Reaching New Agers!

[vikinglady]

As a speaker I´ve always heard that in order to reach the audience, you have to speak their "language". Same thing when you write.

So that´s what I did in my last novel, which includes the story about Mt. Rainier (and the problems the New Age ceremony caused). I wanted to try to explain WHY Indigenous people get upset about the exploitation of ceremonies and so I tried to explain it in "New Age language" and by using symbols.

I was stunned about the effect. I have had emails from readers who said they cried when they read it. The particular chapter is apparantly being sent out to lots of different people including "shamans", some have said they have given up their "Ndn ceremonies" and are setting out to be caretakers of their own part of Mother Earth instead of taking other people´s beliefs. Astonishing but wonderful!

I must, officially, thank Carina in Dalarna who was so totally taken in by this little story and is spreading it to everyone who wants to read!! She is in contact with the followers of the shaman who went to prison....so she is doing a great job and has got some of them away from exploiting Ndn:s.

I´ll put the particular little story up on the net eventually, so if anyone wants to try it on Nuagers you can have a go.  


Annika

[CrystalMirror]

This is wonderful news. Bet you can guess where I'll send it first, huh?

[vikinglady]

OK, here we go - hope the translation from Swedish works.

The funny thing is that I was going to save this story for the next book, I just took bits and pieces from it in this book. And yet it apparantly made New Agers go AHAAAA!! and give up Ndn ceremonies! So I wonder what´ll happen when they read the whole story?

Hope you´ll like it  

http://www.world-foundation.nu/quilt-of-life.htm

[educatedindian]

I'm pretty impressed. Its meaning comes across pretty clear in English. I think this story has a lot of potential to reach American Nuagers and pagans who fall for the fluff. (Then again, our white pagan members might think differently. Let us know.) I'd like to see it reposted and quoted from at a lot of Nuage and pagan sites. And I'm sure going to talk about it in the book.

[vikinglady]

Well, thanks a lot, Al!

I re-read it and realized I had forgotten the exploiters. (How could I!!) So I added a patch-seller with superglue.

It sure works here, I got an email yesterday from a woman who had been trying  hard to talk to her Indian spirit guide, but now she realized why it didn´t work. She was soo happy, she thought it was something wrong with HER! So she is out in the woods with her friends right now to find "the patch" instead.

Annika

[piya]

Annika,

This is a great story, it should soon spread far and wide and help bring home a message to many

Piya

[Ganieda]

Wow!  This so eloquently written.  As I was reading it I could feel the goose-bumps skittering up and down my spine!  


May I have your permission, please, to post the entire page to my groups?  (Links to articles often get bypassed and that would not do justice to the beauty of this piece.)  If so, please let me know how you would like the credit for it to be posted.  TY!


And, Al....not all "white pagans" are "New-Agers"  

[educatedindian]

Already knew that. Read what I said what more carefully, "Nuagers AND white pagans". Two separate groups.

[vikinglady]

Thanks, Ganeida. Please feel free to post it wherever you want - and this goes of course for everyone else. Just spread it, please!  

I don´t want any credit for it and I would prefer if my name wasn´t attached to it. If people ask, just tell them you found it somewhere.  The credit goes to all Indigenous people who have tried for centuries to make deaf ears listen to this message.

I just rephrased their words, that´s all!

Annika

[Ganieda]

TY!

[vikinglady]

I have started doing some research for the next book with the story about "the quilt" and I just had to share this:

Trying to find out some more about our own ancient culture, my friend and I drove to another part of Sweden where you can find runestones and vikingremains all over the place. When visiting an old ruin of an abbey from the 12th century, we came to talk to the woman selling souvenirs. I told her I was doing research for a book. She looked at us very suspiciously and said: "Are you New Agers?" When we said no, she sat down and talked to us.

She told us about the spirit that lived up on the hill and all the other beings in the neighbourhood. When I asked how old these stories were she looked very upset and said: "Our spirits have *always* been here!" (Now, wouldn´t any traditional Native American have answered the same way?  )

After a while she gave us the phone number of a local man who would maybe take us to the places where the spirits lived.  After several phonecalls and discussions with this man (and now, 3 months later) he has promised to take us there next week.

