Sacred Path Cards: The Discovery of Self Through Native Teachings

by Jamie Sams

Overview

This extraordinary tool for self-discovery draws on the strength and beauty of Native American spiritual tradition. Developed by Native American medicine teacher Jamie Sams, this unique system distills the essential wisdom of the sacred teachings of many tribal traditions and shows users the way to transform their lives.

The 44 beautifully illustrated cards, each endowed with a particular meaning and message, may be drawn individually for a daily lesson or laid out in a series of spreads that open up different paths to inner knowledge. Used with the accompanying text, which explains the various forms and methods of interpretation and divination, the cards are a powerful tool for enhanced self-awareness and positive change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062507624
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/12/1990
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	533,489
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.88(h) x 2.20(d)

About the Author

Jamie Sams is a member of the Wolf Clan Teaching Lodge. She is the coauthor of Medicine Cards™:The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals, author of The Sacred Paths Workbook, and (with Twylah Nitsch) Other Council Fires Were Here Before Ours.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

What Is a Medicine Walk?

In Native American Tradition, Medicine is anything that will aid the seeker in feeling more connected and in harmony with nature and all life-forms. Anything that is healing to the body, mind, and/or spirit is Medicine. To find a special Medicine that would give answers for a personal challenge or problem, our Ancestors would often walk in the forests or on the mesas to observe the portents or signs that would assist them in healing and seeking wisdom. The Medicine Walk was a way to reestablish the link to the Allies, or Medicine Helpers. A Medicine Walk is still possible in today's busy world if the seeker knows how to read nature's signs.

Intuition allows us to maintain Earth-connection through understanding the languages of the Planetary Family. In this system of divination, the Sacred Path Cards™ will present questions to you so you may redevelop your personal intuition. Power is no more than our gifts and abilities and can never be stripped from us by another. It is time for each seeker to acknowledge and use those talents.

For centuries, the Red People have used the omens of nature to arrive at the decisions of entire Nations. All living creatures have their own Medicine messages to share with those who are willing to learn their language. Hail-lo-way-ain, the Language of Love in the Seneca tongue, is the way that All Our Relations speak to us. Through Hail-lo-way-ain, our hearts can feel the answers received on a Medicine Walk and healing can then proceed.

Two-leggeds (humans) are the only creatures in our world who donot out of gratitude return to Great Mystery the love they have received. The Language of Love can be understood when compassion and mutual respect are allowed to come full circle and are redistributed among those who share our world. To send love to a beautiful sunset, to a Willow tree, to a circling Hawk, by admiring the beauty of each, is one way to begin. Every fellow Creature-being or life-form is a teacher and a potential friend. Each teacher in nature holds a deep abiding love for Great Mystery and will impart messages to those who seek the mysteries of the Void. The unknown is made up of those lessons that instruct us in our roles within Creation as well as the roles others play.

To understand these messages is to become one with the Creature-beings of nature. To seek the peace of the Standing People (trees), to acknowledge the sacredness of all life-forms, and to find harmony with each living thing is to gain respect for Self as a Guardian of our Earth Mother.

The basic premise of this understanding is to acknowledge the Uniworld. The Uniworld is the universal Family of Creation. The Earth is our mother, the Sky is our father; our grandparents are Grandfather Sun and Grandmother Moon. Our Brothers and Sisters are the Stone People, the Standing People, the Creature-beings, thePlant People, and other Two-leggeds. We are never alone. When our human family is separated or moves onto the Blue Road of Spirit through physical death, we have nothing to grieve if we remain connected to the universal Family of Creation. The Medicine Walk is one way of reclaiming those connections.

In our modern world, the understandings of the Language of Love, Hail-lo-way-ain, can be understood only through an open heart, for it is a way of living life rather than a system to be mastered. We must be willing to use the feelings and the inner senses to "hear" the tender teachings of our fellow lifeforms.

Imagine walking through your favorite forest, rolling hills, mesas, or green valley. See yourself surrounded by those creatures who are your Totems, or favorite animals. Notice which direction the Wind is blowing. Look to the Cloud People; do they take the form of faces or animals? Feel the warmth of the Earth Mother nurturing you in her gentle arms. Look at Grandfather Sun, see how his light plays upon the Earth Mother's breast. Taste the breeze and drink in the promise of rain. Respect and admire all that surrounds you. In this way, you are ready for the Language of Love to penetrate your senses in the silence of a quiet heart and mind.

Each flower or rock can be your teacher. They wait to be acknowledged by you as you walk through the land you share. The Medicine they hold is freely and abundantly given, if you allow yourself to feel it. The Wind is the forerunner of any lesson, for all spirit comes on the Wind. If it comes from the South, it is offering a teaching on faith, trust, Innocence, humility, or the child-within. If Wind blows from the West, it offers lessons on inner-knowing, seeking answers or goals through introspection. When Wind blows from the North, it beckons you to be grateful and to know the wisdom being offered as well as acknowledging the wisdom you hold personally. The East Wind brings breakthroughs, new ideas, and freedom through illumination. The East Wind will assist you in casting aside doubts or darkness by opening the Golden Door that leads to new levels of understanding.

Once we understand which type of lesson is coming our way on our Medicine Walk, we can then proceed by noticing which Allies call to us. When something catches our eye, it has called our attention and is speaking to us through the Language of Love. In caring for that messenger we establish a link that will allow the message to be received. In observing each Medicine Helper, whether it be Dragonfly or Ponderosa Pine, Petroglyph or Stone Person, we learn the lessons of nature.

In the way of my Ancestors, I have chosen to create a teaching system known as the Sacred Path so that you have the basic principles and...