06/02/2020
A message from Grandmother Clara of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers in the Rainforest of Brazil
A MESSAGE FROM THE AMAZON FROM GRANDMOTHER CLARA
Greetings to all the sister/brotherhood of this planet Earth. To those who have love for our Mother Earth, who take care of Her and fight for Her, so that She can be forever free from the harms humankind have inflicted upon Her for the sake of economic gain and self-centered interest.
Today, we are living in conditions that perhaps the planet and humankind has never had to cope with before. A situation one could never foresee or imagine: the arrival of this agent that brings death, despair, fear, insecurity, but that is also bringing an opportunity for great transformation.
I can say that I feel actually blessed to be a witness to what is happening on this planet. To be a witness to the forces that exist, which are much greater than a simple citizen, much greater than us who are earthly beings. There is this greater force that comes from beyond, bringing a call to attention to us all, a very incredible call to attention for all to wake up to the existence and intelligence of life, which is much more profound than vain intellectual philosophy.
And now we face a situation which, in truth, makes us meet ourselves. We are isolated, each one in their own house, in their yard, all in one spot; without being able to walk around much, without being able to see anything but yourself. So I hope this moment will be of great value for us all. For those who’ll be able to survive this calamity, which is being spread by the wind, by the air, spread by touching something or another, or not being attentive to this or that, I understand that — like me — humanity is now having to revise its projects, revise its dreams, right? And reevaluate all those things everyone intended to be doing, checking whether they were real or not, and examining where we have been walking and how we have been acting.
What are we going to do now?
Perhaps today, confined within four walls, in a small space, people are calculating what their next step should be. What is evident are the needs that humanity has, and these fundamental needs are good food, clean water and air. This simplicity and basic nourishment is connected to our spiritual nourishment and spiritual evolution. This is what will allow us to advance in this time when life seems so “uncertain”. I say “uncertain” in inverted commas; as those who believe in the spirit know that there is a place that has been chosen, a place which awaits us, which is eternity. Beyond that, we are ignorant, and we cannot say for sure what it is, and what it is not, life after death, but we know there is a Light in the infinity of space, waiting for us. And for this purpose we are here, on this planet, illuminating ourselves, seeking our salvation, connecting ourselves to God, so that we can be received on a higher plane. And here we are, in order to work on ourselves, to pay our karmas, gain understanding of our life, and be able to act from our Higher Self while still in this life.
I’m here in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Incredible as it may seem, it’s a place where I should feel safe, because we were brought here in order to stay under the protection of the Queen of the Forest, in this place where Mother nature shelters us — but the dangers of the city reach us here too. Here, in the lungs of the planet, with pure air and limited technology, we are seeing the virus coming closer toward us. A virus that comes from technology and from the technocratic world. We have no way to combat this other than using the forms of knowledge which the forest offers to us. So our village in the forest has closed the path to the outside world. However, we still rely on many things that come by canoe on the small river, and this puts us at risk.
A kind of gate was made in the river so that people could not enter. Every product that comes from the city, from the moment it leaves the city until it reaches a port, that is very far from where we live, every product is sanitized to be able to enter here. It is really only in the case of illness or serious need that people are granted permission to exit our community in the forest. Should anyone contact the disease, we don’t know what would be worse - to stay here and wait for the disease to pass in a community that consists mainly of elders, or to attempt to go to the city which poses a whole other level of risks. Just the other day, a young lady was in labor, and the youngsters here have learned now about delivery in the outside world, that there are many more possibilities doing this outside, so they want to have their babies out there. So this woman entered labor and she was going out to the city, but she decided to come back to the village and asked for our help in the Santa Casa, to have her child in the natural way. So, on this 13th of May, a little child, a very beautiful child, was born, on the day of Our Lady of Fátima, right in the middle of this pandemic, and thank God all went well with the baby. The mother is well, all is well, with none of the despair of the outside world.
It’s been a time of great value for us in the forest. A very rich time because our people are concerning themselves with planting. This was the original intention that we came here for with Padrinho Sebastião, our master teacher, who opened up this place, this point of light inside the forest. Padrinho Sebastião brought us here to learn to live with nature, to learn to lead a life of truth, as he used to say. He also said that there would come a time when there would be no use in having money in our pockets, because it wouldn’t be worth anything; and that we had to leave the city far behind, because so many things were going to happen in the city that we had to shelter ourselves from. So he brought us here to plant, so we could live off the land, learn how to make our own houses, and live a true life in harmony with nature - not just survive as people in the city were doing. He brought us here, so that we could really absorb all of this, and be able to freely have a spiritual life, a life dedicated to God, dedicated to prayer and self-knowledge.
And today we are remembering his words. Remembering why he brought us here. We give thanks to Sebastião Mota de Melo, this man, this prophet, who knew this time would come, and that it would be a very tough time, and that it was important to learn the things of the earth, to learn how to plant and how to be sustainable, so that we could survive this difficult moment the planet would go through. So today, we who are his godchildren are realizing what he said. At each event happening on Earth we realize he was right, and at every moment we are saying: Good Lord, he was right! And more and more we feel the need to follow his teachings, to follow what he said, and we are seeing there were no lies, but a lot of truth in what he said.
And this year, which he would have had his 100th birthday, our community was planning a great celebration. We now see that it is him who is having a great celebration with all of us, showing us that what he really wants is for us to go back to our simple life, to go inside ourselves, seeking our essence, seeking to learn to live with Nature. Today I say: I’m a privileged person. Yes, of course, we are preparing ourselves to meet the great challenge of this time which the whole planet is having to go through. Here it’s not different, of course with, let’s say, a little more freedom of movement, because we have a very big space, and each one can hide himself in his own homestead, in his own settlement.
The Santa Casa de Cura and the Mapiá Residents’ Healthcare Committee are working together in assisting the whole community, preparing and taking precautionary measures to protect our village, Céu do Mapiá. We have started a fundraising campaign because we are in need of test kits, oxygen tanks, and medical protective clothing needed to tend the sick. Our region does not have hospital infrastructure to face the demands of COVID-19, and overall availability of health services is very limited. If it should happen that someone catches the virus in our community, we will be better prepared to assist our people. Still we trust none of this will happen, and that our medicines from the forest will save and help us.
What will we be after the Coronavirus? What will we become after this pandemic, after everything will return to normal, if it will return? Will we change? Are we really going to change? Did we learn anything? Will all of this bring about a major transformation? These are the questions I ask myself.
I am here, like all of you who live on Planet Earth, making a very good study of myself and of life, praying to God for understanding why we are on this planet, at this time, now.
Grandmother Clara
International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
* If you feel called to support the Mapiá Health Campaign please consider donating to them directly at https://saude.vilaceudomapia.org.br/en/ or email [email protected].
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SUMMIT OF THE ROSE: For Living and Dying
June 4 -7, 2020
The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, mä creative and the Grandmothers Wisdom project invites you for a four-day online retreat and ceremonial gathering.
Join us for this rare and special moment where we come together from the four directions of the Earth in ceremony and prayer as we contemplate what it means to be living during this important time.
REGISTER HERE ↓↓↓
https://www.grandmotherswisdom.org/summit-of-the-rose
