photo by Juliana Bernstein (Get Tiny)

The ceremony at Oregon Eclipse 2017 was beyond anything I’ve experienced. Yes, it was Epic, and I use that word often, but here I use it in the full meaning of the word….. Symbiosis Gathering had built a gorgeous Sun Temple at the rise of the hill, with a central arena that felt as ancient and grand as those of the Greeks and Romans. 30,000 of us gathered around the arena and snuggled with loved ones to watch the Eclipse.

As the moon began to creep into the suns path, Elders (all men…bear with me here) from indigenous tribes around the world gathered on the podium in the center of the arena. Each spoke in their native tongue, with a translator, often of their own clan, and called out for one people, one nation, one multi-colored humanity living together in harmony and goodwill. Each spoke with depth and a full heart, but it was the sheer magnitude of the lineup and the profound experience of them each speaking in their own tongue, for peace (while we sat with people from every reach of the earth)….that made it a life changing event….there are no words for the impact it had, not only on me, but on all of us.

photo by Jacob Avanzato

 

photo by Jacob Avanzato

I began writing down the elders who spoke – Paiute (USA), Peru, Brazil, Mayan, Standing Rock, Australia Maori, Mashika (S Amer?), Australia Warm Springs, Hawaii, Philippines, Columbia, Japan, Lakota….I lost track as I became engaged in it all.
 
All the while we watched the moon pass over the sun, ….they finished speaking at Totality, the sky went dark and startled us as the temperature dropped 20 degrees. It drove home how dependent we are on the sun, and for an instant I know many thought of the threats we face right now, threats that could darken the sky for a good long while…
 

photo by Saphir Lewis

 
 

The podium was surrounded by dancers in gorgeous traditional regalia, and at Totality, they broke into dance and drumming. As we looked with naked eye at the blackened sun, pondering all these things
– the circle of people as big as a small city, come together from nations on every continent
– the depth of the speakers’ prayers and the understanding that people everywhere share the dream of living together in harmony. To hear it, to experience it tactically, breaking it out of a conception haze and solidifying the truth of it.
– and the profound experience of seeing the moon block out the sun, again bringing the truth of our lives in a solar system, surrounded by planets and stars in orbit – out of the mental cognition to a full bodily knowing.

 

photo by Saphir Lewis

 
Then the first ray of light burst out in a blaze as the moon continued its orbit, and I erupted in tears. Everything culminated in that instant. And i wasn’t alone. Tears flowed all around me.

While the men spoke first, bringing in the dark…..the women elders from these same nations spoke, bring in the light. The women focused on the preciousness of water and called on us to cherish it, to preserve it, to fight for pure Water and availability to all.

 

photo by Saphir Lewis

 
To all those who put this together, who dreamed it up and did the work to make it happen, I can’t thank you enough.
 
 Saphir Lewis