CHEROKEE INDIANS....MY PEOPLE

       

                                                               CHEROKEE INDIANS       
I am truly honored to have Cherokee blood running through my veins. I am a member of the United Lumbee Nation. My maternal an Grandmothers and my paternal Great-Grandfather were all part Cherokee. I missed out on many stories and important information about my lineage when I was growing up. I became more interested in my background as I got older, but then those grandparents were gone and I couldn’t ask them the details that I wanted to know. I hope you will embrace your heritage. Ask questions, find out about the things that make you who you are.
The origin and meaning of the name Cherokee, which they pronounce Tsaragi or Tsalagi, are unknown. They commonly call themselves Yûñwiya (“real people”).
The history of the Cherokees begins with De Soto, who passed within their territory in 1540. In 1684 they made their first treaty with the English of Carolina, with whom thereafter they maintained friendly relations throughout the Colonial period, except in the Yamasee war in 1715-1716, and in a war waged on their own account in 1759-1761. They took sides also with the English against the Americans during the Revolution, but made a treaty of peace with the United States in 1785, although the border fighting went on some years longer. In 1821 Sequoya, a mixed blood of the tribe, invented a syllabic alphabet for the language which has been an immense factor in their progress toward civilization. In 1827 they adopted a regular form of government modelled upon that of the United States, but after long controversy with the State of Georgia, which claimed jurisdiction over most of their territory not already ceded, a treaty was forced upon them in 1835 by which they bound themselves to remove to their present home in Oklahoma. The removal was accomplished in 1839, and their tribal existence continued under the style of the “Cherokee Nation“, until dissolved for American citizenship in 1906. As already noted, a small body remained behind in the old home in the East. The tribe at present numbers altogether about 20,000 persons of pure and mixed blood, exclusive of several thousand names carried upon the rolls, but repudiated by the Indians.
The Cherokees were a sedentary and agricultural people, with hunting and fishing as subordinate occupations. The women were expert potters and basket weavers, and the men skilful carvers of stone and wood. They had no central government, each town being independent in its action. They had a system of seven clans, with descent in the female line. In religion they were pantheists, holding in special reverence the Sun, Fire and Water. Their great religious ceremony was the Green Corn dance, a thanksgiving for the new crops, and their chief athletic amusement was a ball game which is the original of our lacrosse. They buried their dead in caves or under piles of stones.
    As a tribute to my Cherokee Indian heritage, I leave this post with a Cherokee prayer.          

                     

           A Cherokee Prayer Blessing

  “May the warm winds of heaven blow softly upon your house,
   May the Great Spirit bless all who enter there,
May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows,
    And may the rainbow always touch your shoulder.”

THE EMPATHIC LISTENER

THE EMPATHIC LISTENER

Do you think that there is healing power in listening to the suffering of others? If someone feels for some reason that they need to share their pain with you, it requires that you block out everything else around you and be totally present in the moment. It must have your undivided attention. There should be no distractions and you must pay close attention to whatever the sufferer finds necessary. They may or may not want your advise…..they may only need you to listen.

That has happened to me on so many different occasions. I may be in a store, walking down the street or be in a crowd and I have been approached by those just wanting me to listen to all of their problems. I don’t even have to start off with “How are you?” The person needing to talk will automatically start telling me everything without me asking.

An empathic listener is a caring, compassionate and powerfully healing friend. If you are an Empath, you may find yourself being emotionally drained but spiritually elevated by being the empathic listener. If you feel drained, do an immediate cleansing of your body by placing both palms on your heart center and allowing the energies to continually flow through your body until you feel energized. Afterwards, drink at least 8 ounces of spring water, followed by some kind of “grounding” food, such as nuts or anything that grows from the ground.

Don’t find yourself being the kind of listener that derives pleasure from hearing about the problems and suffering of others. That is a path towards doing away with whatever positive karma there would have been.

Peace and Blessings,

Gypsy V

WHO IS GYSPY V?

Allow me to introduce myself......

I am Gypsy V, an initiated Vodou and Hoodoo practicioner in New Orleans, Louisiana. I come from a background of Gypsy, Cherokee Indian and Irish heritage. It has always been my desire to help bring peace and healing. I DO NOT stick pins in dolls or do spells to bring harm to anyone! Having inherited the gift of empathic healing, I give honor to my ancestors who had various gifts as well. My Daddy was an amazing  healer, my Mam-Maw (maternal grandmother), could foresee things in the future and was a gifted intuitive. My great grandfather was a water witcher, respected for his ability to locate water on land where people needed wells for themselves and their animals. Water witching or "dowsing" is definitely an intuitive art and one of the oldest forms of divination in the world.
To most people, the mention of Vodou or Hoodoo brings about visions of a scary, dark religion built around death, evil, sex and horror. We tend to fear what we don't understand. It is not a cult. It is a healing practice that survived slavery. Vodou is the mystical, powerful religion of the Island of Haiti. It is empowering and inspiring. Genuine Vodou is where families honor their ancestors by celebrating with song, dance, prayers and offerings of water and food. The word Vodou means Spirit. It is believed that all items have a spirit within them. All the ritual products of Vodou, the sequined bottles, dolls and other items that have become associated with the actual practice of Vodou are sacred vessels of Spirit.

