I knew nothing about the history of Woodstock when I made my first visit to the village in 1993 (except for the music and the hippies of course). My brother Anthony and I decided to take a day trip upstate to do some hiking and we wound up walking in the forest around town on a fair and calm, early autumn afternoon. When we came upon a circular clearing in the woods near the valley floor I felt an energy there so I asked my brother if we could stop for a moment to meditate. As I relaxed and went deep I found myself “between the worlds” in a full sensory vision viewing an event which had taken place within that very same circle several hundred years prior.
The atmosphere was very festive. There were European people (whom I intuited to be Dutch settlers) as well as Native American people preparing for their annual harvest feast together. There were children playing, men and women working; there was singing, dancing, a harvest fire and lots and lots of food. The Natives and the Europeans interacted like members of the same community, working and playing together like brothers and sisters. There was a harmonious atmosphere of cooperation and kinship amongst the “different” peoples and love and respect for one another abound. There were no cultural stigmas or really any separation between the 2 peoples what-so-ever; just one village working together to survive and thrive in the oft harsh Hudson Valley climate. One people, ONE! It was absolutely beautiful and I could have stayed in that moment forever, and I did not want to return to the present day world of hate and intolerance.
As I started becoming more lucid in my vision and my conscious mind kicked in I said to myself “Wait, what is this? Weren’t these people in conflict? Didn’t the white people use and trick the Natives? And even poisoned them with Small Pox?” When the vision was all over and I returned to my body I was so grateful to Spirit for showing me this, and how comforting it was to know that between the lines of recorded history there was actually cooperation and unity, and genuine LOVE amongst two peoples sharing the same land, helping one another survive, living together peacefully in a vibration of Oneness.
For my Thanksgiving Prayer I pray for unity, cooperation and love amongst all the diverse peoples who share this great land known as “Mother Earth”. I pray that we stop focusing on our differences and start realizing that we are all the same, and are all manifestations of the same source. I pray that we dissolve our nation’s borders, and that we openly share our resources, our knowledge and our skills to work in harmony, to feed the hungry, to end suffering and to make this world a better place for everyone. I pray for love. I pray for unity, I pray for peace. I pray for “God”. Happy Thanksgiving!
