StoneHeart

2 years and a bit ago I attended a harvest festival at Stoneheart, located in Coe hill. The hosts were Claudia Valdes and James Ljósviðr Hobson.

Situated on 42 acres of land Stoneheart is beautiful, Pristine forested land. Camping spots are were you can find a cleared area big enough to fit your tent. That is not to say the land has not been tamed to some degree, but it is not a manicured camp ground. And I like that about it.

The road leading in past the house is somewhat rough, from what I can tell it is an access road to get to the lower part of the property that was used to bring firewood out by the previous owner. You can drive down it but you will want a vehicle with decent ground clearance, tires and it is advised to drive slowly. Along the road there a several clearings that are reasonably level for setting up tents. The road slopes downward as you get further into the property and ends near two large clearings on the right hand side is the firepit area, on the left a clearing large enough to put in several tents.

I had the opportunity to fire keep at the event I attended and do some drumming as well with the talented Raven Black and her S/O Shawn Lint. I met Raven at Magik Morn while attending Ancestorfest. I love Ravens music she has that Janis Joplin/Grace Slick kind of sound.

Sadly I have not been able to return for another Harvest festival here due to other commitments, but that has changed so I definitely plan on going back. And I plan to keep better notes as this was pre blogging and I am running off memory to write this.

The Origins of Fire – An Apache Legend

Long, long ago, animals and trees talked with each other, but there was no fire at that time. Fox was the most clever and he thought of a way to create fire for the world.

One day, he decided to vistit the Geese, te-tl, whose cry he wished to learn how to imitate. The promised to teach him if he would fly with them. So they contrived a way to attach wings to fox, but waned him to never open his eys while flying.

When the Geese arose in flight, fox to flew with them so he may practice their cry. On one such adventure, darkness fell suddenly as they flew over the village of the fireflies, ko-na-tcic-a. The glare of the flickering light from the village caused Fox to forget his warning and he opened his eyes – instantly his wings gave out and he fell unable to regain control. He landed within the walls of the village, it so happened a fire constantly burned in its center.

Two fireflies approached fallen Fox, who gave each one a necklace of juniper berries, katl-te-i-tse.

Fox pursuaded the two fireflies to tell him how he could get over the wall to the outside. They led him to a cedar tree, which they explained to him would bend down upon command and catapult him over the wall if he so desired.

That evening, Fox found the spring from which the fireflies drew their water. There also, he discovered coloured Earth, which when mixed with the spring water made paint. He decided to give himself a coat of white. Upon returning to the village, Fox suggested to the fireflies to have a festival where they could dance to music made by himself.

They agreed this would be fine and fun. They gathered wood to build up a great fire. In secret Fox tied a piece of cedar bark to his tail. Afterwards he made a drum, probably the first one ever made. He beat it vigourously with a stick for the dancing fireflies. Gradually as the night progressed he moved closer and closer to the fire.

Fox pretended to tire from playing the drum. He gave it to some fireflies who wanted to help make music. At that moment he quickly thrust his tail into the fire, Lighting the bark, and exclaimed, “it is too warm here for me, I must find a cooler place.”

Fox ran straight to the cedar tree, calling, “Bend down to me, my cedar tree, bend down!”

Down bent the cedar, then up it carried him launching him far over the wall. On and on he ran, the fireflies in pursuit.

As he ran brush and wood on either side of him were ignited by the embers dropping from the bark tied to his tail.

After a great distance Fox tired and gave the burning bark to Hawk, i-tsari-tsu-i, who carried it to brown crane, tsi-nes-tso-l. He flew far southward, sparks flying everywhere. This is how fire spread across the Earth.

Fireflies still pursued Fox. They followed him all the way back to his burrow and declared, “For ever after, Wily-Fox, your punishment for stealing our fire will be that you can never make uses of it yourself.”

For the Apache nation, this too was the beginning of fire for them. Soon they learned to use it for cooking and for keeping themselves warm in cold weather.

Drum Fact Number 1

Drums are not just a Mans tool.

The histories of the Egyptian, , Semetic, Sumerian and the Wahinda peoples tell us differently. Egyptian Girls attended various Gods whilst they were using these instruments. Women of the Semetic tribes almost exclusively used drums for singing and dancing at moon rituals. In Summeria there is an account of the Royal Granddaughter drumming in the Temple of the Moon in 2280 B.C.E. Lastly The Wahinda men of East Africa for them it is considered a death wish to even look at a drum. So much so they will only carry it at night, more preferably during the darkest of nights where no moon is present in the sky, so it may not be seen.