Letter from the Founder
The medicine woman kneeled before the fire at our Center, her feather bundle in her right hand, sacred flower water in her left, arms outstretched at her sides like wings. She bowed low, and lower, her forehead now resting on the earth. We were standing in a circle around Eda Zavala, who now slowly sat up. She anointed her heart with flower water and began to make whooshing and humming sounds. A tender ululating melody arose as she sang to the medicine plants of her forest, calling them again and again.
When at last the song was over she came to her feet. Unheeding the smudges of earth on her forehead, hair, shawl and dress, she walked halfway around the fire, kneeled and sang to her medicine once more.
Having done all this facing east, west, north and south, the feathers and water were set down. She approached a woman in the circle and gave her a tender embrace. Then she moved slowly on to the next person and the next. All around the circle she went, stroking the forehead and hair, embracing, holding hands, or bowing solemnly to each one. Some people wept, some smiled, but in her presence the face of each one opened softly.
As she embraced me I said, “You bring us such beauty!”
“It is my forest,” she whispered, “I bring you my beautiful Amazon forest.”
Last summer soldiers had massacred the leaders of her people. Settlers and multinational corporations and drug traffickers hungry for profit are destroying her delicate forest as you read this. The United Nations gave her no help. Nevertheless, this woman blesses and inspires others. She is very clear about where the blessings and inspiration come from: the sacred traditions of her jungle.
Of the forty or so people standing around her at the Blue Deer Center, perhaps none will be called to her tradition, yet we all now know it is possible to live with great heart amidst great destruction.
It is not only the Amazon rainforest that is being destroyed. Wherever we live we need to find great heart. And the Blue Deer Center is here to show us the ways.
A few years ago there was no Center, only sleeping land whose sacredness had been forgotten. Now teachers of many traditions fill our calendar. They are supported by wonderful staff, charming infrastructure, and fabulous food. In that way the Blue Deer Center is a big success, and I honor and celebrate you for the role you’ve played in it.
While we’re celebrating, it is good to consider that the Center is destined for much greater success, because the destruction so obvious in the faraway Amazon will soon be just as obvious where you and I live.
Now is the time to be Tending the Plantings for our success. We must be ready to help many more people discover what Eda Zavala and elders around the world already know: the traditions lead to the heart that sustains us.
TENDING THE PLANTINGS takes hard work, enthusiasm, skill, and money. Please reach deep into your own great heart. Offer all you can.
With love, and wishing you blessings,
Eliot Cowan,
Founder and Board Chair
Blue Deer Center