whimsical magic

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June 23, 2005

Around the Medicine Wheel

This is a continuation of yesterday's journal entry.

Our creation of the Greenfield solstice monument was documented on film by Susan of Franklin Media. Look for it on DVD or perhaps a cable channel near you.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd try to remember what happened . . .

The Center

We began our journey by consulting the stones to determine where to begin. Using his pendulum, Peter found to his surprise that the Northwest stone wanted to go first, and that the Western stone was next; so we were proceeding counterclockwise around the circle. This seemed to coalesce with the spin field in nearby Shelburne Falls, the center of an equinox ceremony several years earlier (see the picture below), as well as the spin field off the Stellwagen Bank.

The first stop in the center of town was to pay some bills: an acknowledgement, perhaps, of the industrial motivations at the heart of Greenfield, going back to the Pocumtuck fishery at the Great Falls of the Connecticut River prior to their massacre by the European settlers.

We found ourselves circling the town common, and pausing for a while to notice the monuments installed there: an eagle facing north, a cannon facing south, and a marker to the 4 directions. We noticed that we had parked right behind the director of the local access cable channel. Church bells were ringing as we rolled away.

Next we drove around the true center of the circle at the Middle School, and proceeded off to the Northwest.

Northwest

The first green fields visited were the girls' softball diamonds. Peter used his dowsing rods to locate a grove of oaks where the monument was planted. While the softball fields had been noisy with highway traffic, we were greeted in the quiet grove by the rhythmic tapping of a woodpecker.

Thanks were given to the 4 directions with prayer flags in the colors of white (North), black (West), red (South), and yellow (East). Four tobacco pouches, also in the colors of the four directions, were buried with the marker in a bed of sage. Prayers of invocation were offered, with more sage and tobacco, for the guidance of Spirit and the blessings of the Ancestors and the Whales, upon the activation of the medicine wheel and the honoring of World Peace and Prayer Day. We were off to a good start.

West

The next stop was past the green fields of the Community College, where the geometric pattern of the parking lots suggested a location well hidden under a green canopy of leaves in one of the meridians. Birdsongs greeted us here. The monument was planted with prayer flags and offerings of sage and tobacco.

Southwest

Who knew that right alongside the interstate exit 26 was a lush patch of skunk cabbage growing alongside a little creek? The next marker found it's home here in a grove of trees, with the sounds of flowing water. The energy here seemed quite chaotic and driven, much in need of the healing of graceful flow. A stick appeared in the shape of a snake, which fit in snuggly against the stone.

South

This was a place of fire. We found ourselves walking along a trail at the edge of a golf course under high voltage electrical wires and the heat of the solstice sun. We ventured into the woods on the far side of the field, where we were greeted by some giant stinging nettles. Greg pointed out a variety of vegetation that suggested the plants were working overtime to cleanse the stray electrical charges from the air. After locating the monument site, which was near the original colonial settlement in Greenfield, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that someone else had preceeded us with a nearby stone mound, a nice affirmation.

We were all rather drained after that hike, and in need of some lunchtime refreshment.

Southeast

Here we parked near the train switching yard for a long walk down a wooded trail. This was a nice antidote to our last walk, except for the greeting by swarms of mosquitoes and nasal diving bugs. This trail was the site of a former train track, marked by steel plates stamped with the name "Carnegie", which led onto an abandoned train bridge. We followed the river bank to the point where the Deerfield river flows north to join the southbound Connecticut.

Three stones marked this location with a pyramid. The three directions of the rivers were reminiscent of the shape of the Tibetan swastika (associated with the sacred mountain Kailash). The sound that greeted us here was the rustling of wind in the trees. This was a place of spiraling movement, and of flowing in new directions. With each stone placed along the way, the power of the circle feels like it's building.

East

This was the scene of a driveby monument: another golf course, but with no place to park near the chosen site. We tied prayer flags and medicine bundles to the stone, and tossed it into a wetland area. It sounded like it contacted another stone, and birds flew around it in greeting.

Next we stopped to pay homage to the spirits of those indigenous women, children, and elders massacred at the Great Falls. This is now a field of grass and trees, fenced off from public access and belonging to the electric company which operates the dam. We felt the heaviness of the place, and watched the mist rising up from the falling waters.

Northeast

This location ties into the major alignment field from the Stellwagen Bank into Greenfield, Shelburne Falls, the Black Hills, and Mt Shasta, among other significant power places around the world.

Here we hiked under power lines once again, this time along the boundary of the Coca Cola bottling plant, where we dared to park beyond the no parking signs. Although this was a designated nature area, it seemed steeped in the orange chemical runnoff bubbling downhill into our path. We found a grove in the woods for our marker, and called in the grandmothers there. There was a palpable sense of the "other world" associated with this monument, adding another energy to the stone circle. The vibrations of trucks rumbling across a highway bridge could be felt reverberating through this place. We were observed by a large deer during our walk back to the car.

North

Our last stop was at another golf course, a place of community playtime, as well as a meeting place for the captains of industry. We placed the monument in the woods near the white clubhouse on the hill. The sound of pinging golfballs penetrated the airwaves here. A golf ball and an inchworm accompanied us back to the Northwest field where our journey began. We left them there to mark the completion of the circle.

Return to the Center

We circled the Middle School once more and returned to our home base, remarking at all the curiously smiling faces we noticed on passers by.

The center stone was placed upon a pillow for further instruction / discussion while we recuperated over tea. Our journey had been both invigorating and exhausting.

With the help of Peter's pendulum and the timely toppling of the stone, we learned that this monument wanted to stand in a public place of honor. The most notable location would be the NESEA energy park near the center of the commercial area in town. This is a place of playful celebration, and of the recognition of the history of Greenfield as a crossroads of industry and commerce, and now, we hope, a sacred site of peace, prayer, and reconciliation.

Posted by Neal at June 23, 2005 7:01 AM | Category: Playtime

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