What we’re about
i will not be paying to re-up this group. my brief tenure as "leader" of this group ends march 15 2024. if you would like to go to a TRADITIONAL lodge after that, you can contact me directly at hypnotherapycw at gmail. PLEASE be CERTAIN to have read below before contacting me. know and understand that i SCREEN. if you do NOT respond to my brief questions, you will not be invited here. period. full stop.
i have worked very hard to clean up this group. you can read below all about me and what i "do". i am transparent and accountable for everything i do in these ways.
if you want to go to lodge, you'll have to message me. we sweat regularly.
Hau Mitakuyep[,
canté wasté napé ci yuza pelo
Hello my relatives, I greet you with warm heart and handshake.
I have been on the Canku Wakan (Sacred Road of the Lakota) for 32 years. i have decided to pick up this mantle (of this group) for a little while.
It is not usual for a person to introduce themselves like i am about to, but since there is no one here to do that for me, i will do so. the reason the Lakota do not introduce themselves and that i was taught to not do so is that it is the opposite of humility. but, let me be clear: i am not bragging here. i am not trying to be braggadose or vain. i am only going to address my experiences on this Canku Wakan:
I have been following the Lakota Ways (Canku Wakan - the Sacred Road) for over 32 years. I was given the Sacred Canupa in 1992 after attending 'sweats" (inikagapi - "the making of new breath") over a year at that time and going to Pine Ridge Reservation to witness my first Wiwang Wacipi - "the Staring-at-the-Sun dance."
Since that time i have attended over 2,500 sweats, taken care of over 1,500 fires, attended over 90 Sun Dances, over 50 hanbleceyapi (crying for a vision) camps, danced the Sun Dance now 21 times, been "on the hill" for hanbleceyapi many times and been at other ceremonies among the Lakota many many times.
I have been given permission to carry Canupa ("the sacred pipe") and to sing the wakan olowan (sacred songs) and to perform the inikagapi as i have now for 17 years-over 500 lodges to date. (i have publicly named names of the Wicasa Wakan that trained me in the past, but the surviving tiwahe members have asked me to not use their names even though they acknowledge my training with their relatives who have passed on)
We have regular Lodges up here at my place and the main offering will be the Traditional Lakota Inikagapi several times a month in Loveland. I will not be offering some "buffet style" of Native ceremonies from across the globe. I will not be teaching that buffet style (spiritual bypassing) is correct or good. i do not believe that it is. i do not believe that following part of 100 paths and "picking and choosing" what you feel like is a good or decent thing to do. I follow the Lakota Canku Wakan. That is what will be offered. I will not be offended by a mass migration away from this group. but i will not support nor will i offer the continuation of this buffet style, spiritual bypassing. That includes people claiming they are performing Lakota ceremony and having ZERO training and zero integrity with these "things". it is necessary, in fact, for me to address that previous "leaders" of this group CLAIMED that they were performing Lakota ceremony; but when i addressed THREE of them, 1 would not respond, 1 got VERY VERY defensive and blocked me and the other suddenly did an about face and admitted that not only had she NEVER been trained but in fact she was doing NOTHING that could be called Lakota Inikagapi. as i was trained, if you ask me who has trained me, where i have been and what i have done, i will relate EVERY bit of that information to my dying breath. and i will do so un-defensively. because, if i am who i claim to be and that is Ikce Wicasa (ick-chay wee-chah-shaw - common man) and sun dancer and care taker of the wakan canupa and the wakan olowan and the wakan inikagapi and "you" ask me who i am and what i have done and who has shown me, i will simply tell you those things. (side note: if you ASK someone these things and they are DEFENSIVE - RUN THE OTHER DIRECTION, they are FAKING it and your life is NOT safe). that is all. i am a simple, pitiful, common man. not trying to be anyone or anything.
