Note from Mike Quinsey

Many readers have written in asking about Mike, so I invited him to give us an update on how he’s doing ~ Lots of Love and Light to you Mike Quinsey!

Hi Suzanne, Thank you for your Email, and I’m pleased to update you as to what is happening. I had a stroke on the 31st of March during the day and found that I had virtually lost all of my sight in my right eye. I was also confused but have since retrieved a great deal of memory loss.

I have re-learnt most of what I lost, and that mainly concerned my computer work. I’ve been sending out messages every Monday for some time now. I’m keeping back what I consider to be the best ones, but these do not include SaLuSa and at present I doubt if I will again start sending out his messages.

So I’m still active but very much limited in what I can do. It’s nice to know that people still follow what I do, so at least I have some kind of contact with them.

Transcript: Sitting Bull on Animal Totems on Heavenly Blessings May 6, 2013, Part 1/2

Chief Sitting Bull, Heavenly Blessings May 6, 2013

Suzanne: Part I is our intro, Part II is the channeling and callers.

SM: Good morning and welcome to another edition of Heavenly Blessings with Linda Dillon, the channel for the Council of Love and author of “The Great Awakening,” and myself Suzanne Maresca, sitting in for Graham Dewyea.

Today we’ll be talking about totem animals, a subject close to my heart and one that I’m surprised to discover that even seasoned light workers may not be aware of.

Our guest to discuss this fascinating topic is Chief Sitting Bull, who I’m very excited to be able to speak with. Sitting Bull is a wonderful resource for this kind of information.

Cross-culturally those who live closest to the earth enjoy a special relationship and understanding with our animal family and I’m looking forward to hearing the perspective of one who lived it.

Until a few days ago I never would have dreamed of having a conversation with Sitting Bull. I haven’t had any detailed memories come into my awareness about past lives yet, but my heart knows that I’ve had many in North America as a tribal member. When those feelings come up, along with them comes an energy of loss, as though those days were filled with wonder, grace and beauty and I want that feeling again. It’s a memory of living in true community and I think that’s what we’re rapidly moving into again.

Good morning, Linda!

LD: Good morning, Suzi, and what a wonderful introduction. Yes, this is a little bit of a change of pace or direction for us after finishing our series on the Divine Qualities. And the Chiefs are back. So it will be very interesting to have an updated conversation with Sitting Bull and see what the Council of Elders has to share with us about their wisdom and their insights. Not only just into both our animal spirit friends and our actual animal friends, but in terms of even a broader perspective of what’s going on.

I wanted to share what I think is a funny story about how I came to be working with the Native American chiefs. You and I have never really talked about our backgrounds or how we have sort of arrived where we are.

But in the two minutes we had before the show we started talking about how so many light workers and love-holders probably have started their spiritual journey, particularly if they’re North and South American, by turning towards the shamanic journey. By either training or beginning to look at and gain a sense of sustenance and beginning to understand the richness of the Native American tradition and what it had to offer us spiritually. And beginning to quench that thirst for “oh my gosh there has to be more.”

SM: Yes, and the discovery that who we are is innately connected to Gaia and pretty much everything on the planet.

LD: In 2006 we had a Council of Love gathering. And that’s what’s happening in Joshua Tree in September and they have always had a theme. That year it was the tenth anniversary of our annual gathering so it was a big deal and the theme that the Council came up with was honoring Gaia, honoring Earth.

And so it was all about Gaia and Earth and the elements, the animals, the medicine wheel, within and without, and that was great. So we started prepping. In the summer months before the gathering, I started to feel, one by one, the Native American chiefs arriving. I worked with Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Cochise, Geronimo and Red Cloud. A powerful group.

I know I live an odd life and it’s not unusual to have our star brothers and sisters or an archangel in the bedroom, but I had never had the chiefs show up in quite this way.

So, I’m lying in bed and I’m wide awake and and Sitting Bull was standing there, among others; and you know when you’re lying in bed and the person that you’re in bed with also is wide awake but you’re not saying a word to each other; and all of a sudden Isaac said to me very quietly and calmly, “Where’s John Wayne when you really need him.”

