2009
Conference Edition of
The Palm
Winter,
2009 Editon of
The Palm
2008 National By-Laws
Gulf of Mexico oil spill spurs group to hold a
beach-side healing ceremony for the planet
By
Maggie Fitzroy
Swimmers splashed in gray-green ocean waves Tuesday afternoon in
Neptune Beach as lifeguard Colby Caltrider kept watch.
Teens
rode boogie boards. On the beach, children made sand castles in the
white sand.
It
was an average summer scene.
Except for the dozen people who were sitting in a circle playing
drums and praying aloud for the Earth.
The
drummers waded into the surf carrying a large wooden bowl filled
with clear water then formed a tight circle around the bowl and
emptied its contents into the sea.
After
learning the group was performing a ceremony to heal the ocean and
Earth from an oil spill 50 days earlier in the Gulf of Mexico,
Caltrider nodded and looked out at the clean, white capped waves.
"I
hope the oil doesn't come here," he said.
Ponte
Vedra Beach resident Marilyn Wilson said she and friend Lynn Curtin
decided to organize the "healing ceremony for Mother Earth" at the
foot of Atlantic Boulevard "as a major public outcry to make this
horrible tragedy a turning point."
After
receiving a healing prayer request e-mail from a Sioux Indian chief,
the women, who are musicians and writers, spread the word on
Facebook inviting all who were interested to meet by the wooden
walkover at 4 p.m. They told participants to bring drums or
percussion instruments and small vials of water as symbolic gifts of
healing.
As
the group gathered on the sand and faced the ocean, Wilson thanked
everyone for coming.
Then
she asked them to read aloud from a prayer borrowing from the words
of Chief Arvol Looking Horse, keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo
Calf Pope of the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Nation of the Sioux.
"We
are here for our children, and our children's children," they said
together. "We are here for the wildlife and the plants that are
helpless. We are here because we too feel helpless and want to do
something for our great ocean and the world. Together, we can, will
and are making a difference by standing together in unity and
prayer. We ask that the oil spill, the bleeding will stop."
After
pouring the clean water into the ocean the group sat down again and
began playing drums and other instruments, including a flute and
Australian didjeridu.
They
also sang songs, including one Curtin wrote in honor of all the
Earth's "white animals," who she said are being born in greater
numbers to warn of an impending crisis if people don't treat the
Earth better.
"The
oil spill is heart-breaking on so many levels," Curtin said.
"Symbolically and metaphorically, we are trying to connect our souls
to healing Mother Earth. People can hopefully correct their mistakes
and find other energy sources."
The
morning of the ceremony, a Wall Street Journal news article reported
that President Barack Obama might soon re-open oil drilling in
shallow waters on the Gulf Coast. It also reported that well owner
BP faces billions of dollars in penalties in the drilling disaster
that has been spewing roughly 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day.
The latest emergency containment system was on track to capture
about 15,000 barrels of oil a day.
Scientists have predicted complete containment may take months, that
oil balls may spread into the Atlantic Ocean and that the clean-up
may take years.
As
Melissa Stojkovska of Jacksonville and her husband, Rosko Milo,
relaxed on the beach, the healing ceremony's music caught their
attention. They went over to watch and Stojkovska began video taping
the scene with her cell phone.
She
said the music sounded historic and sacred, reminding her of music
from her native Macadonia.
"It's
nice. I like it," she said. "It's helping 100 percent because song
is a power for God to hear us.
"The
ocean can hear it," Milo said.
Participant Susan Markey of Oklahoma, who came to the event with
friend Woody Winfree of Atlantic Beach, said she hoped the ceremony
helped in some way.
The
oil spill "is a disaster of such huge proportions," she said. "I'm
just trying to do anything I can."
Maggie FitzRoy can also be reached at (904) 249-4947, ext. 6320.
