Ceremony | Iam Saums

“We are in the zenith of the solstice.”

The Heart of It All

For 23 successive years I have been traveling to South Dakota for Ceremony. I just returned from the annual journey a few days ago and once again am in transition between realities. As I was driving, I reflected on all the encounters I have had in relation to my personal experiences. Where we pray, it is truly a different world from everyday society and all its drama, distractions, ideologies, idiosyncrasies, nuances, politics, preoccupations and ordinary existence. In the tradition we participate, South Dakota is the heart of it all; generations of ceremony, culture and prayer resonate within every dimension of our being.

For the People

In all the years I have walked these ways, I had always been actively engaged, rarely supporting others as many have in ceremony. The last four years of going to South Dakota, my focus has been on holding a space for others on their journey; as essential as it is to participate. During this time, I experienced a fulfillment in my relativity with those I supported; the ceremony, the prayer and the tradition. Regardless of the roles to which I have committed, supporting others is the most vital. Beyond how this may be perceived by the novice or experienced, it is all about being in service for the people.

Four Days

As it is during the advent of Winter, we are entering the four-day shift of the Summer Solstice. Many cultural traditions acknowledge the Winter Solstice to be when the earth takes her breath, and the seeds of our intentions for the coming year are sown. Likewise, at Midsommar she releases her breath, and the bounty of our purpose is harvested. As we progress from the Winter to the Summer Solstices, the synergy between the universe and our soul empowers the equilibrium of our intuition, heart, mind and body. We transform terrestrial existence into universal experience, establishing the foundation of our relativity.

Solstice Origins

My bloodline lineage is half Irish, and a quarter each of English and German. Being of Celtic descent, the equinoxes and solstices have been significant times of the year in my personal experience. Midsommar has been observed by my culture into antiquity as a celebration of renewal and the life-giving power of the sun. It is when the earth’s pole is titled optimally at its vertical axis in the northern hemisphere, resulting in the longest day and shortest night of the year. My ancestors connected with this annual milestone by commemorating the rhythm of the sun, the changing seasons and the empowerment of ceremonial energy.

“Humility is the cornerstone of prayer.”

Virtues of Prayer

For the first time in 12 years, our community will be in ceremony together in our home lodge during the Summer Solstice, as many of us are usually in South Dakota. Many other communities in our area and around the world will be in prayer. Given this word is interpreted variably by countless cultures, this tradition is not a fleeting devotion, exaltation, invocation or recitation. It is the most difficult way in this world to pray. In all my spiritual encounters, this tradition is the most immersive, powerful and profound lifestyle of courage, fortitude, generosity, humility and reverence for all life.

Community Flow

Many in our community establish their ceremonial intentions during the Winter Solstice, expressing them with their prayer through the Spring Equinox and embodying them at the Summer Solstice. Our purpose is empowered and evolves in each ceremony we participate. Every specific ceremony is unique, based on the state of our lives, the time of year, the need from the community and the observance of the tradition. None are ever the same, often with different intentions, people, prayers and songs. There is a progressive flow that transpires naturally, empowered by the collective energy of the community.

The Way of Nature

Every morning I stand barefoot on the ground to connect with the earth. Most of the ceremonies in which we participate occur in nature, as its presence is integral in how they evolve. Last year, our community completed on an eight-year commitment with a ceremonial intention. As we gathered around the lodge and fulfilled on the observance, a cloud front in the south turned and shifted to the west, moving over our space. While sharing the purpose of what we were doing, soft thunder pealed across the sky with flashes of lightning. During the ceremony, the thunder and lightning continued until our prayer was finished.

The Solar Shift

The Summer Solstice is a four-day transition of solar energy that shifts us into a new season. During this powerful time, nature is at its zenith, and the light is the primary life force in the northern hemisphere. The Sun is the center of our solar system, orbiting around the center of the Milky Way, otherwise known as the Ghost Road. It is the path souls journey when leaving their bodies, in spirit travel or in the transition of death. This time of year empowers our resonance as souls and our spiritual potential for universality. From June 19^th to the 22^nd, we are in the solar shift of our awakening, transformation and transcendence.

“Solstice is the evolution of the soul.”

“Loss is an opportunity to be found.”

In Our Time

My wife and I have been a part of a ceremonial community for over 24 years. Its roots run from our local area, around the country and the world. More than anything, it is a relation empowered by prayer. Over the last quarter century, we have encountered infinite experiences from extraordinary highs to excruciating lows; and everything in between and beyond. The community is a circle of committed people who give their all to make a difference in their lives, those of their families and all their relatives. It is one of the most difficult ways in the world to pray. However, for many of us, it is the only way to live.