And for months, it just continued. It started with the chiefs, and then the bedroom was full; all Native American male spirits, but then the women started coming as well. Sacajawea was there, and the house was full, literally, for months.

And over time there have been times when the chiefs have come back to visit. And they always surprise us. The dogs bark because they can see the spirits in the room.

A couple of days ago Isaac looked at me and said “they’re back, aren’t they.” And the house is has been full again for the past couple of days, and Sitting Bull – who I just love and admire so much – has been present.

So we’re talking about totems today because I think this is a great way to start talking about guides, and I think it’s one of the places where we can learn where there’s tangible touchable assistance available to us. I would never pretend that I am anywhere near an expert on this because I am definitely a student of this tradition – but it’s just nice to have a chance to talk with you and with our listeners about this whole area.

SM: I agree. I think it was a brilliant idea to do a show like this. And one thing that occurs to me is that is very helpful for people who are not quite so comfortable stepping into their own power that we can borrow from our allies, because every animal has a specialty.

And it’s a really good introduction, or maybe we can call it a gateway, for people to accept that this is also part of us. We love our animals and are more than willing to express our appreciation for the magnificence that they are. The thing is, we really are all one and that includes the animals with us. So we have access to those things; it’s just part of the energetic grid that we can plug into.

LD: And it’s really easy to plug into. And like you say, it gives us the reminder that we really are all part of the One and so just as we have animal totems, there are flowers and different plants that we’ve always been drawn to that are there to help us also and they help us in different ways at different times.

Totems are not necessarily physical animals. We call them our spirit guides or spirit animals very often when we’re referring to them. And each of us has nine of these totems, these animal spirit friends, who are with us, whether we know it or not. It’s like whether you know your guides or not. They’re still there.

And so these animals travel with us through lifetime after lifetime. And they follow the Native American tradition of the medicine wheel – north, south, east and west; and each of those has different qualities that we can talk about with our friends who are listening in today. Then there’s above and below and within. And there are ways to figure out and discern that.

And then there are those who are most close to us who walk with us on our right-hand side and our left-hand side. So we have this group of totems that are helping us with different aspects of our life. So when you put it in the framework of the medicine wheel, it really helps because each area within the wheel also teaches you about different qualities of who you are.

I know, because you and I had our prior conversation that you had studied and followed the shamanic path, probably far more than I have, although I should say the only teachers I’ve ever had were Wallace Black Elk and Lynn Andrews. Lynn’s book got me started. If you want to start on this path, that is where you should go.

SM: Those are great books. I actually still have them on my shelf. In my understanding, and I knew that we were going to have a slightly different understanding, so this could speak to the levels of engagement; on the energetic level of engagement all things are the same. But then we have the literal, the symbolic, the mythic and the energetic.

On the energetic level cross-culturally, shamanic practices are all the same but there are different traditions. So In my understanding the different allies that we have can be with us through many lifetimes; some can come and go.

Maybe there’s been a day where a bumblebee is really an ally for that day. So we have a medicine ally, medicine being power; a visionary ally, a journey ally, a life guardian; there are so many different aspects of the way that each of these teachers and guides really help us and play a part in our lives. And sometimes they show up like signs in nature.

When an animal keeps showing up, then it’s for you to know that they’re talking to you. They’re drawing your attention to something. Especially if they show up three times. If you see a hawk three times in a day, or a hawk three times in a vision, that’s a special message.

LD: It’s good that we’re coming from slightly different perspectives. I love it. Each of us has these animals and certainly if I had grown up in India I wouldn’t be having the same, well maybe I would… because one of my totems is actually elephants. I’ve been attracted to elephants all my life. But the animals might be slightly different depending on where you’re living, where you’ve chosen to be born. And you therefore have the experience of that realm of the animal kingdom.

SM: So someone from North America could easily have an African lion as a totem. But something you spoke about earlier that I wanted to add something about, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical animal. My daughter has a huge water dragon for an ally. So, I haven’t seen any of those in this lifetime, but I know they’re around.

LD: Yes, they are definitely around.

SM: So it can be a mythical creature. The mythical animals are just as real as the other ones; we have just been unable to see them.

