Aboriginal Ceremony

Australia has been a mind, body and spirit healer. That says a lot considering I found myself completely peaceful, happy and well. After being in this land for a few weeks, I found that it is possible to become even more at peace, happy and well. I attended an Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony which entailed an indigenous man chanting to the mother (earth) and to all gods. They are all-accepting of any religion attending their ceremonies because even though people try to differentiate themselves from one another, we are all as one. According to their beliefs (which are aligned with mine as well), everything comes from the same energy source and we are all just temporarily sharing the world together. Therefore we must treat the earth like it is our body, with respect and love and care. We must treat each other like they are ourselves, because they are. We all held hands and chanted “let there be peace, let there be hope, let there be love, let there be unity” over and over as we stomped around in a giant circle around a smoking fire. The man talked to us about how the sun and fire are the same energy and the earth we stand on is the same as the air. They just take on different physical forms. At the end, we went to the fire and healed our souls in the smoke. Instead of just following along robotically, I felt empowered as I meant the words I was chanting to our mother earth. It felt different than any other religious or spiritual gathering I’ve been to. It felt real.

Lismore has one of the largest indigenous population in Australia, and there is a large influence on the community, especially in Nimbin. They call it the capital of an “alternative lifestyle.” (It is heavily influenced by natural substances… … )