The Joik of Beaivi

May we respect
the Mother,
May we vibrate
in harmony.
May we give thanks
and not take
our blessings for granted.
May we respect Her
and protect Her.
Oh, Mother Earth,
May Your Heartbeat
call home those
who are lost to Your Ways.
And in unity,
may we praise You
because You cherish, nourish
and nurture us
with the Energy of Pure Love.

“Nature is everything for us because we think we belong to Mother Earth,”

“It is not as with Western European thinking

that the earth belongs to us,
to the human beings.

We think that we belong to the earth
like the animals and the plants and everything.”

Gunnel Heligfjell, Sami writer,artist and teacher  

May the light of the sun
cast her blessings upon you.
May the joik from the forest
give you courage and hope.
May the reindeer lead you home.

I am the prayer heard,
the Mother of the Sami.
My offspring know who I am.
May the wind bring you a sign
you will understand it is I
who is near. It is I, your Mother,
who will return the reindeer,
who will bring your joik,
created in sorrow
to rise instead as joy tomorrow.

My calling, as I have come to think of it, to the Sami was heard first as a young girl. I had information from my Swedish mother, a magazine with pictures which created in me a shaman-like journey (children journey so easily). I had a reindeer pouch created by the Sami, lovingly decorated. Now that I am an adult, I see what I can do to repay the Sami who were my childhood friends and who have taught me that I am a shaman. I feel the fresh-fallen snow and the spirits of the forests are within my soul. Now, with a prayer, I offer this blog to keep the beautiful Sami people alive. Maderaahka, let them be nourished by a sun-blessed land. May the tall trees return and the people flourish. May the reindeer find the lichen returned. May all that was lost be found.