Quotes from the book “Grandmothers Counsel the World“, Carol Schaefer

Prophecies and Visions

„Time is of the essence“, believes Mayan Grandmother Flordemayo. “During this time, it is essential that we move as quickly as light into the Light. Otherwise, the higher and higher spiritual vibrations within this short cycle could leave many behind… We must learn how to wake up and stay awake during these dark and changing times.”
„What I see today in the world“, says Grandmother Clara, „is a lot of darkness and a few points of light trying to illuminate this path, so that we can bring health to this Mother Earth and heal the wounds She is suffering from, wounds made by ignorant men, ignorant oft he truth oft he Light and oft he Creator. The message from the Beings of the Stars is that it is necessary for everyone to open their hearts to the truth of the Spirit, of the Spirit World, as it is this truth that will lead us to our salvation.”
„The past is not a burden,“ Rita says. “It is a scaffold which has brought us to this day. With this understanding, we are free to be who we are. We create our lives out of our past and out of the present. The quicker way to heal is by going forward, however- not by spending a great amount of time and energy dwelling on the past. We are our ancestors when we heal ourselves. We also heal our ancestors, our grandmothers, our grandfathers, and our children. When we heal ourselves, we also heal our Mother Earth, and we heal future generations.”
„If we pray 100 percent in that moment, we can move the consciousness of humanity”, says Flordemayo. “We must pray to the spirit of the heavens and the Earth, the spirit of the sacred waters, the spirit of our mother Earth. We must pray to the spirit of humanity to acknowledge each other as brother and sister, as nations of people that breathe the same air, as nations of people who are being fed by the spirit of the ancestors of the sacred waters. If we do not acknowledge this, we will lose our way. So I pray for that moment. I pray to be totally present without ego, with total passion, with total love to Spirit, because it is the only way.”

The power of women´s wisdom

Clara Shinobu Iura of the Amazon. But first we must learn again to believe in and value ourselves and not allow negativity to take hold of us in our daily lives. “In these outrageous times we live in,” she says, “where killing almost seems natural, dark spirits are ready to go to any negative places in order to keep out the light.”
Grandmother Clara used to be ashamed of her powers as a woman. She has since learned through her struggles that each woman and man has a inner gift and a mission, even though they may not be aware of what it is. “We all have the capacity to do many things,” she says, ”especially when we open our hearts.”
„It is my hope that the Grandmothers Council will have a mushroom effect throughout the world“, says Grandmother Agnes. “That women will start circling up, come together, and bond together, to help one another be better and stand tall with their voices, to say they’ve had enough of oppression. It is my hope that they will form matriarchal bridges with each other and be a voice again for our Mother Earth and Her children.”

Sacred Relations

„We are all naturally part of the great whole of which only certain parts are visible, Grandmother Bernadette explains, so that our reality is not just made up by what can be seen, but actually „dives deep into the sacred universe, into the unity and dynamism of the seen and unseen.”
„When the male and female energies within are in balance, our intimate relationship naturally flourishes, and any children created from that union are blessed from conception. We must not look to what we are getting or not getting from our partner, but look to ourselves for our answers to what we need, Flordemayo says. The only person who can really give you everything that you need from any relationship is yourself. “Go back to yourself and see what you are going to do for yourself first,” she says. “Balancing marriage, children, work, home, and self is an incredible journey. Still, the only one you can really answer to is yourself.”
“We can learn to love people for who they are, without trying to change them, by centering ourselves in the present moment. Being in the resent keeps us out of past and future judgments about ourselves and others.”
„They need to believe that there are going to be better days in the future, that they can create them. They need to learn how to establish a better life, not only for their family’s sake,” Grandmother Rita says, “but for the sake of their own blessed children and their grandchildren to come that don’t have faces yet.”
“We don’t accept their ways, we don’t listen to them. We have to learn to listen to our children, what they need, what they want, instead of telling them they are wrong all the time.” Because we don’t listen, we don’t know what it is they really want, she says. Not listening is why we are confused today about the direction our children are heading. Worse, we don’t even listen to ourselves.

Mother Earth

„Our planet is sick from the never-ending ravages of people, pollution, deforestation, abusive power, jealousy, and hatred“, Grandmother Bernadette says. „As the earth increasingly suffers, we have become more and more disoriented and have lost our way.“
Horrific wars have transformed people, destroying what is human and traumatizing generations to come. Such violence unleashes famine, poverty, and diseases and causes the death of ideas and culture. Children are orphaned and families forever separated. The web of destruction has been as intricately woven as the web of life.”
We are all connected to all things, the Grandmothers remind us. What we do to the Earth and to the inhabitants of the Earth, we do to ourselves. Some of our own nobility of spirit is lost when we are not touched to the core by senseless, selfish exploitation of nature’s beauty.
„Humanity must enter a reconciliation with nature if we wish to create a new reality, a new alliance”, Grandmother Bernadette says. “We must learn the essential and mysterious language of nature that is always speaking to us, the language the great initiates have always understood.”
Change will not be created by passing laws or developing technology, the Grandmothers say. What needs to be developed is a deeper, more personal sense of connection with the Earth and our place on it. One way to create a deeper and more personal sense of connection is by holding rituals, ceremonies, and festivals.

