The Ninth Salamander's Ruby
2013-06-07
What an interesting Full Moon it was on May 25th. We had spent the day cleaning up the garden, in the process finding nine (9) red backed salamanders and one ruby red glass "jewel" near the bottom of the wood pile. Salamanders are about transformation, and they also indicate a healthy ecosystem. Next, a turkey vulture flew overhead, the cousin of the condor, as we prepared for the evening's cermony.
This was a water Despatcho, where we use only things from nature that will not harm the water, as we will release the Despatcho into running water...the Grand River. A large green sheet was spread out on the ground, then flower petals, twigs, seeds, nuts, fruti and evergreen sprigs were used. One large sand painting was created in the middle of the sheet to represent the culture's issues of what is hidden destructive and not spoken of. We each named what we felt was an issue: truth, the world monetary system, the food supply, and so on. This was the base layer, the World Below. Then we each made our own sand paintings for our own issues. This was the Middle World. Lastly we covered the sheet with flower petals, healing in the Upper World. Then the Water Despatcho was rolled up. During this process, a Great Blue Heron flew from south to north over us. In a few minutes, two Great Blue Herons flew north to south over us. Rarely have we seen more that one heron flying together.
We all got into cars and drove the 5 km to the Grand River bridge. At this time, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter were just above where the sun had set, making a right-angle triangle in the sky. I've never seen Mercury above Venus in the sky like that.
At the bridge, there were a couple of fishermen in the river, so we went to the other side of the bridge to prepare. Now we heard the cries of a peacock, which evidently the nearby farm is now having on their land. Haunting, startling cries they are too!
When all was ready, we unrolled the water Despatcho, and a rain of flower petals, twigs, beans, raisins and lentils showered down into the water. Not sure how transformed the fishermen were by the experience...
As we drove home, Mamam Quilla, Grandmother Moon, rose like a huge pumpkin over the horizon. At the same time, the nearby town of Elora was having a belated Victoria Day firework display. So we pulled over to watch both light shows. Stunning!