i want to be very very clear here: i am not here to proselytize, sell, force, cajole, change or convert anyone. i am not a vain disgusting person who claims that this is the only path in the world for humanity. BUT it is **MY** only path. i was instructed, and follow "it" carefully and i am vociferously protective of "it", i ONLY follow Lakota ways. if you wish to witness/experience a Lakota ceremony or do so regularly and you will adhere to those constructs with respect, then you are welcome. if not, then, it's ok, this is not the place for you. and i have no issue with you or your path. i am not your father (or whomever). if you are offended by what i am saying and these changes, you can come up and meet with me and we can sit and talk, but since this group has been abandoned and there seemed to be a need, i have taken up this mantle. that's all. simple. if you do not wish to be in this group, if you do not wish to attend, my feelings will not be hurt. there's literal millions of other places to find the spiritual bypassing you're probably looking for.
that business out of the way:
Typically we will gather up about 10 am on most sundays to prep the fire and light it by 11. Then we will go in about noon. We'll be out of lodge by 2.30-3.00 and you'll be on your way well before 4.00. (note: on occasion, something comes up for someone in lodge and we process/deal with it. on those occasions, very infrequent, a lodge will run long. Native or Reservation time means no watch. no clock. we start when we start, we finish when we finish. if you have somewhere else to be at a particular time, then maybe come another day... or... maybe this isn't for you. no judgment. but i won't be, again, as i was taught, constrained by the wasicu clock).
This will be a Traditional Lodge: Men please wear long shorts - like basketball shorts, Women please wear either long shorts/skirt and t-shirts or more traditional sweat lodge dresses (sort of like a mumu). attendees should bring two towels - one to bring into the lodge that may get a little dirty from clean dirt in the floor of the lodge and the second with which to dry off after. you can bring water or other drinks with you, but you will not bring a bottle in with you during the ceremony.
**MOON TIME:
As this is a Traditional Lakota Lodge, if you are a born woman and on "moon time" we ask you to stay home and rest. Women on their moon time are in a very very sacred and powerful time. They do not come to ceremony. (this is not meant as unkindness or punishment or being dirty - it is truly considered a very very powerful time and to be respected, rest and to be away from all ceremonies, work etc.).
Participants are asked to bring a tobacco offering, a donation and some food to share after the lodge for "wopila" (thank you).
i welcome questions and will do my best to gently inform and guide.
the Altar is a Sobriety Altar which means that you need to be 24 hours off all alcohol and socially used drugs (if you use psychotropics or MEDICAL marijuana those are not drugs but medicine. i'd appreciate you letting me know but you are welcome).
*** HEALTH CONCERNS:
if you have health concerns or do take medications, you should speak with your MD before attending a ceremony of this sort.
the accommodations here are rustic. (two port-a-pots) plenty of parking.
The Lakota Inikagapi will be the main offering at this time. However, having contacts in the Native community over the last 25 years in the Denver, Boulder, Foco/Loveland area and on the Reservation 4 hours away, from time to time there will be other offerings possible like Native American Church or aka Tipi Meetings, Yuwipi, Canupa ceremony, Wiwang Wacipi and possibly Hanbleceyapi. however, if you have not been to 1 single lodge with me, meaning i do not know you, i will not open other ceremonies to "you". sorry. i do not just bring errant folks to ceremony. if you want to have access to other ceremonies, you will need to have some regularity here at lodge to show the kind of person that you are (to show your integrity, to be specific). while some ceremonies will ask for specific donations, i am not here to make money. so, if no one from this group comes, if they have not been invited, having never been to any sweats, it is ok. i am not mean. i am not angry, i am not unkind. i am direct and i am protective. we do not just bring errant people to ceremony so they can looky-loo or "get high". certain ceremonies include certain medicines. and if you have not made relationship with me, i will NOT take responsibility for you to introduce you to my family who perform those ceremonies. it protects those people and the ceremonies. again, there are 1,000+ people across the united states that are performing ceremony that you can PAY to go to a "sweat" or some kind of "fasting camp" that they call vision quest, there are tons of peyote meetings that you can PAY to get into in crestone and denver and boulder. i want no part of that. the medicine men and road men that i know i will protect with my life. so if you want introductions to any of those kinds of things, you'll need to have a relationship with me - you'll come here for sweat with some regularity so i can know you and see if you're trustworthy to go to other ceremonies. again, it's ok if there's a mass migration from this group. some of you are incapable of learning integrity. some of you have never witnessed it. this group has never had integrity. if your feelings are hurt, it is ok. you will live. if you have untreated trauma and you're triggered, it's also good. call your therapist or me and make an appointment. i am an incredible therapist. 32 years in practice. (and in my office, yes, i do charge money, it is not ceremony, and we will work and you will recover as we address your trauma, but that's another discussion - see my ad on psychology today "charlton wilson")
As i am a purist in the following of Lakota Ways, i will not be mixing medicines with other Tribes and far flung Nations. if you are seeking buffet style spirituality, this group may not be for everyone.
i am going to get on a soap box here for a minute: the "sweat lodge" has been appropriated by many many people, most of whom have little or no training and claim to be this or that. I AM NOT A MEDICINE MAN. and i make no such claim ever. i am a Sun Dancer and have been trained by dozens of Medicine Men on Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations to correctly and appropriately perform the Lakota Inikagapi. When I offer "sweat lodge" here, that is what you will witness/take part in. I will not water it down, i will not white-manize it, I will not xSTAINize it, it will be just as I would perform the ceremony up on the reservation and as i was taught. I am adamant about this. and i am vociferous in the protection of these Lakota Ways as too many are doing all sorts of weird things with "sweat lodge". there is a 20,000 year tradition and a very lengthy process in carrying these things and performing them properly. that is how i was taught and what you will "get" when you are here with me. i am not trying to proselytize, to change your belief systems or make you into anything. but if/when you come here to "take in" here, you are expected to conduct yourself with respect and follow the traditions (it is on me to be sure that you know how to conduct yourselves, yes). it is not for me to tell you how to live your lives and what path you should take. i could and would never tell another person that "this is the only path", however, for me, Lakota Canku Wakan is my only path.
i want everyone to feel welcome. it has been very rare that i have asked someone to leave as a result of disrespect. and i have never heard of anyone that did not feel welcome and safe. it is of utmost importance that Women and Children feel and are safe here. under no circumstances will any inappropriate behaviour be tolerated especially mistreatment of Women and Children. Le Winyan Wakan. As a Sun Dancer, I am tasked with making CERTAIN that Le Oyate (The People) are safe.
Finally, the subject came up earlier, so I will be fully transparent about me and who I am: I have been sober for over 37 years and follow a "sobriety altar" which i described earlier. I have also been a therapist/counselor for over 32 years. in the last 23 years i have been giving free therapy to United States Veterans (over 11,000 hours free) and i have volunteered up on the reservations over 1,500 hours a year for over 32 years. as a result my life is very financially challenged. I am not pouring lodge for money. yes, there is a donation dish out and there are expenses that i hope folks will be considerate of and generous with. but i will never ask for money (except to ask for help to clean the port-a-pots which are $250 to clean each time they are cleaned/drained - which i generally do every 1/4 year). I am a single father of 2 college age children who I adore and will drop everything for these two humans. they are the only "thing" that is in front of my ceremonial practices. as to my lineage, i am of mainly european descent (the oppressed europeans, not the oppressors). i will not claim any lineage from this Turtle Island as it is so negligible that i refuse to be one of those "my great great great gramma was a________" types. Over 32 years going to Pine Ridge and Rosebud many of my tiyospiye (extended family) have said: "...Charlton, you ARE Lakota" but i will NEVER claim this myself, unless/until i can clearly prove this, which at this time i can not.
i want you all to feel welcome here and i have worked very very hard for this little plot of land to be safe, calming and welcoming. so far, it seems i have succeeded. so i look forward to seeing and meeting those of you that wish to come and join in "sending up a voice in a sacred way" wakan hoye yapi.
wopila - thank you if you've taken the time to read this message,
warmly,
charlton
