Journey of a Sacred Fire: The Coal Bundle

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The coal bundle you carry has items that have been carefully collected.  Each bundle contains a piece of white cedar, a piece of birch bark, a seed from a paper birch tree, bark from a tree struck by the Thunders,  and a coal from The Fire.

Our belief is this bundle represents not only a physical but also a spiritual connection to The Fires that have burned for thousands and thousands of years.  We believe these bundles represent the collective consciousness of all the participants who have ever gathered.  It is our hope you will carry this coal bundle with a sense of purpose, and an understanding that our thoughts, intentions, and actions, at this moment, do influence the next seven generations.  The contents of each coal bundle includes:

*  Grandmother Cedar - the sacred tree of the Ojibway represents the female energy.  The cedar was collected on Garden Island.  Artifacts on Garden Island date back to people being there over 10,000 years ago.

*  Grandfather Birch - this represents the male energy.  Nokomis Keewaydinoquay said, "You are witnessing the end of a species.  All the white birch trees are dying."  The insight to include Grandfather Birch, in the coal bundles, occurred while standing on the Cut River bridge in upper Michigan. While sending good thoughts to Bear who spiritually protects Garden Island, a small piece of paper thin white birch was noticed clinging to the metal walkway.  That frail piece of birch was held out and offered to the blessed ones to help the dying Grandfathers.  When released a gust of wind blew  it back into my chest and it stuck directly over my heart.  When that piece of birch touched my heart,the following words were clearly understood.  "One of the reasons the birch trees are dying is that the male energy is out of control in the world."  Included in the bundle is a piece of bark, and healthy seedlings.  These pieces represent the elders and the children yet to be born.  We need to consider the next seven generations in all our efforts.

*  Bark from a Thunder Tree - the Thunders marked the spot where The Fire burns at Northeastern Illinois University.  Ten feet West of the circle a lightening bolt marked the North side of the tree from top to bottom.  The Fire has been located in that spot since it was lit.

*  Fire Coal - a coal from one of the most recent Fires has been carefully placed in each bundle.

Northeastern Illinois University is a very unique and special school.  Our students are a microcosm of the world. It is no mistake we have the most ethnically diverse student body in the Midwest and the Fire is located on our campus.  A Peace Fire and Talking Circle Ceremony was conducted with the students in our newly formed freshman teacher cohort.  After the ceremony, the students were asked if they would be of service and tie-up the nearly 2,000 coal bundles that will be shared and distributed in the year 2003.   Here are the thirty-five cultures represented by our students who put their hearts, energy, dreams ,and hopes into the Fire coal bundles you carry:
 

 African          Creole      Jamaican        Polish
 Arabian          Dominican   Jewish          Puerto Rican
 Assyrian         Dutch       Lakota          Scandinavian
 Australian       Ecuadorian  Lithuanian      Scottish
 Bosnian          French      Korean          Spanish
 Burmese          German      Mexican         Swedish
 Canadian         Indian      New Zealander   Turkish
 Czechoslovakian  Italian     Pakistani       Ukrainian
 Cherokee         Irish       Persian

Jane Goodall, in her book Reason for Hope, states, "I do have hope for the future. My reasons for hope are four fold: 1) the human brain; 2) the resilience of nature; 3) the energy and enthusiasm that is found or can be kindled among young people worldwide; and 4) the indomitable human spirit."  As I watched the coal bundles being tied by students that culturally and symbolically represented the entire world, I kept hearing Jane Goodall's words "reason for hope, reason for hope," over and over.  The hope carried by these young educators from thirty-five different cultures represents a belief that collectively we can make the world a better place.

The statement by Cinque in the film Amistad,  "At this moment, I am calling back to all my ancestors, to the beginning of time.  I am, asking them to join me, because they are the whole reason I have existed at all."  It felt as if all the students' ancestors,  from the beginning of time, were in the room watching, approving, and helping them tie the coal bundles.  These peace bundles may be a small gesture, but they are a good first step to help us reconnect and bring us back to our ancestral roots where fire was at the heart of each village and people listened respectfully to each other.

The Saturday routine on Garden Island is to gather at the rocky beach near the edge of camp to help with the exchange of people who are arriving and those who are leaving.  For years and years as the boat would slowly  motor out of the shallow bay, Grandmother Keewaydinoquay  would send them a blessing by extending her arms over her head, palms facing the people who were leaving, and say in a very deliberate voice, "Travel with conscious care, for you carry the seeds of the future."  Perhaps in some way these peace bundles are the 'seeds of the future'.  Carry them with honor and travel with conscious care.

Carry your coal bundle until you feel it is the right moment to share it, whether you leave it in a special place where "you know" it belongs, hand it to someone, add it to a ceremony, or place it in another fire.  We believe this bundle will enhance the love, compassion, understanding and feeling of connectedness that will already exist.  Once you realize each coal bundle is like dropping a pebble in a still pond,  then be aware these ripples for peace and understanding will go on forever.
 

Do you want to be a positive influence in the world? First, get your own life in order.  Ground yourself in the single principle so that your behavior is wholesome and effective.  If you do that, you will earn respect and be a powerful influence.

Your behavior influences others through a ripple effect. A ripple effect works because everyone influences everyone else.  Powerful people are powerful influences.

If your life works, you influence your family.  If your family works, your family influences the community.

If your community works, your community influences the nation. If your nation works, your nation influences the world. If your world works, the ripple effect spreads throughout the cosmos.

Remember that your influence begins with you and ripples outward.  So be sure that your influence is both potent and wholesome.

How do I know that this works?  All growth spreads outward from a fertile and potent nucleus.

You are a nucleus.
                         by John Heider from The Tao of Leadership

A spark, created from flint and steel, cradled in a tinder bundle was being gently fanned to life with an eagle feather as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the eastern horizon. Traditional Fires have been started in this manner for thousands of years. This spark awakened our consciousness and officially started the 23rd Annual International Conference for The Association for Experiential Education (A. E. E.), on November 9,1995. The conference was held at The Grand Geneva, a 1,300 acre resort hidden away on the rolling countryside just east of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Over 1500 people attended from all over the world. The Fire burned for the four days of the conference.

Ahsayma (tobacco) had been given to Bruce Hardwick to light the Fire. Bruce is Ojibway and keeper of the Fire in his home area of Rapid River, Michigan. Tobacco is the plant used to give thanks and carry our thoughts, intentions and desires to the Spirit World. When tobacco is placed in the Fire, the smoke becomes our connection to the world of the Spirit and ultimately the Great Mystery.

A male and female cardinal guided two members of the AEE planning committee to a spot where they felt the Fire would be located. Among some native people, the cardinal is the red bird that speaks the truth. When Bruce arrived, he stepped out of his car and pointed to a grassy field north of the main parking lot. He said, without any hesitation, "That is where the Fire will be located. I saw it in a dream. It has been over two-hundred years since a sacred Fire has been struck here. The Earth has been waiting a long time for it to return." After that statement he buried his head in his hands and started to cry. The spot he pointed to was the exact area from which the cardinals sang their affirmation of truth.

Over the next four days of the conference, the weather was constantly
changing. Thursday began with mild temperatures and sunshine. That
evening, a gentle rain started and continued until Friday afternoon when the temperature dropped dramatically and it started to snow. The weather deteriorated into blizzard type conditions through most of Saturday. The howling winds and bone chilling cold cut through the participants like a razor knife. On Sunday afternoon, as the conference closed, the sun shone brightly through a cloudless sky, and the trees stood in a silent salute to the people who had gathered. There was not a breath of wind.

Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohatma Gandhi, gave the Conference's Friday night keynote address entitled Nonviolence or Nonexistence:Options for the 21st Century. That evening, at midnight, Gandhi stood at the Fire in a raging snow squall with a small group of people who listened as he and several others shared thoughts from their hearts. Mr. Gandhi stood in ankle deep snow bracing himself against the bitter conditions. He was wearing an old pair of hiking shoes, which seemed incongruent with his business suit and trench coat. While he stood listening, a "crunching sound" was heard outside the circle. Paul Tucker, a conference participant from Albuquerque, New Mexico, confined to a wheel chair, had made his way from the resort, down the service road, and was laboring through the snow covered field to join the circle. Paul was the person who gave Mr. Gandhi his own shoes so he could walk out to the Fire. Standing at the Fire that evening was one of those rare personal moments where time becomes meaningless and one feels "in the flow" of the universal cycle of harmony.

At the closing ceremony, participants made Earth Bundles of sand, ashes, and coals from the Fire. The bundles were made from three inch square pieces of cotton cloth and bound with four interconnected colored cotton threads, one for each cardinal direction. The small bundles fit easily into the palm of the participants hands to carry on their journeys home.

