Yes Fall Equinox was last night 9/22/22 at 8:05pm ct. the dates & times change every year, however always falls somewhere between the 19th & the 24th. Lasting 3 days, the day & time you see always refers to the Middle Day.
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What IS the Equinox? According to dictionary.com: “the time or date (twice each year) at which the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day & night are of approximately equal length (about September 22 & March 20)”
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Cosmically, this is a time of Coming into Alignment with Truth. Time to discern what is Real from the Unreal. Letting Go of the Painful Past & Making A Way for the Joy that is to come & appreciating the Joy that has always been there, hidden by trauma & fear..
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Our Solar System Aligns with the 4 Cardinal Points of the Milky Way Galaxy. During these periods of Great Alignment, if we resist letting go, it will be TAKEN! Trust me! Solstices & Equinoxes are no joke: this is beyond personality (Lunar) or Ego (Solar). This is a Cosmic Alignment on a Galactic Scale. Cosmic Housecleaning! Cosmic Order.
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The Mayan Count is a Galactic Frequency. But is NOT a calendar, even tho people call it a calendar. The Tree of Life is what the Maya/The Olmec call the Milky Way Galaxy. The Kemetic Teachings also refer to the Milky Way Galaxy as the Tree of Life.
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Anyways, I digress. The Milky Way Galaxy is one of my favorite topics. It was the topic of my research project while in Grad School, & I’ve recorded several songs in honor of the Milky Way. I will post them again soon.
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You can catch Chicagohenge tonight on any east west street… I highly recommend going downtown!⠀
I was too sleepy to get to the Lake this rising, so the Fall Equinox Spiral Dance Medicine Wheel session will be TONIGHT! Sunset is around 6:47pm ct, so let’s connect at 7:30pm ct, to align with the Equinox that was at 8:05 pm last night…
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Look for me on tiktok, KemeTones youtube & ig… at least one of them will work! Lol!
If you miss the livestream, you can always catch the replay…
Remember Sunday 9/25: FALL EQUINOX REGGAE MUSIC EXPERIENCE at the Katalyst Live & Livestream
CELESTIAL FOLK MUSIC is a FINALIST for the NAMMY Award: Best Folk Album of the Year Category 12
LISTEN TO NO KWI SI IGA (STAR DAYS) at the NAMA site.
FROM THE NAMA WEBSITE:
The Native American Music Association, a 501(c(3) was established in 1998 surrounding the debut of the Native American Music Awards in order to promote greater cultural understanding and create opportunities for Native American musicians. The Association is the world’s largest and only professional membership-based organization dedicated to showcasing and honoring outstanding music initiatives by Native North Americans and American Indians.
The Music Industry’s Only National Organization for the Advancement & Recognition of Native American Music
Devoted to bringing Indigenous music to the world’s consciousness
-NEW YORK TIMES
The Awards Show For Native American Entertainment
-JEOPARDY TV
It’s time to start taking Native American music seriously.
USA TODAY
The best music created by Indigenous artists in all its variety and excellence. INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY MEDIA NETWORK
Public Voting has begun, and your participation is requested.
IN ORDER FOR YOUR VOTE TO BE COUNTED, YOU MUST REGISTER WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. THIS IS TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE VOTES MORE THAN ONCE.. VOTE NOW!!! CATEGORY 5 AND CATEGORY 12!!!
Good Rising and Great Awakenings. Greetings. OSIYO.
Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Living Park is hosting the first Summer Solstice Celebration June 22-24. They invited Tchiya Amet and Band to bring Native Reggae to the event. When I first learned of the event, I figured it was a fundraiser for Standing Rock. But, it is not like you are probably thinking. Beth and Robert White Mountain are Lakota People with a vision to bring people together in honor of the Summer Solstice. Yes, they live at Standing Rock in South Dakota.
The festival organizers are able to compensate, however, it is not enough to cover transportation costs. So, rather than cancel the appearance, we chose to reach out to community and raise funds. I started a patreon page, but so many people had problems figuring out how to use it, and so, even though this page is “homemade”, it works the same way. You can still go the patreon page and make an offering.
