Chapter 25 The First Ceremony — from my book Changes

Chapter 25

The First Ceremony

The first ceremony is a prayer ceremony.  The first part of the ceremony is putting the pipe together, the stem with the bowl.  There is a very special combination of movements involved which we practiced daily in Phil 1 so we would remember it perfectly.  Tom insists on the importance of passing down the ceremonies exactly as he learned them from Grandfather Stalking Wolf, to keep them pure.  Once learned they can be modified to fit the needs of the person using them, but when passed down, they must be passed down exactly as they were first learned.

I will not attempt to teach the movements here, but to learn them, someone could attend a Philosophy 1 class, which is offered at Trackerschool.com.

Next comes the packing of the pipe which is symbolically inviting others, like the four legged animals, the winged creatures, the spirits that serve the Creator, etc. to the ceremony to pray with you.  They may or may not actually show up physically. (like, I was told, one time a white horse walked into the ceremony area after the animals were invited).  I find that this part of the ceremony creates a beautiful connection between me and all those I invited to pray with me.

Then, once the pipe is lit, the ceremony is all about prayers.  The pipe is offered to the Creator, the earth, the four directions, and the Creator again, as prayers to the Creator are made.  If there are people in the prayer circle, besides you, the pipe can be passed, or it can be symbolically passed with the pipe carrier acting as proxy for the people in the circle.

The First Ceremony is a very beautiful prayer ceremony and can be preformed alone or with others in the circle; but in a way, there are always others there, whether physically or not, and most importantly you are there with the Creator, the earth, and the directions, and any others invited while in ceremony.

Tom called this invitation to the Creator, the earth, and the four directions, and the Creator again the seven arrows.

As you offer the pipe to the seven arrows, you smoke the pipe for each of the arrows.  You take the smoke into your mouth, without inhaling, and blow it out as in releasing the prayers for the one the pipe is offered to.  Or, if you prefer to not smoke it, you can hold the pipe to your chin and carry on the exact same motions without bringing the smoke into your mouth.  There is a specific way of moving for this part of the ceremony just as with the entire ceremony.

When the ceremony is over, you can leave the pipe connected when the discussion around the circle is of sacred things, or, when protecting a vision quest — where you would leave the pipe joined throughout the quest. Then you un-join the pipe when the discussion is veering away from sacred topics, or when a vision quest is over.

A marriage pipe would be left joined and bound together for the duration of a marriage.

During Phil 1 we each carved a pipe bowl out of soapstone or bloodstone, and carved a pipe stem out of cedar.  We all learned the ceremony by repeating it over and over during instruction time and during free time to allow us to gain muscle memory for it.

We were taught to move slowly and deliberately while preforming the ceremony.  By moving slowly we enhance the experience because our focus is so much more intense, and keeps the presenter very present, which makes the ceremony more powerful to the presenter and to those who are at the ceremony..

The person preforming the ceremony is the presenter, and the presenter is just outside the circle because the pipe and the pipe blanket in the circle, not the presenter.  The presenter is not supposed to make the ceremony be anything about them or to draw attention to themselves.  The presenter is supposed to make themselves as invisible as possible.  It is the ceremony, the participants, and the prayers that are the focus here, not the presenter.

The mix we used in our pipes was of cedar, sweetgrass, sage, and tobacco.  Everyone was encouraged to get their hands in the mixture to help break up the ingredients.  Then the mixture of our class was mixed with a saved portion from the previous Phil 1 class, which contained a bit of the mixtures of all the other Phil 1 classes from Tom’s school.  That way the part of the mixture we were each given to take home with us holds the energy of all the other previous Phil 1 classes, and all the people from those classes.

After giving each of us our little pouch of the mix, the rest is saved to be added to the mixture of the next Phil 1 class.  I loved knowing that my energy was now a part of the class mixture, and that the mixture I took home with me had the energy of all the people from all the previous Phil 1 classes carried forward with me, and for anyone I teach.  As needed, before the mixture runs out, it can be added to and continue to contain that energy.

On the last night of class we had a ceremony where we all put our pipe bowls on a blanket. The presenter preformed the pipe ceremony and afterward, while the pipe was still joined, he smudged all the pipe bowls using the smoke from the pipe.

That night I dreamed one of the interns came to my tent and took me to the city for a meeting.  We flew.  All our pipe bowls were there, including mine, but there were a lot of other pipe bowls there, not from our class, laying next to each other, at the entrance to the meeting area, including very old looking, ancient pipe bowls.

I don’t remember what went on in the meeting, but as my guide and I left, I saw Tom’s son Tommy outside, having a lively argument with someone.  After my guide and I flew back to where my tent was, at the class, and I went into my tent, I felt cold laying down into my body.  I remember thinking, ‘If my pipe bowl were older and more experienced, it would keep me warm.’