Earth Dance Protocol
Full Moon Ceremony
Earth Dance is a dance for the unity of all creation. It is an honoring and time to bring together all the races, religions and tribes. The purpose is to dance with the Earth, the elements, sun and moon and the ancestors, to bring joy to the people and the Earth. This is a vision for the future of our children in the times to come. It is time to unify the children, elders, leaders, medicine people, men and women, to create equality and balance within our world. We must now let go of our egos and work together, knowing that we all have a piece of the puzzle that is just as special as any other’s. Let’s put our pieces together, working and praying collectively, clearing the slate of what has been done. Let’s do what is best for the highest good of humanity, pushing out the dark to make room for the light. It is time to heal our wounds and move forward. It is time to end the pain and suffering of the world. We must first start with ourselves, then our families, moving out to all the people and the world. Transforming the old energy into a new energy, that is only for the highest good. This is the time to remember how to come back and gather in council meetings of common people for the highest good of all people. We must be dedicated to this intent with integrity to come to good conclusions and decisions. Earth Dance is a worldwide effort. We must do what is for the highest good for all the children of the world. Many things have to change so we can break through the stronghold that has bound the people and the world. It is time to be freed from the restrictions within!
Doing the dance on the full moon was part of the original dance from Teotihuacán, (see dance history) and was received as vision by one of it's original three founders in Teotihuacán Ondouca - Adam Yellow Bird DeArmon during ceremony. It is not the expression of any one culture although aspects of the dance such as the beautiful sweat lodge tradition come from Native American teachings. Earth Dance supports and respects the indigenous traditions of all people and all colors and welcomes the elders of all Earth people to bring their wisdom to the dance to share with the people. We are all related! Every person who attends Earth Dance whether for a day or the whole dance is a participant. Your presence is valuable, as you bring with you the most precious thing you have, your heart and energy. Just by attending you bring the gift of your self to the dance and for that we are all grateful.
Earth Dance is a communal and spiritual celebration that offers thanks for the sacredness and beauty of all life. For us, it has two parts: the main dance and the community that supports the dance. Each one of these parts is important. Each offers spiritual lessons and is inseparable from its counterpart. If the community is flowing smoothly, the main dance reflects harmony. The ceremony itself consists of the dedicated dancers, the drummers, the fire tenders and the ceremonial healers. The community participants are all those who come to support the dance, the community experience is diverse and is different from dance to dance. It is what the unique group of supporters that come to each dance makes it. Earth Dance is a participatory event. It takes all of us working together in order to offer services and prayers which meet our collective needs. We dance the Earth Dance to be connected with nature, with the Earth Mother, with the Creator, and with all the humans and other creatures on the planet. We seek guidance for our spiritual life, and often we receive a vision or a dream that will guide our actions in the years to come.
While people are welcome to come to the dance for any duration of time, it is suggested that those of us, who can, come together at least four days before the main dance ceremony begins. This is a time for purification, healing, prayer, counseling, sharing, talking and gathering in circles. This period allows us to meet one another, set up camp, prepare the ceremonial grounds and organize our activities.
The second set of four days is when the main dance ceremony takes place. During this time, dancers sing, dance, pray, and fast. They are kept apart from those in the community 24 hours a day. During these four main dance days, dancers will be praying for healing and raising the vibration of humanity, the Earth Mother, and all Creation to create a brighter future for our children. We work with the energy of the five and six-pointed stars to integrate a higher level of spirituality into our daily lives. As we all dance, pray and give thanks to the Creator together, we make the dance a pure, powerful and life changing experience. Your emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental preparation for the dance is very important.
Upon completion of the main dance ceremony, a final two-day period ends Earth Dance, when those who can stay are invited to assist in dismantling the camp and insuring that our Earth Mother is left as we found her. We can also spend time seeking guidance from elders, integrating our experiences, and sharing knowledge with one another. After Earth Dance you will learn to appreciate many of the small things in life. Many dancers believe the dance has changed their lives like nothing else could have and made them into better people. When you leave the dance you take the energy with you out into the world, where it effects every person you come into contact with. Earth Dance is sacred; please do not treat any part of it lightly. We ask that you come in a good way and respect this powerful ceremony.
