The Web of Life and the Four Sacred Directions and Seasons

This piece was inspired by the four sacred directions of the Cherokee people and the belief that everything and everyone is connected by a delicate but perfect web. This belief spans across almost all nations and tribes.
It for me, being Native myself, is a very important concept that I remind myself of often.
You, my reader, are my sister (or brother)...we've just never met.
Every living thing...the four leggeds, the winged ones, the tiny little creatures and bugs that we never notice, the sea creatures and the trees and plants are also our relations and should be respected as I would respect you.

The four directions are each in themselves very important and bring their energy into our lives.

The color for North is Blue (in this case Lapis) which represents sadness and defeat. It also represents gola (winter) and is a season of survival and waiting.

The color for East is Red (in this case red Jasper) which represents victory and power. It also represents gogeyi (spring) and is the re-awakening after a long sleep, victory over winter and the power of new life.

The color for South is White (in this case natural howlite) and represents peace, happiness and serenity. It also represents gogiayeli (summer) and is a time of plenty.

The color for West is Black(in this case black stone) which represents problems and death. It also represents uligohvsdi (autumn or fall) and is the final harvest; the end of Life's Cycle.

This piece is currently listed for sale here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38732987

Many Blessings to you all,
~Cassandra
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ManyMoonsJewelry

Finding the Truth in What's Left of Nature

"Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect."
~Chief Seattle, 1854

The Web still exists to remind us if we take the time to notice.

These pictures were taken by me last summer in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in North Carolina.
It is a 3,000 acre virgin forest...one of the very few left in the U.S. Many of the trees here are well over 400 years old and tower over 100 feet high and over 20 feet in circumference.
It was a uncharted hunting ground for the Cherokee people and the energy this area produces is ancient and very sacred.
We ride a lot in good weather and just wander most of the time with no plans or intention of being anywhere.
That day we found this forest.
There is a long paved drive going into the heart of these trees, leading to the typical touristy picnic tables and camp sites. Riding in that day, having no clue where we were going, my breath was literally taken away. The feeling; ancient, wise, powerful but, truthfully, simply indescribable.

Take the time to look around you...remember that you *are* still a part of it all. There is beauty, wonder and power in everything. From a natural, untouched forest spring, a tree that's been allowed to grow taller than your eyes can see to even the tiniest little things, perhaps there only just to make you smile.

Get away from the picnic tables, camp sites and viewing decks.
Wander...after all, "Not all those who wander are lost."

Many Blessings to you,
~Cassandra