POWWOW

POWWOW

 

The Gathering of Nations Powwow, an annual festivity of the Native Americans and indigenous from around the world, is held in April, in New Mexico.  A celebration of cultures to honor the traditions of ancestors by reflecting, praying, dancing, and singing.

It is a time of unity of customs, minds, and spirits.  The Powwow dance is an integral part of this festivity. An ongoing ballet of bodies to a hypnotic drum beat.  The rhythmic rise and descent of bodies in unison creates an atmosphere of commonality and harmony. It binds all thoughts, beliefs and desires in a euphoric, vitalizing, and exhilarating environment.  The young and the old feel it in their hearts and souls. Circle of life, expressed in the motion of the moment. Leaping, singing, and playing, a mystical communion of rituals, traditions, and conventions.

The principle is universal, spiritual and familiar, as I have witnessed it on the other side of our world in the twirling rhythm of the Sufi and dervishes' dance.

It is also a connecting with all that is natural.  The leap, mankind's declaration of independence from the hold of the earth. A moment of freedom and then the solid ground, a reminder of where we belong.  Hearts pumping, muscles bouncing, spirits soaring into a trance of unifying individual beings into a harmonious commonality.

Such cultures are common around the world.  Much however is being lost to the greed, self-indulgence, and decadence of modern society and the social order of our times. Perhaps it is time to share an old dance with that new anyone with whom we have differences.