How to Make a Prayer Arrow

The Prayer Arrow ceremony is a tradition taught to me by my Huichol mentor. It is a ceremony for planting prayers of gratitude and seeds of intention. My family and I do this every New Year, and I invite you to join me as we move into this New Year.

You can fill it with prayers on your own, or invite family and friends to contribute their prayers. Juice up your prayer arrow with gratitude, love, and intentions. Plant your arrow into the Earth on New Year’s Day.

May this year bring more love, kindness, peace, and justice into your life and our one, shared world. Dearest Relatives,

The Prayer Arrow ceremony is a medicine ritual taught to me by my Huichol mentor, during my X# of years going on pilgrimage. It is a ceremony for planting prayers of gratitude and seeds of intention.

You can use the Prayer Arrow ritual to consciously transition into a new year, clarifying and strengthening your intentions with the powers of creation. 

My family and I do a Prayer Arrow ceremony every New Year, and I invite you to join me as we move into 2023. Below is a video on how to make a prayer arrow for the New Year.

You can fill it with prayers on your own, or invite family and friends to contribute their prayers. Juice up your prayer arrow with gratitude, love, and intentions. Plant your arrow into the Earth on New Year’s Day.

May you weave wisely, plant strongly and act on your guidance with compassion, kindness and joy.

All Blessings for the new year coming and your fullest blossoming and greatest good.

Part III: A Conversation with Michael Pollan

In this third part of a three-part series with The New York Times bestselling author, Michael Pollan, we explore cultural appropriation, healing, building spiritual community, and gratitude. The topics most relevant today in early Spring, with the plants coming out of hibernation, blossoming; as we leave the darkness of a Covid-19 winter and enter the rebirth of new life and new possibilities, the wisdom of cosmic cycles gifts us with increasing light and a vortex of creative power pouring up from the earth.

Mother Nature asks us, "What seeds do you want to plant in the garden of your life? What do you want to grow and nurture to fullest blossoming and greatest good?” I invite you to watch and listen to these conversations with Michael Pollan, holding these questions as your intention.

All blessings, Tom

Part II: A Conversation with Michael Pollan

In this second part of a three-part series with The New York Times bestselling author, Michael Pollan, we explore plant medicine and healing. The topics most relevant today in early Spring, with the plants coming out of hibernation, blossoming; as we leave the darkness of a Covid-19 winter and enter the rebirth of new life and new possibilities, the wisdom of cosmic cycles gifts us with increasing light and a vortex of creative power pouring up from the earth.

Mother Nature asks us, "What seeds do you want to plant in the garden of your life? What do you want to grow and nurture to fullest blossoming and greatest good?” I invite you to watch and listen to these conversations with Michael Pollan, holding these questions as your intention.

All blessings, Tom

Part I: A Conversation with Michael Pollan

I recently had the chance to reconnect with brother MICHAEL POLLAN. I first met Michael when he came to interview me while doing research for his book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.

The plant spirits first brought us together and it was a gift to share another conversation with him, this time on Zoom, mid-pandemic, and with my oldest daughter Kimberly, thanks to my youngest daughter Nicole.

In this season of Holy Spring, as we leave the darkness of a Covid-19 winter and enter the rebirth of new life and new possibilities, the wisdom of cosmic cycles gifts us with increasing light and a vortex of creative power pouring up from the earth.

Mother Nature asks us, "What seeds do you want to plant in the garden of your life? What do you want to grow and nurture to fullest blossoming and greatest good?” I invite you to watch and listen to these conversations with Michael Pollan, holding these questions as your intention.

All blessings, Tom

The Mystery of the Blue Light: Election Day 2020

The day of the 2020 election, I was invited to present on a panel about religious freedom. Other panelists being of Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic faith. I represented shamanic indigenous spiritual ways which as I explained is not a religion. It is a way of being in relationship to the creation that existed before there was religion as we know it today. I explained how indigenous people do not have a word for religion since they know all creation is alive, conscious, interwoven in a cosmic web of inter-relationship. They knew that all life is sacred, that we are 100% dependent for our lives on forces of nature that we are not in control of and that those forces are spiritual energies that we need to be in respectful, reciprocal relationship with or else we will not survive. So there is no religion that is separate from how they live their daily lives trying to be in harmonious balance with all the powers that give and sustain our precious lives. Religion came later, much later.

