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Melting Ice in Vermont
The Man Who Looks Like His Uncle
by Joshua Singer
published in The Bridge on December 6, 2007 - posted here with
permission
Angaangaq, an Inuit elder and shaman from Greenland, recently
visited Montpelier to share his wisdom and gifts with our community.
"The Man Who Looks Like His Uncle," as his name translates
gave a presentation at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library as part of
the Inuit series, let story-telling and healing circles, a sunrise
fire and water ceremony, and an all-day intensive workshop.
He is known as Uncle to the many people on the five continents
to which his work has taken him. I was one of what seemed to
be around 70 people honored to attend the workshop, entitled
"Melting the Ice in the Heart of Man," which he gave
at Bethany Church on Friday, November 30, 2007. We created a
"healing circle" which I know will have future benefits
in our community and beyond.
As I review this special day in my mind and heart amidst this
holiday season, I can't help but think of Santa Claus coming
from the North Pole to bring joy to the children of the world.
The gift that Uncle is bringing is a message of necessary courageous
change that must occur within each of us in order to face the
current challenges of our society and planet. His wisdom and
teaching is that this change cannot happen until "the ice
in the heart of man is melted." And this is what this strong-statured,
hunter and drum-carrying shaman elder from a small village in
the land of melting ice is setting out to do. I believe he has
succeeded with the group of courageous people in the basement
of Bethany Church the other day, and the others he has touched
during his events in Montpelier and throughout the world.
Angaangaq greeted each of us with a hug, and as his soft-hearted
deep voice said "A-ho" in my ear, I felt like he was
recognizing that we are brothers and sharing a sacred time together.
Uncle was an extraordinary example to me of how to interact with
our fellow human beings. Ask another who was honored to meet
him and you'll hear the same. He showed us that the separateness
from each other that we may deeply feel, "the ice within
our hearts," does not have to be there if we so choose.
This separateness from each other and the natural world may lead
us to make individual choices that are not in the best interest
of the whole.
One lesson that I learned from Uncle is that in order to "melt
the ice in our hearts" and truly understand and trust another,
we must first trust ourselves fully. He led an exercise where
we were to look into the surrounding people's eyes, without words,
and stay there in connection. The challenge was to trust yourself
completely in order to engage another in this way, without fear,
threat, or judgement of any sort. This was powerful for me and
showed me more about myself.
Uncle shared some of his medicine with us, which, among other
gifts he has received, consisted of the tooth of a polar bear,
the talon of a horned owl, and the tail bone of a blue whale.
He shared the 150-year-old peace pipe that was given to him and
invited us to impart a part of ourselves to it so that he can
carry each of us wherever he goes. And for the final three hours
of the workshop, Angaangaq gave individual healings to around
a dozen people, while the rest of us supported his work by sitting
in a healing circle. We observed the medicine he used to aid
each person in his or her healing process -- his wind drum, his
beautiful song and words of wisdom, his touch, his eyes, his
heart. I can only imagine the inner experience of those dozen
people who received such loving attention and powerful intention
from this shaman and the many surrounding supportive people.
In concluding our time together, Uncle came to each of us
around the circle with his drum and his song in native language.
As he enveloped me, face to face, his drum carried his voice
to my ear, and his hand lovingly touched my face. Angaangaq gave
each of us the real experience and loss of separateness that
must occur to overcome the challenges that this world currently
faces. I deeply hope that the ice in our hearts can melt before
that in the ice-caps of Uncle's homeland. A-Ho!
Joshua Singer is a licensed acupuncturist in Montpelier,
Vermont
A note by Mary Hooper, Mayor of Montpelier:
I was moved by the presence of this man. Angaangaq's world in
Greenland stands on the edge of the Stone Age, and in this country
we stand on the edge of the Oil Age. We can learn much from the
wise people of the North. When we met, Uncle extended the greetings
of the mayor of Sao Paulo, Brazil, whom he quoted as saying that
a visit from Angaangaq would help make the world smaller. Mayor
Kassab is right; if we pay attention to the teachings of Uncle
we will have a smaller world in the sense that we will be better
connected and able to understand and care for ourselves and each
other.
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