We invite you to join the three Sacred Fire organizations, the Huichol and Nahua medicine path groups, and the Tepoztlán community in an important ritual we will be participating in this growing season. The purpose of the ritual is to request prosperity and support for our efforts to share and expand the sacred nature of Fire.
The Prosperity Ritual engages specific spiritual energies, elements and prayers to bring forth abundance. It revolves around the corn cycle, including planting, germinating, tending and harvesting corn, followed by a celebratory community feast, the saving of seed and the sharing of seed with another.
As reported in last year’s Hot News, 2014 marked our first engagement in the ritual. Following Grandfather Fire’s guidance, it was held on behalf of the three Sacred Fire organizations — Blue Deer Center, Sacred Fire Foundation, and Sacred Fire Community — at the home of Alan and Amanda Kerner in Santa Monica, California. When we asked Grandfather Fire about repeating the ritual this year, He not only advised us to repeat it, but to do so on an expanded scale.
We were surprised as we watched the ways prosperity manifested to support us from the moment we planted the corn. The Blue Deer Center experienced growth in fundraising, donor relationships, facilities, and connections. The Sacred Fire Foundation was blessed with several new volunteers, an opportunity to present the annual Wisdom Fellowship Award at an international conference in New York, and contributions that helped meet their biggest fundraising goal to date. The Sacred Fire Community organization was granted its long-sought-after nonprofit status and several unexpected donations, including a rather large spontaneous offering that came to us through our web site. All experienced a real sense of blessing, support, and opportunities coming from the world in mysterious and unexpected ways.
This year, again following Grandfather Fire’s guidance, the ritual will take place at Casa Xiuhtecuhtli in Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico. Held in trust by an affiliated not-for-profit organization, Casa Xiuhtecuhtli is a sacred home for the Nahua and Huichol medicine path groups that support the community. Grandfather has instructed us to expand the ritual this year to include more offerings, more corn, more people and more groups. Entering their second year of the ritual, the three Sacred Fire organizations will multiply the size of their milpas (‘cornfields’) nine-fold. Joining them will be the Nahua and Huichol medicine path groups and the local Tepoztlán fire community, who will be engaging in the ritual for the first time.
The Blue Deer Center, represented by Board Chair Patrick Hanaway, is participating to make its vision of providing a home for ancient wisdom and ancestral wisdom traditions a reality.
The Sacred Fire Foundation, represented by Executive Director Keiko Cronin, is participating to support their work in preserving ancient wisdom traditions; promoting dialogue between traditions; and creating opportunities for elders to share their wisdom.
The Sacred Fire Community organization, represented by Executive Director Bill Sutton, is participating to strengthen support for Firekeeping, Lifeways programs, and Grandfather Fire events, and other community endeavors to allow many more people the opportunity to benefit from a connection to Fire, community, and the living, sacred mystery of life.
The Nahua and Huichol medicine groups, represented by granicera Alison Gayek andmarakame Lisa Lichtig, along with the Tepoztlán fire community, represented by firekeepersJaime Velez and Erica Cohen, all call the newly purchased Casa Xiuhtecutli their spiritual home. They are collectively asking for prosperity to support the mission of Casa Xiuhtecuhtli and the ability to fulfill their financial obligations to care for and maintain this home. The medicine groups are also asking for the prosperity needed to sustain and deepen their path work and opportunities to share the gifts of their medicine with their communities and the world.
The representatives from each of these six groups are collaborating to coordinate the ritual details and will participate in the planting ritual on behalf of their respective groups.
We will plant the corn at 9:00 a.m. (central daylight time) Sunday, May 17. We invite everyone who is inspired to light a special candle on that day and join us in our request to bring a great abundance of prosperity to support this important work. After the ritual planting and prayers, the local community and weather beings will be involved in the watering and care of this precious corn until it is ready to harvest. If you are in Tepoztlán and would like to witness the planting ritual, please contact Erica Cohen (ecohen@nullsacredfirefoundation.org) or Jaime Velez (jaimevelez56@nullyahoo.com.mx) for more information.
We plan to share photos, updates and stories about the ritual with you throughout the growing season. Thank you for your love, care and participation in the mission and work of Ancient Wisdom, Heart and Fire. Many thanks go to the Tepoztlan Fire Community and their local Firekeepers for helping us grow corn (both literally and figuratively) together.
Let’s be open for signs of abundance in our lives and offer a prayer of gratitude when they appear!
My recollection is I planted corn the day folks at the Blue Deer planted, perhaps Sunday May 17 as I see the ceremony for prosperity above, a telling event it was, a single plant survived to maturity, and I hope to see offspring prosper
Ed Peters,Rosendale NT