Journey to the Sacred

By Jean Reddemann
 
A Traditional Native American Woman teaching the Ways and Prophecies of her Ancestors.
Tools for Everyday Life
 
It has been almost one year since Winter Solstice 2012 which marked the beginning of a new era and a time to create a new way of being.   2012 was the end of a 26,000 years cycle of humanity, which was for its most part, dominated by fear and control.

This past year has been a time for us to look at what works and what did not work in our past.  As much as we are now going forward with the New Beginning, we are also going back in time to collect all the lessons and the teaching we’ve learned from our Ancestors.  Their teachings and ways were based on peace and harmony with all creation.  One of the first things our Ancestors taught us is how to live in harmony with all creation. We must honor our connection with the plants and animals, all the elements and with the planets and stars.  We are only one thread in the “Web of Life”.   This is an important time to re-learn how to make all those connections with everything around us in a good and loving way.  We must again realize that we are incredibly important as individuals, each one in our unique way.    We have to be part of the whole to make a difference in this new beginning time we are creating.    Having been separated from the “Web of Life” has broken us into thousand pieces within ourselves.  We need to claim our wholeness and we must heal our hearts.  

The Native American Prophecies said that the women would gather at a particular place in Wisconsin on Winter Solstice 2012 and from their hearts they would emanate such a pure and unconditional love that it would create a thousand years of world peace and would put into motion the healing of Mother Earth.  The reclaiming of the feminine is now in process.   For women, it is a time to heal ourselves, to claim our identity, our power and our position in the “Circle of Life”.  We will learn again to love, honor, appreciate and respect ourselves first and then all that surrounds us, men, children and all creation.  Women have to re-establish a way of being in harmony with men and men have to respect and be in harmony with women.  By doing so, we can create community and family of mutual respect, setting the example for future generations through our actions.  Children learn imitating what they see.  This is the time to break the cycle of dys-function, dis-ease and disease.  Women have to heal themselves first for they are the “Circle of Life”. They have to be that clear channel of Being where all that is good can come through.  They have to become that vehicle.
 
This is also the time when men are coming into balance with their female energy and both men and women can now walk and work together in harmony.  The male energy is the way of the warrior, the one that protects and provides. The female energy is the way of peace and of an open heart.  Men’s role at this time is to support women as they heal and come into their power.  They need each other.  Men alone cannot find balance if women are not respected and recognized as the life carriers.  They jointly have to support the change, but women must come forth more than ever before.  There are many ways to claim back the feminine in your lives.  The Medicine Wheel is one way.  The Moon Ceremony is another way.  But there are many other teachings that will help you reclaim the feminine in you.
 
The Medicine Wheel:  All things in the natural world were created in a circle.  In the circle there is no beginning and no ending.  All things are equal, no one thing is more important than the other.  The Medicine Wheel is a representation of the circle, which is life and represents all parts of creation.  The Medicine Wheel has been used by our Ancestors for millennia and has many layers and teachings.  The first layer is to connect to the seasons because the seasons connect us to Mother Earth.  The East direction starts on the Spring Equinox. It is the time of the new day, new beginning and spring.  This is when we plant new seeds, feelings, ideas, etc.   The South begins on the Summer Solstice which represents rapid growth, and rapid change. We are active and working hard in all life’s aspects. The West direction begins with the Fall Equinox, which is time of harvest in our lives and of celebration and feasting with the fruits of our labor.   The North begins on the Winter Solstice and represents a time of deep introspection, deep reflection, and going within ourselves, so that we are ready in the spring to plant new ideas and seeds to create a new world.   My Ancestors taught me how to connect to the “Circle of Life” and how to conduct ourselves to benefit from these seasons. By connecting to the “Circle of Life”, women will achieve another layer of healing.
 
The Moon Ceremonies:  In the sacred “Circle of Life” there are 13 moon cycles.  As women connect with their own moon cycle, they will soon understand that they will have the same 28 days interval that Grandmother Moon has.  This number (13) represents the feminine and it was honored by our Ancestors as a women’s gathering number.  Unfortunately, in more recent history, women were called witches if they participate in or created Full Moon Circles.  My Ancestors taught me the meaning of each of the 13 moons in a year and how to create “Sacred Circle of Women” around the powerful energy of Grandmother Moon.  It is important to learn to connect with Grandmother Moon with offerings of tobacco or other sacred plants.  We learn to listen and to open our hearts to her and be filled with her timeless wisdom. This connection with her and our Ancestors will guide you and heal you as well as your loved ones.  Your life can change significantly for the better by just creating women circles around the full or new moon.  

I call upon each one of you to follow the way of our ancestors.  Learn all the manners in which you can make your life sacred. Honor your elders, women and children, honor the land and species that provide you with food, shelter, energy, medicine, honor the natural cycles of nature and give thanks to the Creator for your life.

Jean recalls:  “In the old days, as it is today, women are awakened by Spirit at 3 am.  As a young woman I remember getting out of bed and putting on a long dress.  I would then follow my Grandma and Aunties down the hall to the back door.  There Grandpa had placed a tree stump he had carved out and filled with tobacco.  We would each take some of this sacred offering and go outside where we would face East.  We would silently pray.  The prayer would not be a recitation but it would be a prayer that comes from the heart by listening to the silence and to what the heart would connect to. We would connect to the Morning Star, that teacher of the women. The listening was so important. When we were done praying, we would listen to the wind, we could hear the sacred, we could even listen to our own heartbeat and the one of Mother Earth.  Then we would take the tobacco and offer it to the Creator in gratitude.  Grandma would come back in the house and after putting a log into the old wood burner we would sit together and listen to Grandma’s teachings.  Her teachings were always in the form of story-telling.“

Biography:  Jean Reddemann's Indian name "Wasaki Emani Wi", translates in English to Strong Walking Woman. Her Ancestors are of the Mohican Nation.  She is the adopted daughter of Grandmother Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, one of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.

Jean is recognized as a seer by her people. She was born with special gifts of healing and spiritual ability.  She has worked extensively with the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation and with women’s alcohol and drug rehabilitation facilities.  Jean conducts a series of her own classes, workshops and retreats to teach what her Ancestors taught her (ie full moon circles, medicine wheel, spirit painting, etc..). These events take place in some of Wisconsin's most beautiful settings. She also gives public speeches at annual conferences and retreat programs of diverse institutions (ie. AVEDA Corporation). Her work with clients for personal consultations and healing sessions is ongoing.  Jean has been recognized by Wisconsin television as one of twenty women who has positively impacted the health of women in the state of Wisconsin. Jean's teachings have been highlighted on her television show, 'Journey of the Spirit: Women's Wisdom'.  Jean's DVD 'From Curse to Blessing' reconnects women with ancient teachings of what has made them women and how to conduct themselves (mind, body and spirit) so that they may become all they are meant to be.   You can also read about Jean and others with similar gifts in 'Famous Wisconsin Mystics', a revealing and captivating book by Hanna Heidi Levy.
To contact Jean Redman you may write her an email:  jeanreddemann@yahoo.com  To learn more about Jean, visit: http://jeanreddemann.com/