A Bit of History - Marshak states, in The Roots of Civilization. "Fire has been used for 1.5 million years." It is the one element that has been valued by all cultures. The Egyptians used friction devices to start fires as far back as 10,000 B.C. Indigenous cultures used the family hearth at a focal point for teaching and nurturing. Located at the heart of each village was a central fire.

The Irish people have a Fire that has been burning for over one thousand years. Fire was and is a vital part of their culture. Fire is the focal point in their Beltane Unification Festival at the end of Spring to welcome the coming of the new light. At one time all the Fires in Ireland were extinguished on the eve of this festival. Four high kings from the provinces met on that darkened night on the Hill of Uisneach, at the Cat Stone, a 30-ton marker. At dawn, the Fire was lit and the kings were given a flame to carry to their kingdoms. The flame was passed to every village and then to every home until all of Ireland burned from the same flame. The Irish believe this festival brings together the solar and lunar cycles. The sun symbolizes the heart, an outpouring of love which supports all life. The moon symbolizes the mind, always changing and complex. This festival is the time to bring balance and unity to the heart and head.

The Inuit Eskimos had a Fire ceremony to celebrate the first light for thousands of years. The Inuit of lgloolik in the Northwest Territories have lived on this island of ice in the Canadian arctic for more than 4,000 years. The time when the sun disappears for seven weeks is known as "the great darkness." The day the sun finally emerges from the horizon was the most important day of the year. A great igloo would be built in anticipation of the return of the light.The first person who saw the sun would rush back to the village to tell everyone. Traditional soapstone lamps, filled with lumps of pink seal blubber, that had provided the only illumination during the long night, would be ceremoniously extinguished, and then relit from a single wick, by a female elder. Rosie Iqalliyug, a 96 year-old elder, said through a translator, "When the outsiders came from the south with their crosses, and their strange notion about chopping up the day into small pieces called minutes the celebrations stopped. This year, 1999, marks the seventh year since the sun ceremony was rekindled by Inuit leaders to help people remember what it used to mean."

The Cherokee carried their Fire for the entire length of their forced
relocation from 1838 to 1839. The story of the Cherokee Fire states a
long, long time ago, the Cherokee high priest had the ability to generate heat and light from his own body. The Creator removed this "inner fire" from the priest when he abused it, during a time of war, for hunting to extinction a sea animal that was used to make chemicals to kill the enemy. The Fire was given back to the Cherokee people by the Creator as a gift, and they have respected it and kept it burning ever since. Each year Cherokee families clean out their fire hearths, then restart their own fire with a coal from the original one. For each family it is the Fire that initiates a time of renewal and new beginnings. This Aniyunweya (Cherokee) Fire has burned for thousands of years.

The eternal Fire of the Potawatomis was originally located here in the Midwest. The Fire,was brought back to Sault St. Marie, Michigan, in the 1970's, from Kansas, by a full blooded member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi. The Prairie Band Potawatomi were established in Kansas, as a result of the Treaty of 1832, when the Federal Government uprooted them and over 100,000 other Native Americans. Numerous tribes were forcibly moved west of the Mississippi River, and this tragic event in American history has been detailed in books such as The Trail of Tears and several others. The Potawatomis are part of the Three Fires Confederacy (Nations) along with the
Ojibways and the Ottawas. The Confederacy, in the early 1800's, was
actually a complex system of government that functioned long before the encroachment of European civilization. Each tribe had responsibilities to fulfill for the ongoing of the people. The Ojibways are the "Keepers of the Knowledge," the Ottawas are the "Keepers of the Trading," and the Potawatomis are the "Keepers of the Fire."

Fire connects us to the past. It forges a reverence for the natural world and brings back feelings of connectedness that have been lost. Fire transcends any limitations we can place on it. Perhaps, Fire is the one element that can help forge our energies in a more positive way to change the direction in which the world seems headed. The "Old Ways" are beginning to talk; it is time for us to sit and listen.

The Ripple Effect - The Fire was lit for a second time on February 15, 1996, for the 7th Annual Teachers of Experiential and Adventure Methodology (T. E.A. M.) Conference at Northeastern Illinois University, in Chicago. Sand was brought from the original Fire at The Grand Geneva to use as the base for this one. Jim Gillihan, a speaker at the conference, who has Cherokee blood and is the fourth keeper of Sitting Bull's Pipe, asked permission to add a coal he had received from the Aniyunweya (Cherokee) Fire. Jim shared, "On a spiritual level, all the things connected with that Cherokee Fire now come here to Northeastern." Two hundred participants were present at the closing. Participants again made Earth Bundles of the coals, ashes, and sand to carry home with them.

The Fire was lit for a third time on March 15, 1996, at the Heartland
Regional A.E.E. Conference, in Marquette, Michigan. Sand and coals were brought from the first two Fires to use in this one. The energy from this Fire was much different than the first two. It was a struggle to keep it burning. The wood delivered to the site was wet green pine. Several frantic calls were made but it appeared no one on campus or in the area had any usable wood for the Fire. Twice the Fire burned down to one match-like flame fueled by a frail piece  of kindling. At the moment all hopes of keeping the Fire burning were gone Mark Zanoni appeared. He was at the conference to teach a traditional fire making workshop. His experience, knowledge, and respect for the Fire brought it back to life. A few moments later a load of wood arrived that was driven to Marquette from over an hour away. For a short time on Saturday evening the Fire was left unattended. The campus police on a routine visit used a fire extinguisher to kill the Fire, because "No one was watching it." Witnesses said, "As soon as their squad car turned the corner a tiny puff of white smoke lifted from the Fire and it ignited again on its own." Coals were collected and given at the closing to the participants.

The Fire was lit for a fourth time on Friday, February 14, 1997, for the 8th Annual T.E.A.M. Conference, at Northeastern Illinois University. Katherine Cheshire founder of the Touch The Earth Foundation, who has been adopted by the Hopi elders, asked permission to put a Hopi protection bundle into the Fire. She works with traditional elders who still follow their original teachings known as "The Sacred Covenant." Grandfather Dan Evahema, the eldest of their tribal leaders, requested that Katherine somehow find a way to publish a book on the true story of the Hopi people. In 1995, HOTEVILLA - Hopi, Shrine of the Covenant - Microcosm of the World, by Thomas E. Mails and Dan Evahema, was published. The book details the vital role the traditional Hopi people are playing in this crucial time, and shares their message of prophecy, peace, and harmony with all the people of the world. Katherine said at the closing ceremony of the T.E.A.M. Conference, "Hopi is a state of being and means to be a person of peace."

Items from several traditional gatherings have been added to the Fire
located at Northeastem:

• Ash from Mount St. Helens collected at the end of the Harmony Trail
next.to Spirit Lake, pieces form the heart of two of the oldest cedar
trees in the State of Washington near Lake Ouinault, the oldest Spruce tree in the United States, and sacred coals from the Gathering of Eagles - Spiritual Unity of the World, a four day gathering in the Black Hills of South Dakota, were added to the Fire during the T.E.A.M. Conference on Saturday, February 23, 2002.

• A piece of bark from the oldest living yew tree in Ireland, at Florence Court; the oldest living yew tree in England, the 3,000 year old Ashbrittle yew, in Somerset; and a piece from two of the oldest oak trees in England, Gog and Magog, were added to the Fire at the T.E.A.M. Conference on February 24, 2001. The importance to the Celts of individual trees led to the appearance in the Irish language of the word, bile, meaning sacred trees. These are old sacred trees.

. A branch from the Sundance tree was added to the Fire at the T.E.A.M. Conference on February 24, 2001, by Steve McCullough, the Sundance Chief, from the 9th Annual Salt Creek Sun Dance in Brown County, Indiana.

• A coal from the Fire at the 100th Anniversary of the Hague Peace
Conference was added to the Fire at the T.E.A M. Conference on
February 19, 2000. The final Fire at The Hague was cooperatively lit with the Bridgidine Nuns of Kildare, Ireland, who are the caretakers for a 1000 year old Peace Fire. They carried their Peace Fire to the Hague Conference by candle lantern.

• A piece of bark from the oldest living tree in the New Zealand rain
forest Te Matua Naghere (Father of the Forest), a 2000 year old Kauri Tree, was added to the Fire on February 19, 1999.

• Incense coals from the Mayan Elders in Guatamala were given to Laurie Frank, a facilitator for Play for Peace, to carry back with her to the United States to place in our Fire. They were added to the Fire in February, during the 1998 T.E.A. M. Conference.