LD: Yes, I have talked to people who have had, for example, unicorns as one of their totems. Unicorns haven’t been around in a very long time. Although even as I’m saying that, I’m hearing that they’re coming back. Won’t that be nice.

It’s to open your heart and open your mind to what is possible. And to accept the help and really the love and support of what your totems are offering you. Regardless of what tradition, each animal has hundred of qualities, but at any give time, maybe one day it’s the bees that are talking to you. That’s part of the discernment, where they’re talking to you about the honey and getting the sweetness of life from the nectar of life, or are they talking about you feeling stung. And those are very wide interpretations, which only you can answer.

SM: As in nature, there are all manner of things. When you see a sign in nature, what were you thinking about at the time that the animal showed up?

LD: Yes, and to accept the little ones as well, like you’re saying. The bees, the hummingbird which is joy, the ants, the mice, the squirrels; when I’ve talked about this subject in classes, everyone is always thrilled if they’ve got a bear or a buffalo or a mountain lion; but it’s not a pecking order. Because each and every animal has this integral part to play in that tapestry of the planet.

SM: you can look at a mouse and ask them to help you focus on details. There’s all kinds of things they can help us with on many levels. It doesn’t have to be a big ferocious creature. But if we need ferocity on a certain day, then right on! Another wonderful thing that animals can help us with is perspective.

If we are having an especially emotional experience, and we want to try to lift up out of the emotions, we can make a point to connect perceptually with perhaps a snake. Snakes do not have limbic systems, there’s no emotion involved. They go belly-to-belly with Pacha Momma, the Earth, so if you want to separate yourself from emotion it’s good to put yourself in the perceptual state of a serpent. Then you can change your perspective on any given situation.

For example, if you need to have perspective from an altitude, you can ask to merge with the eagle, hawk or condor – one of the high flyers. It could even be the turkey vulture who does the cleansing of the Earth.

Depending on what you need, you can call in that perspective; step into it and merge, and when I say “merge” people might ask “well how can I do that”. But it’s all imaginal work. Our imagination is far more powerful than we give it credit for in most cases.

LD: It’s imagination but it’s also recognizing that in nature all this wonderful diversity of what’s been placed on Gaia, or chosen to be with us, particularly with us at this time, that each being has a role to play. And it’s funny because sometimes when I’m channeling in individual sessions, people’s guides will say “you know I hate being underemployed; you never call on me for anything.”

And there’s all this help and assistance that’s available. And I think it’s true that we’ve become, aside from our domesticated animals, so distant from the animal kingdom that we tend to forget that they are out there and available and their spirits are strong and helpful.

SM: It’s interesting because I was having a conversation with a friend the other day. I’ll usually ask about totem animals when someone’s having a problem in their life; and sometimes I’ll ask if there’s an animal that they’re particularly connected with. I’m surprised by the initial comment of “no, not really”.

This particular friend was talking about how he goes to feed the pigeons all the time and how much he appreciates them; and I said “well, there you have it. There are aspects of the pigeons or the doves that you really love and appreciate. There’s a connection there and you should recognize that and the things about doves that will be helpful for you in your current situation.” Everything happens on purpose, especially right now.

LD: Yes. There is no coincidence.

SM: It doesn’t have to be a physical sign in nature, because some of our animals we will never see. If I saw an otter in the brook that runs across my property, I would be in incredible joy. But there are no otters in this brook. So it could be in the form of dreams. We can love all animals, but perhaps otter or dolphin in particular – Woman medicine and joy and playfulness. You can recognize the connection without seeing the physical animal.

LD: It’s funny you’ve chosen otter because otter is one of my totems. When I lived in Niagara, I lived on a wetlands with Lake Ontario in front and a river behind me. The otters would come and they would play and they really taught me so much. I’m taking myself far too seriously.

Well, why don’t we do a little meditation and get into some discussion with our listeners because I think there are lots of questions today. (( at minute mark 25:30 ))

Transcript: Sitting Bull on Animal Totems on Heavenly Blessings May 6, 2013, Part 2/2

Chief Sitting Bull, Heavenly Blessings May 6, 2013

Suzanne: Part I is our intro, Part II is the channeling and callers.

