Sacred Space ~

The teaching about Sacred Space is a Native American concept. It is probably the only spirituality where I have seen this concept taught in this way. I like it, find it a most rewarding way to live, and wish to share what I understand of the concept with you. This is a useful concept for daily living, whether profound or profane, and need not be "segregated" to being strictly spiritual.

In the tradition of the Native peoples of Turtle Island. Each being, whether human four-footed, creepy-crawly, winged-one, stone person, tree person, plant person, it matters not, each is considered an individual with a specific and Spirit given Sacred Space. Since such a concept is quite foreign to those of us with European ancestry, it is difficult to conceive of a stone or tree or plant as having an individual space of their own, to be respected and worked wtih, but this is the reason for some of the mannerisms that are sometimes difficult for Eurobreds to understand about their native brothers.

If you envision each person, each creature, and each tree and plant and stone as "born" each with their own circle as pictured above, this might be easier. This, then represents your own, and each other's own personal medicine wheel. Each has their own, and none is greater than another. The tree person's sacred space is not dominant over the human's sacred space, but neither is the human's sacred space dominant over the tree's.

It is this concept, then, that makes it easier for the native reared with this as his or her basis of life, to walk with a light step, not defiling the land and attempting to leave things as they were when one breaks camp and moves on. To the natvie born and reared, all of life is sacred. Each stone and tree and plant has a life of it's own. When the native speaks of totems, it is not in a manner that is to "worship" the tree, stone, plant, animal or other totem, it is an acknowledgment that this "person" is a sacred ally.

Now, understand that to a person reared in this fashion, how difficult it is to imagine a person "owning" a piece of property, or a stone, or an animal. Each being had it's "personhood" it's sacred circle, and owning another was not part of the sacredness of all life. There is also here, something that we who were not raised this way have difficulty understanding, that is that all of life is connected to every other part of life. The tree and the stone are connected to each other, and they are each connected to the human, and the human is connected to the winged one, and the winged one is connected to the four-footed, and the four-footed is connected to the . . . . . .this is the basis for the statement "Mitakuye oyasin". We are all family. This is not just speaking of the human family, this speaks of the butterfly and the buffallo. All is connected, and each has it's own sacred circle! Quite a concept, eh?

It is, however, this very concept that would help those of us raised with European cultural bias, to understand and begin to act wtih respect, not just toward each other, but toward all life. It is the very concept that is why the elders have come to feel that Spirit has said it is time to share these teachings with those of us from different cultures. We need to act with this respect toward other humans, toward other life forms, toward the planet as a whole, and remember, to the native raised, the planet is our Mother. It is from her bounty we are fed, clothed, live and breathe, she is our nurturer and our nourishment. We are suckled at her breast.