• A coal was added by Melinda Perrin from the 1997, 7th Annual Peace Elders Gathering, on the Cattaraugus Reservation, in Western,New York. The conference was sponsored by the Seneca Wolf Clan Teaching Lodge of Grandmother Twylah Nitsch, and the Seneca Historical society.

The Mishomis Book- The Voice of the Ojibway by Eddie Benton Benay,
discusses the Seventh Fire. There is a passage from the text that explains the time of the Seventh Fire:
 

The accounts of our life, handed down to us by our Ojibway elders, tell us that many years ago, seven major nee-gawn-na-kayg'(prophets) came to the Anishinabe. These prophets left the people with seven predictions of what the future would bring. Each of these prophecies was called a fire, and each fire referred to a particular era of time that would come in the future. Thus, the teachings of the seven prophets are now called the Neesh-wa-swi'-ish-ko-day-kawn' (Seven Fires) of the Ojibway.

In the time of the Seventh Fire a Osh-ki-bi-ma-di-zeeg (new People) will emerge. The task of the new people will not be easy. It will be a time that the light-skinned Race will be given a choice between two roads. Ojibway and people from other nations have interpreted the "two roads" as the road to technology and the road to spiritualism (p. 93). They feel that the road to technology represents a continuation of the head long rush to technological development. This is the road that has led a modern society to a damaged and seared Earth. The road to spirituality represents the slower path that traditional Native people have traveled and are now seeking again.

Basha "Barb" Emano, a committee member for the 1995 A.E.E. Conference and several T.E.A.M. Conferences, wrote this passage after our 1997 gathering:
 

"Each of us are from different backgrounds, some more similar than others. Each one of us represents the colors of the rainbow. The pot-of-gold at the end of the rainbow is the success of our gatherings. The coins in the pot are the "gifts" we individually carry with us from the experience. The shooting star attached to the rainbow is the power of our dream that we can make the world a better place for our children's children through this process. Our belief is that the Fire is like a pebble. When a pebble is dropped in a still pond it sends out gentle ripples. The ripples are the brotherhood, love, compassion, sense of community and hope for the future that bonded the participants at all these gatherings. We believe the earth bundles and coals represent the collective consciousness of all the participants who gathered together. What we have started and continue to create, in my view, are subtle but powerful ripples. At times it may feel like we are not making a difference, but we are. I can feel it, and I can sense it, because I know the spirit of the Fire is alive and breathing inside each one of us."

The Mishomis book states, "If we choose the right road, then the Seventh Fire will light the Eighth and Final Fire. An eternal Fire of peace, love, brotherhood and sisterhood.

Bruce Hardwick was asked "Are we the people of the Seventh Fire?" He
responded by saying, "something very special happened at that Lake Geneva gathering. A man came to me and shared a dream he had after that Fire was lit. He was standing on top of a mountain and as he looked in the valley below, there were Fires for as far as he could see." Hope is eternal. It is the invisible umbilical cord that connects us from this moment to the future. Perhaps we can help and this dream will become a reality."

A world map hangs in the Physical Education Complex at Northeastern
Illinois University in Chicago. Pins are placed in the map when a
new location for a coal is identified. We would like to put a pin in that map from your story. Mail the who, what, when, where, or any information you can share to:
 

T.E.A.M. - KEEPERS OF THE FIRE
Northeastern Illinois University
5500 North St. Louis Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60625
Phone: 773-442-5564
E-mail: d-creely@neiu.edu

Since the Lake Geneva Conference coals have been handed to people, left in Fire circles, at traditional gatherings, conferences, and special places that just "felt right." Listed below are a few of the places where the coals have traveled:

• Angola, Africa - Coal bundles were carried by Paulo Bombe in July, 1998, to the village of Kizinga, in the region of Uige, of Northern Angola. Paulo is from this traditional village and imports African artifacts.

• **Ardoyne, Belfast, Northern Ireland - On January 11, 2002, Margaret Connolly and Una McKibbin, two women of the Nine Fold, walked north up the main road that divides the community and left a coal bundle at the Church of the Holy Cross. Known, in Ireland, as the "walk of shame," not a single thing was thrown at them, nor were any profanities screamed. It was completed in "silence" as the entire community watched. On February 18, 2002, seven days later, for the first time in over 30 years, Protestants and Catholics together took to the streets en masse and demanded an end to the violence.

• Armagh, Northern Ireland - A coal bundle was buried on June 28, 2000, after an old Celtic ceremony inside "The Circle of Ancient Cedars" at Gosford Castle. Gosford Castle is the future site of an International Peace Center. Margaret Connolly, a Celtic healer, present at the ceremony said, "This ceremony that honored the land and the trees has not been celebrated for over two centuries." The coal bundle was buried under the center grandmother which is at least 12 feet in circumference. The trees that formed the outside perimeter of the thirty foot circle appeared to all grow out of the center grandmother.

• Ashbrittle, England - A coal bundle was left in the "heart" of the oldest known tree in England, the 3,000 year old Ashbrittle yew, in Somerset, on July 7, 2000. This wisdom keeper had nine separate trunks, a center one and eight growing in a circle around the outside. A prayer ceremony was performed for peace and the coal bundle was buried at the center of this elder. "Knowing this tree was a seedling for 1000 years before Christ was born put things in perspective. It was a moment to stand in the presence of royalty."

• Asmat, New Guinea - Coal bundles and gifts were given to six tribal
leaders to carry back to their homes on the remote western coast of Irian Jaya, the Indonesian part of the island New Guinea, in October, 1999. Mentioned in the journals of Captain Cook in 1770 their culture, because of its remote location, was shielded from external forces until the mid 1950's.These leaders left their village for the first time and journeyed to Chicago to demonstrate their woodcarvings, drumming and storytelling. It was historic.

• Aspen, Colorado - Coal bundles were sent to The Silver Lining Ranch. A camp started by Andrea Jaeger for children with cancer.

• Bangalore, India - A Coal bundle was given to Sidartha while he was on a visit to Chicago, Illinois, in November, 2000. He visited the Fire circle and the Peace Pole located at Northeastern. Sidartha runs "Fireflys," a Peace Center in Bangalor dedicated to teaching, and educating children. Fireflys is an experiential based center and open to all types of worship.

• Baraboo, Wisconsin - Coal bundles were left with Clare Mirande in August, 1998, at the International Crane Foundation (ICF). The ICF was started twenty-five years ago to save the nearly extinct sandhill crane. ICF has blossomed into an international effort by scientists and conservation groups to save all the cranes and reestablish breeding areas. The crane is recognized as "The International Bird of Peace."

• Bear Butte, South Dakota - A coal bundle was left in the prayer circle at Bear Butte State Park by Jack Rambow, the park ranger and caretaker of this site for the last thirty years. This prayer circle remains the gathering site for the traditional people before they go into the mountains. The Northern Cheyenne conduct an annual ceremony here with their Sacred Buffalo Hat. The Southern Cheyenne received their Sacred Arrows from spirit at this spot. In 1857, Sitting Bull sat in council with the other Lakota chiefs and declared their "last stand." Crazy Horse received his power to "not to be hurt in battle" from the Medicine Man, Chips, at this spot. Jim Gillihan has conducted the annual Sitting Bull Pipe ceremony here since 1978 when he received the responsibility of Sitting Bull's pipe from Grandfather Frank Fool's Crow.

• Beaver Island, Michigan - Sally Wagoner added a coal bundle to the Fire lit on September 9, 1997. The Fire was part of a Celtic Spiritual gathering. Twenty people gathered from all walks of life to honor the land, and each other. Participants carried coals from The Fire with them. One will be carried to Ireland in November, 1997.

• Belize - A coal was carried back home by Wil Mahia, May, 1996. After receiving his education in the United States, he returned home committed to working with the local villagers and elders to protect the land, the traditional native culture, and the rain forests.

• Big Island, Hawaii - The Big Island of Hawaii is the "heart" and the "hot spot" of the islands. After singing a traditional Hawaiian honoring song to Madam Pele, the goddess of Fire, a coal bundle was left at the end of the lava flow from the Mauna Ulu eruption. The coal bundle was dropped into a crack in the lava that ran the entire length of the 15' high 300' long wall of hardened lava. "It was like dropping this offering into the womb of Madam Pele (Earth Mother)." In The Secrets and Mysteries of Hawaii, the author Pila shares, "Lava is the newest foundation of stone on the planet. It is liquid fire and considered by the Hawaiian people as the umbilical cord to the earth. Hawaiians are considered the 'children of the rainbow' whose traditions go back over 270 generations. Captain Cook never understood the profound spirituai insight the people were sharing when they told him, 'I live in Hawaii'. They were trying to share with him that Hawaii is not just a place but a state of being. Hawaii means; Ha - one supreme force of the universe rides upon the breath which brings our heartbeat, wai' - water is the nurturing and conducting life force, i - epitomized as the supreme causation as 'I'. Hawaiians also have no past tense in their language."