The locals in that area are *still* living with their spirits, trying to protect them from the intruders. They told me they have great problems with New Agers doing ceremonies on the hill and even drumming and dancing inside of the ruin. "We chase them off as often as we can!"

I just wanted to share this because of the common excuse for using NA ceremonies here in Europe: "But our own culture is lost and gone!" The comment was stupid enough before, now it makes me even more upset.

No, it is *not* gone and lost! It is still as much alive as before, protected by the keepers of the traditions. The only reason people don´t know about it is that they don´t bother to find out *or* they don´t approach these places and the locals with respect.

I think this goes for any country in Europe. Our traditions are still out there! Where you expect it the least.... And now there is absolutely *no* excuse left for stealing something that isn´t ours.

Annika

[Ganieda]

A bit of a critique on the article.  I've had a variety of responses to it, mostly positive.  One issue that has arisen is that if you are trying to reach "Nu-agers" you have lost them by the end of the fourth paragraph.  

You are speaking "Indian" to "non-Indians".  They don't understand that.  

One thing to keep in mind also is that the "nu-agers" you are trying to reach, never knew about life without those machines.  In ignorance of life without those machines "nu-agers" are frantically searching for a way to re-create the beauty of the quilt.  Most start out with good intentions but somewhere along the way get lost in all the "nu-age" BS.  

Many do lament "But our own culture is lost and gone!"   It may seem so on the outside but if the time is taken to look within, it is still there.  And it is still beautiful.  

[vikinglady]

Hi Ganieda,  thanks for the comments.

I just write from my heart -  some people like what I write, some don´t. It goes without saying. It would be impossible to reach 100% of the readers. Personally I am satisfied if one or two Nuagers stopped using Native American ceremonies. And that number is exceeded already.

I don´t quite know what you mean by "you´re talking Indian to non-Indians". I´ve never heard an Ndn talk like that. My old grandma used to tell me similar stories (sadly enough I´ve forgotten most of them). They used to be as common in Scandinavia as in most other countries. The reason New Agers here suddenly got the message was that I *did* use symbols, that was the very point of it. But maybe it doesn´t work as well abroad  :-/

I am not going to dissecrate the story, though. If it works, it works. If not, no harm done I guess.

Annika

[Ganieda]

By all means, do not change a thing.  As I said, these responses came from readers...they are not mine.  I just thought I'd share them with you as I am also a writer and I always appreciate knowing how my words have impacted an audience.  My own opinion - posted on Nov 16th, stands!  

And Al, ya, I know....sloppy reading on my part, sorry.  

[Ric_Richardson]

Tansi;

The quilt story was very well written and relevant.  Thank you!

In our own travels, in Germany and Switzerland, my wife and I made several presentations related to the Traditional uses of plants, in our Culture (Cree/Metis) and were able to meet with many in the health and healing professions.

As well, we met with others who were interested in Native Culture, including some, who were described as "hobby" Indians.

In any of our presentations, we spoke of how all of the world's peoples had, at one time lived close to nature and that, by looking into their own Cultural heritage and history, the people would be able to find the ways of their own Culture, which would allow for a more meaningful relationship with the natural world of their Traditional surroundings.

We were fortunate to have met some, who continue to work with Herbs, in the "old" ways of their people.  We found that we had much in common, with the ways that the Traditional Medicines were used, in Germany and Switzerland as in Turtle Island.

I believe that once a serious Spiritual relationship is developed, then "genetic memories" are also brought back, which help to guide us, in our own lives.  

Bringing together people from all of the four directions, to share, will strengthen our own ways, while sharing the differences and similarities.  I was taught, and believe, that each of the four directions has specific Gifts.  This is meant to show us that we must come together, in order to become balanced!  In Nature, there is much diversity, but each creature does not try to be like the others, in order to fit in.  They learn how to co-exist with each other, Honouring each of their own identities, while living in harmony.  We do not have to be the same, in order to be able to share.

Thank you Annika!
Ric