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PIPE
There
are different kinds of pipes and different uses for them. There are
personal pipes, family pipes as well as pipes for large ceremonies.
NOTE:
There really is no such thing as a Peace Pipe.
The U.S. government sent representatives to The People with an
understanding that the pipe would allow for peaceful land transactions
because no Native person would lie once words were spoken in the
presence of the pipe.
When the pipe was presented to the circle and then smoked, it was a
symbol of the 'straight truth' that went directly to Great Mystery. If
an individual accepted the pipe and smoked it, he was, in fact, saying
he believed what he was hearing and that he, in return, would not lie.
(Note:
It was never the Native people who lied!!)
Afterwards, when
the Europeans started using tobacco for financial gain, its use became
corrupted and great sickness came to the world - the inevitable results
when a gift is misunderstood and misused. The great sickness was also
contained in several ancient prophecies.
Generally
Sacred Pipes consist of two parts, a tobacco-holding bowl made of bone,
wood, stone, or metal (as in calumet pipes or some of the later trading
pipes) and a stem, usually made of
wood. The Pipes of the Plains were usually made out of soft, red catlinite
stone (found in southwestern Minnesota).
The pipe, when joined, is a living being with energies coursing up and
down its spine. The pipe is a ritual object created to
focus and alter the consciousness of the user. It has its reflection in
the human body and in the Universe. The pipe is a cosmos unto itself
uniting all dualities within Creation.
NOTE:
Although the
pipe represents one of the highest forms of Native spirituality, you do not
have to be a pipe carrier to receive the messages from the universe or to
live a sacred life.
WHAT
DOES THE BOWL REPRESENT?
Earth Mother, Female, Heart of Creation/Creativity, Birth, Rebirth,
Womb, The Stone people , The Heart, Soil, Fertility, Life, Grandmother
Moon. Held in Left Hand.
WHAT
DOES THE STEM REPRESENT?
Sky, Father,
Male, Spine, Transcendent, Impregnation,
Original Energy, God Beyond Creation, The Tree Nation, The
Airway, Lightning/thunder, Grandfather Sun. Held in Right Hand.
BEGINNING
THE PROCESS:
Your intentions should be pure, peaceful and for
the greater good. Keep negative and violent thoughts away. The
purpose of smoking the pipe is to provide and receive harmony, balance and wholeness.
The pipe is not to be used as a vehicle for a self-indulgent wish list.
Ego has no place here.
JOINING THE PIPE:
Before
joining the pipe, the stem and bowl are laid on a ceremonial blanket or
held in the left and right hands respectively. The stem is lifted to the
stem hole in the bowl as if in greeting; the stem is then fitted into the
bowl. If the pipe is being used in ceremony or prayer, it is normally
turned away from the body with a one-quarter turn.
HOLDING THE PIPE:
The
bowl of the pipe is held in the left hand (closest to the heart). The bowl
is cradled gently in the open palm. The stem is held near the top
generally with an overhand grip when a pipe ceremony leader is praying in
public, and in an underhand, palm up, grip for private ceremony.
LOADING THE PIPE:
Native
tobacco (Kinikinik made from natural herbs) is normally used, and each
pinch that is inserted into the bowl means something. The reason
tobacco is used is because its roots go deeply into the earth, and its
smoke rises high into the heavens carrying prayers. The tobacco represents both the seen and
unseen worlds, and the connections that every living being within these
two realms have as a huge and cohesive group. For example, the flying,
crawling, swimming beings; four and two-leggeds; Mother Earths blood
(water), air, fire, earth, star nation, planets, Ancestors, Stone and Tree
families, and on and on......They all meet inside the bowl in a peaceful
dance.
LIGHTING THE
PIPE:
The
pipe should generally be lit with a wooden match or taper for it
represents the fire of Creation meeting its children. (Thunderbird also
believes in adapting to modern times and using the best the Europeans have to
offer; long barbecue
lighters work really well! She also thinks that if these lighters were
available back in the day, her Ancestors would have happily used them
because they would have invented them!)
SMOKING THE PIPE:
The pipe
in the right hand should switch from an overhand to an underhand grip almost
as if you are sipping water from the heel of the palm.
The smoke is drawn down the stem and not inhaled. The smoke
for a moment merges with the breath and at that moment, the sacred and the
profane become one; it is then gently released into the air as a whole
being and the smoke carries prayers and intentions to original
Creator. When
you have finished smoking, the right hand should return to an overhand
grip and the pipe should be passed clockwise to the next person.
PASSING THE PIPE:
The
pipe is nearly always passed in a clockwise direction representing the
travel of the sun. The pipe is passed with an overhand grip on the stem
and a careful cradling of the bowl. The pipe is received with two open,
upward palms, and then the bowl is cradled in the left hand while the
right hand closes over the stem in an overhand grip.
POSTING THE
PIPE:
This
means the pipe is set on an altar which could be a buffalo skull, 2 forked
sticks, rock or ceremonial blanket. During the time the pipe is posted the
conversation should remain spiritual.
BREAKING THE
PIPE:
When
the pipe ceremony is finished the pipe is taken apart by holding the bowl
in the left hand and stem in the right. The ashes are returned to the
earth and blessed. The stem is turned away from your body one quarter turn
then pulled straight out of the bowl. When not in use, the two parts are
usually stored separately.
WHO ARE KEEPERS
OF THE SACRED PIPE:
Normally pipe carriers are those
Native individuals who
have been walking and talking their earth walk in a good way for many
years, and who have
accepted the responsibility that goes with such an onerous
undertaking.
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Individuals
should not give themselves pipes because
this is viewed as self-indulgent and arrogant. Sadly, it is the case
however, that more and more folks after a spiritual weekend here or there,
are suddenly pipe carriers.
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Also, non-Native people have
a habit of giving pipes to other non-Native people.
This practice is both mystifying and dangerous. It is
viewed as particularly heinous to many Native cultures who see
this as just another attempt to purloin Native spirituality without
any real thought as to the consequences of their actions. Many
Elders believe that both the giver and receiver of such a sacred
item will both suffer in one way or another.
In these instances, the pipe has no
essence, no power. If you purchased a pipe for
yourself or someone else hang it on your wall, it has no spiritual value, and like Elvis,
the Ancestors and all things magical and mystical will have left the longhouse!
HOW DOES AN
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVE A PIPE?
In the time of the Ancestors, the
pipe was 'dreamt' by one person (already a Pipe Carrier) on behalf of another, or it was passed
down from Mother to Daughter, Father to Son,
AND
only after the receiver had
shown themselves to be worthy.
There are very serious ceremonies
that are undertaken before a pipe is smoked or used in ceremony. It must
become the property of the carrier and, therefore, there are rituals
involved for that process.
In Thunderbird's case, she underwent a four day fast/visionquest,
followed by ceremonies that covered thirteen full moons.
A pipe is
normally received in three time-honoured ways and this is only
after years of learning and walking the walk.
(a)
A legitimate Native Elder or Traditional Teacher who
is a
pipe carrier and who has earned the right to give
pipes and
who does NOT know
you,
yet has had at least four profound experiences about you (dreams, visions).
(b)
A legitimate Native Elder or Traditional Teacher who is a pipe carrier and
who does
know you
and has
had at least four profound experiences about you (dreams, visions).
c) the
pipe was inherited through the family and the current Native owner has
"earned" the right to carry and smoke it.
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