Exploitation and Oppression

„It is easy to make war“, Grandmother Beatrice says. “Jealousy, greed, and bad feelings about people of other colors are difficult feelings to get rid of. To have peace is a great struggle. We believe that to have peace we must choose to have our thoughts be truthful and good.”
„The people of the future will not be like the people of today, who only believe in logic and the reign of numbers and capital,“ Grandmother Bernadette says. “The future will go to those who have the understanding that the net worth of tomorrow’s society resides in respect and consideration for the Other. With that understanding there can be no oppression.”
„So much destruction, disaster, and hatred stems from selfishness,“ Grandmother Tsering says. “Tibetans are brought up to daily think of another person’s needs before our own. This way of thinking is the best training for the mind. Having a sound and clear mind is the most important factor in benefiting others. When we all put others first before self, we will finally achieve peace, harmony, and love. And we will naturally have compassion for ourselves.”
„Peace is like a seed that you put into the Earth“, Grandmother Maria Alice says. “If you take care of it, it will grow and give flowers. I believe that the children should water this seed a lot, and their caretakers must make certain the idea of peace is well planted in their hearts. The children, just as we all do, must believe that the world will bring something good for you.”

Traditional Medicine, Nature´s Resources

„It is so important to know that each sick person is a unique case,“ Grandmother Maria Alice says. “Traditional medicine is not like modern, where the same treatment is given to everybody. We heal in an integrated manner. Bodies may be sick in a similar way, but no two people have the same spirit so no two people can be treated in the same way.”
„We all have the power to redefine our past,“ Grandmother Rita says. “We must give ourselves permission to define ourselves beyond our history. It is important to acknowledge that we are alive and well, and that the past has taken us to a good place. The present is ours. Our past has brought us to the threshold of the present moment. With that understanding real healing begins.”
„Humanity, all of us, have forgotten the power of the spirit of the sacred plants,“ Grandmother Flordemayo says. “We have plants on our planet for everything that ails us, but we are too busy to honor that.”
„Patents were invented by those who are in competition”, Maria Alice explains. “This is not part of our tradition. This knowledge does not belong to anyone. It belongs to all generations, past and future. We want the knowledge of our medicine to be written down and preserved but never patented. We have very sacred ways of preparing medicine, which is not by machines. Because our medicine always has a prayer inside, it heals on different levels.”

Prayers, Ceremonies and Rituals

„Prayer is the greatest thing I have as I walk upon this Earth“, Grandmother Agnes says. “I am nothing without the Creator. When you have the Creator with you, you have the force behind you, and negativity doesn’t take over you, even in the dreamtime. You can’t change even your children except through prayer. Prayer is a duty that has been handed down from the Ancient Ones that went before us.”
„Holy and sacred is prayer“, says her sister, Grandmother Beatrice. “When someone prays, you pray along with them. We are all equal”, she says. „When I listen to everyone’s concerns, I sit with them and pray as they talk about what concerns them. I pray the Creator answers their prayers. Prayer is the main thing in my life. The only way to survive is through prayer. We can do many things, talk about many things, but if we don’t have that prayer, we will never succeed.”
Great Master of the Universe, we ask of You to listen to our prayers and to guard over Your children who are suffering and who are in misery. Everywhere the world cries. Man has lost all good sense. We have forgotten that we are brothers and sisters.

We have offended Your laws.

Creator All Powerful, have pity on us. Dissipate the darkness and open the door to our hearts to the light of life, to the spiritual light.

In one voice, grandmothers from five continents have here united. We prostrate ourselves at Your feet, to all the life force of nature.

We implore Your indulgence. We have polluted nature, destroyed all the spaces You have created with love and peace.

We beg You, teach us to love one another and to forgive, so that we may find love.

Spirits of the sun, of the moon, of the stars, of the seas, of the mountains, of the Earth, of forests, of air, of thunder, of water, of the spirit of fire, and of our ancestors- help us. Watch over our Earth, watch over our progeny. Awaken in our hearts tolerance and unity. Protect us from epidemics, from sickness, from natural catastrophes- signs of Your anger.

Thank You, Lord, for having protected us up to this day, and thank You for having brought us together. May Your sacred hand bless our work and may peace reign in the world. Glory on You.