 Greetings Every One! The work we are doing could not continue without you. We are very grateful for your support and help. Every single prayer and donation is appreciated more than you can know. Thank you so very much for your support. Newsletter index: Page 1: Note from Rutury Page 2: Note from Indios Huichol Page 5: Note from Anaya Page: 6 Upcoming Events Page: 6 Misc notes A note from Rutury: Que Tuma Aku. Greetings Dear Friends, Tatewari, Grandfather Spirit We open our hearts to your healing which brings us wisdom and knowledge from all corners of the universe. About 3 weeks ago I had another opportunity to meet with two female Elders from my tribe. Along with them came three assistants who spoke fluent Spanish, and after we greeted each other in a ceremonial way the two female Elders began expressing their concerns and messages. They said “Before we begin with our ceremony, it is important for us to de-clutter the ill energy that was casted on us on this journey”, and at that moment I had no idea of what they had gone through but soon I was to find out. Both female Elders began to talk without interrupting each other and proceeded to explain, “We walked nights and days, crossed mountains and rivers, and along the way encountered obstacles with people who were different than us. On one occasion the five of us were forced to move from our seats on a bus and repeatedly were told ‘you drunken Indians do not belong in this bus’. Witnessing that type of energy we thought that in fact he must have been be drunk to behave in such a way. In this experience we witnessed a few things about human nature. For instance, there was a couple in the crowd on the bus, a female and male well dressed and with good manners, who spoke to their people without anger and shame and said, ‘just because they look and dress differently than we do does not give us permission to use inappropriate words with them. They are people with feelings like you and I, and why are they being moved from their seats when they have assigned tickets?’ At that moment we witnessed this couple step forward not to humiliate, but to bring equality for all humanity. They were not showing off or using their position in their society, and despite the bad looks they received from their friends, they demonstrated how we all belong in this world and how all of us have a choice to help one another or not. There were many moments that we all felt it would be easier for us to gather our things and return home, but what kept us focused and calm was hearing the rain and thunder through the bus windows as we tried to rest for the night. This kind of energy does not belong to any of us and we need to take care of it before our next ceremony. “ After taking care of that ceremony one of the female Elders said, “Rutury, despite the moments of fear on this journey I am extremely happy to see you here at what is called the border”. I smiled back at her, saying the feeling was mutual. Out of her ceremonial bag she took out a small gourd that contained spring water from one of the sacred sites in our village, and with candles lit around us the two Elders began to pray, chant and bless me. Then the rest of the spring water was poured into another small sacred gourd and looking into the water the two female Elders began interpreting what they were seeing. Day after day our world continues to get weaker and weaker and is asking from all of us to not give up on the improvements we do on ourselves. In turn we can do that to our world. Our elements are being reactive, just look at what no rain and excessive rain has done in some parts of our world, and how the fires have burned majestic hills and demolished to ashes beautiful homes. All of us, including all the creatures that live in our world, are being affected and reactive by the outcome of what is happening in our world. We must resist and not participate in any type of violence and hate, instead let us use our powers and unconditional support to bring us together and stop the momentum of divisiveness.” Before we all left our room the two Elder females did another healing blessing ceremony on me and said, “Our dearest Ruturytemay, we are aware of what is happening around you, and being a bridge between two cultures is challenging. The bridge is delicate and has to endure all kinds of weather. Continue to be on your path and be vigilant of your surroundings, and we will always be with you to support your spiritual work.” Spending that time with them was magical, and their blessings and the words of the two female Elders continue to permeate my heart. PamPaDios Looking forward to our next ceremony Love and Blessings Rutury A note from Indios Huichol: Recently we became aware that there has been a rumor going around with the mistaken idea that we will no longer be open and available as a Retreat Center and that Indios Huichol will be dissolving. We don’t know how this idea started since it has no basis in our reality, and could not be further from the truth, so we want to clarify to you our current intentions and progress and hope this will clear up the issue for some people who have contacted us with their concerns. We realize that because the Center has seemed to be ‘closed’ for some time this may have caused some confusion. So to begin, first is an explanation of our process and progress with the Center over the last couple of years. For a few years after Jaichima’s death the property was unattended until the issues regarding her estate and the fate of the Center were resolved. The four buildings that were already in deep disrepair became unsafe and unusable, with the main house sadly having to be a total tear down because of mold. All of the other buildings also needed a complete renovation in every way. New electric, heating and cooling, plumbing, roofs and gutters, walls, insulation, ceilings, windows and doors, paint…not