Silent in the Mourning

I have never been anxious or fearful of death, as I feel it is just a shift into another dimension of being. A few days ago, one of our community member’s wives passed away. She had participated in ceremony and supported him in his commitment to the community. What brings it home to me in a personal way is that she was my age. Her passing sent shockwaves through our extended community, as she was related with several of our members before becoming a part of our ceremonial circle. In these moments, I have attempted to be present to all that is arising from her passing, not in grief yet with prayer.

Ceremonial Progression

One of the things I have observed while walking this path, it is never the same, regardless of the ceremony in which we participate. Most often, they are not planned events. They evolve, progress and manifest in their own way, with only rudimentary need of human influence. That is the tradition we are guided to practice. In lieu of the common convenience, comfort, control and desire of the one, it is centered on the needs of all. The ceremonial experience is empowered by eventualities that may arise in any given moment. In each one, there is a unique flow of experiential momentum, which calls for the necessity to be present.

Shift in Prayer

From the moment I heard about her passing, my life shifted into service for this special prayer, not fully understanding how it would develop over the last week leading up to the ceremony. There are specific rites that are done in this tradition, yet part of holding the space for prayer is allowing essential phenomenon to evolve as they transpire. There are actions and prayers I make every day of my life to be related with the community, many that occur in their own way. It is not a declaration of knowing, it is an expression of understanding the how, what, where, why and most notably when to be in flow with a call for prayer.

“Control is the destroyer of prayer.”

A Calling

After I heard about her passing, I spoke with my friend, offering condolences and support in whatever way I could. My wife suggested I take my pipe with me to work in case he needed to pray. I reached out to him on my way home. As I came closer to his house, a massive storm front was looming from the southwest. I walked in and embraced him. We smudged his house, then moved outside and prepared the pipe to make a prayer. Thunder began to roll across the sky. I sung a traditional song and we smoked out the pipe. I will carry this for the rest of my life.

A Life of Its Own

The morning of her passing, I received several calls from community members requesting a ceremony. Many were shocked with the loss of their dear friend and relative. As the week progressed, several things transpired within the community to clarify what would happen when we prayed together in the lodge. Many of us sprang into action, helping to clean, organize and prepare his house to receive family and friends for the difficult days ahead. People planned to bring extra food to the ceremony for him to take home and feel the support of the community. The prayer has a life of its own, we need only be in its flow.

Family Time

By Friday, things had settled and I became present to the impact of her passing. The numbing feeling of bereavement and mortality dulled my commonly keen senses. Making ties, praying with the pipe and preparing for the coming ceremony helped break the cycle of my shock and awe. Speaking with several members of the community also helped shake the sadness that hung as heavy as the impending storm that Tuesday at my friend’s house. On Saturday, I travelled to Grand Rapids to see my father, stepmother, brother and nephew. Being with family shifted me into a space of cheerful and essential relativity.

Beyond Imagination

Sunday morning, I packed the car for the ceremony and visited with my wife before my brother would arrive and we would head to Ypsilanti. Living the ceremonial experience as a couple in all the ways we do is truly an extraordinary and experiential encounter. I feel blessed to share these commitments with her and fulfill our relationship in ways beyond our imaginations. However, it is also extremely challenging, humbling and at times overwhelming to live the prayer. Given the circumstances of the last week, I have grown to appreciate our ceremonial kinship in all the diverse dimensions of our personal and mutual experiences.

New Life

My brother and I arrived at the lodge space and visited with my grieving friend. Soon we were building the fire and setting the altar. A torrential rain came and threatened to flood the fire. Four of us built a circular moat around it and bailed the water. In a half hour, the sun broke. Later, we gathered as a community around the fireplace, sung a traditional song and had a wipe down with smudge. The ladies gathered and gave our mourning friend a blanket, and the men gave him a star quilt for his son. We all crawled into the lodge to offer our prayers as a community in support of our relative for his transition into a new life experience.

The Circle

Many of these ceremonial traditions occur in a circle, as no one person is more important than anyone else. It is unnatural when a community is too dependent upon its leader(s), as ceremony becomes more about them and less about the people. In my humble perspective, the term leadership is a social, hierarchical exploitation that can control, diminish and distort the space held for people to participate in the unique way they are called. Community evolves and manifests as an empowerment of each soul on their personal path, unified in collective prayer. It takes every person present in a ceremony to hold, live and fulfill the circle.

“Unity is the soul of community.”