Or, you can go to PayPal.me/medicineband and make a donation. If you want the downloads or songbooks, that are offered at patreon.com, just let me know.
Drummi Bigga
Bassi Hiram on left and Guitar Timuel on the right
Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Living Park
Summer Solstice Celebration
The Festival Organizers have asked us to bring this music to their event. Fortunately, I have just recently moved back to Chicago, and have a great new band.
They want to keep the event free for the Community at Standing Rock, and so, we are asking for your contribution, to go towards our transportation costs.
This event is not a benefit or a fundraiser, but a celebration. An opportunity for all of those that went to Standing Rock and supported Standing Rock in 2016, to come together and celebrate Life and The Summer Solstice. Beth and Robert White Mountain are creating this event out of love, from their hearts, and with their own bank accounts. Any monies raised after the costs of our transportation are covered will be donated to the Medicine Wheel Living Park.
We have created a page at patreon to make it easy to make an offering. Click on the banner or the link below.
Well, even though the Dakota Access Pipeline was laid, the Fight Continues. The Healing Continues. The Injustices Still Require our attention. This festival is an attempt to bring people together in healing, in peace and love, with the intention to raise awareness about sustainable living. Reggae Music needs to be there, and you can help. In addition to the great musical lineup, which includes Rock, Spoken Word, and Traditional Native Music, there will also be a day for Sacred Ceremony, and 300 Trees will be planted.
From their website:
“The Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Living Park was created in 2009 and is a grassroots organization dedicated to renewing cultural values and creating sustainable, regenerative living practices on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.
The Park serves as a facilitator in the study of the elements of creation and how we can combine modern teachings and sustainability practices with ancient Indigenous cultural knowledge to create a better understanding of the Natural World….
The Park is designed to help break the vicious cycle of learned dependency of growing up in an impoverished area, to encourage sobriety, and be an avenue for community members and others to learn the basics about Natural Law and how to connect with it, Indigenous culture, and sustainable living practices, such as gardens, green-building, renewable energies and technology. The Park works to create opportunities for healing that can help fulfill the fundamental need of people to live in a healthy environment with eco-friendly practice…”
“It is the Lakota tradition to give away the first of everything you ‘make’. For example: the planting of our first garden, we gave all the vegetables away by going door-to-door. You make a pair of earrings and gift the first pair you make. In this tradition we are “giving away” our event. But through giving away, we need support and ask for your loving donation to help support this 1st year Summer Solstice Celebration, money goes towards the event to support our presenters/speakers, through lodging and travel, and an honorarium for our local presenters/speakers. All other donations and sponsorships goes towards equipment to maintain and supplies to continue expansion of the Medicine Wheel Living Park.
Wo Pila Thanka”
You can learn more about the Standing Rock Medicine Wheel Living Park and the Summer Solstice Celebration at
The lineup for the event June 22-24 includes Cultural Presentations, Sustainable Living Workshops, Kids Activities, and of course, The Music!
Please do what you can to help bring this Native Reggae Music to Standing Rock this Summer Solstice. Even $1 helps. For your donation, you will receive musical rewards, including the medicine Wheel Music Playlist . Later this year, a compilation cd of all the Medicine Songs of Tchiya Amet will be released. If you make a donation, one of the rewards will enable you to download the playlist. Another reward includes the Medicine Dub tunes, and a third reward includes a Songbook, with the lyrics to the medicine songs, as soon as it becomes available.
Please take a moment to visit the webpages and make a donation towards the transportation costs, and help us to BRING THE MUSIC OF TCHIYA AMET TO STANDING ROCK. And, please remember to share this message with your friends and communities.
When the LAST POETS came to Petaluma, CA on November 14, 2015, KemeTones was there. In fact, I read a poem for the first time in public, at a Poetry workshop/reading for, and presented by the Last Poets.