Sitting Bull: I am Sitting Bull.

SM: Welcome.

SB: Welcome to you and welcome to all of you of all the tribes and all of the nations that have gathered to join with the kingdoms and the elements, the earth and the air, the fire and the water, with the animals and with the humans.

You may wonder what an old chief has to say, but my friends there are many similarities between our journeys and our pathways as there are with the entire Council of the Elders. For I know what it is to travel far in your journey and sometimes to have to leave your home and that which is familiar, and that which you have come to know and love and cherish.

I know what it is to be disdained and to be dismissed because of the spirit path and the path in human form. And you have to flee and you have to fight. I do not come this day to talk about losses. I come to speak to you about what you think of as victory. And reunion.

Because you are the prophecy that has been common to all traditions and that is that you join as one tribe, as one people, honoring and respecting and enjoying in celebration, ritual, ceremony, the traditions of each other; ignoring violent history and knowing of peaceful history and the ability to create greater peace.

This was always my goal. It was to build the understanding of Great Spirit, of what you think of as One. And for the communion not only with the animals and with our sacred mother Gaia but with each other as well.

It is not impossible to live together in peace and it is not impossible to live together in peace with the animals who are truly the equal inhabitants of Earth with you. This attitude of superiority begins to fade and it is time that it faded because what it allows to happen is the richness of each person’s talents to actually be permitted to come forth.

And each person’s talents are necessary, not only for the survival of the tribe, but for the peace and enjoyment, prosperity and abundance of the tribe. So one may be a medicine woman and know the way of plants and herbs. And another may know how to call on the stars and speak to the moon.

Or another can speak to the animals. Or one is a horseman and another knows how to read the signs of the trees and whether we will have a harsh winter or not. All are equal. All are in service to Great Spirit and to the Mother who holds us to what you think of as Gaia.

So I do not simply come to speak of totems this day, but I have asked for this subject because it is the starting point for you to begin to accept, to nurture and to honor those who you share this planet with. It is one way for you to begin to acknowledge that you are not alone.

And this is truly the most severe illness, dis-ease, of humankind. It is this feeling of isolation and that you are not supported or understood in your journey. That is not true.

It is not true in terms of your animal friends, and it is not true in terms of your ancestors and we who have gone before you. There are very few of you who have not had any lifetime in one of the tribes or another. It is one of the reasons you have returned to this place called North America, to Turtle Island.

But each of you, whether you are in New Zealand or Australia or Europe or Japan, you have your connections. And they are equal and just as powerful. Particularly as you join now with one tribe.

This is your time of victory. Both personally and together. But it is also your time to realize that victory is never earned or won alone. So celebrate together. Honor your family and I do not simply mean your current biological family. Honor your family and go in peace.

SM: Thank you, Sitting Bull. May I ask a question?

SB: Yes.

SM: As you’re speaking it occurs to me that it might be helpful for people to be able to access our past incarnations as an indigenous tribal member, and I was wondering if you could offer some suggestions as to how people could get in touch with that. I mean, we are gathering our parts, our aspects into ourselves and certainly many of our past incarnations, skills and memories would be helpful in this time. Have you a suggestion how we might access that?

SB: As this channel, and my sweet friend, has spoken to you, I have helped with the medicine wheel many times. Now the medicine wheel represents the directions but it also represents the realm of human experience. You may think of it simply as a circle and the reference points are what you use everyday, north/south/east/west.

But what I suggest for this exercise that you ask me about, my dearest, is that you go to the center of the medicine wheel and yes, it is always best to do sacred ceremony of this nature, either as the moon rises or the sun rises, so it can be your choice. And if you are not in a position to do this then simply visualize that you are at sunrise or sunset.

But it is new beginnings that you are seeking. And so I would suggest to you that sunrise is the time. Go to the center of the wheel, to the heart of the wheel, and simply sit down.

Now I am asking you to sit down so that you are in a very peaceful and relaxed state. You are not threatening anyone, and it is important that most of you is touching Gaia. So I want you to feel the earth, even if you are sitting on a bed or a chair.