I was the last of five panelists to speak after the others had shared about discrimination their people have and still do experience. I shared how i do not have freedom of “religion” because of the insanity of this country’s laws that make it illegal for me to eat or drink certain plants grown by Mother Earth, something indigenous people have been doing for thousands and thousands of years in socially integral ways that expand and grow consciousness. It is precisely an expansion of consciousness that is needed today shapeshifting from one that believes in separation, that has an economic system that feeds greed, fear and violence, to a consciousness that knows how we are all interconnected and that what we give/do to another we do to our selves, to our children, to our grandchildren. From that expanded consciousness we can work to grow a cooperative planetary consciousness based on love, kindness, caring, justice, equality, peace, beauty and healthy world, a Win-Win World for All. It is possible. I know it. I have seen it.

I closed my sharing with respectfully honoring the diversity of religious beliefs and practices expressed by the panelists with my understanding that beneath the differences real spirituality comes down to a bottom line truth that God is love, and those who love, know God. It seemed to resonate with each speaker as I watched their heads nod in agreement.

It is not so easy living that love consistently when it is so easy to be triggered into fearful reactivity by the dramatically challenging times of so much social unrest and climate change we are living in today. Below is a photograph of a place I have been going to each day to remind myself of the deeper waves of life, the beauty of the natural world, the magnificent creation we are gifted to live in. I call it “Sanity Shores” because the energy there is sane. The rhythms are constant but always changing. Impermanence and continuity. There is wisdom there. There is no ego there. There is what “God hath wrought”.

I share the image caught on camera so you too might take in some of the sanity there to help you through this time of unrest, of unease, of unknown future. There is Father Sun sending down stardust from above. There is the endless sky. The wispy passing clouds. There is the flowing waves of Mother Ocean. Rock People. What indigenous people say are the oldest living people on the planet, the ones who carry the history of what has been.

May the figures on the screen help you connect with a center of strength and peace within you. May they help you connect with the love that is in you, that you are, that we all are. May it help strengthen your knowing that so long as we are alive no matter what is happening, if we choose it, if we clean out any thoughts or beliefs that get in the way, we can Live Love Now remembering love is the most powerful transformational energy in the universe.

One more thing. If you look at the bottom left hand corner of the picture you will see a blue light. On the rational, logical side of understanding it is nothing but a lens flare. Of course. We all know that. We share a cultural understanding that explains its presence. Yet, might there possibly be more to it than that?

In a shamanic perspective it just might be a trickster doorway, a nierica, to/from another dimension, a spiritual dimension using the lens flare of the camera to bring through a transmission of some sort. Maybe it is just Coyote playing one of its tricks. But yet, indigenous people know that Coyote’s tricks carry medicine teachings, wisdom guidance to help people live in a good way with Creator and Creation. I invite you to take a look at that blue light. Open your mind to the possibility that the Sacred Mystery that exists beneath all physical phenomena and from which all that we see with our eyes comes from and returns, just might be trying to communicate something to help us through these dark times.

The Elders say Creation is a great mystery. They counsel to stay open, that there is more going on than what you think you see and what you think you know in your ordinary state of everyday awareness. "Stay open, Stay humble. Stay open to mystery” they say.

I invite you to find your way to open the blue light doorway and see what might come through for you. I welcome hearing from you.

Please keep the light of hope, faith and love alive and shining.

All Blessings.

love, tomás

An American Billboard: a Poem

an American billboard

driving north on rt. 101

pass Gilroy

garlic capitol of the world

wide open spaces

huge irrigated fields of mono crops

campesinos harvesting

talking with andrea 

met when we were 

eighteen

love growing

through 

the years

sudden shock

huge billboard

add for tractor 

sez

“Conquer Your Land”

are you shitting me? 

and yet

there it is

up front

how we got here

control

dominate

no wonder

the problems

the suffering

got it backwards

from what

we once knew

respectful

humble

harmonious

relationship

with the powers

that give life

Sacred Covenant

with Earth

Ocean

Desert

Forest

Mountain

Ancestors

Butterfly

Wind

Fire

Plants 

Praying mantis

still time

though

growing short

purification

cleansing

rebirth

evolution 

growing us

up

to 

higher consciousness

that knows 

truth 

kindness 

love 

that is

for 

giving

The Gifts of Grace: Twelve Boys and their Rites of Passage

As I prepared to take the 12 teenage boys out on Vision Quest, the weather spirits spoke and they spoke loudly.  I got the news on the eve of our departure – Three days of big lightning storms blasting the Northern Sierra just where we were going to go on quest!  Not safe given that we would be hiking over big stretches of granite to reach out intended site sooooo, instead of packing up after a full day at work I spent the evening frantically calling wilderness friends trying to find an alternative site that would work for what we were seeking.  I went to bed late that night exhausted still not knowing where we were going to go and if we would have to cancel the whole trip.  Postponing it was out of the question because parents had already made their summer plans around the date we had set up and the boys were all geared up and excited (but nervous and anxious as well).