If you do not know who the LAST POETS are, then take a moment to learn about them. They have videos on youtube…
C
The Last Poets are heralded as the true godfathers of hip hop alongside Gil Scott-Heron. Their brand of politically charged poetry has inspired some of the biggest names in music including Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Curtis Mayfield and Quincy Jones, all the way through to hip hop giants such as Dead Prez, Common, Public Enemy and Kanye West. The three core members of The Last Poets – David Nelson, Gylan Kain and Abiodun Oyewole – came together in 1968. Several members rotated over the years, including founding member Felipe Luciano, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Umar Bin Hassan, Suliaman El-Hadi, and percussionist Nilaja Obabi. The group recorded groundbreaking albums such as The Last Poets in 1970, This Is Madness in 1971, and Chastisment in 1972. The latter fully introduced TheLast Poets’ mix of jazz and poetry, doing away with the minimalist percussion of earlier albums.
The Last Poets enjoyed a huge resurgence in popularity from the early 1990s onwards, appearing alongside the Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest on the 1994 Lollapolooza tour and collaborated with Common on the Kanye West produced track The Corner which was nominated at the Grammy Awards in 2006 for Best Rap Performance. The huge impact made by The Last Poets’ words and music is still strongly felt until today.
The Last Poets is the name for several groups of poets and musicians who arose to black nationalist movement. The name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who believed he was in the last era of poetry before guns would take over. The original users of that name were the trio of Felipe Luciano, Gylan Kain, and David Nelson.
I actually had to overcome many obstacles in order to get there. I had to leave the pyramid at home, as I would be on public transportation most of the way. Nevertheless, my dear Sistah Friend Sabryyah, also the organizer of the event. was able to scoop me up from the bus depot in Petaluma! I felt that it was very important for me to be there.
1) My dad was a big fan of the Last Poets. I vividly recall seeing the album, always at the top of the stack. I still have my dad’s original album!
2) After listening to the interview on REBEL BLUES RADIO with Sistah Friend the night before on KWTF.NET, I KNEW that I had to be there, to give Umar a treatment. He described his injury, and I felt that I could offer relief
When I arrived, the workshop was almost over. I tried to be invisible, however, Abiodun spotted me. I did not know the assignment. I was confused, and thought it was the actual poetry reading, so, I recited a few lines from my poem.
Ah, my poem. I had had weeks to prepare something special. #BlackLIvesMatter, Rape, the Environment, so many topics to illuminate. And yet, on the way to the event, while sitting on the bus, it came to me to write a poem that consisted of lines from my favorite original songs!
I was terrified! I recited a few lines, then panicked and froze. LOL!! Everyone clapped. I said thank you. It was fun! Later I learned however, that the poetry reading was not for several hours. This meant, I would get a second chance!
I went to my table, and began offering free demonstrations and cds for purchase. I met so many wonderful people! There was even a woman that knew me from social media and she was already on my email list. There were several folks that recognized me, and this was so encouraging! Even the guy at the gas station on the ride home recognized me! LOL!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT WAS THERE!
With Monique
They showed a few films.
Next was the actual poetry reading. As it turns out, all the topics that I had considered were all covered. I just went up there and did my thing. I forgot to take off my pinhole glasses, so I looked extra cool. I am waiting for the video clips, and will share as soon as they are available. In the meantime, here is the Poem that I recited.
I’ve got to Be My OWN Institution Institutions from the Days of Yore Have failed Me. Oh What a Tragedy it is, I still look outside myself to find Someone who really loves me for ALL I AM. When I KNOW the Search for the One I Love Begins Within.
Instead, I Look to The One, The One Behind This Feeling The One The One, The One that is The ALL>
Because, there is a Fountain of Love, Flowing Inside of me Flowing with Jah Music, Keeps me Filled with Inspiration
Still this fucked up system, has never worked for us, never been about us, never benefited us.
When I look all around me, I can see, that we all live in conditions, that we have been conditioned to living in a police state. living in a military state.
I must remember that we are the Children of Ra, the Children of Creation. Ra is the Source of Life, and we are His Children. No matter how people look, no matter where they come from. we are children of Ra and are loved equally. We must love one another equally, cuz we’re all family. We’re all Children of Ra, Children of Creation.
