Yesterday I introduced the tradition of the Talking Stick and promised to continue today. I explained the significance that the type of wood that the stick is made of can be.
A real Talking Stick would also be decorated and the color of beads or paint would have meaning along with any type of feather or hide attached would also have meaning. Colors would be difficult to define here as the different tribal traditions have different meanings for different colors.
The feathers or hides used bring the Medicine of the animal to the Talking Stick. For instance Rabbit would bring the ability to hear with long ears.
Each Talking Stick made for a Council would be very personal and made with care to bring the right totems and medicines to the circle.
In the hustle and bustle of our lives today, we really won’t make a Talking Stick to carry with us. Not a physical one anyway. I do have a Talking Stick in my head and heart, though. I try to envision it as I participate in a conversation with people. Remembering that every living creature deserves to have their say. By listening to their Sacred View I can broaden my understanding and perhaps relate what I’ve heard in a new manner.
It has been said that there are many spokes to the Great Wheel of Life and that every one of us will have stood on each spoke during sometime in our lives. Each lesson learned on a spoke brings us closer to harmony and wholeness. If we hold contempt in our hearts for those who have not learned the lessons yet because they haven’t been on that spoke, then we prevent our own growth.
Thinking of the Talking Stick as we converse with people reminds us of the validity of the viewpoints of those around us. It teaches us to listen and then to apply what we have heard. It reminds us to not interrupt as someone tries to impart their wisdom. We are reminded that there is always more than one answer to any problem.
I so love the lesson of the Talking Stick! And as I did yesterday, I pass the stick to you now.
~ Mitakuye Oyasin ~ We are all related