Sunday, April 24, 2011

Navajo Prayer

Here is part of a traditional Navajo prayer that is lovely to repeat to yourself when you're outside*:


With beauty before me, I walk.

With beauty behind me, I walk.

With beauty below me, I walk.

With beauty above me, I walk.

With beauty all around me, I walk.

Special bonus points to anyone able to name where I was on our lovely sunny Saturday. (Hint: Nature Conservancy).  These bonus points, plus $4, will enable you to buy a cup of coffee at the establishment of your choice.

* With thanks to Joseph Cornell's Listening to Nature: How to Deepen Your Awareness of Nature
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16 comments:

  1. Camassia! I've taken most of those photos already myself- we live close to it and have walked there before. It is a hidden gem.

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  2. By the way, my sons recognized it too from the first photo. Sorry- I feel like I answered it too soon!

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  3. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! A hidden gem is right--I'd kinda forgotten about Camassia Natural Area (in West Linn, OR) until I'd seen it mentioned in someone's blog (yours?). Now I'm trying to catch the camas in bloom. Maybe next weekend???

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  4. That's a great prayer, Pat. Thanks.

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  5. Next week is possible. The camas in my yard is just starting to bloom right now.

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  7. I saw a camas in bloom on campus last week. As for the location of your walk, I know it's not Elk Rock Island, it's not the Springwater trail, it's not Oaks Bottom, it's not the East or West Bank Esplanade . . .

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  8. I was going to visit Camassia Preserve for the first time that same day! I heard that the flowers weren't really popping yet, so I went out to Catherine Creek in the Gorge. Lots of flower action there.

    Lovely Navajo prayer. Thanks.

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  9. Thanks for posting the beautiful pictures to illustrate that lovely Navajo prayer. I quoted that in a paper I wrote for an anthropology class. Have loved it ever since. Alice Lynn

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  10. Very beautiful indeed and quite meditative. Best, easy to remember and does not require memorization. Thanks!

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  11. Thanks for the post! Great pictures!

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  12. Mike--when I saw your comment in your blog (www.slugyard.com) about the osprey nesting in the cell tower, I wondered if you might live near Camassia--thought of it just because that nest is so obvious there (marked in the guide and everything!)

    Maybe you'll let us know when the camas is happening--who knows, maybe you, Ivan and I will all end up there at the same time--a blogger convergence.

    My thanks to all who've commented!

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  13. Thanks, . This is one of my favorite Navaho poems.

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  14. I visited this past weekend- not quite in full bloom. Maybe next weekend. Got some great photos though! Thanks for reminding me to visit the place.

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  15. Mike--when I saw your comment in your blog (www.slugyard.com) about the osprey nesting in the cell tower, I wondered if you might live near Camassia--thought of it just because that nest is so obvious there (marked in the guide and everything!)

    Maybe you'll let us know when the camas is happening--who knows, maybe you, Ivan and I will all end up there at the same time--a blogger convergence.

    My thanks to all who've commented!

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  16. By the way, my sons recognized it too from the first photo. Sorry- I feel like I answered it too soon!

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