"While dancing my 5th Sun Dance I was shown a vision. In truth, I thought I was nuts, and what I was being shown was me having a wild flight of imagination, especially since I was seeing a small green being under the nest of the center pole. It was only after talking with my father’s friend Virgil McConnell (then in his 70’s) who was dancing with me in Joe Ironmans lodge, that I learned he had seen the green being pointing to me, and to the vision. We went to Joe Ironman and to Blue Bird, the Elder of the Lodge, who along with my father, Jerome “Buster” FourStar, told me that it was a Vision of the Animal Spirit Dance, for the healing of the people and for bringing the people back together.
At that time, I thought that was neat, but I certainly was not supposed to do anything, and in fact so stated this. After they were done laughing, they told me that it was my vision and that I had no choice. I would have to fast for the information, learn the songs and find the ceremony once again. Virgil McConnell the Elder (and later my adopted father after the death of my own father) told me that he was shown the green man so that he could support my vision, but the vision was for me, and he was only the witness.
My father then told me that in finding the songs and learning the deeper meaning of the ceremony that I would have to remember what he had been teaching me. “You are all my children” he would say, “these are the words of the Creator, and all people must be welcome to the ceremonies, or we will lose what we have been given.” He then commenced to tell me that it is for me to find my way with the ceremony and discover how to awaken those that have lost their connection with the Creator and with life.
In my fathers teachings to me he said many things, one was that there are many humans running around our mother earth but very few Human Beings. We the original people, through our songs, ceremonies, dances and being, practiced the art of becoming a human being as a way of life. I was told that this ceremony, the Animal Spirit Healing Dance was one such ceremony that would bring us back to ourselves and to right relationships. This ceremony is an Inter-indigenous Ceremony in that it is open to all people regardless of race, creed, religion, color or sexual orientation. All people are welcome but are asked to follow the guidelines of the ceremonial leaders. The dancers, drummers, singers and wing people are from all nations, mixed nations and some lost nations. They offer themselves for the people and give of themselves selflessly so that other may gain and heal. No monies or fees are asked for, though travel expense donations are welcome for the dancers and drummers.
This ceremony has been practiced now for 10 years in the state of Georgia. It took me over 10 years to get the courage and teachings needed to conduct this ceremony. So I guess it can be said that it is a work in progress that has just over a twenty year history since the Sun Dance where it was given.
This dance is not any one Nations, or a copy of any other nations but a direct result of my Sun Dance Vision. No disrespect or offense is meant to any person, people or nation.
All our prophecies tell us that we are entering into a time of change. My father told me that the time was now for the women to reclaim and take their rightful place in our communities. The Drum is the heartbeat of the woman, the Earth, and our first sound through the heartbeat of our natural mother. No man is born of man; we are all born of woman. For that reason, we have invited men and women to participate in this ceremony, men and women to sing, drum and to dance.
We gather to sing, to dance, to heal and to laugh. This is a ceremony of thanks-giving, of celebration of life and of remembering ourselves as human beings, interdependent upon the natural and spirit world for life. As community in ceremony , we, with the help of the natural and spirit world, are able to allow the healing process to manifest in the physical world. By our joining together in celebration with each other we help balance to be restored."
-Gary Adler FourStar
You are invited to participate in the healing of the mind, heart, body, and spirit...
At that time, I thought that was neat, but I certainly was not supposed to do anything, and in fact so stated this. After they were done laughing, they told me that it was my vision and that I had no choice. I would have to fast for the information, learn the songs and find the ceremony once again. Virgil McConnell the Elder (and later my adopted father after the death of my own father) told me that he was shown the green man so that he could support my vision, but the vision was for me, and he was only the witness.
My father then told me that in finding the songs and learning the deeper meaning of the ceremony that I would have to remember what he had been teaching me. “You are all my children” he would say, “these are the words of the Creator, and all people must be welcome to the ceremonies, or we will lose what we have been given.” He then commenced to tell me that it is for me to find my way with the ceremony and discover how to awaken those that have lost their connection with the Creator and with life.
In my fathers teachings to me he said many things, one was that there are many humans running around our mother earth but very few Human Beings. We the original people, through our songs, ceremonies, dances and being, practiced the art of becoming a human being as a way of life. I was told that this ceremony, the Animal Spirit Healing Dance was one such ceremony that would bring us back to ourselves and to right relationships. This ceremony is an Inter-indigenous Ceremony in that it is open to all people regardless of race, creed, religion, color or sexual orientation. All people are welcome but are asked to follow the guidelines of the ceremonial leaders. The dancers, drummers, singers and wing people are from all nations, mixed nations and some lost nations. They offer themselves for the people and give of themselves selflessly so that other may gain and heal. No monies or fees are asked for, though travel expense donations are welcome for the dancers and drummers.
This ceremony has been practiced now for 10 years in the state of Georgia. It took me over 10 years to get the courage and teachings needed to conduct this ceremony. So I guess it can be said that it is a work in progress that has just over a twenty year history since the Sun Dance where it was given.
This dance is not any one Nations, or a copy of any other nations but a direct result of my Sun Dance Vision. No disrespect or offense is meant to any person, people or nation.
All our prophecies tell us that we are entering into a time of change. My father told me that the time was now for the women to reclaim and take their rightful place in our communities. The Drum is the heartbeat of the woman, the Earth, and our first sound through the heartbeat of our natural mother. No man is born of man; we are all born of woman. For that reason, we have invited men and women to participate in this ceremony, men and women to sing, drum and to dance.
We gather to sing, to dance, to heal and to laugh. This is a ceremony of thanks-giving, of celebration of life and of remembering ourselves as human beings, interdependent upon the natural and spirit world for life. As community in ceremony , we, with the help of the natural and spirit world, are able to allow the healing process to manifest in the physical world. By our joining together in celebration with each other we help balance to be restored."
-Gary Adler FourStar
You are invited to participate in the healing of the mind, heart, body, and spirit...
DANCE DATES AND LOCATIONS
Thunderbird Ranch
MANCOS, COLORADO
NEXT DANCE: May 20 sundown
MANCOS, COLORADO
NEXT DANCE: May 20 sundown
BREMEN, GEORGIA
NEXT DANCE: TBD
NEXT DANCE: TBD