I don’t often speak about my pro bono work; it’s just something that happens without fanfare. This week, I am making an exception.

While scrolling around in Threads, I saw this post:

I was horrified. For many years, I have carried the Buffalo Blanket in ceremony thousands of miles to a variety of places where the Buffalo People are making a comeback and a few other places that my guides felt were also important:

• Blackfeet Indian Reservation (Montana)
• Mount Rushmore National Monument (Black Hills of South Dakota),
• Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming/Montana/Idaho)
• Little Bighorn National Monument (Montana)
• Mato Tipila or Bear’s Lodge (called Devil’s Tower by settlers) where White Buffalo Calf Woman appeared to the Lakota (Wyoming)
• Rosebud Indian Reservation (South Dakota)
• Custer State Park (South Dakota/Black Hills)
and more…

Most of these places encompass sites sacred to Native Americans. The Blanket has also been a very important part of ceremonies with the Animal Ambassadors at Earthfire Institute, most especially matriarch buffalo Bluebell and white buffalo Nima.

My immediate response to this news was the equivalent of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings adamantly slamming his staff down into the earth, digging in his heels, and declaring to the Balrog, “You shall not pass!”

The question was, how to respond effectively? While I can (and did) send Reiki to the situation, it felt like something more shamanic in nature was also needed. During a conversation with fellow shaman Claudine Records, I received my guidance: an image of a stream of energy radiating out from one central point, and an image of my hands holding the Buffalo Blanket in its carrier bag. When I questioned how, I was told that it must be done with the same conviction as Gandalf with his staff.

So, at the appointed time, I stood in front of my altar above the fireplace where She Walks rests alongside recently acquired Buffalo triptych from “Sacred Beings” series by artist Mitzi Koch (photo above).

I thought of all the Buffalo I had met in so many places, and how I had been welcomed, accepted, and integrated into the herds. I also recalled the places where I had been shown the many ways the Buffalo People had been disrespected and even abused. I gathered my conviction and determination and acted as instructed. There was no clap of thunder, but I felt energy radiating out from the Buffalo Blanket. It took a while for the energy to come to a stop. I had no idea precisely what we had done, but I knew that I had done what had been asked, and needed to trust for the rest.

Later, I sought further guidance. During a shamanic journey, Claudine Records recovered the following information:

“I asked about the Buffalo Blanket. I was told you activated the ‘spiritual phone tree’ [my mind immediately went to the movie Practical Magic, and I smiled], and they showed me that you put out the call to action first to the Buffalo that have been part of the ceremonies with the Blanket, as well as the lands that you visited. It was a call to action, a spiritual ‘emergency! Help needed!’ thing on behalf of the Buffalo and also the lands in question, which are deeply affected and reliant on the Buffalo, and by extension All Our Relations, who also live on these lands. So, you started the phone tree with your contacts, but it will not stop there. They also have contacts, and they’re spreading the call. I saw them all riding in like the cavalry from all directions, ready to protect the land and their own. It gave me tears and goosebumps. The circles kept growing.”

I had tears when I read, “I saw them all riding in like the cavalry from all directions, ready to protect the land and their own.” And that was my validation that I had done what Spirit had asked of me.

The Guides further instructed me to continue singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” (to wake up the land, see Sweet Land of Liberty of Thee I Sing) and to continue to offer gratitude to Buffalo and All Our Relations.

How will it all play out? I have no idea, I am only the ears that listen and the hands and feet that strive to be of service. And that is the essence of my pro bono work.

For more:

• An origin story of the Buffalo Blanket.

• American Prairie is fighting to reestablish native prairie grasslands to support the ability of Buffalo to heal the ecosystem.

• Photographer Tom Croce on whether we can make room for wild places in wild herds or keep using the land to support systems that continue to damage the environment.

>>>

After spending time with the Buffalo and the Blanket, I found myself thinking about how easily despair can take root if we only look at all that is being threatened by the current regime.

But the world also keeps offering us a reminder of what trust and partnership look like in The Wild Gift at the Door, written by healer/animal communicator and artist Becky MacPherson.

And, as we celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, May Sacred Rhythms explores Matriarch energy and the healing wisdom of the Divine Feminine in all her forms.

These are not separate stories to me. They are all part of the same conversation—one that asks whether we are willing to live in right relationship with the Earth and All Our Relations.

Enjoy the beauty of the season!
Rose De Dan, Night Sky, and Tamerlan

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Learn how to walk in harmony with the natural world, connect more deeply with animals, restore balance to your life, increase intuitive skills, and help heal the Earth with my live Reiki and shamanic virtual classes and digital workshops.

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A WILD WAY TO HEAL
Rose De Dan, Wild Reiki and Shamanic Healing LLC is an animal communicator, Reiki Master Teacher, shamanic energy healer, and author of Tails of a Healer: Animals, Reiki and Shamanism and Out of the Darkness and Other Animal Tails. Her classes, sessions, and ceremonial work are inspired by wild and domestic animals who have issued a call to action for personal and global healing.