Thoughts on Native Americans, and tree spirits

Last week we read a few articles on Native American World view. This got me thinking about my world view and it is pretty similar. It was either Hughes or Fixico who discussed that the Earth's water is like the "Blood of the Mother". I could not agree more, and I am a big mama's boy. Now I like to think of the Mother earth as my mother. When I went to Maymont I laid in the grass and pretended that I was being cradled by the earth. That sounds really hokie but I don't really care. I could not help but feel that I was more in tune with earth. I have always believed that the universe works because of the energy that the various things within it give off. I really feel that we are connected that way. I mean I get the same sense of hunger as the Hawk I saw a couple of weeks ago.
as I reflect on the last two weeks I have a few things to say. I feel really honored to have Dr. Kissle-ito as a teacher. I feel that she has so much to teach, I mean, next week she is bringing me books on Buddhism to help me try to find a set of beliefs I feel comfortable with. How cool is that? I have always felt spiritual and green, and instead of this class showing me how wrong I am about that. It is teaching me to better understand the world. I am going to have a hard time finding a photo that properly says how I feel.
I found one. The picture to the right is of Kodama in a tree that is drawn by the 18th century scholar Toriyama Sekien. The reason I choose to reflect with this image is because of the significance of the Kodama. They live in trees and bring good fortune to the forests and the creatures that inhabit it. This to me is symbolic of the good fortune that we need to think about when we cut down trees. The good fortune that we are loosing because we do not honor the forests, and we do not stay in balance with the universe. I felt that this was something we could all take a moment to think about