My beloved Elder is preparing to go home

Originally Posted by Tobi

Dear Raven Poet,
I can feel the love and a Grace. It has reached its tendrils out to me thousands of miles away, and swelled my heart, and brought tears to my eyes.

I am not Native American. But the way I see things, this is how we should all treat those who are preparing to go home.
Many blessings to him, and to you all.

Ah that may be so in the physical realm, Tobi - but I feel your spirit in your posts and I admire your words so much especially how you advocate for animals. So thank you to opening your beautiful heart to this beautiful process that this one particular Soul is undergoing in a world of souls who will, or are, undergo the same journey back to Home!

Originally Posted by Makoiyi

May his painted pony be swift and sure footed and the Grandfathers camp fires burn brightly to guide him on the trail back home.

The Elder / mentor that took me under his wing years ago made his journey back home two summers ago. It was both a hard yet beautiful time for those he left behind. The night he started his journey a shooting star passed over head and somewhere out there a new camp fire was lit along the trail that takes us all back home when the time comes. We planted him a tree the next day, as a place we could all visit when we wanted to, and shared good memories of him whilst we did so along with a small feast and prayers.

He'll live on in the memories of the good times you shared with him, plant him a tree when he sets off on his journey a place you can visit in times to come.

I'll hang a prayer bundle for you both

Makoiyi

Oh, my friend Makoiyi, thank you for this piece of wisdom. That is beautiful! A shooting star trail - oh, that is like my P.T! He is a bright light in this world, and so he shall continue to be when he takes that journey.

I will plant him a tree; and one for my Dad too. It seems like a good way to keep channeling my love to these beautiful Souls who are no longer in this physical world, and who we miss so much.

Kitchi Miigwetch, for hanging a prayer bundle. It will add to the beauty of his journey.

[Makoiyi]

Trees are always good for everyone concerned and as they grow those ancestors work through them. Np re the prayer bundle, its done and tied in a Rowan tree, a sacred tree to the ancestors in the land that I now live.

Makoiyi

[Belle]

Originally Posted by Raven Poet

Hi, everyone. I don't know if I can say his name here (if anyone has an opinion or teaching about speaking the name of an Elder in a public forum like this, I would welcome it if you chose to share it), but one of my beloved Elders is preparing to go home.

He was recently diagnosed with leukemia after months of mysterious illness. He called me yesterday morning and told me he was in the part of the hospital "where they put people to die."

I went and visited him last night. It was sad to see how much of his body has shrunken by the cancer. His partner was there, and the two of us women chatted and told funny stories while he rested on his bed, listening to his two women talk. I shared a Bear song with him; it was beautiful. My voice cracked lots and I kept running out of breath, but I kept praying with him and my Drum.

He has such a sparkling sense of humour. He kept cracking dark jokes all night, and we laffed so much.

His partner is coordinating a "Celebration of Life and Love" (a living wake) next week for him. I am looking forward to it; to see all these people gather to honour him and hopefully send him off with the echoes of laughter and loving words in his ears.

It is truly a sacred process. He is swaddled in love and I'm so happy for that. He was one of my first Elders and I'll miss him so. But I will enjoy his party with him next week.

He's had a hard life, like so many of our Elders have. He was traumatized in residential schools, separated from his family and community, spent years in alcohol addiction and life on the streets. Then when he stepped onto the Red Road, he did his initial healing and became a counselor and helper. That's when I met him.

In honour of my beautiful P.T.; I love you, Uncle - I wish you a good journey to the arms of our ancestors!

I didn't catch this thread. It's beautiful. I love the sentiment of planting a tree for a soul, but there aer people who have guided and helped us and they will live on in us with their wisdom constantly whispering in our ears.

[Star Wolf Medicine Woman]

I know from spending the last days with my father, just how traumatic it can be...Morphine does take the pain away and they will drift in and out of sleep..It was so sad for us... But the inevitable finally came and he drifted away from us..

I hope your Elder and mentor's passing is peaceful and that he is free from pain and journeys to be with the ancestors...