Spirituality, dance, and the pipe ceremony.

By Aelred Edmunds in All Sorts

Aelred anticipates the Dunedin Diversity Dance Marathon.

I am writing this a week out from the Dunedin Diversity Dance Marathon. You may have seen some of the publicity for it. I have been invited to provide an opening ceremony and blessing for this event.

What is the Dance Marathon? "The Dance Marathon is a 12-hour dance event that provides an opportunity to challenge yourself, challenge your friends, experience the diversity of our Dunedin community, get entertained by some incredible performers and raise some money for awesome local charities.... We're hoping that the dancers will be young, old, middle-aged, tall, short, pointy, excellent dancers, terrible dancers, able-bodied, differently-abled, Pakeha, Maori...There'll be Salsa / Zumba / Belly / Bollywood / Hip Hop / Ceroc / Line Dancing & Ethnic Dance..."

I have been asked to conduct the Native American Pipe Ceremony - a spiritual activity - as the opening ceremony. You might ask how this could be appropriate. I am happy to meet the request because while it is certainly not a religious event, it does fit with contemporary understandings of the word "spirituality." Fun is spiritual. Human creativity - music and dance - is spiritual. There is definitely something of ritual involved in all forms of dance, and rituals can be profoundly spiritual in their impact, even where they are not specifically religious.

Spirit is not the "property" of Christianity. The Holy Spirit ranges freely beyond the boundaries of Christian institutions. We might be very surprised by where She is sometimes found!

The event itself is "earthy." Dancing is not a head thing: it is literally a body thing. So is the ceremony of the Sacred Pipe. It grew out of the earth centuries ago as it was gifted to the People by White Buffalo Woman. It's a great story, and you could easily "Google" it if you want to find out more. Further, the pipestone from which the Pipe is made is mined by traditional methods, and is rich red in colour. It is quite beautiful to see and touch. Native American people see this sacred red stone as the blood of Mother Earth, and as the blood of the people. Our own elements of the Eucharist also come literally from the earth - bread and wine. Wine could easily be seen as in some way the blood of the Earth. We maybe often forget just how "earthy" Jesus himself was. His own Jewish tradition was very "earthy" indeed. Actually, one of the main reasons why I have taken a Native American teacher, an exponent of the Sacred Pipe, is that I recognise a personal need to be more "earthy" or "grounded" in my Christian way. This more earth-based tradition can help me, as it has helped others.

My Native American teacher knows about my Pipe ceremonies in Dunedin, and is very open and encouraging.

There is an ancient Christian tradition which portrays the Blessed as caught up in a great and ecastatic Circle Dance. Well, at the earthly level we will also be having a great Circle Dance - as part of the Pipe ceremony.

--Aelred Edmunds

This item first appeared as a Connections article in the Parish weekly bulletin, February 21, 2011.