There is a science of love, science of love, real love, true love, science of love. to know love, you must first love yourself. to know love, you must first love yourself. before you can love another you must first know yourself. before you can love another, you must first love yourself.
AFTER the Poetry Reading,
THE LAST POETS STOPPED BY FOR
SOUND HEALING DEMONSTRATIONS.
Here is the session with Umar
KemeTones meets Umar of the Last Poets
Umar was so impressed with his session, that he mentioned the treatment, from the stage, and that he felt like dancing. I was astonished!! Gotta get my hands on THAT video clip! This is a clip from the performance that I WAS able to record….
Welcome to “These United States of fuck you mother fucker”
Umar said that he is coming back in December to visit friends, and to get a full KemeTones Treatment. He told me that he had been praying to meet an alternative healer while in California. It is unfortunate that we were not able to connect before he left…
I am juiced because my first poetry reading appearance was for the Last Poets. wow. I pray that my Father, Edward Milton Hambric SR., is pleased with my actions.
I am most grateful for the impact these GREAT POETS have had on my life, and the lives of EVERY Poet, Artist, Musician, Songwriter, Hip Hop Artist, Spoken Word, CONSCIOUS LIGHT BEING ON PLANET EARTH.
Special Thanks to all those that made this event possible: KWTF, SISTA FRIEND, REBEL BLUES RADIO, IFE CULTURAL ARTS, PHOENIX THEATER, ALL VOLUNTEERS, POETS AND ATTENDEES. AND OF COURSE, THE GREAT LAST POETS. The Ancestors, and The Divine.
Los Cuatro Acuerdos (Four Agreements)
Day #34 of the Give Away
The Four Agreements come from Ancient Toltec Wisdom, that has been presented to us through don MIguel Ruiz.
I had the great fpotune of attending a “Beyond Fear” Retreat with don Miguel in 2006. He said it would be good if I were to write a song about the 4 Agreements. It took me awhile, but here it is, well, the chorus anyway. Still working on the verses…) I decided to write in Spanish, as it sounds corny in English…wonder how it sounds in Spanish!
1. Se Impecable con tu palabras (Be impeccable with your words)
2. No hagas suspiciones (Don’t make assumptions)
3. Haz siempre lo maximo que puedas (Always do your best)
4. No te tomes nada como algo personal (Don’t take things personal)
Thee is soooo much info about the Four Agreements! I will post a few starters here….
Esmeraldas Calling: Day #32 of the Music Give Away!
Esmeraldas is a Province, and also, a coastal city in the Province in the Country of Ecuador that was created when a slaveship crashed. The survivors formed the Province of Esmeraldas. This is the birthplace of the Mambo and the home of the Marimba! This song, Esmeraldas Calling: Day #32 of the FREE MY MUSIC Give Away, is a tribute to their freedom. The People there have been holding it down since the crash…
lyrics Barco de Esclavos se Estrelló en Esmeraldas Negrero se Estrelló en Esmeraldas Libertad en Esmeraldas Llevarme a Esmeraldas Bailar Mambo en Esmeraldas Diasporas en Esmeraldas Zambos de Esmeraldas Tocar Marimba de Emeraldas
translation
A Slave Ship Crashed in Esmeraldas A Ship Carrying Black Cargo, Slaves, Blackage, Crashed in Esmeraldas Freedom in Esmeraldas Take Me to Esmeraldas
Dance the Mambo in Esmeraldas DIasporas in Esmeraldas Zambos of Esmeraldas Play the Marimba of Esmeraldas
Here is some information about this place and these People.
Zambos: originally described the People of Esmeraldas, a beautiful and powerful blend of African and Indio (Indigenous) Peoples. It was a term of respect and endearment. When it came to the Europeans, it became a derogatory term, and became SAMBO!!!