What To Expect At The Dance
The Ceremonial area is formed by two circles that touch to form the infinity symbol. The Dance Circle is represented by the six pointed star in the Earth Dance logo. The circle is by marked with stones. The stones are placed carefully and follow a spiritual geometry. This geometry, contributes to our ability to connect with the Creator, the Earth Mother, and with all our relations. The second circle represented by the five pointed star in the Earth Dance logo is used for purification with the sweat lodges and sacred fire. This purification circle has an entrance into the dance circle, the dance circle is entered in the west from the purification circle, and should not be entered any other way. Participants will be smudged as they enter the dance circle from the purification circle. This sacred area of the infinity symbol with the two circles within it, is surrounded by an area where the dancers, drummers, fire tenders, and ceremonial healers camp. There are Tipis within the purification circle as well where dancers may meditate or sleep. The medic tent will also be within this area. Typically this area is marked in some way so that it is obvious that this complete area is the ceremonial grounds for the dance.
Community members and supporters are asked to remain outside this area unless invited in by the dance leader to participate in some way. The East part of the dance circle will extend beyond the ceremonial camping area so that supporters can come and sit near the circle to offer support and encouragement to the dancers. The circle is marked by a large outer stone in the East; the community should not come closer to the dance circle than the outer stone. The dancers are focused and build up tremendous spiritual energies that must not be broken by well wishers or supporters. Dancers are to inform their loved ones and supporters to offer their prayers and support, but not to break the focus of the dancers by for example; yelling, waving, and seeking a response, or breaking the circle by passing anything across the stones. Community members should not hand something to a dancer or vice versa. For example, if a dancer takes a sweater into the circle in the in the morning when it’s cold and wishes to remove it as it warms up, the dancer should leave the sweater in the circle. No one should cross the circle once it is completed for any reason. Enter through the door, even when a dance session is not in progress.
The dance lasts for 3 ½ days, with the 3rd day being the full moon. As the moon gets closer to its full state the dancers move into a deep state of inner reflection and the issues that have been holding them back will be ready to be let go with the energy offered by the full moon. This is how we make a better future for the children by purifying our own issues so they do not get passed on to another generation. All the dances start with an opening ceremony, often it will take place the day before the dance begins. It’s very important for everyone to be present to participate in this initiation of the energies. In the opening ceremony the ceremonial fire will be started, the fire will be kept burning 24 hours a day throughout the ceremony. Five trees will be placed in the dance circle with Buffalo hearts, one in each direction and one in the center. Next to the center tree will be a fire pit in the north for the night dances and an alter where the dancers can place sacred objects. After the opening ceremony when the energy has been initiated dancers are encouraged to bring in offerings to place on the trees. Dancers typically dance in the hot sun and cold night for four to six sessions in each 24 hour period. Each session usually lasts anywhere from one to two hours with rest sessions in between. During these rest sessions; dancers and drummers will:
- Spend time in quiet contemplation and prayer.
- Seek out the healers if they need or want some healing work.
- Seek out the council of dance leader or the Elders if they need help with an issue, or have a vision or dream to share.
The dance itself starts before dawn on the first day with the blowing of the conch shell calling the dancers to the sweat lodge. The fire tender (s) already having the responsibility to make sure the fire does not go out, must be up much earlier than the dancers to put the rocks on the fire for the sweat lodges. There are two sweat lodges in the ceremonial area. There will be a sweat each morning before the first dance at sunrise, as well as a sweat after the sunset session. Depending on the number of dancers there may need to be multiple sessions to get all the dancers into the sweat and the dance leader will need some of the dancers to be sweat leaders. These sessions are often shorter than a typical sweat lodge (often 2 doors) as they are part of the greater ceremony where a level of purity is being held continuously. The drum is inside the circle in the North, the drummers will be smudged by the fire tender, and enter the circle before the dancers enter. At the beginning of the session drummers offer a prayer and they put tobacco on the drum to hold their intention.