Not much sleep as I was tossing and turning trying to figure out what to do until finally I got to the point where I had to just turn it over to spirit.  It was beyond my control so I let it all go surrendering the whole situation into spirit’s hands.  Then I could finally fall asleep for a few hours.  Next morning Greg and I drove the rented van down to the school parking lot where we were meeting the boys and their families for our taking off ceremony.  Standing in the center of two circles, the boys around me and their parents and sisters forming a larger circle surrounding us I gave them the news that our planned destination was out scratched due to bad weather.  I shared that we would head up to the South Fork of the Yuba River in the Sierra foothills where I had led a quest last summer with a mentorship group of middle-aged men and hope that the base camp I had used previously would be available but there would be no way to know until we drove up and hiked several miles into the site.  We were taking off into mystery not knowing if the site would work for this larger group even if base camp was available because there are limited flat spots along the river to camp within a safe distance where the boys could signal one another in case they got into trouble on their solo time.  One of the boys had an extreme allergy to any kind of nuts and required hospitalization  20 minutes after giving himself a shot with his EPI Pen if he had a reaction.  No way that could happen from where we would be so once again it required surrendering into the bigger hands with faith and trust that the boys, all forewarned, did not bring any items that could cause an allergic response.

On the drive up, the 12 boys, Greg Snowden and myself, the weather report said there was a 30 to 40% chance of a thunderstorm just about the time we would arrive at the start of the trail which you can see in the picture below as the boys are loading up their packs. I did my prayers that we would get a break and at least be able to hike in and set up our shelters before the rain hit and that the great base camp would be available.  If not, we might have to drive back home that night since I could not come up with any other site that worked for our purpose.  Again I surrendered letting go of attachment to outcome while trusting that whatever was for our greatest good would transpire and that would be what we had to deal with, all part of a “Coyote (trickster) Quest!”

The Gifts of Grace were plentiful beginning with perfect weather when we arrived and hiked in.  The base camp site was available, the river was clear and beautiful with a fabulous swimming area right in front of our place with large boulders for the boys to scamper on and jump into the water.  What a relief and great fun to watch them frolic in the beauty of the river, the magnificently shaped boulders and rocks and the sandy beachfront that was ours to enjoy.  Some of the boys caught some crayfish that they cooked up for dinner that night.

After dinner we circled up with each boy sharing their intention for the quest.  Their was a commonality of intention re: seeking more confidence and inner strength to face challenges in their lives, to try new things and to gain insight into themselves and the workings of nature.  Each boy would be tested by fasting for a full day and night, something that growing 13 year old boys who eat ravenously and continuously would truly find challenging, along with facing nighttime fears sleeping out without a tent,  worrying about bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes and even news we heard hiking in about a crack head who was camped further up the river from us who was known to steal gear from others when it was left unguarded.  Plenty of good stuff for the boys and their imagination to work with during the night.

Watching the boys set up their weather protection, prepare their meals, interact with each other, set up their gear and interacted with the environment allowed me to see not only their external behavior but also afforded a doorway into their hearts and souls.   Greg and I were very fortunate as the boys all knew each other and were friends through my 13 year old grandson who provided the motivation for me to offer this experience in the first place, an opportunity for him and his buddies to experience some of the richness of questing work in the wilderness that has been such a treasure of growth and guidance and inspiration and wisdom in my own life.  The boys were used to cooperating through their experiences in team sports and besides that they were really good guys; responsible, caring, intelligent, full of yearning for adventure and being tested. Just what I needed when I was 13 but didn’t get in a way that was meaningful for me.

It was an exciting adventure crossing the river with packs on coming and going with a few of us taking falls, including me, and some needing the help of others to right our selves in the current and slippery river-bottom rocks we were walking on.  Thursday morning before the boys took off to their sites I shared with them how the tests they would face would be ones that they had chosen for themselves and would give them good practice in finding the resources they would need to meet the tests in their future lives would bring them challenges they had not chosen and the work they did now would serve them in the future. “Just by showing up to face yourself in these tests you have already proven your courage which is not the absence of fear but going forward with what your heart and soul calls you to do even though you are frightened.”

