Ask an A Road: How to Transfer the SMSD Teachings into Life
To transfer the SMSD Path’s teachings into our lives and our personal context is probably the most important, necessary and rewarding move we can ever take. The teachings desire to come ALIVE and this is only possible through US, that is, when we carry them within! Otherwise they will stay as lovely potentials stored on paper or in a computer, getting dusty and forgotten.
We have identified three levels in carrying the teachings, which of course, merge and blend.
The most important level is how we CHANGE, this is how the teachings become alive within us and who we have become through integrating them. This requires that we indeed study, practice, do ceremony and integrate. This is what Thunder Strikes called, “The teachings are breathing you”.
In this process of change we, hopefully, are no longer the same old obstinate, dense “muggle” we used to be. We have endeavored to become a less dense, more lightful, conscious and centered being. All of our ears and eyes are activated, we are able to listen, support and challenge, to truly be there for another, and available for any situation because inside of ourselves we are fulfilled and not in any need.
To carry ourselves as a centered, balanced, lightful, serene being is likely to be the strongest and healthiest impact we can make in our world.
A strong and immensely valuable roadmap for us is the Crystal Matrix Wheel together with the Orende Movement Wheel. These wheels teach us how to come into a matrix with anyone and anything, regardless of orende (energy) levels- and other differences. Thus being able to connect anywhere, anytime and create an energy field of alignment, wherein true compassion and benevolence are the dominant colors and flavors. Through compassion, we feel FOR another, and therefore are of service, whereas if we merge with another and become empathic, we feel WITH another and lose the necessary distance to be in true service. This is because if we “become” the other, we lose the capacity to see and feel from a higher perspective and assembly, and thus are not able to serve and support.
From there, we identify the next level, where we SHARE the teachings. There is a request for input, a question or demand, maybe a necessity for illuminating or changing something in a structure (family, business, relationship, friendships etc.), or philosophical quests around the meaning of life and death, Great Spirit, Good and Evil and much more. There is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom within the SMSD teachings.
A request to share is an informal way of transmitting knowledge that may or may not be received at that moment. It can be our neighbors, clients, friends, even strangers on a train who address us in an informal way, maybe with a question; What do you think? How do you see this or that? What is your take on this?
To be able to share from what we know is a huge gift that we receive from the teachings. We do not share from a place of knowing-it-all or better, but from true sharing, from one being to another, free of expectations that anything will come back to us in return. Therefore, it is a strong aspect of our Maku, our give away for that which we have received, and it brings great joy too! It is fun to realize the wealth of knowledge we have received and be able to give from that wealth that never diminishes. This is where we experience that giving is actually receiving because each time it will give insights and illuminations back to us.
The third level is to actually TEACH the medicine. We are both fully engaged in teaching interested seekers, individuals and groups who either request it, or are curious to join one of our events.
For many years we have taken delight in creating workshops and events. Listening to the streams in the collective, the hungers as well as the fears and blocks, listening to the whispers of Spirit about what teachings would be important to carry into the world, and how to create integrative experiences.
Spirit often downloads what is productive and fruitful in this collective way. We love creating different ways to bring the teachings, the ceremonies, the Mesa and outdoor workings, and most importantly, to bring inspiration and hope into the collective; that there is MORE than what we already know, that we are MORE than what we think and can perceive right now, and that the MORE brings maturity, joy and fun to life, balance, inner peace and serenity!
However, in the end, it all depends on who WE are – who we have become through the Medicine. Are we carrying the wheels and keys inside us? Have we integrated our ceremonial experiences on a deep level, and have we allowed the Medicine to touch and change us profoundly?
We can only share what we know on a cellular level because the wheels and keys breathe us, they have changed our ways of being, thinking, feeling and interacting – we are different today from who we were.
A look at the Wheel of Elements and the Balanced Choreography of our Human Aspects
This is a most basic and fundamental medicine wheel from our tradition that will never stop teaching us on more and more profound levels how to be in balance with ourselves and the world, and how to engage as a balanced human being.
In the South of this wheel, we find the element of water, which is the foundation of all life, together with light and fire in the east.
Water is characterized by fluidity and nourishment and it corresponds to our emotions (not to be confused with negative emotions such as fear, anger, shame and more). We are designed by the Universe to give with our emotions with tenderness. This does not mean to share emotions, rather it means to be fluid and to share ourselves, who we have become, what we know, and what we can contribute with benevolence into the present moment, to support Life and the blossoming of Life. The gift we receive back is Happiness.
In the West, we find the element of earth, giving stability. This corresponds to our physical body, where we are designed to hold and transform with intimacy. When sharing and teaching this is reflected by us holding our presence and our knowledge ready as resources, and transforming what we hold in our wombs into sharing teachings that grow corn in the world. This requires intimacy with ourselves, as well as the situation and humans around us, to know what we can give and what we cannot give as well. The gift back here is Health.
In the North, we find the element of air, with the quality of flexibility. Our inner correspondence is our mind, and we are designed to receive with our mind with care. This is the momentum necessary to be open to the situation around us, to the needs and requirements of the moment, as well as to discern where our giving is appropriate and where we would impose ourselves. This requires care and the gift back is Humor, because we all lighten up.
In the East we find the element of fire, with its quality of expansion. Within us the correspondence is our Spirit, where we are designed to determine with lust and passion. This means we shall take passionate decisions for expansion and growth. This is the moment of deciding what to share, how to share and with whom to share, so that a maximum of light and expansion is possible in that given moment. The gift back is Hope, a beacon of light that will not extinguish.