After the evening meal the night before the dance, dancers and drummers begin their fast. Dancers and drummers fast from food but not drink, as a way of connecting with each other, enabling them to remove the barriers that exist between them and get into a state of dancing meditation, forming a group consciousness, strengthening their prayers and building energies together. We believe that when the body grows weaker, the spirit grows stronger. This is what every dancer strives for because it is often at this moment you receive a vision or guidance from the Creator. When you see a fellow dancer near exhaustion, get close to them and share energy and power, show them respect and encourage them to keep on dancing. Those who will be fasting during the dance may find it helpful to adjust their diet prior to the dance to lighter foods for a few days to make the transition to fasting easier. Fire tenders and ceremonial healers may fast if they desire, but usually eat during the ceremony. There is no ceremonial kitchen so when the dance starts they should be prepared to feed themselves, as the ideal is for the fire tenders and ceremonial healers to remain in the ceremonial area, which they would have to leave to go to the community kitchen. Please try not to eat in front of those fasting
There will often be ceremonies within the ceremony (Examples: wedding, coming of age, or making of relatives) dancers and drummers should also be prepared to participate in these ceremonies, sometimes they can make the rest periods quite short for part of the day, but they are part of the magic of the whole experience. The energy will carry anyone with an open heart. Community members wishing to have a ceremony within Earth Dance should seek out the dance leader before the dance and make arrangements. During these ceremonies members of the community will be brought into the sacred dance circle to participate. When the community participants are led out of the dance circle into the purification circle they should then leave the ceremonial grounds and return to the community area.
When you arrive at the dance it may be a little chaotic as things are getting set up, grab someone and introduce yourself and tell them how you want to participate so they can connect you to the people you need to talk to.
If you choose to dance make your intention known to the dance leader, when he acknowledges that, then give him an offering. It can be simple such as tobacco which would be a traditional offering or another type of gift. It doesn’t have to be traditional, follow your heart. People who have not yet developed their energy awareness may not realize all that the dance leader will be doing during the dance. When the dance is in progress there are many different things going on with the energies and it is the dance leaders job to work with these energies so that the dancers can be in a safe environment and allow themselves to be vulnerable. The offering you give is a way of thanking him and offering respect for the energetic protection and guidance he will be providing.
On the physical side of things, during the dance all the dancers will be following the dance leader, or at times, the lead of another person he or she has designated to lead a particular session. Within the flow of the lead there is no particular way to dance, no steps to perform, each dancer will simply move as the spirit moves them. A couple examples of flows the group may be lead in; circling around clockwise or counterclockwise, the whole group forming a circle around the edge of the dance circle facing the center tree with each individual coming to the center to pray, he may split the dancers into 4 groups with the people in the north and south coming to the middle, then back out, and then the people in the east and west coming to the center then back out, prayers facing the sunrise, sunset, or moon to acknowledge the power of these energies and the cycles of the day. Dancers may sing with the drummers and bring sacred items into the dance with them such as a rattle or a feather fan or shield to dance with.
If a dancer has a strong dream or vision during the dance they should share it with the dance leader because he or she may see something in it that is important for all the dancers. Even though the dance is a personal journey it is also a collective journey. Any dream or vision may represent an issue or healing that many dancers, or even the world as a whole, are working on. The dance leader will not likely share the dream verbatim, but would share the essence that applies to all the dancers through a prayer or a teaching. When a dance session is complete dancers come into the purification circle around the sacred fire and the dance leader may offer prayers, a teaching, or a pipe may be smoked. That is the most likely time for the dance leader to share something with the group in relation to a vision or a dream.
