unusual flight sound due to what looks like a missing wing feather.  The Vulture represents the DEAD as well as REBIRTH, which is relevant to the time of year and to the fact that we were engaged in working in close proximity to TWO EGUN Trees!  It may be that the Vulture is molting which is a form of renewal!

Here Thunder the Bull has just been re-captured.  We had found him next to where the fire pit for burning debris is.  This particular bull was originally brought to the Land for the benefit of the EGUN whose tree is right next to the raspberry rows.  So to see him loose on the very day we came to prune the raspberries was very significant!  Fortunately he was cooperative in allowing us to coral him once again in a safe field, because this bull is very fearless and bullish and will use his weapons without hesitation.

We also see this as the EGUN making himself known and bringing us a message!

Preparation for the New Cycle

After such wonderful success we were blessed with over the winter with our two cold frames producing greens all winter long, we added a third cold frame, this one is going to be used first for housing seedlings which need green house conditions until nights no longer freeze.  The greens are vital for good health and we eat them raw in salads to derive the maximum benefit.  

Here you can see the basic design of the cold frame, it has a slanted top to allow maximum sun exposure to the plants within it.  We make it out of ordinary pine lumber (untreated, pressure treated lumber contains many dangerous toxins and should not be anywhere near food).  It can also be made out of cedar which is more rot resistant but also more costly.  If we were living in a colder area we would consider surrounding the cold frames with straw bales to give added protection.

Greens are visible in the existing cold frame, this is highland cress (spicy cress) and a spicy mix of asian greens and arugula.

Cleaning the garden from last years debris and preparing the garden beds.  The snow is almost finished melting.

These are gourds from last year which we allowed to dry right on their vines and now have moved to a pallet to complete drying.  Gourds brought inside develop a mold while drying which is a health hazard, once the gourd is dried it can be cleaned and safely used.

Digging up "Sun Chokes" which had become visible due to the Earth heaving over the winter, we harvest some but left most in the ground to continue to expand this year.  Sun chokes can be eaten raw or cooked and have a unique earthy flavor.

"White Wolf" is pruning the raspberry bushes to remove all old canes which can become diseased and any canes which are looking weak or unhealthy.  

Our four year old, Anani, is learning how to make organic sugar water (syrup) to feed the bees after the long, hard winter.  

White Wold giving the bees the syrup.  On the right and below we examine our garden soil and were excited to see many worms and the high quality of the soil.  Soil structure is very delicate and at this point we avoid tilling the soil and just loosen it with a fork.  We have been working hard to contribute to the revitalization of the soil on the Land.

Burning debris, we will use the ash this year to add to the garden.

The same pile of debris from the opposite side.  The snow on the side quickly melted.

The three photos above are of the process of clearing space and burning debris to prepare for new plantings and a kitchen within what we call "Kongo Land".

The "Chicken Whisperer" trains her chicken, who is very tame after 2 years of this type of handling.

One hawk flying with 9 vultures were above us when we were cleaning the Garden.

Tobacco plant roots hanging in the left photo, tobacco and sage hanging in the right photo.

Right Photo:  Sage hanging from last year.   Left Photo: Sweet Grass braids from last year stilling hanging in the gazebo.