to mention larger issues of infrastructure on the whole property. Imagine having to completely renovate every aspect of your own house and then multiply that by four! It has been an absolutely monumental task, we have been working very, very hard for the last few years to complete the renovations, and we are very happy that we are now so close to being done. We still have a few bathrooms to renovate and a lot of finishing work to do, stucco, paint, a few more windows, etc..the plumbing in the Pima House failed when there was a group here a few months ago, which was a real bummer, major unanticipated fix there… It seems that everything in all the buildings just gave up and we truly needed new beginnings all around. The pond was leaking water and was overrun with cattails, it was drained and cleared and never was able to hold water when we tried to fill it back up. As many of you know, it is like the heart of the Center, and in many ways it has felt like the Center was heartbroken and needed a lot of attention, hard work, and healing to feel whole again, on many levels. Jaichima imagined years ago that the underground cement pipe of water which fed the pond from the spring would be liberated and made into an above ground spring, which we have finally done. Kamu helped us create an absolutely beautiful stone lined stream, it is a wonderful improvement and we are so grateful to him for all of his work. The pond is now going to be refilled after we finally sorted out how to deal with the leaks, the heart of the Center will be coming alive again, just as all the buildings are also very close to being fully functional. Although we have hosted a few groups here the last year we have not felt ready to offer the facilities to the public as yet. We kept thinking along the way that we were closer to completion than we actually were, unfortunately we kept finding more major issues to deal with. The list was neverending and the renovations took much longer than we ever anticipated as they ended up being much more extensive than we ever imagined. Now we truly are a few months away from completion, finally! We feel strongly that we need to have an accessible accommodation available for people with disabilities and so we are in the process of building an accessible casita (a ‘glamping’ cabin) near the Pueblo House. This is something that Wirikuta Springs needed to be able to offer, as it has not been able to do before. We expect the casita will be finished by the summer! We know some of you miss the Center and are concerned about its current state and where it is heading in the future. We are so happy to be able to share that the future of the Center could not be more exciting and hopeful, it is poised to be ready to welcome you all back, as well as get to know all the people who have yet to experience what a special and sacred place it is. Another important point we feel we must also clarify is that donations made to Indios Huichol were never used for any of the renovations. The donations continue to support the Wixarika Elders and will always remain allocated and dedicated to them. More good news is that Rutury will be leading both weeklong and weekend workshops here this year and we will be scheduling them soon. We have an Earth Day gathering coming up which is explained in more detail in this newsletter. We will also be offering Wirikuta Springs Retreat Center to other groups and individuals who want to do retreats and/or workshops on the land. Over the last few years we managed the renovations to accommodate times when the local indigenous community could come to the land to do their ceremonies, as they have always done and will continue to do so. We have also had a few gatherings and workshops here and people have been very understanding of our ‘work in progress’ as yet to be finished, which we have appreciated very much. Indios Huichol remains an ongoing non-profit dedicated to helping the Elders of the Wixarika (Huichol) Community. Rutury is in regular contact with his people and they rely on his guidance and on his support, as he also does with them. This commitment to being the ‘bridge’ will continue to remain his purpose and path. So for those of you who have voiced their concerns to us, please be assured that although things have seemed to be quiet around here lately we have in fact been in a full on state of as noisy as can be high gear for the last few years, preparing to welcome you with a fully functioning facility! We are looking forward to seeing you! As always, please feel free to be in touch with any questions you might have. Indios Huichol Rutury, Anaya, and Nahwi  Stream emerges from the land heading towards the pond  Closeup shot of the stone carving by Kamu A note from Anaya: We have been very fortunate to be sharing the land for the last few months with two very special people, Alicia and Paige. They have helped the Center in so many ways, with building, clearing, painting, and all around inspiring collaboration. We will be sad to see them leave us this month but wish them well on their journey to Vermont where they will interning at Yestermorrow, they are lucky to have them! Thank you for all of your heartfelt and hard work. We will miss you. We've been doing a massive clean up on the land of old wood, fencing, rotten stumps, etc. and we greeted the sunrise with a huge bonfire at the bottom of the now empty but soon to be filled back up pond. We are so grateful to Alicia, Paige, and Rutzy for helping clear the pond and prepare the pile of wood for the fire. Alicia and Paige started the fire by using a spindle and friction, it was a beautiful ceremony! It’s amazing to have seen such a delicate spark turn into the biggest bonfire; it was a powerful thing to witness. What a cleansing fire! 
Upcoming Events: EARTH DAY CEREMONY AND GATHERING |
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