There will be multiple pipe ceremonies during the dance. Some will be for the dancers and drummers only, others will include the community. Anyone who has a pipe should feel free to bring it to offer their medicine to the dance. Anyone not having experienced the pipe before should not be worried about doing the pipe ceremony wrong, the heart and intent is the important part. Each pipe may have a different tradition shared by its pipe carrier there is no one absolute pipe tradition to Earth Dance. The pipe does not have to be smoked, if someone in the ceremony abstains from tobacco they can hold and honor the pipe as they pray and pass the pipe on to the next person. The pipe may contain either ceremonial tobacco or a ceremonial herbal blend depending on the pipe carrier’s preference.
There is a lead drummer, at some dances there may be more than one, and they take turns leading. If you want to participate as a drummer/singer make you intention known to the lead drummer (s). In some traditions a gift may be offered to the lead drummer, this is not necessary but you may do it if your heart leads you to. Come early to help set up the dance and have practice time with the other drummers. If you don’t know the songs you can learn them as you go, you don’t have to be the world’s best singer, this is ceremony it is not about perfection it is about heart. You do need to have focus and rhythm to participate in the drumming. You have to pay attention to the lead drummer as he or she may change the beat unexpectedly due to something like the rise of the moon or a change in the dance activity. If you are uncertain of your ability to focus and keep a rhythm come early spend some time with the lead drummer (s) and they will help you determine if you are ready at the current dance. If the drum is calling you, then even if you don’t feel ready at this dance the spirit will connect you to whatever you need to feel ready when it is your time. It is important for new drummers to understand the way in which the energy moves through the drum. The energy of your intent as drummers should flow down through the drum into the earth. The Earth Mother then purifies that intent and sends it back out through the drum into the dance and out to the world.
The healers in the ceremonial medic tent are there for the dancers, drummers and fire tenders; let them know in advance about conditions that could affect you during the dance like hypoglycemia, or diabetes. There are special circumstances, such as diabetes that would require a person not to fast and exceptions can be made for this. If you are diabetic and want to dance you will need to bring appropriate foods that do not need to be cooked, that you can eat alone in your tent. Healers may decide that a particular dancer needs to eat something during the dance. It is the job of the healers to watch the dancers for possible dangers to their health and intervene if they feel it’s necessary. Earth Dance is not about suffering or endangering our health and well being. Herbal teas will be offered to the dancers and drummers during the dance at the medic tent. There will be a variety of healing modalities offered at the medic tent such as massage, energy work, or acupuncture, etc. each dance will be unique in these offerings depending on what healers participate in the dance.
Guidelines for the dance are ideals; this is called “go with the flow!” Nothing is set in stone. This is a celebration that isn’t bogged down with time constraints. Things change, just like the weather! Those attending are encouraged to leave behind their watches (and linear ways) and experience the flow of the spirit. The dance leader is very flexible with requests that flow with spirit for the dance, always discuss with him any special circumstance that may affect your participation in the dance, communication is the key. Please understand there may be times spirit tells the dance leader there is no way to accommodate your specific circumstance without effecting the integrity of the dance, but any circumstance that would prevent you from participating is worthy of prayer and discussion. There are no prerequisites to participate other than a willingness to learn and an open heart. If you want to learn to fire tend you can let that intention be known and arrangements can be made for you to work with a fire tender to learn the art of the fire medicine.
