Whatever: The Open Lines Thread

[KSM]

There was a tipi in my bed when I awoke this morning. Thankfully The She was there to relieve it.

[ShayP]

Grab some chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, korma, naan and vindaloo and sit in the middle of your fancy tent and scream I AM EATING INDIAN FOOD!

I love Indian cuisine.  Especially an authentic vindaloo.

[ShayP]

He's in Texas:

While navigating the YouTubes, I've come across this guy quite a lot but never watched his videos.  I just subscribed.  It was the beans that made me do it. 

[ShayP]

There was a tipi thimble in my bed when I awoke this morning. Thankfully The She was there to relieve it.

FIFY

[GravitySucks]

Fantastic! Are you happy with it?

Beyond happy @anniem   I don’t want to take it down, but this tipi is not made for constant extended use. It’s made of 10oz canvas, handmade with extreme love and devotion to the craft by a Navajo elder that has shipped tipis around the world for use by the community known as the Native American Church.

The tradition that I have been taught is that it is put up during the day of the meeting/ceremony. Normal ceremonies begin at sundown and end sometime shortly after sunup. I have only been to one that was shorter, most of the ones I have been invited to have been longer. Then after the meeting a big feast is prepared. As the feast winds down, the tipi is taken down and stored until next time.

The only time it stays up is if another meeting is scheduled within the next few days or if the canvas is wet from rain. You don’t want to store a wet canvas or it will get moldy.

The elder that sewed this tipi told me just the other day that he plans to attend my gratitude ceremony in October. This is beyond my expectations. He lives west of Albuquerque. It’s quite the trip for a man of his age to make.

I have so much to do and I ruined the front tire of my tractor today. Broke the bead and have to get a new one. I’m trying not to get too stressed about it. There is nothing I can do before Monday and the nearest tractor tire place is about 40 miles away in Waco. Have to replan my tasks for tomorrow. I hope they have one in stock. Last time it took me 2 weeks. I have no idea what I did to bust this one.

[GravitySucks]

@GravitySucks  Tipi, also tepee or teepee, looks great.  You mentioned rewarding your neighbors with fresh tamales.  Did you make these?  Nonetheless I love tamales and I wish to procure some.  I used to work at a Tex-Mex restaurant that was family owned and the grandparents would come up from Corpus Christi and bring the tamales they made.  I easily could eat 10 of them.

By the way, I do recall the pics of the cedar planks.  I would so love to make some shelves, or a bookcase out of them. 

Anyway, I am glad you're feeling good about having it all set up and the impending ceremony.  You know I'm being sincere.  Cheers to you sir. 

@ShayP I did not make the tamales. A friend of mine across the lake texted me to say his wife was making tamales and would I like to purchase some. I ordered 3 dozen. They showed up and had 2 dozen extra and talked me into buying all 5 dozen. They were supposed to be all spicy pork but they contacted me later and said they might have given me 2 dozen spicy chicken ones by mistake. These tamales are very good and much larger than you would get in a restaurant. I don’t have the appetite I once had, and it’s all I could do to eat 3 at one sitting. I’ve eaten 8 so far and they were all the pork ones. I put the rest in the freezer. These freeze quite well. $12 a dozen with a quart of her homemade hot sauce they she dialed up a couple of notches just for me.

[GravitySucks]

Looks nice.  Are you inviting Heather?

@juan
I don’t plan on inviting Heather. As most people know, she and Aldous were friends before she got famous. She had been to his tipi grounds a couple of times but that was a year or two before I was invited.

Sitting up in a Native American church service that lasts between 10 and 17 hours takes a bit of a commitment. You are awake for the better part of 2 days. In the meeting itself you are kneeling or sitting for most of the night with a saddle blanket and maybe a pillow or two to sit on. It’s not something I could do every week.

It’s really sad that most ceremonies around the country (and even the world) that were scheduled for the last 16 months  have been canceled because of Covid. I went to one in the Rio Grande valley where the Peyote Gardens are in October and just took my chances. I’m traveling to Tucson in about a week and was supposed to attend a ceremony in the mountains east of there. I got the news about a week ago that it was canceled. There is still a reason or three for me to go so I haven’t canceled my plane ticket yet.

[PB]

@ShayP I did not make the tamales. A friend of mine across the lake texted me to say his wife was making tamales...

I had a colleague years ago whose mom would make them from time to time, and he'd take orders from them at work.  They were terrific - pork and chicken of course, but she also made sweet ones with strawberry.

There are a couple little Central America markets near me that have fresh made tamales in a steamer at the counter.  Turns out they are different from the Mexican ones - much bigger and a varied stuffing - potato, olives, peppers, and so on - and the Salvadoran tamales are different from, say, the Guatemalan tamales.

[PB]

... Sitting up in a Native American church service that lasts between 10 and 17 hours takes a bit of a commitment. You are awake for the better part of 2 days. In the meeting itself you are kneeling or sitting for most of the night with a saddle blanket and maybe a pillow or two to sit on. It’s not something I could do every week...

