The Seven Sacred Laws - As Shared by Elder Nii Gaani Aki Inini (Dr. Dave Courchene), Anishinaabe Nation, Eagle Clan

In the Anishinaabe world, and others, the Seven Sacred Laws have acted as the foundation of our way of life and connection to the Spirit and the land.

The Seven Sacred Laws are represented by seven animals that ensure our close relationship with Nature. Each animal offers a special gift and understanding of how we as people should live our lives on Mother Earth.

We are living in a time that we need a vision of hope based on values and teachings that can set the foundation for a change of heart. The Seven Sacred Laws are the foundation we are to live by. These Laws emanate from having the spirit of kindness.
It is the spirit of these seven animals that we call upon to teach and remind us of the Seven Sacred Laws, beginning with the law of Respect – Represented by the Buffalo.

Respect is to be a giving and sharing people, first and foremost, following the example of the buffalo who gave its whole being for the life of the people.

Love – Represented by the Eagle – is about loving the Great Spirit, loving the land, loving ourselves in the way we were created, and loving each other in the highest way, as the eagle brings vision that is always based on love. The essence of love is understanding, with empathy and compassion. Through the unconditional love of the Great Spirit, we have all been given the ability to have vision, and to make our visions come true.

Courage – Represented by the Bear – is living from the heart, and having the courage to be ourselves. It takes courage to do the right thing for the sake of the children, the way a mother bear would die before seeing harm come to her cub.

Honesty – Represented by the Sabé or Bigfoot – is being honest with ourselves, speaking and living our truth from the heart. Honesty is refusing to lie or engage in gossip about others. Honesty is being true to our words. Honesty is never judging or condemning others, but to speak well of others, honouring their uniqueness within the human family.

Wisdom – Represented by the Beaver – is about using the gift the Great Spirit gave each of us to serve, and to build a strong family, community and Nation. Our gifts do not belong to us as individuals, but belong to all the people, to serve the good of the Nation. If the beaver did not use his gift to build, his teeth would grow long, and he would die. Similarly, if we do not use our gifts in a good way for the benefit of the Earth and the brothers and sisters of our nations, we too would die spiritually.

Humility – Represented by the Wolf – is about showing gratitude for life received, never overstepping the natural laws of Mother Earth. Humility is to know that not one of us is ever above or below our fellow human beings. We are all equal in the eyes of the Great Spirit. There is so much we can learn from the wolf. The teaching of humility is especially important for the leaders of our Nations.

The teaching of Truth is represented by the Turtle. Our motherland is referred to as Turtle Island. To know and live truth is to walk and live all the Seven Sacred Laws. Living truth means living in the spirit of Respect, Love, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility and Truth. It is when we live truth that we will know peace and find the truth of our humanity. Our spiritual constitution is written on the turtle. The turtle lives in the water and on the land to remind the whole world of the truth we should be living by.

The animals that represent the seven sacred laws ensure that we have a close relationship with the land – an alliance with nature. The animal world are our brothers. They live with each other in harmony and bring us teachings.

When one is able to walk the spirit of these Seven Sacred Laws is when one becomes truly free, it is then that one receives the full support of the universe, and the forces of the Earth itself.

The National Turtle Lodge Council of Elders and Knowledge Keepers honoured Elder Dr. Dave Courchene, Jr. and his spiritual names, Nitamabit (The Original Way and One who Sits in Front) and Nii Gaani Aki Inini (Leading Earth Man) yesterday, in recognition of his leadership and role identified by his names, his service to the People and Mother Earth, and his work in fulfillment of the dream and vision of the Turtle Lodge to awaken, nurture and strengthen the spirit in all Peoples.

Yesterday, while hundreds gathered at the Turtle Lodge to honour Elder Dr Dave Courchene and his Vision of Turtle Lodge, Governor General Mary Simon hosted a simultaneous event in his honour at Rideau Hall. Listen to her remarks here.

How does an interfaith approach to climate change attempt to bridge the divides? How can a faith-based approach be more intersectional when it comes to justice issues? What are some specific examples of work that is being done, and how can CCL members connect to that work?


Get to know the organization Interfaith Power & Light, which works on a faith-based response to climate change. With IPL's Rev. Susan Hendershot and CCL Regional Coordinator Mindy Ahler, this session will explore IPL's programs, state affiliates, faith climate voter campaign, and more.


Slide Deck & More #CCL2020 Presentations: http://cclusa.org/presentations
Join CCL: https://cclusa.org/join

Please join The Commonwealth Club of California and UC Berkeley’s Townsend Center for the Humanities for the second in a series of dialogues on catastrophe, storytelling and the present moment. In “Climate Change and Sacred Groves,” Townsend Center scholar Sugata Ray will meet with visual artist Ranu Mukherjee to investigate the relationship between the natural world and the sacred realm, especially as it has developed in India over the last several centuries of civilization and the rise of the Anthropocene era.