Sweat lodge traditions are varied, and within Earth Dance all the sweat traditions are honored. The lodge is simply a dome frame typically made of willows covered in blankets and tarps. You enter the sweat on hands and knees as the opening is low to the ground. The door faces an altar and a fire pit about 10 feet away. There is a hole in the center of the lodge to receive heated rocks. Participants enter the lodge in a clockwise direction, with the sweat leader normally entering first. It is common to pause at the entrance and offer a prayer or acknowledgement, in some traditions you would ask the leader to enter or say “Mitakuye oyas’in”, pronounced “Mih tock we awe sin”, which means “to all my relations”. This is also common to pause in this way upon exiting the sweat. Women often wear ankle length dresses or skirts and T-shirts and the men swim trunks or suitable shorts. To receive the most from the lodge we leave our ego (the mind) outside of the lodge, and live in our heart. We enter the lodge as a child would, totally free and with no expectations. Take the guidance of the sweat lodge leader, as each leader may run their lodge in a slightly different way. The fire tender brings heated rocks to the lodge, the number of rocks depends upon the leader, but most sweat leaders will offer special medicine to the first six rocks, one for each of the four directions, above and below, the within is represented by the lodge itself and its participants. The door is closed for absolute darkness. The last person who entered the lodge who sits on the opposite side of the door from the leader will have the honor of helping the leader to lift the water bucket forward toward the rocks as a blessing. The water is sprinkled on the rocks to create heat. The participants will sing and offer prayers, anyone who doesn’t know the songs will learn them over time. When the leader asks the group to call for the door to be opened, this is the end of a session, called a door. At this time more rocks will be brought in and the door will be closed again. The number of doors for a sweat lodge ceremony is determined by the sweat leader. Anyone may leave the sweat after any door, if the heat is too much for them. Usually you would ask permission of the sweat leader to leave and leave in the clockwise direction. As with the Earth Dance, there is a collective energy and spirit built up in the lodge, so a person should only leave the sweat if it is absolutely necessary. If it is too hot, the head can be placed between the legs, placed next to the ground, or turned to the edge of the lodge. The purpose of the lodge is to purify ourselves and to receive revelations from the Creator. Also, our respect for the Earth Mother is heightened, since the lodge symbolizes the womb of the Mother. Individuals may be asked if they wish to speak, and the sharing that takes place is powerful. The darkness will dissolve boundaries and the prayers will form profound links with people voicing deep feelings. We often feel closer to individuals, because we will understand them better. Anything that is said in the lodge by another is not to be repeated. You may choose to honor your experience by not sharing it with others for a few days. Holding it within may allow you to integrate and work with the energies.
There are alters at the community sweats and ceremonial sweats as well as in the dance circle. The altar is sacred, and it will give strength, confidence and courage to all the dancers or participants in the sweat. It represents the Creator. Honor and respect it, give it your prayers and let them go. We place upon the alter sacred things that represent our medicine and strengths that we are sharing with all our relations. Often this is where we place prayer ties. (A tobacco offering wrapped in a piece of cloth as you think of that prayer that you are offering) Only dancers should place items on alters within the ceremonial area. The community may choose to set up an alter that is separate from the community sweat lodge alter to hold the medicines they offer to support the ceremony.
Many people wonder what the purpose is of honoring the seven directions. First, we honor the four directions, East, South, West, and North in order to be reminded of those things that live in those directions, and for connections and signs. East: This is the place of beginnings and the day begins at dawn, when the sun rises. The East of our lifetime is our birth, the time when we come from our mother’s womb into the light. In nature the East of the year is the spring. When we look to the East and honor the sunrise each day of the dance, we are looking for the light. We can think of the East as being about new beginnings, as a place of clear vision, of realization and of enlightenment. We honor the East as the presence of the sun is nourishing light for our bodies and allows us to exist. South:, If looked at in the same way as the East, is the infant who has become the toddler. Toddlers get into a lot of things and touch and investigate all. Theirs is the power of innocence and curiosity. They have a need to learn and believe that all will turn out well. Things do turn out fine if we put our trust and faith in Creator. In time we have gone from birth to childhood, dawn to noon, and spring to summer. A lot of change has taken place. West: We move to the time of adulthood. In the cycle of seasons, this is the fall, when the crops mature and reach the highest phase in the development. This is a place where with all our knowledge and experience, we realize how much more there is to know. In the course of the day, this is when the sun sets. It is a time when people look within themselves. The West is all about finding out what is within you and learning to balance so that our goodness shines forth. You go within to find yourself and your truths. North: This is the place of winter. Winter is the time of hard freezes, of cold and of rest. Many plants lie dormant in the winter and many creatures sleep through this time, and many others are not so active teaching us to preserve our energy. This is the time for looking inward and is a time of rest. In the cycle of a day the North is somewhere between the setting of the sun and its rising the next day. We equate the North with the latter years of life. The north thus represents wisdom and knowing. During this time we remember, and pass on the wisdom that we have. Winter is also a time for preparation for what is to come; it is both an ending and a beginning in the spirit world. The fifth direction is Above, the home of the Creator whom we honor. The sixth direction is Below the Earth Mother who gives us life and nourishes us. The seventh direction is Within and honors the spirit within us.