That sounds interesting, and something very different from what I've ever experienced.  What do they do for 10-17 hours, and does it involve (or always involve) hallucinogens, visions, etc, perhaps some oral histories, or other traditions?

[anniem]

I am fine. @anniem  Thank you for asking.    Somedays it's a mixed bag because I get a little unstable at times.     I hope you are well.

I am, thanks!   

[KSM]

I've sucked FIFY guys off in the last week.

FIFY?

[GravitySucks]

That sounds interesting, and something very different from what I've ever experienced.  What do they do for 10-17 hours, and does it involve (or always involve) hallucinogens, visions, etc, perhaps some oral histories, or other traditions?

@PB there are two different “branches” of the NAC from what I understand. Half Moon and Crossfire. I’ve only been in Half Moon meetings. Crossfire meetings are much more Christian in its traditions including scripture reading. Almost everyone I have met in meetings would say they are Christian if you ask them.

There is a set order of traditions that are performed. Peyote is passed around multiple times during the service but no one is forced to ingest it. It is viewed as sacred medicine. A sacrament.  I’ve certainly had visions unlike anything I can really describe. There is a lot of prayers and drumming and singing. A metal water drum and gourd rattle are passed around. One person sings while the person next to them drums. You can pass if you don’t know how to or don’t wish to sing. The songs are mostly in native tongue but English versions are sung or interspersed as well. I have not been able to learn the Native songs. It’s almost like throat singing in my way of describing it. I can’t get my brain wrapped around the annunciation yet. Tobacco (not in Crossfire) plays a major role in the ceremony as does cedar. While there are a set order of traditions the meeting is run by a Roadman who may go into details of oral history of some aspect of the ceremony about to occur or just completed. The Roadman that did my healing ceremony in April of 2019 has become a good friend. He will be the Roadman for my first meeting in October. He generally ends his meetings just after sunrise. But the people that attended my healing ceremony weren’t ready for it to end. After it was over they went back in the tipi, tied up a water drum again and went ahead and started singing and praying for about 5 or 6 more hours. I went back in as well to experience the people praying for my health and well-being and really just celebrating.  It had a very profound effect on me. Positive in every sense. I stayed in the area and attended another meeting a week later. I’ve only been to 6 ceremonies and 1 sweat lodge. I have been invited to several more but either couldn’t get there, or in the case of several this year I made plans to go but the meetings were canceled. There is always a chance mine could get canceled but I feel it’s going to happen. Many people have committed to travel from as far away as California, Arizona and New Mexico to attend. Not all of my new friends will be here. There are actually 2 or 3 people that have sat in every meeting I have been in except one I attended in Texas in the peyote gardens. My family won’t join me. It’s not for them. I do wish my son would take an interest. He has native bloodlines.

These are three very high level descriptions of a meeting.
https://peyote-flower.tumblr.com/rituals
https://www.learnreligions.com/peyote-and-the-native-american-church-95705
https://reabeaubien.com/ceremony-descriptions

[GravitySucks]

I had a colleague years ago whose mom would make them from time to time, and he'd take orders from them at work.  They were terrific - pork and chicken of course, but she also made sweet ones with strawberry.

There are a couple little Central America markets near me that have fresh made tamales in a steamer at the counter.  Turns out they are different from the Mexican ones - much bigger and a varied stuffing - potato, olives, peppers, and so on - and the Salvadoran tamales are different from, say, the Guatemalan tamales.

I enjoy the Guatemala tamales wrapped in banana leaves. The woman that made this batch says her best friend makes the Guatemala ones. I told her I would order some soon.

[PB]

... The Roadman that did my healing ceremony in April of 2019 has become a good friend. He will be the Roadman for my first meeting in October. He generally ends his meetings just after sunrise. But the people that attended my healing ceremony weren’t ready for it to end. After it was over they went back in the tipi, tied up a water drum again and went ahead and started singing and praying for about 5 or 6 more hours. I went back in as well to experience the people praying for my health and well-being and really just celebrating.  It had a very profound effect on me. Positive in every sense. I stayed in the area and attended another meeting a week later. I’ve only been to 6 ceremonies and 1 sweat lodge. I have been invited to several more but either couldn’t get there, or in the case of several this year I made plans to go but the meetings were canceled. There is always a chance mine could get canceled but I feel it’s going to happen. Many people have committed to travel from as far away as California, Arizona and New Mexico to attend. Not all of my new friends will be here. There are actually 2 or 3 people that have sat in every meeting I have been in except one I attended in Texas in the peyote gardens..

It's really terrific you found something so beneficial and impactful, and made some great friends along the way.

... My family won’t join me. It’s not for them. I do wish my son would take an interest...

That's too bad, especially considering the benefits you've received.  But they may in the future, sometimes people need time to absorb something very different from their own lie experiences.

[TigerLily]

This is wonderful @GravitySucks . So glad you are continuing to have this experience and literally bringing it "home"

  "In beauty I walk. With beauty before me I walk. With beauty behind me I walk"