Feel the Earth connection. Most of you do not get your feet dirty often enough.

As you sit there, simply ask – yes I will help you – and so will Cochise and Geronimo. So will Joseph and Red Cloud. And I will sit in the center with you. And ask your being from other lifetimes whether you are ancient medicine woman or young brave to come to you and then pay attention what direction they come to you from.

So if it is East for example, and I am not asking you to become historians, but you will know it is an Eastern tribe. Perhaps Mohawk or Algonquin.

Or is it the North. Is it the far North, the Inuit. Or is it the West, and where in the West. Is it the Navajo, or Apache, or even the South. So pay attention to the direction and the way in which you are dressed in that lifetime.

This is not a difficult exercise that I give you. So simply ask them and for some of you it may be one, for others it may be several. And simply ask them to come and sit with us in the center of the circle of the wheel.

In this way you will come to know who you have been. Some of you have come from extinct tribes and that is sad. But it does not mean that you did not survive and that you did not have life. So do not judge who joins you and in the same way you can ask the totems to come from each direction if you choose as well. It matters not.

Eventually you will leave the center of the circle with me and you will go on your journeys and you will bring your friends.

SM: May I ask another question?

SB: Yes.

SM: I’ve been finding in my spiritual evolution that my animal allies are taking more of a background position and I’m wondering if that’s a natural progression as I learn to access for myself the things that I’ve looked to them for in the past.

SB: They have given you their gifts. Think of it this way: Yes it is a natural progression. But I also do not want you to forget us – we old people and animals. So when you are a child you are tended to and you are taught many lessons. And even as you come of age and you have done your journeying there are still many lessons that lie ahead. And so, it is a reunion with your totems, with your animal helpers that is important from time to time.

Because like your guardians, guides, the angelic realm, each has a place in which to assist you. So often there is a grave underestimation of the help that is available to you. But every now and then one of your totems will raise their head and let you know to pay attention.

So it is “do not forget where you have journeyed from.”

SM: Would it be okay now to take some callers?

SB: Yes. Linda and I, and you, my friend, intended this to be a lively conversation.

SM: Thank you so much. Area code 248, are you with us?

Caller 248: Yes, thank you. I’d like to know how do we work with fairy realm?

SB: You work the same way as you work with the elementals and even with the totems. But what I also wish to remind you that you also have your allies. Do not forget the ladybugs and the hummingbird. The flycatcher, the caterpillar, the tiny spiders, the worms. Particularly the worms who spin silk.

So it is much the same way and you could sit in the center of the wheel and ask your fairy for different pieces of you, for who you have been, because as you know that everyone thinks of the fairies as tiny so they have become that. But it was only because the white man came to step on them and to try and control, so it is ancient energy that is very powerful with magic.

And often we would call upon this magic in our ceremony. So that is how you work. It is the playful, gentle energy, but it is also the watchful, cautious energy. It is time for the fairies to be re-invited to come out and play.

Caller 248: Is there a name for them in a more Native way?

SB: You mean the fairies? No. We would call them fairies. It would be too confusing because I would need to speak to you in dozens of dialects. We would always call them the light beings.

SM: Area code 333, are you with us?

Caller 333: Yes. I live in nature, so I have many animals in the area. And recently, there has been an unusual gathering of falcons near the land. And they were chasing something and it was incredibly beautiful, but I was wondering what could be the message because I have a very strong connection with them.

SB: It is important for all of you, whether you live as you say in nature or in the center of a city, to pay attention and what you have seen is a gathering of the energies of the hunters and what we would call the watchers and observers.

For the eyesight and the speed of the falcon is mighty. So they are telling you, dear one, to be in a place of clear observation and get ready to move quickly to claim your dream.

SM: Area 970, are you with us?

Caller 970: Good morning, what an honor to have you here. I am wondering if you could please tell me what the message that my most significant totem is giving me now for this most interesting time in our lives.

SB: That is for you to discern. It is not for me to tell you. It is for you to speak with the animals. I didn’t come to simply say this is your totem and this what they are saying to you. What I have asked you to do is to speak with them. Because they speak to your heart, they speak to your mind, you know the qualities of each of the animals that you are observing and the gentleness that they carry. So pay attention.