• Birap Village, New Guinea - A coal was left by Oginiiquay Fay Stone in August, 1997, at the Mount Hagen Mbarvi Hi'l Birap Ancestral Dance. This special mask dance (or in Melanesian Pidgin, "tumbuan") lasts for three days and is considered the most sacred gathering for all the traditional tribes in New Guinea. At this gathering for the first time in the history of the New Guinea people they displayed their most sacred object, the twelve foot tall feathered Kire clan mask. The first Mount Hagen gathering was organized in 1961 with the specific purpose to "bring the people together," and over 50,000 tribesmen gathered.

• Bombay, India - in August 1998, Astad Deboo, the artist in residence, for The Young Scholars Program, from Gallaudet University, along with Jean Berube, gave coal bundles to the "People of the Fire". The 'Fire People' were welcomed into India under the agreement they would not recruit people into their religious sect. The story recalls when they wanted to come into India, a glass of milk was sent out to their boats. They were told, "There is no more room in India." They added a half cup of sugar to the milk and responded, "We will add nothing to the population, only make it sweeter." They have been there since.

• British Columbia, Canada - A coal was left near the peak of Mount
Waddington, the highest mountain in British Columbia, by Alexis Delucenay, the youngest female on this National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) mountaineering course, in August 1997.

• Brown County, Indiana - A coal was placed in the Fire at the Ninth Annual Salt Creek Sundance, in July 2001, by Steve McCullough, the Sundance Chief.

• Canberra, Australia - A coal bundle was left, by Molly Creely, at the sacred Fire located in front of the Old Parliament House during the Constitutional Convention, in November, 1998. Aboriginal people from around Australia gathered at the embassy to support the Signing Up Sovereignty gathering. Aboriginal elders vowed to defy any attempt to extinguish this sacred Fire. Kevin "Uncle" Buzzacott said, "This is our religion, our creator, the life giver and healer. We've been doing this for 40,000 years. We will keep this Fire burning until the lawmakers come and talk to us about recognizing our sovereignty."

• Capetown, South Africa - A coal bundle was placed in a sacred Fire lit by the Rainbois People of South Africa for the Parliament of World Religions Gathering in December, 1999. The sacred Fire was located in District Six. District Six was the birthplace of apartheid in South Africa.

• Castle Coole, Northern, Ireland - A coal bundle was left in the "heart" of the oldest tree on the property, on June 27, 2000. The tree was an old, old giant horse chestnut.

• Cattaraugus Reservation, New York - Melinda Perrin placed a coal in the Fire at the 7th Annual Peace Elders Conference, sponsored by the Seneca Wolf Clan Teaching Lodge of Grandmother Twylah Nitsch.

• **Chartres, France - A coal bundle was left at the labyrinth in the
Chartres Cathedral, in August, 2001, by Dan Raven. Dan is a teacher
and labyrinth builder who lives in Chicago, and was invited to the 800th year anniversary celebration. The labyrinth in Chartres has been in continuous use since it was built.

• Chicago, Illinois - Coal bundles were given to Chief Arvol Looking Horse on May 3, 1999. He was petitioned to place the Fire coal in the Fourth World Peace and Prayer Day Fire, on June 21th, 1999, in Costa Rica. Arvol Looking Horse is the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe. White Buffalo Calf Woman brought the pipe to the Lakota People centuries before as a way to pray and promote peace. In 1998, for the very first time in history, a representative for the United Nations came to the United States to listen to and compile concerns about indigenous freedom. Chief Arvol Looking Horse was the person chosen to speak to this representative.

• **Chicago. Illinois - A coal bundle was given to don Miguel Ruiz, author of the best selling book The Four Agreements, on June 23, 2001. A former surgeon he is a Toltec nagual (master) from the Eagle Knight lineage. He has been guided, at this time, to share the powerful teachings of the Toltec. The Toltec, of southern Mexico, are not a nation or a race but a society of scientists and artists dedicated to conserve the spiritual knowledge and practices of the ancient ones. Veiled in secrecy for hundreds of years, because of European conquest, their prophecies foretold the coming of an age when it would be necessary to return the wisdom to the people. "Our teachings honor all spiritual masters who have taught on Earth. It is most accurately described as a way of life, distinguished by the ready accessibility of happiness and love."

• Chichen Itza, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico - Three coal bundles were left at this ancient Mayan village. A coal bundle was left at the very top of El Castillo, the great pyramid where at 3:30 p.m. on Spring and Fall Equinox the shadows of the Sun form a giant serpent descending to earth. A second coal bundle was left at the Temple of the Warriors. A Fire ceremony was conducted each year at this site to relight the flame of the people from a single source. The third coal bundle was left in the one mile underground river at X-Caret, to honor the water diety Chaac. X-Caret is a historical and ecological park designed to save the sea turtles and help people understand the historical significance of the Mayan Culture and its people.

• Choy Mountains, Mongolia - Dr. David Ellis, of the Institute for Raptor Studies, while on a mission for the International Crane Foundation (ICF), placed a coal in a sacred Fire built in the Choy Mountains. The Choy Mountains are located about 300 miles southeast of the capitol of Mongolia, Ulan Bator (Urga).

• Cliffs of Moher, Ireland - A coal was left in Ailwe Cave by Maureen
Zarrella. In the 1940's bear bones were discovered in this cave near the Cliffs of Moher. This was a very significant discovery since bears have been extinct in Ireland for over one thousand years.

• Costa Rica, South America - A coal bundle was placed in The Fourth World Peace and Prayer Day sacred Fire on June 21,1999. After the White Buffalo calf was born in 1996 Chief Arvol Looking Horse committed to honoring the Four Directions with four annual peace and prayer ceremonies. He has met with His Holiness The Dali Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and called on Spiritual Leaders worldwide to pray with him for Global peace. This year marks the fourth year and the completion of the Circle.

• Cusco, Peru - A coal bundle was left in one of the ancient Inca ruins on Macchu Picchu, by Caesar Soete in January, 1998. The mountain, Macchu Picchu, is considered one of the most sacred places in the world, and is known as the gateway to the sun.

• Cusco, Peru - A coal bundle was left by Rebecca Szczelaszczyk in
September, 1998, at Templo de la Luna (Temple of the Moon), on Macchu Picchu. Templo de la Luna is a two hour walk through the jungle and is rarely visited by tourists. She was befriended by hundreds of butterflies who surrounded and protected her for most of her journey.

• Drammen, Norway - A coal bundle was carried from the Hague Peace
Conference by Einar Michelsen. She e-mailed, "Tomorrow at the closing of the millennium, 12-31-99, I will place the coal into the Fire in my town of Drammen. There will be more than 1000 fires all over the country. In the Vikings' age, the indigenous people of Norway, the Sami, used varders (fires) on the mountain tops to warn about danger. Now at the turn of the millennium, the Fire will be used for promoting peace. The first Fire will be lit by King Harald in Oslo at 4:55 p.m. All the other Fires will be lit five minutes later. The Fires will last past midnight and will be seen by almost all the citizens of Norway."

• **Drumcree, Portadown, Northern Ireland - On June 30, 2001, Margaret McEvoy and Janet Smith added the coal bundle to a ceremonial peace Fire. The ashes from the Fire were scattered to the four directions on the Bridge at Drumcree, a loyalist area, and on the Garvaghy road, a nationalist area. These two areas have been a source of unrest for many, many years.

• Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Africa - A coal bundle was left by Michelle McQuaid on November 4, 2000, on the East Coast of Zanzibar. Political elections caused a major uprising to the point where she was afraid and apprehensive for her safety of being in the area. "I just knew this was where I was supposed to leave the coal bundle." After she left the Fire Coal bundle, she heard of no more trouble on the island.

• Eagle River, Wisconsin - A coal was placed in the 1997 traditional first camp fire for Towering Pines Woodland Summer Camp for Children. Each girl placed a pine cone in the Fire while sharing their dreams for the upcoming summer.

• Fatima, Portugal - A coal bundle was left by Dan Weber at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, in Fall, 1998. He stated, "I feel Fatima represents the greatest miracle in the 20th Century. Three children saw the Vrgin Mary and had their experience discounted and laughed at by the adults. A storm filled week preceded Oct. 13 when Mary promised to reappear. It was raining on that day too, but 70,000 people still showed up. The rain stopped suddenly, a bright light came down and dried everything within minutes. The personal
significance, to me, was the faith of the children. Is there is an
important message for us adults?"