They are created to assist in the communion with the Spirits. Vodou, in it's normal practice, has nothing whatsoever to do with devil worship, black magic or any other distorted Hollywood version. It is something that brings me peace. It gives me focus on community and helping others. It has enriched my life and empowered my gift of compassion, which has magnified my empathic abilities. Hoodoo is an eclectic blend of African tradition, Native American medicine, Judeo-Christian ritual and European Magic. It is a nature-based healing tradition, which I totally believe in. It can help in ceremonies to bless your home, find love, attract prosperity, offer protection and promote health and happiness. To me, Vodou and Hoodoo go comfortable hand-in-hand and totally complement each other. Raised in organzied religion, I knew there must be more to life than all black and white. There is so much unknown and sometimes people fear stepping over into it. The spirit world is truly magical. I am able to reach out to people in a more sincere manner than I ever did before. My gifts to create have been enriched so that I can help in the healing of emotional and physical issues. I still hold my firm belief in a greater God, who has our personal ancestors, Lwa and animal guides to assist in getting things done. I embrace my Vodou and spiritual beliefs and it is my prayer that through my creations, you will feel peace, love and healing. I pour my heart and soul into each item that I make. One of my favorite quotes is by John May. "Curious things happen at the edges between worlds." May you reach out and find what you have been searching for.

Please feel free to go by and see my creations sold exclusively at Hex -located at 1219 Decatur in New Orleans, Hex - 246 Essex Street, Salem Mass., and at Island of Salvation Botanica - 2732 St. Claude Avenue - New Orleans.

WHAT IS KARMA?

 

What is Karma? We hear about it so much today, but do we really know what it means?

 The word Karma was first initiated in the Hindu belief.  It actually means deed or act. Karma is present in this life and in any past or future lives. The Buddhists also believe in the Karmic laws of Cause and Effect. The theory is that whatever actions we do, good or bad, go instantly to our own karma and will follow us into our next life and returned to us in some way. 

We are probably working out our old karmas now. It’s always best to think first before you act or speak. Once that thought is put into action or that word is spoken, it is automatically recorded in our auras and added to our list of karmic debts. What goes around does come around and you do reap what you sow. We should always try our very best to think and act positive so that any karma returning to us will come back positive also.

 There are many times that we hurt someone without intending to. If you have harmed someone without the intent of doing so, that is different than trying to hurt someone intentionally. Be prepared for that bad energy to come back to you. Whatever actions we do in this life to try to cause dismay, heartache or harm to another person, will follow us from this life to the next.  Everyone has their own karma. We do not take on anyone else’s, they have there own karma to work out.

 If you have ever done something to someone with a positive intention in mind, but it backfired and didn’t turn out as you had planned….no worries on that being bad karma. You didn’t intend to cause harm or hurt.  I personally don’t look as karma as a thing that we should feel guilty about all the time. You shouldn’t worry about having a “dark karma cloud” hanging over you all the time. Believe me, having come from a life where I felt guilty about things all the time, I don’t want something else to impose the feeling of guilt on me just when I am doing so much better about releasing the guilt I’ve had in my life. None of us are perfect and we all do things to others without meaning to from time to time. It is when we purposely hurt others that bad karma is produced.

  The reason I am posting this is to bring this information front and foremost in our minds. It is my hope that we will all concentrate on treating others with the utmost respect. If someone has been rude to you or lashed out at you, they are only doing it because they are upset with themselves.  Just move on…..don’t allow them to create a circumstance where you give the same response back in return. They are the ones creating bad karma for themselves. If you walk away or say or do something kind in return, you have done the right thing. Good karma will come back to you. This is easier said than done most of the time and something that each of us has to work on consistently. We are each responsible for our own actions.

 This is even more of a reason that I would never use Vodou to cause hurt to anyone. There are people that practice such things, doing hexes and spells to cause harm to people and taking matters into their own hands by using Black Magic. The internet is full of them and you can always find someone who practices this dark evil magic. Vodou, in the Hollywood version, is usually portrayed in such a manner. That is one of the things that has given Vodou a bad name and made it the most misunderstood religions in the world. Real Vodou practicioners do no believe in doing harm to anyone. We also believe in karma and that whatever good or bad we do will come back to us.

 Just remember…….if you have done something good or bad for someone, it will return to you ten fold…..either in this life or the next.

Peace, Love and Blessings!

Gypsy V

WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU IN YOUR LIFE?

                      

                                                  

                                       

We all have to constantly work against becoming too attached to the material things that we possess. It is especially hard for those that have a lot of material wealth. They must guard against becoming greedy and focus more on the giver than the gift.

Although material wealth, career success and prosperity are good, our actual value is not determined by what we own, but by who we are.  Success goes far beyond a large paycheck.  What determines your value to you?  I would be very surprised if you admitted to it just being the large paycheck.  Name dropping, vacations you take and the things you possess are not the things that make up the person.  It goes so much deeper than that.

2012 is a year of change.  Now is the time to step back and take a personal inventory….not of your possessions, but of your heart and soul.  What do you plan on doing for the remainder of your journey in this life?  Do you need to pay more attention to your family and the ones that you love and cherish?  Have you let your job or day-to-day activities absorb all of your time?

Now is the time to clear our minds and bolster our confidence. We need to seek balance in our lives.  The greatest way to achieve and insure success is by doing for others.  As the Universe sees that you are a responsible steward of your finances and personal resources and you keep the flow of positive energy in motion, more resources will naturally flow to you.

Many times, the problems that we are experiencing are due to our own decisions and the obstacles that we encounter are self-imposed.  This is the year for removing obstacles, expediting solutions and solving problems.  We need to re-establish self control and resilience.  We tend to attract the kind of energy that we put out.  You have to consistently guard yourself against absorbing any bad energy that is out there.  

2012 is the year for self-expression, soul searching, balance and healing of the soul, mind and body.  Now is the time to search for strength, protection from harm, psychic sensitivity and a deeper connection to the spirit world.  We can all gain greater knowledge and deeper spiritual awareness. It is not the year of our demise…..it is the year of decision and change.