Lightening during Pipe ceremony, Bunya Mountains,

 Australia

 

  Thunder Down Under!

 

 Lightening during Pipe ceremony, Bunya Mountains, Australia

 

Native American ceremonies bring rain to Australia

 

In February of 2007,  two representatives of the "Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers", ( www.pipekeepers.org ) a Federally recognized Native American Church headquartered in Pipestone Minnesota, attended a gathering in the Bunya Mountains of Australia. They had been invited to come and perform ceremonies to help break the worst drought in that area for over 100 years. Some of the Aboriginal and mixed blood traditional people of the area had heard about a Sacred Pipe in the care of Jim Tree, a spiritual advisor for the "Keepers" and author of the book, “The Way of the Sacred Pipe.” This Pipe has a history of helping bring rain to areas suffering from drought, and because of this, the request for assistance was sent out from one indigenous people to another, from the first nations of Australia to those of North American.

 After receiving the request, a special Pipe ceremony was performed in the States to see if those asked should go to the gathering. After the ceremony, a heavy rain, along with hail, fell at the southern Australian home of one of the requesters, David LittleJohn, a mixed blood spiritual man. Taking this as an affirmative sign that the Pipe should be taken "down under", Bud Johnston, Director of the Keepers organization, and Jim Tree started making preparations for the trip that would take place in February.

                   David “Sitting Owl” Littlejohn, spiritual man

 

Getting the Pipe through security at airports proved to be somewhat of a challenge, as the bowl is made out of Black Steatite, inlaid with lead, and was considered by the security personnel as a possible club that could be used to attack people . It took a lot of explaining to the head of security about the sacred nature of the Pipe and finally they allowed it to be brought aboard the plane.

 Bud arrived a day earlier than Jim, as Jim missed his first flight due to a flat tire and the trouble with security. The Pipe, known as the Black Thunder Pipe, is a one of a few surviving Pipes created by a Thunder Society of the Northwest United States and is several hundred years old.  In recent history this Pipe has been used in the states of Colorado, Montana, Arizona and Minnesota to ask for the assistance of the Thunder Beings, the spirits that control weather, to bring relief to areas of drought in those states, with great success. (For more information, visit www.wayofthepipe.com

On the night the Pipe arrived at the Bunya Mountains, one of the Elders at the gathering requested a Pipe ceremony. Around 20 people from various parts of the world gathered in the cabin where Bud and Jim were staying. Bud led the ceremony with his pipe, as it was not the time for the Thunder Pipe to be brought out yet. There were several others present who had Pipes and they brought theirs out also.

This was the first ceremony. It was a powerful one and set the stage for many amazing events to follow. The next day, representatives of indigenous people from different countries addressed a gathering of over 300 people. Many messages were set forth about unity, compassion, world peace and living in harmony with the earth. 

 

 Bud Johnston, of the “Keepers”, at Maiden’s Well

 

One of the recurring messages was that we are in a critical time for our planet as well as for us humans. Time has run out on the issue of global warming. The results are in from the scientific community. We have caused this problem and we need to take immediate action to ward off the devastating consequences of our callous misuse of our mother, the Earth.

The drought that is affecting much of Australia is the result of both natural long- term cycles and global warming. There is little ozone left over the continent and the intense effects of solar radiation are devastating certain regions there. The gathering was being held in a rain forest area of the Bunya Mountains, which had not had decent rain in well over a year. 

While there, Jim and Bud performed several Native American Pipe ceremonies at the gathering, and at several other locations, some hundreds of miles apart. At each location the results of the ceremonies were nothing short of dramatic. In the Rain Forest, enough rain fell within a few days to refill many badly depleted reservoirs. Waterfalls in the area that were barely a trickle at the beginning of the gathering had substantially increased flows within just a few days.

 On the first day of the gathering, Bud spoke to about 150 people. He explained about the sacred nature of the Pipe and its place in our way of life. Jim spoke next and explained that “talk is cheap and anyone can claim to feel the Thunder spirits come in, but if the medicine/power of the Pipe is real, then real results should be the outcome”.

 Clouds forming over dinning arbor

At two of the ceremonies in the following days, the Thunder Beings arrived during the ceremony in startling power. In each case, just as the Pipe was raised to the heavens, thunder boomed, followed by a downpour. The rain that came in one instance was measured at over 2 ½ inches in an hour. In just a few days, the rainforest was filled with fog, the rivers and creeks had flowing water falls and the birds and animals of the area were seen charging around crazily as if in wild celebration of the new rainfall.

 There was an urgent message from the Thunder Beings, one whose importance was validated by the “miracles” that resulted from the ceremonies, and it was this:

"The answers to the ceremonies are so dramatic because the timing of this message is very critical. The nations of this modern world are like drug addicts; they are all energy and water addicts. Just as with any” junkie”, you see clearly that you are killing yourselves and destroying your children, your homes, everything that is, but you continue to indulge in this destructive behavior.