• Faughart, County Louth, Ireland - A coal bundle was lett at the Rock of Miracies, near the stream, at the Shrine of St. Brigid. This is the area where St. Brigid grew up and played as a child. St. Brigid is one of the three patron Saints of Ireland, along with St. Columba and St. Patrick. She is considered the "Mother of Ireland." The nuns of St. Brigid, in Kildare, have kept a Peace Fire burning for over 1000 years. They carried their Peace Fire in 1999, by candle lantern, to the 100th Anniversary of the Hague Peace Conference and helped light the fourth and final Peace Fire.

• Fort Dodge, Iowa - A coal was placed in the 1997 Autumn Solstice
Ceremonial Fire of the Four Winds Clan. The Four Winds Clan is an assortment of people recovering from a variety of addictions who choose to follow the teachings of the Red Road.

• **Garden Island, Michigan - A coal was placed in the 1996,1997,1998,1999, 2000 and 2001 Summer Solstice Ceremonial Fires. Garden Island, located just north of Beaver Island, is the physical and spiritual home of Keewaydinoquay, an Anishinaabe elder. She shared her knowledge of the plants, the language, the songs, and reawakened the customs. Kee merely followed the directives from the "blessed ones" and her grandfather MideOgema, who said, "You must help whoever shows up at your doorstep." She walked in honor her entire life while on Mother Earth. In 1999, before she passed over, she received along with Grandmother Twylah Nitsch, the first Living Treasures of North America Heritage Award.

• Gizeh, Egypt - A coal bundle was carried by Maureen Zarrella to the great Sphinx at Gizeh in August, 2000. The Sphinx has the body of a crouched lion representing Harmachis, the Egyptian God of the morning. "I kept my hand clenched around the Coal bundle so I wouldn't lose it. When I decided where I wanted to place it 1, opened my hand and it was already gone." She was told, "The spirit of the land and the Sphinx had already accepted your offering."

• Glastonbury, England - Coals bundles were left in the hearts of Gog and Magog, two of the oldest oak trees in England, on July 7, 2000. These two ancient "warriors" stand side-by-side in silent salute to the magic and mystery that surrounds the legends and ceremonies of Glastonbury, "The Isle of Avalon."

• Glastonbury, England - A Coal bundle was dropped into the Chalice Well on July 7, 2000. This healing well has great significance to the spiritual history of the area. It dates back to the 12th Century, and has never gone dry, even in time of drought. The Well Lid made of wrought iron was given to The Chalice Well as an Offering for Peace in 1919. The Lid is an ideal symbol of Universal Peace, representing every type of thought, Eastern and Western among them. The two interlocking circles are ancient in origin and the symbolism has been found throughout the world. Pilgrims travel from all over the world to drink the healing water from the Chalice Well.

• **Grandgourt, Switsedand - A coal bundle was added to a sacred Inipi fire by Angelique de Wolf in May, 2001, at their new spiritual center. Bob and Lee Nitsch, of the Seneca Historical Society, carried the coal bundles with them on their European speaking tour. Angelique also gave a coal bundle to Mala Spotted Eagle, a Shoshone Elder, and son of Rolling Thunder.

• Greece - A coal was carried and left at the top of Delphi, in August 1996, by Maureen Zarrella. Delphi is considered to be the spiritual center of Greece.

• Hague, Netherlands - Four Fires were struck by Bruce Hardwick at the World Peace -Inner Peace Conference, May 18 - 20, 1999. This international gathering was the 100th Anniversary of the first ever international Peace Conference held at The Hague in 1889. One of the Fires was lit with the help of the Bridgidine Nuns of Kildare, Ireland. The sister who carried the flame stated, "The Sisters of St. Bridgid have tended and cared for this Peace Fire that has burned for over 1000 years. "

• **Halifax, Nova Scotia - In August, 2001, coals bundles were shared by Fay Stone with two different bands of the the Mic Mac Tribe. One bundle was given to Pauline Isadore, at the Wagmatcock Reserve on Cape Breton. The second coal was given to the Chief of the Lennox Island Band, which is located on a small island off the coast of Prince Edward Island. Both people reverently promised to use the coal bundles in their next sacred Fires.

• Hemet, California - A coal bundle was added to the opening Fire ceremony sponsored by the World Peace Prayer Society at the Millennium Reflection and Celebration Gathering December 31, 1999.

• Hill of Tara, Meath County, Ireland - A coal bundle was left at the Stone of Destiny on June 30, 2000. Human activity on this hill top goes back over five thousand years ago. The Hill was the symbolic capitol of Ireland and is one of the richest archaeological complexes in Ireland.

• **Hill of Uisneach, County West Meath, Ireland - On April 28, 2001,
Margaret Connolly was asked to relight the Beltane Ceremonial Fire on The Hill of Uisneach. This was the first time in centuries that this ceremonial Fire had been lighted for all of Ireland. Long ago the Hill of Uisneach was once a sacred place of assembly for all of Ireland. A place where the "divisions" of the ancient land would unify, sign treaties and make peace. Near the top of the hill is AIL-NA-MEERAN - the Cat Stone. This 30-ton marker stands at the 'mide' (middle) of the four great provinces - Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Connaught. It was at this stone the first Druidic fires were lit. From those fires, every chief's fire in Ireland would be lighted. The Cat Stone of Uisneach is a symbol for the coming together of Ireland, the striving for unity and peace. Margaret put one of the coal bundles into this Fire.

• Hill of Uisneach, County West Meath, Ireland - A coal bundle was buried after prayers and a Peace Ceremony, on June 30, 2000, at AIL-NA-MEERAN - the Cat Stone. An ossinagon (old stone pipe) and kinnickinnick (sacred tobacco) were carried from the United States for this ceremony. While facing north, the wind picked up and the "breath of the ancestors" carried the sacred smoke toward Northern Ireland and the peace accord that was in progress.

• **Himalayas, Nepal - Mary Alfus, trekked for 21 days, covered 140 miles and 35,000 feet up and down. She left coal bundles in the three highest places she hiked. Mary said, "It was a very, very spiritual place."

• Hotevilla, Arizona - Coal bundles were left with Grandfather Dan Evahema on March 28, 1997. He was the oldest and most respected of the traditional Hopi elders. At 106 years of age(or older), he was still active and working with the Hopi and Denai people for peace. He passed over in January of 1999.

• Isle of Iona, Scotland - A coal bundle was left and a birch bark peace canoe launched out to sea after a peace ceremony at the "The White Strand of the Monks" on July 4, 2000. The white sand beach is located at the north end of the island. This beach is where St. Columba, one of the three patron saints of Ireland, landed with eleven monks in 563 A.D. and started his monastery, after he left Ireland.

• **Isle of Man - Jenny Parker, a Professor at Northern Illinois University, carried a coal bundle back to her home, in July, 2001. The island is steeped in history as one of the oldest parliaments in the world, celebrating its Millennium in 1979. A self-governing dependency of the crown - having its own government, language (Manx Gaelic), and currency. "At Kirk Michael beach, we lit a ceremonial fire and watched in awe at the spectacle nature had provided. In front of us lay one of the most colorful sunsets I have ever seen, the coastlines of Ireland and Scotland became silhouettes on the horizon. We put the coals into the Fire - each lost in our own thoughts of the meaning. It is said on a clear day from the top of Snaefell (the only mountain on the Isle of Man) seven kingdoms can be seen: England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Mann, Neptune, and Heaven. For a moment it felt as though all the kingdoms were watching our little Fire."

• Israel, the West Bank - A coal was left after the initial Play For Peace(PFP) training for Israeli and Palestinian children, by Craig Dobkin. PFP is a process created to bring children of conflicting cultures together through the goodness of play. PFP is affiliated with the Association for Experiential Education (AEE). Coals have also been left by the facilitators when conducting the PFP Initiatives for children in Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, and Guatemala.

• Jerusalem, Israel - A coal bundle was placed in a small hole high in the Wailing Wall in August, 2000.

• Kaikoura, New Zealand - "where the ocean meets the sea." A coal bundle was left in the middle of the seal colony at the tip of the peninsula. Kaikoura is the only place in the world where the whales migrate every day of the year. Whale Watch Kaikoura is a Maori run business and visitors have daily close encounters of a special kind with these ancient mammals which are now protected.

