Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Grandmother

As Christmas approaches, it is good to remember that many traditions have paths to salvation and healing. Some have come together in the form of a council called the International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.

The grandmothers' council began  in 2004 and continues to raise awareness and hope : 

Through the years, they've become teachers and icons who are galvanizing and uniting a rapidly emerging global movement. They are awakening people to the urgent need for change if we are to survive on this planet. But they are not using fear as a weapon. They are offering us hope. What many people see as a threat, they see as an opportunity. They show us that by going back to the ancient and time-proven earth-based traditions and practices of our Indigenous people, we will be able to break away from our destructive habits and make the changes necessary for our survival. (Read more here.)

Alison Rose Levy in The Huffington Post, Dec 12/09- "A Meeting of the Hearts: the Dalai Lama and the Thirteen Grandmothers," - writes :     "They have circled the globe, meeting with the Dalai Lama, leading healing ceremonies and prayer circles in India, Nepal, the Amazon, Alaska, Mexico, and Nicaragua."

Levy goes on to quote one of the grandmothers:

"Together, the grandmothers have almost nine hundred years of experience," said Flordemayo a Mayan healer from Nicaragua, "We are thirteen voices strong to remind humanity that we must unite to move into this new millennium. We're in the process of birthing a new way of being, a new way for all of us to be gentle with each other. We should connect our hearts and become one."

All of the grandmothers believe that greed is the root cause of all our ills, causing humans pain and the earth and its creature dire consequences. The grandmothers have joined voices and knowledge to help all people heal both themselves and Mother Earth.

The grandmothers are:

(The two flags are just a sampling of those connected to the grandmothers.)
                                                                                                                                           ( Lakota flag)

Aama Bombo, Tamang, Nepal

Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Tekelma Siletz, Oregon USA

Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota, SD

Bernadette Rebienot, Omyene Gabon, Africa
Clara Shinobu Iura, Mapia Amazonia, Brazil                                        
Flordemayo, Mayan, Nicaragua
Julieta Casimiro, Mazatec, Mexico                                                                            (flag of Nepal)
Maria Alice Campos Friere, Mapia Amazonia, Brazil

Margaret Behan, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Montana
Mona Polacca, Hopi/Havasupai?Tewa Arizona
Rita Pitka Blumenstein, Yupik, Alaska
Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance. Oglala Lakota, SD
Tsering Golma Gyaltong, Tibetan, Canada

Pictures and bios of the grandmothers are here.

For the Next 7 Generations is a movie about the grandmothers by filmmaker Carole Hart. She felt compelled to make the film because she was healed of terminal brain cancer by elders in an indigenous healing ceremony. The film's website has a wealth of information about the grandmothers,  their coming together in 2004, and the making of the film.

 

For The Next 7 Generations Trailer from Laughing Willow on Vimeo.

We need the grandmothers, their vision, and their action, now more than ever.

Sobering Thoughts on a Green Future

David Rothkopf is an author, blogger, consultant, and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is also president and CEO of Garten Rothkopf whose  "largest practice is in the intersecting areas of energy choice and climate change."

So, when Rothkopf writes about security and energy issues in a greener future, I think it would be wise to listen!

In his August 24/09 article "Is a Green World a Safer World?" in Foreign Policy, Rothkopf discusses the ramifications of conversion to greener technologies. He sees five areas as the most critical.

First, "green trade wars" may be a future green feature, wars arising from "tariff regimes" and "fiddling with trade laws to 'protect' local jobs." 

Another area of concern is from the "complex consequences of the simultaneous rise and decline of petrostates." Imagine the negative potential of a super-rich petrostate faced with the coming death of the golden goose.

Stress on already diminishing water supplies will be a further consequence of the development of greener technologies, as they are "water hogs." The need for lithium and the concentration of supply in mostly Chile and Bolivia raises the potential for serious political consequences.

Finally, any reliance on nuclear power raises concerns about the safety of the technology itself and also about security of the fuel and possible plans of terrorists and shaky, cash-strapped governments.

Sobering thoughts, but necessary to consider in the usual romantic rush to a future green utopia.

Rothkopf's most recent book is Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making.

I would like to invite David Rothkopf to my soiree.