Earth Dance requires many hearts working together. The community is an important part of the Earth Dance magic. At times the community has been very small and the community members were welcomed into the ceremonial space near the medic tent. Each dance is unique and every community has strengths and challenges that are reflected in the dance as a whole. The larger the community the more volunteers are needed to make the experience rewarding. The community may choose to offer teaching in various spiritual traditions, leaders will be needed for community sweats, as well as fire tenders. Some communities have a large group of healers who come to offer their services free of charge to anyone needing healing work. The community will build its own sweat lodges and host the community kitchen.
The responsibility for the community kitchen is often one of the largest community tasks. Everyone attending the dance should bring food to donate to the community kitchen. The kitchen will feed everyone at the dance before the ceremony begins, feed the supporters during the dance at least one meal a day, and prepare a big meal after the dance when the dancers and drummers will be more than ready to break their fast and eat heartily. Although at some dances water is available or delivered, individuals are asked to bring as much water as possible. Examples of how to help in the community: Information volunteer, making sure new arrivals get this information! cooks & kitchen helpers, builder (tents, shelters, tipis etc.), wood gathering, community healers, spiritual teachers & story tellers, looking after the elders, spending quiet time in prayer and meditation, offering of cultural dances for the community, working with the children. Tending to the children is a very important gift the community can offer the dance. Many people who would wish to dance and drum may not be able to due to the responsibility they have to tend their children. A supporter who is able to tend to a group of children throughout the ceremony so their parents can dance, drum or fire tend would be offering Earth Dance an example of the highest ideal that we strive to achieve.
Protocol
- No drugs, alcohol or weapons may be brought into the ceremony or community space.
- No cameras or recording devises, Earth Dance is a sacred ceremony it is not a spectator event to be photographed. What happens at the dance is an experience, no photos or recordings could capture what you will experience.
- Please bring plate bowl spoon etc. we are trying to live in harmony with the Earth Mother by not creating a lot of waste or using disposable items.
- If you must bring your animals in order to come to the dance, they need to be attended, and controlled preferably in the community space
- You will be camping, the camp is rustic, & there may be no plumbing. Bring water, tents, blankets, food, toilet paper etc. Most of the dance locations can get very cold at night. Be prepared for cold nights and hot days. If one family member is going to dance you’ll need more than one tent unless the dancer arranges to stay in one of the tipis.
- If you have children and want to dance, drum or fire tend you will need to make arrangements for your kids to be taken care of
- You may want to bring sun block, sun hat, first aid kits, baby wipes, flash lights
- If you can, please bring resources to share with others, including extra tents and bedding, some participants must fly to the dance location and cannot bring these things and will greatly appreciate it.
- While on camp grounds everyone is part of the ceremony. We would like women to wear a basic long skirt and top or long dress, around the ceremonial circles. Please be modest in dressing. When you are outside of the ceremonial area, at your camp site, you may wear pants. Men should wear pants or a long skirt. All are encouraged to wear clothing that exemplifies their culture or “tribe”, and of course be comfortable. Many dancers choose to dance barefoot depending on the dance location, but you may wear shoes of your choice
- It is important that we honor Mother Earth, and the people who graciously care-take her. It is imperative that we leave the land better than we find it.
- If you plan to actively participate from dawn wake up you will benefit from all that will be presented. There are no time tables. Spirit will lead us through the days.
- Ceremonial intent and Behavior is necessary at all times while at Earth Dance.