• Kalamazoo, Michigan - Coal bundles were carried to the Gathering of
Friends General Conference, July 3-10, 1999, by Bill and Alice Howenstine. The coal bundles were given to the two keynote speakers, Harvey Longboat of the Cayuga Nation in Ontario, and Don Alejandro, a Mayan from Guatamala. Harvey Longboat, an elder of the Handsome Lake Longhouse, has been appointed by the Clan Mothers to the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations). Don Alejandro holds a place on the Council of Mayan Elders of Guatemala and the Council of Elders of America.

• Knock Shrine, County Mayo, Ireland - A coal bundle was left at the Statue of St. Michael the Archangel on June 26,2000. Over a million pilgrims journey to the Our Lady of Knock Shrine annually from all over the world for healing, prayer and contemplation. On August 21,1879, after one hundred consecutive days of mass and prayer, by the priest and villagers, The Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and St. John appeared at the church gable for hours in a blaze of heavenly light along with the altar, the cross, and the lamb of God.

• Kodiak Island, Alaska - Elaine Griffin, the 1995 National Teacher of the Year, carried a coal back to her school which has around thirty students. She received the coal at the AEE Conference in Fall, 1996.

• Kostelec, Czecholvechia - Yitka Yost was visiting her home town of
Kostelec Nad Cernymi Lesy which translates to "church town above the black forest" in April, 2000. She planned to leave a Fire Coal Bundle there in her home town. When she reached into the envelope, the coal was already gone. It had been accepted and taken by the spirits of the land.

• Kykotsmovi, Big Mountain, Arizona - Coal bundles were given to Sarah Begay and her daughter LaVerna Shorty to carry back home with them to the Big Mountain Sovereign Dineh Nation. They are traditional Dineh and one of the two remaining families who have resisted the Relocation Act passed in 1972. The Relocation Act is an "official" way to cheat the Dineh and Hopi people out of their land and give access to Boyden and Peabody Coal to mine the coal, uranium, and gold that lies beneath the surface.

• **Lake Quinault, Washington - On July 18 & 19, 2001, coal bundles were left in three special places. 1) The nation's largest Sitka Spruce tree estimated at 1,000 years old. This grandfather was enormous with surface roots as thick as the leg of an elephant. 2) The Willaby Creek Cedar is over 1,000 years old and three miles from the road. A Sun salute provided an affirmation after the coal bundle was placed at the base of this grandmother. She stands regally alone in the forest forming a natural cathedral to all who visit. 3) The Chitum Trail Cedar, at over 1,200 years old, is the Nokomis Geeshik of all cedars in Washington. She lives through the children she nurtures, the final gift of a true elder. "This 1.200 year old grandmother, twenty feet in diameter, welcomed us into her bosom through a doorway on her east side. Once inside this living lodge we were embraced by body length cedar stalactites. A pipe ceremony was done where she became the stem and we became the bowl holding the Fire. The smoke from the ossinagon lingered, and slowly rose toward the heavens, through her 160' hollow trunk. It was a glorious moment of feeling connected." The bundles were left with these elders with an "attitude of gratitude."

• Lawrenceville, Illinois - A coal was added to the traditional Fire struck on July 18,1997, at sunrise, for the Algonquin Cub Scout day camp at Red Hill State Park. Over 120 fourth and fifth grade Weblo scouts were able to learn about the teachings of the Fire during the day.

• Little Rock, Arkansas - Sand from the original Fire in Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin, and coals from the 1997 T E.A M. Conference, were brought to the the 3rd Annual Mid-South Regional AEE Conference at the Joseph Pfeiffer Kiwanis Camp outside of Little Rock. Bruce Hardwick was asked to light the Fire to start this conference. At the closing over, 100 participants made Earth Bundles to carry home with them. "It rained for two days at the conference, the river rose rapidly, and overflowed its banks. Although the Fire was located at the edge of the river, it burned for the entire time of the gathering, and never went out."

• LeRoy, Illinois - Coal bundles were left with George Kishketon, a
Kickapoo elder, at The Homecoming of the Kickapoo Nation Pow Wow - ALLAPAMI LLOI WIPIEAKI KIKAPOAKI & Dedication of the Grand Village of the Kickapoo Park on May 30, 1998. This historic event celebrated the return of the Grand Village site to the Kickapoo Nation. The signing of the treaty at Edwardsville in 1819, forced the Kickapoo to give up all rights to their land in Illinois. In 1993, when Bill and Doris Emmett,who own the farm, were informed of the historical significance of their property, they felt driven to help preserve the land. Along with the Midwest SOARRING Foundation, they are trying to purchase the remaining land to preserve the entire village. The Kickapoo feel, after more than 170 years, they have a place to come "home."

• Lockerbie, Scotland - A Coal bundle was left, after a silent prayer
ceremony, at the memorial in the old Town cemetery dedicated to the
271 people who died in the 1988 Pan Am flight terrorists blew up.

• Lodere, Larzac Region of France - A Coal bundle was placed by Corinne Shiman Sarti, on September 24th, 2000, in one of the four ceremonial Fires. These Fires were lit as part of the Tenjuk Oulong-Life Ceremony for his Holiness The Dalai Lama. This ceremony was conducted for world peace. A Fire is lit in each of the four cardinal directions. A Coal bundle, from this Fire, was placed in the west Fire. Corinne said, "As the Dalai Lama walked towards the four Fires, the smoke from the western Fire directly greeted and completely encircled him. It was a wonderful moment!"

• Louisberg, Ireland - A coal bundle was left at the Hunger Cross located next to the Bay road, on June 25, 2000. The Cross was dedicated to the hungry poor who walked past here in 1849 during the famine.

• Lynchburg, West Virginia - Nature & Vision - Primitive Skills School - A coal was placed in the commurity fire by Charles Worsham founder of the school. The culminating activity at the end of the week long traditional fire-making class was to produce a coal using only a hand drill. That coal ignited a tinder bundle which was used to ignite a teepee fire structure. The initiative involved complete cooperation of all the instructors and students working together to "give life" to this Fire.

• **Machu Picchu, Peru - Rhonda Blue Feather left a coal bundle at the top of one of the ruins, after a traditional coca leaf blessing. The coal bundle was left on the female side to help balance the Pachumama energy. Another bundle was given to Romulo Lizarrga Valencia who is Andean/Quechua. He recognized the importance of the bundle and agreed to carry it to the shamans of his village.

• Madison, Wisconsin - Coal bundles were left with Gloria Cobb, of the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, and organizer of the New Dawn of Tradition Pow Wow on August 20, 1998. This historic gathering marked for the first time since the Prairie du Chien Treaty of 1825, all fourteen Wsconsin tribes and bands gathered. Gloria stated, "We're celebrating over 150 years of survival. The tribes are still here, and it's time to start the healing process."

• Marbury, Alabama - A Coal bundle was mailed on October 11, 2000, to the Dominican monastery of St. Jude. Almost at the exact center of Alabama, the nuns have found the secret of peace by embracing love. Fearless in their knowledge, strong in their love, they founded an interracial and international community.

• Milwaukee, Wisconsin - A coal bundle was given to Fr. Thomas Keating, on October 30, 1999. Fr. Keating, a Cistercian priest and monk, founded the Centering Prayer Movement in 1984. "Centering Prayer is an attempt to let go of our thoughts and feelings; to open one's mind and heart - to God, the Ultimate Mystery. This is nothing new. Silent contemplation characterized the first fifteen centuries of the Christian era. Unfortunately, a negative attitude has prevailed from the sixteenth century onward." When handed the coal bundle, Fr. Keating smiled and said, "I have heard of this Fire. Thank you."

• Minneapolis, Minnesota - A coal bundle was left in Eagle Park after a sunrise prayer ceremony on April 21,1998, during the Tenth Annual National Youth Leadership Conference. Eagle Park is located next to the new convention center and protected by four ten foot high stone eagles. The eagles were the corner stones of the 1927 ERA auditorium. The coal bundle was left in a circle of young birch trees located in the heart of the park.

• Moscow, Russia - Jean Berube, from Gallaudet University, carried coal bundles in March, 1996 & 1998, to the Now Is The Time - Conflict Resolution Conference. High school students from fourteen different countries gathered to come up with peaceful solutions to current problems. They all carried coal bundles back to their home countires.

• **Mount Ranier - Held in such respect by the locals, it is only referred to as The Mountain. The Native Americans refer to it as Tacobet, the Mountain that is God, or Tahoma, the mother of all waters. One of the valleys below the mountain is the sixth most fertile in the world. A coal bundle was left in the "heart of the mountain" the Cromer Crevasse, at Camp Muir, on August 2, 2001. This opening was created by an expedition member who punched through the snow crust while stepping out the back door of his tent. His feet dangling over a bottomless crevasse, his exceptional strength and coordination got him out, after he broke through up to his arm pits.

