Original Instructions by Joanne Mahler, St. Louis, MO.

Yesterday I crawled into our Fall Equinox Sweat Lodge with a troubled heart. When I emerged, I felt not only purified, but serene as well.

During the second door, the water-pourer related a story -- something that had happened to him recently that had caused him to think about his "original instructions", and whether he was remembering them, and heeding them, on this earthwalk. He then encouraged each of us to share about whether we remembered our own original instructions, and how our memory, or lack of them, might be impacting our lives.

Since I was sitting immediately to his left, I was the first to speak. A window slowly opened. I listened, and I heard those instructions again. They had to do with love. How to give it . . . how o receive it . . . how to recognize it in it's many guises . . . how to celebrate it . . . how to sit with it . . . how to wrap myself and others in it . . . simply, how to be it. I breathed it in deeply, in all its familiarity. No need to be troubled. I have what I need. I am living those instructions, and they are working for me.

The other day I came upon the following quote:

"Suffering is the ancient law of love; there is no quest without pain; there is no lover who is not also a martyr." Heinrich Suso

It seemed a bit harsh when I first read it. To me, that's saying that it's a given that suffering and pain go hand 'n' hand with love--you can't have love without it, and that we walk into it knowing we're going to experience suffering. Human beings that we are, we do tend to create havoc on one another--I suppose it's the nature of the beast. I guess the question is, are we willing to endure the pain, to suffer through it, give ourselves up to it, in order to taste the sweetness of love?

With all the pain and suffering that is sometimes attached to love, in all its forms, I have never turned my back on it. I have no choice -- I am a slave to my original instructions. (I know, I know--those of you who know me well are wondering when I ever started following instructions.)

There was much synchronicity at play yesterday. Here I am, in the 3rd quarter of my life, crawling into a sweat lodge to honor the 3rd quarter of this current year--both of us in our wisdom cycles, ready to delve into the wonder of unknown mystery, and I'm rewarded with a repeat of my original instructions about love. Something had told me to place my wedding rings on the altar, for blessing, before I crawled into the lodge--they are a symbol of the big, big love that I have shared with Dave for 37 years. Yes . . . I was serene when I crawled out of the lodge.

Blessings of our original instructions to us all, however we may hear them . . .

Joanne Mahler
(WWTW March 1992 Delevan WI)