Note: This information was released by the Afro-Ecuadorian Cultural Center, posted on Facebook by an Afro-Ecuadorian friend May Perlaza, of which I translated into English.Alonso de Illescas (1528-1585)In 1997, the National Congress of Ecuador declared October 2, the national day of Black Ecuadorians giving formal recognition to Alonso de Illescas (pronounced O-lone-zo Day EE-yes-cahs) a native of Senegal, West Africa. He was brought to Ecuador on a slave ship around the age of 25 and grew up to be a strategist skilled in guerrilla warfare. Behind a fortress built by by an alliance of escaped African slaves and Indigenous people, Illescas and his men fought and turned back many expeditions of Spanish forces. Afro-Ecuadorians remember Alonso de Illescas, the national hero. Alonso was also a diplomat, who on one hand, fought against the Spaniards, and on the other hand, knew how to make friends. He assisted other Blacks who were on shipwrecked slaves ships and nursed them back to health, then recruited them into his revolutionary force against Spanish troops.
Esmeraldas is on the Northwestern coast of Ecuador, a six-hour drive from Quito, the nations capital.
He was also a true governor of what is now Ecuador’s province of Esmeraldas; never subject to bribes, and even rejected the title of governor when many politicians gave up their properties to take on the title of governor of Esmeraldas. Olonso IIlescas trained new leaders starting with his son Alonso Sebastian de Illescas and his grandson Jerónimo (Geronimo) so that they be loving of justice and liberty and keep their territory free of Spanish rule. Although, Esmeraldas was the first province invaded by the Spanish, it was the alliance between Blacks and Indigenous people that kept the Spanish from taking full control.
COMMENTARY: We have heard of Haiti, the Garifuna of Belize, the Quilombos of Brasil, the Maroons of Jamaica, the Seminole of the Southeastern Turtle Island, the Moors. And now, the People of Esmeraldas. There are still pockets of freedom still in existence where ever slavery left its deathly impression. Sure, here in the US, Black People have created many forms of music and dance, however, we always go for the commercial, and lose control over the movement. We let go of TRUE culture and spirituality. The majority of the artists in the USA have FULLY embraced their enslavement, and some even work for the Satanic Forces. We are wrong to assume that financial success IS success. It is only a piece of true success. The People of Esmeraldas have created a space in my heart, because they have held onto their culture. Perhaps due to racism, or isolation due to geographical location, they did not go through integration as we did here in the US. Just another observation on ways we have adapted to slavery and the conditions and effects of slavery on our lives.They have racism there for sure, but it is different than it is over here at least these days. Now, it is OUR turn to get shot for being Black….
NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE
KNOW JUSTICE, KNOW PEACE,
KNOW THE TRUTH AND
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE.
FREE YOURSELVES FROM MENTAL SLAVERY.
eyes 2 die 4: Day #24 of the 40 Day FREE MY MUSIC Give Away
Good Rising! Welcome to day #24!
I have not written that many love songs. I had so much to learn about love, mostly about Self Love. I wrote this song back when my marriage of 19.5 years began to actually crumble. It was so difficult, because I know we still had/have love for one another. However due to my decades of undiagnosed PTSD, see Blue Lotus Speaks blog, living with someone in this state of consciousness eventually grows unbearable. Unfortunately,, once the healing process began, and I gradually came into the knowledge of my true self, as I began the journey towards self realization, sovereignty, and enlightenment, as the Higher Calling grew louder and louder, and my desire to serve the Most High with my music and sound healing practice became more and more imperative, as I began to move about more like a priestess, began to live more like a Goddess, growing closer to the Divine, it was obvious that we could not continue living as husband and wife. I could no longer be controlled, never really enjoyed being dominated either. Although I was pretty good at it.
It is sad when the Love of Self and Love for the Divine is what tears relationships apart, but that is what happens sometimes…
As for the instrumentation, piano and percussion. I suppose this would be classifies as Salsa. garageband and Piano is out of tune, just like it was at our early home together, on 43rd street in Hyde Park in Austin, TX!!!