In his most recent book, Climate Change and the Art of Devotion, Sugata shows how a site-specific and ecologically grounded theology emerged in northern India in the wake of the Little Ice Age (ca. 1550–1850), an epoch marked by climatic catastrophes across the globe. His interests dovetail in unexpected and compelling ways with Ranu’s visionary and captivating recent work, which positions the banyan tree as a meeting point between ecology and culture. Their conversation will be an opportunity for viewers to contemplate and rethink the role of art as it relates to contemporary concerns around climate, disease, human flourishing and the sacred.

Sugata Ray is associate professor of South and Southeast Asian art in the History of Art Department at the University of California, Berkeley. His research and writing focus on climate change and the visual arts from the 1500s onward. Ray is the author of Climate Change and the Art of Devotion: Geoaesthetics in the Land of Krishna, 1550–1850 (2019); Water Histories of South Asia: The Materiality of Liquescence (2019; coedited); and Ecologies, Aesthetics, and Histories of Art (forthcoming; coedited).

Ranu Mukherjee is a visual artist who makes paintings, animations and large-scale installations. Her current work focuses on shifting senses of ecology, non-human agency, diaspora, migration and transnational feminist experience. Her most recent installation was presented at the ecologically focused 2019 Karachi Biennale; she has exhibited solo at the San Jose Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Asian Art Museum, and the de Young Museum. She is an associate professor in graduate fine art at the California College of the Arts. Mukherjee is represented by Gallery Wendi Norris.

NOTES
Artwork from The Met (in public domain): "Krishna and Balarama by a River: Page from a Dispersed Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Stories of Lord Vishnu)"

Part one in this series, “The Book of Exodus,” can be viewed here


-Subscribe for more Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwealthclub
-Upcoming events: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events
-Become a Member: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/membership

-Donate Now: https://support.commonwealthclub.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298
-Text DONATE to: 415-329-4231
-Watch & Listen https://www.commonwealthclub.org/watch-listen
-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub/
-Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cwclub/
-Twitter https://twitter.com/cwclub

The Garrison Institute presents a live webinar with Jessica Morey.

During this interactive webinar, Jessica guided us through earth-based contemplative practices to connect us with our belonging to and love and grief for our world and all the beings with whom we share it. She invited us to reflect on what we might learn from this time of pandemic about how to respond to the even more devastating global climate crisis. We practiced together to build the inner resiliency, compassion, and embodied interconnection to thrive in the crucial work of advocating for a livable planet for all.

Jessica Morey is a lead teacher and co-founder of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (www.iBme.com). She began practicing meditation at age 14 on teen retreats offered by the Insight Meditation Society. Before joining iBme, Jessica worked in clean energy and climate policy and finance at the World Bank, the Pew Center on Climate Change, and the Clean Energy States Alliance. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Dartmouth and a master's degree in Sustainable Development and International Affairs. Her published works range from the chapter “Ordinary Awakening” in Blue Jean Buddha to Conflict Resolution of the Boruca Hydro-Energy Project: Renewable Energy Production in Costa Rica. In 2014, Jessica brought her two life passions together to write about the potential of contemplative practice to heal our relationship with the natural world in a Shambhala Sun article.

Your support matters. Our vision for a more just, compassionate world has never felt more urgent.  If you have any questions about this event, please contact us here. .

Stand Down is an invitation to get traumatized Veterans off the street and back into their lives. It is a three day event that includes medical, dental, legal services but most inportantly, it restores Vets with a sense of community. Int he words of its founder Dr. John Natchison it is a drug free Woodstock music festival combined with Maslow's hierarchy of needs and a family picnic. A thousand Vets show up and 2,000 grateful volunteers welcome them. There are now over 300 Stand Down events in the US. Of the percent of citizens who sign up for the military Veterans disproportionately experience trauma, PTSD, substance abuse disorders and homelessness. Community and connection is the means to Veterans to recover their purpose and passion.

Welcome to Recovery Cafe is a refuge of hope and healing where transformation and healing is always on the menu.  It's a place where people who have been ignored and not valued are given loving attention and valued. Good nutrition, connection, and community are the antidotes to isolation, loneliness, and recidivism.  Recovery Cafe is not a drop in center or a crisis clinic.  It is a membership organization where people are valued and come back to life!  After viewing the trailer visit their website.

Beit T'Suvah is an addiction rehabilitation Center in Los Angeles where people with addictions come back to a life of meaning and purpose through contact with a higher power. Each person there has a spiritual counselor while in long term recovery. You don't have to be Jewish to get in just open minded and ready to acknowledge that God shaped hole in the your soul.

Rabbi Mark Borovitz and Harriet Rossetto of Beit T'Suvah are featured in this video short.

The Recovery Cafe Network (RCN) is committed to training and nurturing groups seeking to start recovery communities based on the Recovery Cafe Model. This video features the founder, Killian Noe.
The Network creates the structure for us to learn from each other about what does and does not work. It also creates a platform to generate greater resources.
For more stories of the Recovery Cafes click here.