Finally, in the Center we find the void element, which is capable of birthing all forms of all things. Within us, this is the aspect of Life Force and sexuality and we are designed to catalyze in heart-to-heart communication. To catalyze means to be invested for evolution and to have clear and clean connections with the world around us. To be in heart-to-heart communication means to be honest, open and transparent to ourselves as well as to one another. No games, no hidden agenda in our engagements with one another. And the gift back is Harmony.
As we follow this roadmap, we have a strong and valid guideline in how we can share, care, teach and bring the knowledge and wisdom from this Path into the world around us in a clean and unattached way.
Below you will find a layout of a Flowering Tree ceremony. Flowering Tree ceremonies are, from the very beginning of this Path, a steady and fundamental way to connect to ourselves and to Spirit. They keep us on track with ourselves, our evolution and in connection to Nature.
This ceremony is designed so that you may regularly check in with yourself and Spirit, to refine yourself in the 5 elements and aspects and thus become happier, healthier, more humorous, filled with hope and living in harmony, Aho!
A Flowering Tree Ceremony
Created by Sabina Crystal Cave Dreamer Tschudi and Johannes Star Light Carrier Schröder, Copyright DTMMS All Rights Reserved, 2024
You will need: about 1 hour, outdoor clothing, something to sit on, paper and pen, and a small medicine gift for the tree (for example; some tobacco, a piece of chocolate, or hair from your crown chakra).
Let yourself be called by a living tree (let yourself be pulled from the belly). The living tree, even if it is not in the flowering season – represents our growth and flowering. When you reach the tree, touch it gently with your hand and ask it whether this is indeed the tree that called you. If so, stay with the tree, if not, let yourself be guided further. Sometimes you will feel warmth with a yes, coolness with a no. Stay open to how you perceive. For the entire ceremony, speak out loud in well-formed sentences, do not only think in your head. Spirit is faster than our thinking, let go of thinking and accept that answers can come faster than in an everyday situation. Stay receptive, open, perceiving what emerges inside of yourself as well as for the signs and language of nature around you. When you feel complete in one direction, take a few notes and then go clockwise to the next direction.
First sit facing into the South with your spinal cord against the tree.
Ask the South questions of your ceremony:
How am I doing emotionally? Where do I have “emotions” (such as fear, anger, a sense of wounding), and what can I do about it? Can I make a give-away? And where and how am I in the flow, giving myself into the stream of life? How do I share and give of myself? And how does this make me and the world around me happy?
Sit facing into the West and ask the West questions.
How am I doing physically? Is there something within my body that needs healing and what can I do about it? Am I holding onto something that actually needs transformation? Can I make a give-away? Where am I intimate with my body and my integrated body knowledge and know how I can be present with it? How does this contribute to my health and the health of my surroundings?
Sit in the North and ask the North questions:
How am I doing in my mind? Do I have preoccupations and inner dialogues that prevent me from being receptive? What can I do about this, and can I make a give-away in this respect? Where and how am I receptive with care to myself, present with my senses, and also receptive to another person and my surroundings? How does this bring humour into the space?
Sit in the East and ask the East questions:
How determinative am I with my spirit and fire? Do I have restrictions, repressions in how I go for the light, for growth, pleasure and joy? What can I do about it, and can I make a give-away? Where and how am I deciding from and for light, for joy, for the Yes to Life that is expansive and co-empowering? And how does that bring hope into the space?
For the Centre, turn around in the East and embrace the tree and ask the Centre questions:
How am I doing with my life force and sexuality? Are there places where I am not engaging fully, where I am holding back, or engaging from an agenda? What can I do about it and can I make a give-away? Where and how am I engaging with a clear connection, an open and honest heart, invested with my life force, and how does this bring Harmony to the space?
When you are complete in all 5 directions, thank the tree and all the energies that helped you in your ceremony (animals, plants, clouds, shadows etc.). Give your medicine gift to the tree. Leave the place more beautiful than you found it, and do not look back. It is done in beauty, Aho!
Give-Aways.
In every direction of the tree, you can do a Give-away:
If you recognize something inside of yourself that you definitely do not want nor need to continue as it is, you can give it away right there at the tree in the direction it has appeared for you. This is a declaration of your intent, so you do this with power and commitment. Speak your words out loud. A give-away is always a conscious “letting go of”, a sacrifice of something old, and it is in your circle of self-responsibility, to actualize your declaration of intent, and not step back into the old pattern.
You can repeat this ceremony as often as you desire, engage with your own personal questions matching the 5 directions of the Universe.
© DTMMS. All Rights Reserved. Material cannot be used without explicit written permission.
by Sabina Crystal Cave Dreamer Tschudi and Johannes Star Light Carrier Schröder
Sabina and Johannes are Body Dearmoring Dance Chiefs, Lodge Leaders and A Roads.
They live in a deeply connected partnership in a Swiss mountain village interweaving the nagual with everyday tonal reality.
Medicine events: www.balanced-living.ch
Dearmoring:www.bodydearmoring.ch
Contact: info@bodydearmoring.ch
Sabina is a human scientist, NLP Trainer and Clinical Hypnotherapist. She holds a degree in Sexual Medicine and Sexual Therapy. In her early years, she studied a Buddhist path before meeting Thunder Strikes when he was teaching in Switzerland. She apprenticed to the SMSD Path in 1983. Since 1991, she has worked with private clients and groups.
Johannes was born in Northern Germany and joined the Sweet Medicine Sundance Path in 1991. He is a farmer, a trained paramedic, natural healer and Homoeopath. He has been teaching groups since the mid-90’s.
© DTMMS. All Rights Reserved. Material cannot be used without explicit written permission.
