Spring for Hope

The Sacred Hoop by Yvette Neshi Lokotz

Life is all about change — everything in our life changes. Energy is constantly flowing and changing. When we consider nature, the most apparent changes are each of the seasons. We can see how change is a common thread between the seasons and they show us the thread of change through all things.

On the Native American Medicine Wheel, each season: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter are in the cross quarters, the crosswinds. This placement is one of continual change. These changes' wind or spirit can be subtle, or they can be like downdrafts and turbulent.

I live in Wisconsin. Our change of seasons is very dramatic. There is no subtleness found in tornados, blizzards, autumn leave colors, and hot, humid weather. There can be beauty within these dramatic changes, even though the changes can be experienced with some uncomfortableness and pain.

The Spring Equinox is about change, new beginnings, dawn, balance, and hope. We begin to work toward the energy of the Equinox at the energy of the Solstice. At the Winter Solstice, many of us ponder our recent past. We weed out items we want to release and not take with us into the New Year. We begin to dream about what we want in our lives in the coming year. This planning is much like when gardeners begin to plant their gardens and select what to grow in the Spring.

Our dreaming is preparing the soil, the soil of our life, for what we want to create. When the ground is thawed and warmed up, we begin to turn the soil to start planting the seeds of our dreams. We have hope that our seeds will germinate and start to sprout in the Spring. For many years, I have written about the Equinoxes and Solstices. This year is a bit different for me. I am just now realizing what needs to be released. I am in grief. My mourning for my Mom does take my energy. With her death in November, then my mother-in-law's death in December, our focus was on them and not on the Solstice.

The release of our mothers left a huge void. Neither Paul nor I took time to recognize the release or set the intention for what to create in the new. We are just finishing up dispersing their belongings, finalizing financial records, and physically cleaning the rooms in which my mother lived.

Death doesn't mean an abrupt ending of energy. A person's energy builds up to complete the physical life and their energy remains with us for some time afterwards as we move the physical and mental remnants of their lives to a conclusion.

We are regaining our focus and our energy allocation to our own life. The release is slowly changing how our energies are flowing. This change is much like the change of seasons — the ebb and flow of change.

As I write this magazine article, I realize that Paul and I haven't dreamed about what we would like to plant, create, to sprout in the Spring.

It is hard to make big decisions right now. Okay, many times, it is hard to make even simple decisions; we are doing the basics. As we rest and rebuild our emotional strength, we will begin to dream and to hope for the kind of 2021 we would like to experience.

I am allowing the space to be dormant for a time, much like a farmer will allow a field to lay fallow for a while so that the soil can rejuvenate. Another word comes to mind, and that is “recalibrate”. Or perhaps it is a pregnant pause as we wait for the old life to complete its cycle and we are in the gestation of the new.

We need time to adjust to this different way of being. Quietness is required to feel and hear what is different. Only then can we decide what we will keep, what to adapt, what to release, and what to exchange.

I am also reminded to pay attention, to have an awareness, to the details regarding the changes, the emotions that flow through, the thoughts that come and go, and even the quietness. All of these items are about my life lessons, what I remembered, and what I learned. This time of quietness is to integrate all the change and experience my soul growth.

It takes courage to stand in the quiet, in that fallow field of integration. I say it takes courage and even self-discipline to hold still rather than rushing forward to avoid memories and mourning.

I believe it is in the stillness that there is still a subtle movement, the constant flow of energy, where hope can reside.

The Spring Equinox holds the energy of change and hope. We all can tap into that gift the Creator provides to us and how it flows through Grandmother Earth. She expresses the gift for us.

If you find yourself wondering about this energy of change and hope, I suggest being still and quiet to sense the gift Grandmother Earth holds for us. Spring can hold the energy of hope for all of us.

Bama Mine (Potawatomi for Until We See Each Other Again), Neshi

Yvette Neshi Lokotz A tribal member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, with Ho-Chunk Nation and Yaqui Nation descent, she was raised in the traditions of Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi cultures. Neshi is a publisher, drum maker, and a Medicine Dress Dancer. Neshi is the C.E.O. of Star Nations Organization, which includes Star Nations Publishing, Star Nations Magazine, Star Nations Live Stream, and Star Nations Academy. She holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in Management and Organizational Behavior. starnationspublishing@gmail.com | fb: @StarNationsOrganization