OPENING CEREMONY

 i open this ceremony

with the launch

of my deepest fear

of revelation

into the central fire.

now as the smoke rises

i am assured that its journey

will be a call

and my divine tribe will join me

opening the circle

of the modern creative

the modern spiritual

and the modern mystic

awakening our collective memory

of the sacred feminine

and our indigenous perfection.

i open this ceremony.

~tanya i.

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from "the sacred hoop: recovering the feminine in american indian traditions" by paula gunn allen:

"ceremonial literature includes all literature that is accompanied by ritual actions and music that produces mythic (methaphysical) states of consciousness and/or conditions...ceremonial literature is sacred; it has power."

"the purpose of american indian literature is never simply pure self-expression...to a large extent, ceremonial literature serves to redirect private emotion within a cosmic framework. the artistry of the tribes is married to the essence of language itself, for through language one can share one's singular being with that of the community and know within oneself the communal knowledge of the tribe. in this art, the greater self and all-that-is are blended into a balanced whole, and in this way the concept of being that is the fundamental and sacred spring of life is given voice and being for all."