• Mount Shasta, California - On Global Prayer Day, January 23,1997,
Katherine Cheshire added a coal to the Fire at this four day peace gathering led by Grandfather Wallace Black Elk. Over 100 people were in attendance from far and near. Members of the Dogon Nation carried a container of sacred water traveling all the way from their remote village in Ghana, West Afriica to participate. This Fire was connected, by a coal, to the International World Day of Peace organized by Arvol Looking Horse, at Devils Tower, Wyoming, on Summer Solstice, June 26,1996. On this World Day of Peace over
2,000 prayer Fires were burning and people of all races were sending good thoughts and energy to heal the Earth.

• **Mount St. Helens, Washington - The Klickitat Indians who have lived beside the volcano for several thousand years continue to call it by its traditional name - Tahonelatclah ... Fire Mountain. At 8:32 A.M. on May 18, 1980, a cubic mile of earth was blown off the summit in twenty seconds. A blast of such incredible force, it has been estimated at 2,500 times the power of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Coal bundles were left on July 23, 2001, at three locations: at the back end of Apes Cave under the mountain; at the end of the Harmony Trail by the edge of Spirit Lake; and, the last was dropped from a helicopter at the edge of the new emerging lava dome inside the old crater.

• Muskego, Wisconsin - A coal was added to the sacred Fire that was lit in the traditional Anishinaabe way at Sunset, August 27,1997. Twenty-two people gathered with the sole purpose of lighting a Fire in this area, because the land has been "designated" to become a landfill within the next few years.

• **Navan Fort, County of Armagh, Northern Ireland - on February 15, 2001, a ceremonial Fire was lit at the ancient center of Ulster, to regain the spirit of the women of Ireland, by Margaret Connolly and the Women of the Nine Fold. Two thousand years ago it was not only home to the Kings of Ulster and the capitol, but also revered as the spiritual center. Although Ulster was the smallest of the five ancient provinces, its central position made it the most prestigious. A coal bundle was added to this Fire.

• New Grange, Ireland - A Coal bundle was left at the end of the twenty meter long central cruciform chamber on June 30, 2000. This sanctuary is lighted by the sun every year on December 21, Winter Solstice. New Grange was built in the Valley of the Irish Kings before the Egyptian pyramids were ever begun.

• New Harmony, Indiana - A coal bundle was placed in the ceremonial Fire for the Third Annual Wisdom of the Elders Conference on October 3 - 5, 1997. Jim and Ann Gillihan facilitate this gathering to bring like minded people together for a weekend of sharing, reflection, and rejuvenation of their bodies, minds, and spirits. An Eagle soared overhead as the participants started to gather on Friday, and while the last dishes were being cleaned on Sunday a brilliant double rainbow filled the eastern sky.

• New Lebanon, New York - Lenny Brown placed a coal bundle in their Elders Fire, Spring, 1998. The Fire is struck when elders, such as Grandfather Wallace Black Elk, come in the area to share. Lenny also carried the coals to Flying Deer Nature Center, a summer camp he started that is dedicated to sharing the philosophy of Native Americans and to help children learn to respect our Earth Mother.

• **New York City, New York - On September 15, 2002, four days after the attack on the World Trade Center a coal bundle was left at Ground Zero by Raul Lopez Gamba. Michael John traveled from Chicago, by bus, as a volunteer for the Red Cross to assist with the rescue efforts. "Late in the afternoon on Saturday, I stepped up to the 4,5,6 line with the people gathered to beacon the attention of such a tragedy. Their empty stares snapped pictures of the scene filled with working heroes. Our mood was sobering and silent. No one spoke. Standing at the perimeter I realized the Grandfather Spirit Fire I carried needed to be left at the bottom of Ground Zero. Raul, a Red Cross worker, would become the carrier. Upon hearing my explanation, he stopped what he was doing and gave me his strict attention staring coldly into my eyes as he listened. I asked, 'Can you place this red clothed bundle tied with white yam into the center and offer a prayer for the victims, their families and world peace?" "I will do so with honor," he answered.

• New York, New York - Katherine Cheshire carried over 100 coal bundles to the opening of A Season for Nonviolence at the United Nations. Over 1700 people gathered on January 30,1998 to honor the deaths of Mohatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King to "plant seeds of nonviolence" for the next seven
generations. A Season for Nonviolence opened in ten countries, forty states and one hundred and eleven cities. A casual conversation at a backyard barbecue, in 1996, produced this peaceful event.

• Neyaashiinigming, Ontario (Georgian Bay) - A coal was added to the Three Fires Sacred Assembly, September 19,1997. The gathering was hosted by the Chippewas of the Nawash First Nations. The forum was for native and non natives to seek mutual understanding and a shared vision for a respectful and peaceable future.

• Northland, New Zealand - The Waipoura Sanctuary preserves New Zealand's last extensive stand of Kauri trees. The Kauri trees are the magnificent giants of the New Zealand rain forest. Coal bundles were left with the two oldest living trees in New Zealand on August 17, 1998. A coal bundle was left at 'Te Matua Ngahere'(Father of the Forest), the oldest tree dating back over 2000 years; and, 'Tane Mahuta ' (God of the Forest) the largest Kauri at over 190 feet tall, and approximately 1500 years old.

• Nuremberg, Germany - A coal was left by Bruce & Pat Hardwick in the plaza where Adolph Hitter gave some of his most impassioned propaganda speeches during the height of the Nazi regime.

• Oceanview, Big Island, Hawaii - A coal bundle was left with Dwayne
Childress the "spiritual keeper of the lava tubes." The lava tubes
are formed as the lava cools. These tubes were used as burial chambers, passageways from the ocean to the center of the island, and healing centers. The chambers are filled with negative ions and Hawaiians would place people in the lava tubes to speed their healing and recovery.

• Oregon, Illinois - A coal was placed in the Fire, by Cliff Knapp, at The 1996 Annual Indigenous Peoples Conference, at the Laredo-Taft Outdoor Education Center of Northern Illinois University.

• Paris, France - On Easter Monday, 1998, a coal bundle was placed by
Linnea Jannik in the eternal flame at the Tomb of The Unknowns, beneath the Arc de Triomphe, on the Champs Elysees.

• **Pelm, Germany - On July 18, 2001, Martina Coachman left a coal bundle she received from Bob and Lee Nitch at the Chapel of the Holy Virgin. "It is located right in the middle of the woods. I will leave it there in honor of our ancestors and all our nations. May we live in peace on our Earth Mother."

• **Port Townsend, Washington - A coal bundle was left on July 14, 2001, after prayers and a pipe ceremony for all the ancestors who had walked there before. "The village of Tsetsibus is virtually unknown to most whites and is invisible on maps, but for 7,000 years the beach area was occupied by the first peoples of the Olympic Peninsula. Tsetsibus, considered the capitol of the Puget Sound Clans, was the gathering site for all the area tribes and the site of the last great Potlach in 1891."

• Pueno, Peru - A coal bundle was left on Tequelie Island in the middle of Lake Titicaca, by Caesar Soete in January, 1998. Tequelie Island is inhabited by Incans who still live in a traditional way. Lake Titicaca, located in the Andes mountains, is the largest lake in South America, measuring 3200 square miles. At 12,500 feet, it is the highest large lake in the world.

• Puerta Galera, Phillipines - A coal was given to Papa, the village elder, in this small traditional village along the coast. After the coal was handed to him all the electricity went out in the cafe in which he was sitting.

• **Praha, Czech Republik - Zdena Kmunickova, a Czech female doctor-psychiatrist, is building a center for Health Treatment and
Education. "The purpose of the center is to treat the body, mind and
spirit. At the opening of the center, we are planning to light a
ceremonial Fire and the Earth bundle will be added."

• Prince Island Sound, Valdez, Alaska - Coals from The Fire were shared by Mark Samuels with people from his ten-day National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) sea kayaking course while camped on an island in the middle of the Bay. A coal was carried back to Japan by one of the students.

• Queenstown, New Zealand - A coal bundle was left on the summit of Single Cone, the highest peak in the Remarkable Mountains, on August 8, 1998. A midnight ascent, illuminated by a full moon, and a cloudless sky enriched this mystical experience. Six thousand feet below you sensed the earth was in a state of meditation. While on the summit there was not a 'breath of wind.' The guide commented, "The silence is magnificent. I have never experienced anything like this in the mountains before."

• Quito, Ecuador - A coal bundle was given to the elder who was preparing to lead the Fall, 1998, Equinox ceremony at Mital Del Mundo, by Rebecca Szczelaszczyk. The Fire is lit by the rays of the sun when it passes directly overhead, at noon, and ignites the contents in a ceremonial bowl. The elder accepted the coal bundle and said, "I will hold this bundle for one year, and then place it in the Equinox Fire next fall." Mital Del Mundo, when translated, means 'the center of the world.'