You may get up in the morning and say, "I'll change myself and stop these destructive ways!" But by evening you are right back at your addiction, destroying the very earth and atmosphere around you. This is the bad news, you are addicted. Now for the good news, it is not too late. If you will change your behavior, the spiritual realm and Creator will assist you with miracles and intervention. The Thunders can rebuild the ozone, rain can return, but not unless you change your addictive habits, as individuals, as nations, as all the people of the earth.

 If you humans will do your part, the spiritual realm will do its part. You do not have to wait 40 or 80 years for the weather patterns to reverse and be in balance. It will happen sooner by intervention of the one who created the cycles of nature in the first place. If you fail to change, then all of the following generations will live, and die, in a very hostel and polluted earth."

The first ceremony using the Thunder Pipe was held on the second night of the gathering. It was to be a blessing ceremony for five other Pipes that were also at the gathering. These Pipes were in the care of Native Americans who have lived in Australia for many years; several of them had been Sundancers when they lived in the United States.

 As all the Pipes were brought out of their bundles, thunder was heard outside. At the moment the Thunder Pipe was brought out, even before it was put together, rain began falling on the tin roof. Some of the people went outside and reported that the sky was totally clear and stars could be clearly seen as no clouds were over them, but still there was a nice gentle continual rain coming down. At the conclusion of the ceremony, just as the Thunder Pipe was taken apart, the rain stopped. The following morning many of the people camped out for the gathering came up to Bud and commented on the rain. They were excited, but still seeing it as a coincidence.

During the third day of the gathering, Jim invited everyone to come to the fire that evening for the first public ceremony with the Thunder Pipe. Later, as he was making his way to the fire area, he saw a cloud formation in the western sky of a thunderbird with wings stretching from horizon to horizon. Its head was turned to the south and there was a cloud shaped like fire coming from its mouth.

It was dark by the time Bud and Jim got to the gathered people. Bud talked first to everyone about ceremony protocol and what they should do when the Pipe was brought out of its bundle. It took quite some time to prepare everyone for the ceremony, as over 300 people had to be cleansed with the smoke of sage and cedar. After all had been smudged, Jim told everyone about the cloud he had seen, stating that the Thunders Beings were on their way and would answer the prayers in a big way. He lifted the bundle with the Pipe in it up towards the night sky and instantly thunder was heard followed by heavy rain.

Everyone moved inside an arbor, which had been set up for meals. The Pipe was never even unwrapped because a spontaneous celebration of drumming and dancing began. After several traditional Native American dances and songs, some Aboriginal men came out of the dark into the arbor playing didgeridoos, each one painted from head to toe. They taught several traditional dances, including the Crane dance, the Kangaroo dance and the "Single men’s" dance. The rain continued all night and by morning fog filled the mountains and rain forest.

On the fourth night, the actual ceremony to restore the broken cycle of the weather was performed. It had to be done in the arbor as the rain came again just before the ceremony started.

In this ceremony the Pipe was filled, and then the bowl was sealed with a plug of sage, as it was not to be smoked until several days later. It would be carried on a journey across the region to the place where the ceremony would be completed by the smoking of the Pipe. In this way the attention of the Thunder Beings would be drawn to every place along the journey.

           

 Jim explaining the ceremony, fourth night

On the fifth day, the Pipe was taken to a place called Maidens Well. It is a natural pond deep in a rocky gorge, much like Montezuma’s well in Arizona, but smaller. During this part of the ceremony, the Pipe was used to “re-connect” the earth water (pond) to the sky water (clouds).  As the tip of the Pipe touched the pond water, thunder rolled off in the western sky where a heavy wall of rain could be seen speeding towards the area.

Jim at Maidens Well

An interesting thing happened during the part of the ceremony where the spiritual beings of the south were being invited to join those gathered. Coyote and raven are often referred to as “tricksters” by Native Americans. As the invitation was being given to the spirits of the south, a raven flew low over the Pipe and called out several times. Bud began to laugh and told everyone that the trickster was going to play a prank on us. Jim agreed that everyone should be aware, that the trickster was going to do something, but little did he think it would be on him.

The rain was on its way in force and the group had just enough time to climb out of the gorge, only to find that the car used to transport Bud and Jim had a flat tire! Bud and David Littlejohn fixed the flat as the rest of passengers unpacked the car to get the spare, then re-packed it, getting into the car just as the torrential rain hit. Funny old coyote....the electric window where Jim sat was down and the keys couldn't be found! Jim got a good drenching before the window could be rolled up. It rained heavily for the next two days.