During my own solo time I had opportunity to reflect on how at the age of 13,  I was already heading down a dark path of drug abuse (alcohol was the drug of my growing-up experience), anti-social and acting-out delinquent behavior.  I felt so gifted that I could be with these healthy boys and give them what i so much wanted and needed at their age; respect for their thoughts and ideas, for their hopes and dreams, for their creativity and listening to and honoring the calling of their hearts and souls, versus being told by authority figures what to believe, what to do, what to feel and how to be.  I loved giving them the space to make their own decisions, within reason and with some safety guidelines, from which they could learn from their own experiences rather than being lectured to and pressured to fit into a mold someone else had created that didn’t care about their own sense of integrity and authenticity.  I loved showing my grandson a fisherman’s knot by which to tie two ends of a rope together in a really magical kind of way when helping him secure his shelter.  He was as excited to see how it worked as i had been forty three years earlier when I had first learned it.  I thought about the transmissions between generations and that one day he will pass this knot on to his own children.

The boys came back Friday morning from their fasting time all having been thoroughly tested and ready to eat a whole market’s worth of food.  Afterwards we again sat in circle with each boy sharing what they had gotten from the quest, what “medicine” they were given to take home and use in their lives.  The boys spoke of new found sense of strength, respect for food and empathy for those who do not have enough to eat around the world, the importance of self-restraint, how the fast helped them slow down to see more of what is all around them but they don’t ordinarily see or pay attention to in their busyness and activity, respect for people and animals, how everything is interconnected, respect for nature and how things work and finally an appreciation for silence.

I was very happy and relieved to have them all back safely together learning that morning how one boy had changed his site location in the night and had fallen while crossing the river, gotten soaked and spent the night wet and uncomfortable.  Hearing about this I have thanks for the umpteenth time prior for no rain on our hike in and while setting up camp, for the warm weather that allowed for swimming and good-time play in the river, for no rattlesnake bites or allergic reactions that required emergency service, no problems with theft or threatening presence of others camping on the river, for the good spirit and cooperative and helpful attitude and caring behavior of the boys.  Not once did I have to raise my voice when I needed their attention. Nor did I ever have to reprimand a boy about his behavior.  So many gifts of grace and now another one hearing about the adventure of the boy who slipped in the river that he was ok.  He could have hit his head, been knocked unconscious and drowned and I wouldn’t have even known about it until the morning!  Thank you Great Spirit for the gifts of protection!

After breaking camp and cleaning up (I told the boys “We need to leave this campsite even better than when we found it so the spirits that live whose living room we have been in for these three days will fell good about our having been here”), we loaded up our packs, crossed the river with only one rescue needed, hiked back to the van and drove home to the waiting parents, sisters and brothers.  Greg and I had a good time listening to their conversations, hearing their jokes and learning about their music tastes.  Not sure that I want to take up hip-hop myself but it was great hearing them sing along.  I also taught them a thank-you prayer song that we would sing to the parents at our closing circle which they enthusiastically spent time practicing several times on the car ride so they could sing it with confidence.

I had tasked each boy to write a support letter to themselves and one thanking their parents for whatever they were truly thankful which they would give to their parents upon return home.  I had also asked the parents to do some homework writing about their own teenage years experiences and what they learned from them so that if they had the chance to do it again what would they do differently. The parents would give their boys their letter as well so it would be in interchange that would begin the integration process for both parties.

We did our closing circle at our house with a potluck the parents had prepared.  The boys sang their song, shared a bit of what they got from the quest facing their parents in an outer circle as they stood with Greg and I  in an inner circle. I gifted each with a bear claw necklace signifying the “strength of the great Mother Bear” honoring the strength they had shown in facing their fears which the necklace could serve as a reminder of when they faced challenges in the years to come.  We finished our ceremony by all of us coming into one circle, holding hands during which i offered a thanks-giving prayer honoring the parents for doing such a good job raising the boys to this point and a last prayer blessing the boys as they went on into their future creating a good and meaningful life sharing their gifts to make a better world.  Then we ate and wowee, glad I wasn’t footing the bill for the poundage of food they put away!

Thank you brother Greg for your helpful presence, support, wisdom and sharing taking time from work to be a vital part of this quest.  And thank you for taking pictures that are included below.  Thanks to my daughter Kimberly, Corbin’s mother for handling all the logistics so capably and graciously, thanks to Andrea for hosting the potluck at our home and thank you parents for trusting Greg and I with your precious sons, thank you  One and All for your supportive prayers during our time on quest and thank you Great Mystery for taking such good care of us!   We needed all the help we could get and through your caring and support the doorway opened for the numerous gifts of grace that came through to us all.

Un mil gracias por todo!