SM: David, are you with us?

David: Yes, I do have some questions.

The first one is, my girlfriend and I have a really nice cat and she’s now thirteen years old, and I communicate with her. I had a vision of her as a younger cat and she was drinking out of a puddle, and out of the puddle came a hawk. And I thought about a monster coming out of the water, so I thought that there’s a virus in the water. We always give her really good water out of a bottle. I got the message that she feels incarcerated so we let her back into the garden. I am looking for suggestions.

SB: First you don’t look at the hawk emerging from the water as a monster. For the hawk can dive to grab the fish, the prize. And emerge and fly free with the prize.

So in many ways, what your cat was doing in this vision was also seeking for the prize, for what would nurture her and what she was also showing you was who she travels with and who she was been. So she is showing you that although she is calm in this lifetime as a sweet little pussycat that she is also a fierce, free hawk that knows how to soar. That is why she is constantly asking to be liberated.

Now I am not suggesting that you let her run free because you live in a dangerous area and you would not wish for her to be injured. But she is also telling you that she would like some fish.

David: Thank you for that answer. It wasn’t actually a flying hawk, it was like these pigs, like a wild hog…

SB: But she has been a hawk. She has not been a hog. The wild boar is powerful. But that is not the image.

David: Can you talk about what it means that there was a wild boar coming out of the water?

SB: It is the strength. It is the family strength, for the wild boars are tenacious but they are powerful. They are very much family animals. They move in packs, in tribes, in extended family. It protects them and their young. When they are injured they do not abandon one another; they tend to one another and they heal the wounds.

You think because they are ugly but they are beautiful animals.

David: Thanks. You connected perfectly with my second question. Because one night I was in the woods with my girlfriend and we did a ritual to heal the woods, because we thought it was a bit enchanted. I did a Hopi singing and she also did some singing and then we heard sounds in the woods and we were really amazed because we called the spirit of the woods and then it came.

We thought it could be the spirit of the wood, but we also thought it might be wild boars, so we were a bit afraid and left. So I guess I’d like to know if you have any suggestion for healing the spirit of the woods.

SB: The spirit has awakened and spoken to you already. And you have awakened the spirit and let him know that there is an ally. So, what you have done, my friend, is that you do not invite someone to come and meet you and then run away in fear. It’s not very hospitable is it?

Go back to the woods and bring the offerings, bring the sacred tobacco or some offering that you wish to make as a gift to the spirit of the wood. It is the acknowledgement that counts, and it is the acknowledgment and the love that will do the healing.

David: Does it have something to do with the old church that is nearby the wood?

SB: No, it does not. The wood allowed the church to come and share his sacred space. Now there has been pain and suffering in that church and if you’re going to clean up anything that is as you have put it “enchanted”, then I would suggest that it might be the church. So go and sage smudge in that area.

SM: Wonderful. Area code 778 are you with us?

Caller 778: Good morning! This last week it feels like I’ve opened up inside myself the most beautiful connection with myself as a Mohawk warrior who was killed in battle in the 1600’s and speaking Algonquin.

And the pain that I felt over the love of my life being murdered with smallpox blankets in New England was horrendous. It’s like I did unfinished soul business, and just the joy and love and the depths of such crystal clear clarity of oneness with everything – it just opened up a beautiful blossom in this life.

That was followed by myself as a nine-year-old girl speaking Algonquin in New England and living in the forest. And it feels like my Akashic Records are opening up and I’m grounding in Gaia through my previous lives.

I wanted to ask if there’s anything that Sitting Bull would like to talk about; it feels like I’m surrounded by so much more than I can possibly imagine.

SB: You know, I am a being of very few words. And so what I say to you is keep going. Your journey has really just begun. Keep traveling dear friend.

Caller 778: Oh wow. Thank you.

SM: Area code 206 are you with us?

Caller 206: Hello. When you invite a spirit to share a meal with you, what happens to the food? Do they enjoy the smells? Do they partake of the meal in a spiritual sense?