Rose Ceremony Medicine for Strength: WAYA EQUONI PEJUTA
You Can Listen to Natural Woman Song while you read about the Ceremony of the Rose…which is song for Day #04 of the FREE MY MUSIC GIVE AWAY!!!!! you can still sign up here to receive the song each day in your inbox…. 40 DAY FREE MY MUSIC GIVE AWAY
from Star Medicine, Naive American Path to Emotional Healing.
by Wolf Moondance
Illustrated by JIm Sharpe and Sky Starhawk
Tools: Ground on which to plant a rose bush; rose food; peat moss; cornmeal; tobacco; shovel;your smudge bowl, sweet grass and sage; matches; journal and pen.
The Ceremony of the red rose is an honoring of the self, The red rose stands for your Strength. The ceremony is done to celebrate it. The best time for planting the rose is in the Spring–the day after a Full Moon.
1. The Opening of the self. Sit with your journal at the beginning of the day, preferably at sunrise, but definitely before 10:00 am. The first part of the ceremony is the opening of the self. Allow yourself to look at your weaknesses and list them. They represent the thorns on the rose. They are the clues that you are acting out the emotions of fear, sadness, anger or disgust. It is the rose’s way of protecting itself. It is your way of destroying your human connection to spirit by protecting yourself, by allowing yourself to be a thorn. You are pushing yourself away instead of pulling yourself towards.
2. Honor the Ground. Choose a piece of ground in which to plant the rose bush–a park, your own yard or someone else’s — where it can remain an honor, an achievement. Honor the ground by placing tobacco and cornmeal, and smudging the ground in the area where the hole will be dug to plant the rose bush.
3. The purchasing and the bringing of the plant. It is important to know a little bit about roses, so go to a nursery to purchase the rose bush and asks questions. Read the instructions and pay attention to what the rose expert tells you to do. Part of gathering Strength is understanding and having knowledge.
Here are the flowers that I gathered for the ceremony. I also got some herbs like Oregano, Rec Sage, White Sage, Strawberries. You know the Cherokee legend of First Man and First Woman? Will post that next time. For now, just know that when they had an argument, and First Woman ran off, everywhere her tears fell a strawberry grew. This is how First Man found her. To me, Strawberries represent HEALED RELATIONSHIPS.
4. The opening of the hole.
The rose represents the male, and the hole represents the female. You need to re-unite the rose with the earth. From there you will grow your strength.
Start in the east with prayer and dig a hole in the ground. When you have achieved a hole of the right depth for planting the rose bush (by reading the instructions), place cornmeal in the hole and plant food for the rose. Then place the fresh rose bush in the hole and put in your prayers for Strength by taking a pinch of tobacco and holding it to your heart, making your prayer, and placing the tobacco in the ground. Fill in the area around the rose, packing it loosely with peat moss and dirt. Cover the hole but do not press down on it. Pressing is anger. Just cover the hole lightly and loosely. After you have covered the hole, give it water and watch your Strength grow.
5. First Bloom.
When your rose bush puts out its first bloom, look into the rose. Spend time around your rose bush, go to your rose bush to pray; go to your rose bush to dance.
If you cannot get to a place where you can plant a rose bush, do this ceremony in your mind. Go into your mind, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and see the rose bush in front of you. Go there in your spirit and be there with the rose. One of the most beautiful things in shamanism is that you can have both the earth and the spirit world. You can go both places and become enriched.
AHO!
You can learn more about Waya Equoni Pejuta Medicine Wheel at these locations:
This is the way we open the Medicine Wheel at Waya Equoni Pejuta Medicine Wheel.
We Always Give Thanks…..
Activate the Element of Fire: Candle, and if time permits, we light a fire.
Activate the Element of Air: We Sage the dancing ground, the Medicine Wheel, and all participants.
Activate the Element of Earth: we offer tobacco and corn meal to the 4 directions. If time permits, we also make a food offering, sweet treat, meal, or fruit or vegetable.
Activate the Element of Water: We Water the Medicine Wheel (all of her prayers) and allow the water to nourish the Cherry tree during the ceremony. I will post more about the Cherry tree in the near future.
Activate the Element of Sound with our prayers, chants, and songs, We also drum, and dance.
You can learn more about the Waya Equoni Pejuta Medicine Wheel here:
C
