Each year, my family plants a muvieri, or prayer arrow, on New Year’s Day. The tradition was inspired by my father’s 40+ year work with the Huichol, or Wixárika, an indigenous people of the Sierra Madre Occidental range in Mexico. In the Huichol tradition, the muvieri, an arrow of carved wood, wrapped in colored yarn, and topped with feathers, is used for healing and during shamanic ceremonies. Each January first, wherever we are, we gather together and take turns holding the muvieri to our hearts, giving thanks for the blessings of the year past, and planting our intentions and prayers for the year ahead. Accompanied by drumming — a heartbeat reminder of our connection to Mother Earth and all beings — one of us then plants the arrow into the ground, most often at a beach along the water’s edge, sometimes in a mountain stream, occasionally in newly fallen snow. This year, my prayer included this:
“Let me be of service to a healthier, happier, more peaceful, just, and sustainable world; let me know that as a mother and aunt, I have done everything possible to propel this vision, and to model a life of inspired purpose and passion.
And so it is that as this new year comes to be, I am so very grateful and excited to be launching Momfluentials with my sister Nicole, and with my tribe of sisters who I know will come to be a part of this journey. Why? Because together, I know we can be the difference we need.
Small Changes Yield Big Results
Many mothers report that they feel unseen and unacknowledged, and yet, moms wield some of the greatest power that is: that of the mother bear doing everything she can to protect her cubs! Add to that our power as role models and a market force and together, we are unstoppable. Moms, let’s do this! We may feel powerless at times, tired, worried, frustrated by conflicting news reports, saddened by divisions within our communities and regions of the world but every little step we take makes an impact.
From how we flex our purchasing power to how we vote and how we talk to our children about families with ideas different than our own, we are planting seeds for the future world in which our children will live. Time to reach across borders, aisles, colors, religions, countries, counties, and news feeds and figure out how protect our shared environment and all the children of the world.