              

 Bud and Dave save the day

But the trickster was not done with Jim. Now that the gathering was over, there was just a small group traveling with the Pipe. It consisted of Nikki Michail, a film maker who was documenting the trip, ( www.sustainabledreaming.com ), Anthony Broese Van Groenou, a specialist in sustainable technologies and life styles, , Bud, Jim, and Byron, a wonderful young man who continually assisted throughout the trip by providing places to stay, advice on not getting killed in Australian traffic, etc. They returned to Maidens Well to observe how things may have changed due to the rains. As they approached the area, they stopped at a “servo” (gas station) to fuel up. Jim went inside to get an ice-cream bar, something he is found of. When he asked the attendant for one, the man said, “The jokes on you mate. That storm yesterday took out our freezer and all the ice-cream has melted.”

As the group left Maidens well, a request for an interview by the Australian Broadcasting Company was received. Bud and Jim stopped in Toowoomba at a radio station and gave the interview. Bud explained what they were doing in Australia. Jim challenged the audience to follow their trip progress to see if the rains indeed followed the Pipe. As a matter of fact, the rains followed not only the Thunder Pipe, but they branched out and followed all of the other Pipes that had been at the gathering as well.

Jim and Bud at the radio station

 

During the next few days, this small group traveled by automobile south from the Bunya Mountains, as far as Wollumbin, also known as Mount Warning, the place that they hoped to complete the ceremony. It is said that from this mountain “song lines” go out across all of Australia, and that these would take the energy of the ceremonies to the rest of the continent. In traditional fashion, permission was asked of the indigenous caretakers of the mountain to proceed with the ceremony there. A full blessing was given by one of the Aunties who is responsible for this sacred place, but another did not feel comfortable with it. This was honored and seen as direction from the Creator to complete the ceremony elsewhere, and that it would be necessary for the Pipe to return to Australia in the future to perform other ceremonies when the time was right and the Elders would welcome them.

The representatives of the Keepers fully understood the feelings of the caretakers of the mountain. The same thing happens in the US concerning their sacred sites. It takes time to feel comfortable with someone who wants to bring a foreign way to such places. It is hoped that the next trip will allow for enough time and interaction between the Native Americans and Indigenous Australians to build relationships of trust and a mutual understanding of our need for help from one another.  The next trip is hoped to be in mid 2007.

 Byron and friend (top), Anthony, Jim (center) and Nikki (bottom)

The next two days of the trip were spent at the home of Eshua, a young Indigenous man who’s family and life style are the perfect physical embodiment of the ideals of the “Sustainable Dreaming” organization, which is combining modern sustainable technologies with ancient wisdom of living in harmony with all of creation.

 

Eshua, in his kitchen

Eshua and his small family live in the lush rain forest south of Mount Warning. Their home is made up of several small buildings, all off the grid. Jim particularly like the bath house, it was constructed with a rock wall that hosted moss and plants growing in-between the stones. The water was supplied via gravity from a spring, and electricity was from photovoltaic system. They gathered food from their garden for the guests and all ate simple, healthy and harmoniously grown food.

The time spent with Eshua and his family was a moment that seemed to be from both the past and the future at the same time. It was the perfect interlude before going on to the final step of the ceremony.

Eshua’s Home

Since the completion of the ceremony could not be performed at Mount Warning, it was decided to conduct it at a place in the southern rain forest called Minyoun Falls. This was a spectacular water fall that drops over 10300 feet from the top of a magnificent cliff. The ceremony had started with over 200 people in attendance, and was to be finish with just four people. (Bud had gone back to the States early due to a reaction to some shell fish he had eaten.) It was now down to the core of those who had traveled with the Pipe since it had arrived in Australia.

To Native Americans the number four is significant in ceremony, often because of the four cardinal directions that are always honored during such ceremonies.

 Nikki, Byron, Anthony and Jim walked along a foot path to an area above the falls.

They found a place where the water pooled before going over the cliff and the Pipe was unwrapped to be smoked as the final act of the traveling ceremony. There was a gentle rain falling all that day. The Pipe was lit, and through the transforming element of fire, the prayers stored in the Pipe since its filling days before, were released into the air. When all was complete and the Pipe pas taken apart, the rain stopped and a ray of sunshine fell directly on the Pipe.

 The Completion of the ceremony, Minyoun Falls

After the Pipe left Australia, there was a significant shift in the long term weather patterns that affect that continent. The “El Nino” pattern shifted to the “La Nina” pattern, which historically would mean a wetter season for the country.

To date, there is still intense drought affecting many parts of the continent, and finally the Government is conceding that global warming is playing a significant role. Will the Thunder Beings bring rain “down under” and break this drought? It would seem to depend on how we humans respond to the Pipes message. Will we as individuals, as Governments, change our ways to a more sustainable future? If so, there is the confidence that those who are responsible for the earth’s weather will do their part, as promised by the dramatic answers to the ceremonies of February. It will be interesting to track what happens if the Pipe is invited back there this year.

for more info visit

www.pipekeepers.org

www.sustainabledreaming.com

www.wayofthepipe.com