I have a buddy who lives in New Mexico named Leroy
Anderson. Leroy has delved into the very
heart of primordial arts immersing into Native American techniques and rituals. A few days ago I received a package from
Leroy. In the box was a dream-catcher, an Ojibwa rattle and some key rings made
from bear hide. The dream-catcher is
made from the seedpod of a herbaceous species belonging to the genus, Proboscidea, commonly called “devil’s
claw.” The dream-catcher is now hanging
over my bed. But the item that enthralls me is the Ojibwa
rattle. The handle is made from spalted
dogwood from Tennessee. There is
something magical about the little rattle.
From the moment I started rattling it I felt a connection to something I
was familiar with, something I have heard.
Being a scientific sort I wasn’t going to relegate that feeling to anything
mystical and eventually concluded it reminds me of the little cicadas that
provide an almost continual background, white-noise, in the Brushlands during
the summer. Perhaps, but then maybe
there is something more? Could it be it
reminds me of a time past: A conduit via that collective unconscious
transporting us into the lives of our ancient ancestors?
Here’s what Leroy says
on the subject, “My belief around the rattles is [that] when you sit in a quiet
place and rattle the rattle, a sacred space forms around you. You then can either allow emotions to release
or you can take a question within knowing you will get a picture that you have
to interpret. So I do think that you are
feeling the energy that is connected to the rattle.”
The rattles are made
from dew claws and they have a pleasant, indeed tranquilizing sound. Leroy just got back from the Sundance
ceremony in South Dakota. “I talked to
an Ojibwa woman at the Sundance and she said that the rattles are tools that
you can use to help one’s self,” Leroy said.
Well, I sure as heck can’t explain it. Other than to say I like to rattle that
little device because in some mysterious way it calms me. Now don’t scoff. Some people have to smoke a cigarette or take
a drink or a lot worse. I don’t smoke or
drink. I just roam the woods and
oftentimes sit for hours in the deepest brush.
And now I think I’ll take my little rattle and maybe call out to those
who roamed these sleepy woods long before I arrived.
GIVE AWAY
Each time I give something,
I do it freely and willingly.
There are no expectations of something in return,
for it is in the giving that I receive my
fulfillment.
The INTENT of the give away is the GIFT.
The gift that I have given cannot be
returned to me in any way at all.
If I receive a gift from the one I gave to,
it is their gift that they give and it is
given in their way, whatever that may be.
They alone place the limit on the fulfillment
they receive in their give away.
I am thankful and blessed for the many
opportunities given to me to give fully
in a free and willing way.
Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson
