Wellness Lifestyle: Global Grandmothering
Details
Article summary and topic for group discussion. Meetup facilitated by Jean Chuang Menges (http://wisdomhouseny.com/about/jean-menges/), L.Ac., Adv CBP.
Wellness Lifestyle
Global Grandmothering
By Kate Srinivasan
Pathways, page 18
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The Hopi prophecy, “When the Grandmothers speak, the earth will be healed,” echoes from father to son and from mother to daughter, and onward to meet the future Peaceful People. As Western ideals and technological modernity merge and broach each continent, one must wonder what the future holds for familial reverence the world over. Perhaps uncertainty such as this is what has compelled elders across the globe to stir forth and create a new, loud voice? Writer Paola Gianturco has captured this activism with her book Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon, which explores an unheralded grandmother’s movement that is changing the world.Grandmothers are coming together, using their healing powers to create a better future for grandchildren everywhere, and they are succeeding. Grandmother Power profiles activist grandmothers in 15 countries on five continents, who tell their compelling stories in their own words. One dynamic group of women has united to help heal the planet with their ancestral prayers and rituals: The International Council of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. They have vowed to teach each other their ways of prayer and to share these with the younger generations. The documentary, For the Next 7 Generations, follows the Grandmothers closely from their first meeting in New York in 2004, where they established the Council. It goes on to witness this global initiative for unity of all people through their travels around the world to each other’s homelands in a moving prayer for peace. While each Grandmother is unique in her own cultural practices and rituals of healing, they all share a common purpose: to love and respect the earth and its gift of life and to share the knowledge they have inherited and gained through experience with the next generation. The story of the International Council of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and the activism of grandmothers, which is organically growing worldwide, suggests a force greater than coincidence is at play. It appears vital to not lose the heart and soul of our ancestors and the power that their prayers, healings and stories offer. As the world grows and changes, new opportunities to share knowledge, history and wisdom are created. Storytelling around the fire will continue to exist when a conscious effort is made to keep the doorway to the past open. Reverence for the family, the earth, and life itself will not be lost if we continue to open our hearts and souls as the Grandmothers speak their wisdom.
Resources
For the Next 7 Generations (http://www.forthenext7generations.com/) For The Next 7 Generations TRAILER (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CamR8Hz7T-k) Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon (http://powerhousebooks.com/newsletters/120518/) International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers (http://grandmotherscouncil.org/)