In memory of Muriel Ward and Una Bundy
I was very inspired when I
saw my teacher thumbing through her copy of the Earth Pathways Diary 2011. It
looked like an expensive gleaming jewel enticing me to look inside. To anyone
who was the slightest bit arty, creative or perhaps someone with just a mere whiff
of earth connection would be immediately captivated by its pages. I managed to
catch a glimpse of the title and web address and from that point I was smitten!
I heard that someone
somewhere had found the last ever copy of the Earth Pathways Diary for 2011. It
was being auctioned and I wanted it. So I put in a bid. Of course I wanted to
look inside and feast on the art work and words that adorned its pages. I also
saw this as an opportunity to support a fantastic charity in memory of my grandmother
Muriel Ward. Muriel passed away in November 2010 very sadly with dementia. She
was 94 years old.
My grandmothers were like
chalk and cheese, ying and yang. Una, or Granty, was my Dad’s mother, the granny
that everyone would like. She was warm, cuddly, caring, she told us stories and
saw us regularly. Muriel was my Mum’s mother who was the exact opposite. She
was strict, scary, wooden and cold. Apparently she was not the most loving and nurturing
mother either. She didn’t enjoy seeing us and we grew up knowing her favourite
catch phrase, “Children should be seen and not heard!” However we were blessed
with seeing both sets of grandparents. As we developed and flourished we built
the relationships we needed with each of them.
On my own journey of self
discovery I am beginning to understand that we choose our parents for a reason
before we are conceived and then once born into this world we suffer spiritual
amnesia and forget! There are things that we know we need to learn from our mothers
and fathers and of course grandparents. As we learn and grown we learn exactly
what we need from our close and not so close family members.
I decided that I wanted to
celebrate Muriel’s stern, vigorous and healthy life before she was diagnosed
with dementia. She and my grandfather took pride in their garden and allotment
which we used to visit while growing up. To be honest the happiest time we had
were probably at Christmas doing little gymnastic displays in their lounge or
in the garden playing croquet in the summer. So I wanted to place my winning
bid as a donation to the Earth Pathways Diary as it is a fantastic celebration
of creative life inspiring the earthy enterprise of nurturing and loving new
life with the Seed Fund.
Every quarter I meet up with
a Women’s Group. We are ladies of all ages from 8 to 60 who celebrate the beauty
of the feminine and Grandmother Moon. In January we were invited to think about
‘Walking Grandmother’s Path’ and what that means to us. We all took it in turn telling stories and recalled
memories of our grandmothers and mothers. We spoke about what they gave us,
through example and through personal experiences with them. Here are a couple
of story by my mum, Barbara, Muriel’s daughter. She is telling these story to
my son Sam, aged 10, for his home work project.
IMPERFECT
STORM
Once a week your great aunts, Dee and Rosie, and I had a
bath! Yes, only once a week. I don't remember how old we were, perhaps about 6
and 8. We used to play with plastic cups and model boats and make harbours and
waterfalls with our legs. It was fun.
And then one evening we decided to start a storm for the
model boats, sliding together up and down in the bath, creating first little
waves and then bigger waves and finally tsunami waves. The boats were tossing
about. Some were sinking. Some were even disappearing over the side of the
bath.
We were laughing so much, we didn't notice the sudden
arrival of your Great Grandma with a face like thunder. She was very, very
angry. Water from our storm had been sloshing over the top of the bath and
gradually dripping down into the kitchen below. What a mess! We were all slapped
and sent to bed without any supper. The next day we saw a big wet mark on the
ceiling in the kitchen.
HOW
NOT TO RIDE A BIKE
Behind our house in Sutton
Common Road was a park, where I
used to play when I was your age. Sometimes I would meet friends near the bowling
green to race our bikes. The path to
the bowling green
was up a steep slope and ideal as a track to race down.
One afternoon during the summer holidays we were racing our
bikes and I swapped mine with a friend. What a fool I was! Three or four of us
lined up at the start and, when someone shouted Go!, off we raced. But I
had problems. The saddle was too high! And the pedals were too far away! And
the path was too steep! And the bike had a life of its own!
Faster and faster I went, trying desperately to steer. I was
soon in the lead but couldn't stop. At the end of the path was a wire fence and
the car park. I was in big trouble. The only solution was to dive into the
bushes at the side of the path.
The bike won the race, but I disappeared! Eventually, I
crawled out covered in leaves, thorns, bruises and blood dripping from both
knees. Great Grandma was very, very angry yet again!
Through
the stories of our Women’s Group emerged a pattern that perhaps is common
with all women - that we have within us a deep well of strength and
perseverance that sees us through all hardship and difficulties.
My name is Jess Bundy. I’m a
funny Mummy and busy professional working Mum. I am studying Cross Cultural and
Rainbow Shamanism and am proud to be a Munay-ki graduate and Steward of
the Earth. Along my personal healing journey I recognise that whether we like
our relations or not we are related to all things. I would like to remember all
our relations in these turbulent and shifting times by saying this prayer:
Mitakuye Oyasin
(All our relations)
I honor you in this circle of life with me today.
I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you
in this prayer....
To the Creator, for the ultimate gift of life, I
thank you.
To the mineral nation that has built and maintained
my bones and all foundations of life experience, I thank you.
To the plant nation that sustains my organs and body
and gives me healing herbs for sickness, I thank you.
To the animal nation that feeds me from your own
flesh and offers your loyal companionship in this walk of life, I thank you.
To the human nation that shares my path as a soul
upon the sacred wheel of Earthly life, I thank you.
To the Spirit nation that guides me invisibly through
the ups and downs of life and for carrying the torch of light through the Ages,
I thank you.
To the Four Winds of Change and Growth, I thank you.
You are all my relations, my relatives, without whom
I would not live.
We are in the circle of life together, co-existing,
co-dependent, co-creating our destiny.
One, not more important than the other.
One nation evolving from the other and yet each
dependent upon the one above and the one below.
All of us a part of the Great Mystery.
Thank you for this Life.