SB: We enjoy the invitation. But the offerings that we often ask for or welcome are tobacco or corn meal or whatever you choose, but if you are asking me to sit down and share your breakfast of eggs and bacon or perhaps wild boar and bread, then I will enjoy it but it will not appear that I have touched it. So do not waste food. It is too important and there are too many that go hungry.

So what I ask of you is either give me half of what you want, and then eat both parts for me, or simply set a place and allow me to sit with you.

SM: Sitting Bull, I would like to introduce an unhappy topic, but if you would speak to this for a moment. Last night I was made aware of a situation of some terrible animal abuse on a social website. And of course then I sent my golden light to the cat that was involved and also to the abuser. Because in my view, that is the only thing to do.

The thread was full of hatred and anger and all types of negative emotion toward the abuser. We love our animals and we get so hyper-charged on animal abuse and I want it to end more than anything. But the way I see it ending is to send the golden light, or whatever healing light we can to the abuser who is so terribly wounded that they lash out and do such things to our animals. Could you please speak to that?

SB: We have watched the slaughter of the buffalo and the murder of the people. And we have watched the abuse of skinning buffalo alive, knowing that these who were doing it were not only desecrating the land and our food source, our animals, but the spirit of these mighty beings. And that this would wreak havoc as it did amongst all peoples and on the land.

So we know about the potential for human beings to be very abusive. What we used to do, what is often not covered in your history books in this situation of such slaughter is we would go amongst the dead and dying and we would sing our songs to great spirit and we would sing our buffalo songs as well. To accompany their spirits on their journey.

But in our ritual and our ceremony and in the midst of such pain we prayed for the awakening of these hunters that they would understand what they were truly doing because obviously they were very ignorant of the way.

Now it has taken a very long time to restore the buffalo and it will never be as it once was. But the buffalo hunters, many who have reincarnated by the way as Native Americans, have learned.

All you can do is pray and ask great spirit to touch their hearts and their minds so that, whether it is a small cat or a buffalo or a wolf, they will see the error of their ways and come to honor the animals and the spirit and the freedom and rights that they have.

So, yes, do not fall into hatred and judgment. I have begun today by saying it is the time of victory. I do not say this blithely. I say that you are in a place now where all the tribes of all colors come together. But you cannot come together if you are saying “well you are expelled to the wilderness because of your ignorance” – it does not work that way. The tribe can heal the one who has gone astray. It is up to the tribe.

SM: Thank you so much for that. Sitting Bull, thank you for joining us on this day. Is there anything you would like to say in closing?

SB: I say come and sit with me on the early morning on the prairie plain and let me show you the way. For there are many lessons still be learned and joy to be remembered.

LD: Hi, it’s Linda. What an honor. I wanted to mention we all have our favorite books and both of us mentioned Lynn Andrews this morning. She is a great starting point. The book that I have returned to year after year is Jamie Sams’ book – it comes with a book and a deck of cards. It’s called The Discovery of Power through The Ways of Animals. It’s sort of like a Bible that I go back to over and over. The energy is beautiful in this book.

There is also a CD available on my website [http://counciloflove.com] called Spirits Speak.It was the first of a trilogy of meditations with the chiefs. It’s about working with the medicine wheel and the animals. So get going, and pay attention.

I’ve lived in Florida for almost ten years. And I’ve seen an armadillo a couple of times, an old boy who comes now and then through the yard. But the other morning I was going out to walk and there was a baby armadillo across the street and he turned and looked at me and I swear he was smiling.

And he ran across that lawn, across the street and raced across to our lawn and he was smiling; he was saying “there you are” and “I’ve got to talk to you”. I really got the message. So that’s why I say pay attention to who is showing up. The armadillo energy is about maintaining your boundaries, being clear about what your boundaries are. So it was something I had to sit and meditate on.

SM: It’s definitely worth the time to sit with those energies and feel into those messages. I would like to add also that there are some fabulous books by Ted Andrews, one is AnimalSpeak that goes into even more depth than the medicine cards. He has full chapters on how to discover your totem animals with rituals, etc.

So it’s been a lovely show. Thank you so much callers, Linda, and Sitting Bull.