• Rotorua, New Zealand - Coal bundles were left with elders and tour guides at Whakarewarewa, on August 15, 1998. "Whaka" is in the heart of the thermal area and part of the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. This area has been inhabited by the Maori since the 14th century, and is an old village site.

• **San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala - Renee Golden, a Professor at Northeastern Illinois University, is a true warrior for peace and social justice. In July 2001, Renee, along with her students, gave the Fire coal bundles to peasant Mayan farmers who are part of a reforestation project near their village in San Lucas.

• Seaside, Oregon - In Fall, 2000, Heidi Worminghouse distributed coal bundles to people gathered at the Well Springs. The Well Springs is considered a sacred place once used by the indigenous people as a place to bathe their babies in the soothing hot springs. People gathered from all over the world and she was able to provide them
with Fire coal bundles.

• **Seattle, Washington - On July 31,2001, a coal bundle was given to
Marilyn Jones. Marilyn is the curator of the Suquamish Museum on Bainbridge Island and works tirelessly for the perpetuation of the history, customs, and traditions of the Suquamish people. "I will tell the story of this Peace Fire to our tribal council so it can be used in the 90th Anniversary of our Chief Seattle Days this fall. This past Spring his grave was desecrated by vandals and it divided our community. This Peace Fire will help heal and reunite us. Chief Seattle was a remarkable man who stood over 6 feet tall. He was named a Peace Chief by the time he was twenty years old and his long house was 500 ft. by 40 ft. where everyone was welcomed."

• **Seattle, Washington - On January 28, 2002, a coal bundle was given by Maureen Zarrella to Theresa at the beginning of the Dharma Walk for Peace. "This peace walk will traverse the United States from Seattle and end up at the United Nations in New York City on May 12, 2002. The Dharma Walk for Peace will carry the Hiroshima Peace flame on this pilgrimage. After the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, a peace fire was kept burning from the embers. This flame we carry was lit from the original flame in Japan. This walk, organized prior to September 11, 2001, was the brainchild of Abenaki Indian Tom Dostou, who accompanied the flame on its walk across Japan. He thought it could bring peace to the United States. "

• **Sedona, Arizona - On March 25,2001 a coal bundle was left on Thunder Mountain near the peak in the "eye of the mountain" over looking Sedona. Thunder Mountain sits directly in the center of all the other sites that have drawn people on pilgrimage to this area for thousands of years.

• Sedona, Arizona - A coal bundle was left at Rachel's Knoll during a
cleansing blizzard on Good Friday, April 2, 1999. Rachael's Knoll is an outcropping of land 100 feet above the valley surrounded by magnificent 1000 foot red rock bluffs on three sides. This piece of land was saved from developers and is dedicated to "silence, meditation, and prayer." A six-sided Peace Pole stands next to a fifteen foot medicine wheel as a reminder to the dedicated efforts of many people to bring peace to the world in their own way.

• Slinger, Wisconsin - A coal was placed in the Inipi Fire by Chuck Stephens. He has Sun Danced for six years and walks in the "Lakota Way of Being."

• Spokane, Washington - A coal bundle was used at the closing ceremony on September 29,1996 of the 24th Annual Association for Experiential Education (AEE) International Conference, by Lemoine LaPointe, a Lakota. Lemoine stated, "This bundle is important to us, it is from the tree nation."

• South Africa - Coals were distributed as part of the closing ceremony for the first EDUCO AFRICA - Aspects of Adventure Conference on November 28, 1997. Bill Quinn organized and planned the conference that was attended by over one hundred wilderness-based experiential educators. The educators carried coals back to their home programs throughout Africa.

• South Point, Big Island, Hawaii - The southern most point in the United States. A coal bundle was left with Hal, a native Hawaiian, at the one room rustic visitors center, located at the end of the twelve mile one lane road that leads to this remote location. Hal directed us to the only "green sand beach" in the world. He said, "It is a very, very sacred spot to us and believed to be the original landing site of the indigenous people who first traveled to this island."

• Spittal, Austria - A coal was left in the Gold Deck Mountains by Bruce and Pat Hardwick after a pipe ceremony.

• **Stegi, Swaziland, South Africa - On September 9, 2002, Margaret Connolly gave a Fire coal bundle to the "spiritual father" of the Sangoma people. "The coal bundle was used in a ceremony to honor all the elders of the world and let the women know it is time for them to speak out about peace." Swaziland is one of the oldest settlements in Africa and the highest above sea level. Stegi is the holy place for the Sangoma people.

• Stillwater, Oklahoma - Scout Cloud Lee wrote, "The Fire burns brightly here at the center of the USA." She runs THE RANCH: A Gift to the Seventh Generation. The coal was placed in the Fire circle in the middle of the, Village of the Midnight Stronghearts, a collection of Native American structures.

• Stockholm, Sweden - A coal was left under the Flood Tree on the Island of Horn, by Maureen Zarrella. The Flood Tree is a 150 year old Oak Tree which has great historical meaning to the people of Sweden. In times of raging floods people would tie them self to The Flood Tree to keep themselves safe.

• St. Petersburg, Russia - A coal bundle was added to the sacred Fires that were lit by Bruce Hardwick for The Conflict Resolution Conference, May 9 - 14, 1998. Four Fires were lit on four consecutive days, with the final one being a "Peace" Fire. Over 200 people from fifteen different countries attended, and it was the first time Native Americans were invited to participate. Bruce referred to St. Petersburg as "The Gathering of the Turtles." It consists of eighty islands that are interconnected by over 600 bridges.

• Stonehenge, England - A Fire bundle was left in the center of Stonehenge in June, 1999, by Bob and Lee Nitsch. They, along with six other people, received special permission to perform a ceremony in the center of Stonehenge at the end of a five-week European tour to share the teachings of the Seneca Wolf Clan. Ashes from all the Wolf Song gatherings along with the coals from this Fire were mixed together and used to form eight circles on the ground. The eighth circle was for the ancestors of Stonehenge. When they were finished, the "ethereal voice" that gave them permission when they entered, thanked them for the ceremony they had performed.

• Sunset Beach, North Carolina - A coal was left at Sunset Beach which is a protected environmental haven along the Atlantic Ocean for sea tortoises and shore birds to lay their eggs. Non-denominational sunrise services are held each Sunday at the beach.

• Taize, France - A coal bundle was left on September 24, 1999 by Paul Funfsinn, at the monastery in Taize "after a moving ritual with over 2000 people chanting prayers with the monks." Taize was started by Brother Roger more than fifty years ago to "try the impossible - to create a small community where each day a few men will attempt to live lives of trust and reconciliation."

• Taos, New Mexico - Coal bundles were given to Nelson J. Cordova, the War Chief, and Richard Archuleta, the Keeper of the Buffalo Herd, on July 23, 1999, by Maureen Zarrella. They stated, "We will give these coals to the Peace Chief when he returns and take them into the Kiva for ceremony. Since President Nixon gave us our land back in 1970, people guided by spirit have come from all over the world. The land that was returned contained our Blue Lake. This lake is considered sacred to our people."

• Taupo, New Zealand - A coal bundle was sent down the Waikato River over the magnificent Huka Falls. The Waikato, the longest river in New Zealand, runs northward 425 km from its source on the slopes of Mt. Ruapehu, through Lake Taupo to finally meet the Tasman Sea, southwest of Auckland. Lake Taupo was formed by the largest volcanic explosion in the history of mankind.

• Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand - A coal bundle was left on Mount Maunganui in December, 1996, by Victoria Otto, at the site of the Beacon Peace Fire. The Beacon Peace Fire was lit on July 19, 1919, as a signal to initiate peace among the Maori people. That night, a response was received from thirteen different islands in response to the Peace Fire.

• **Texel, the Netherlands - Texel is one of the Dutch Northern Islands. On June 21, 2001, Patries van Elsen and Brigitta Schomaker placed a coal bundle in their Summer Solstice Ceremonial Fire. The Fire burned uninterrupted for 19 hours during the ceremonies. "The Fire helped us focus our thoughts for World Peace and Earth Healing."

• Transylvania, Romania - A coal bundle was carried by Felician Victa from Chicago across the Atlantic Ocean and over seven countries to his home village of Vidolm in the state of Alba-lulia. His 66 year old Uncle Cornel accompanied him while he trudged up the snow covered mountain to start a ceremonial Fire near the peak. Felician said, "I silently expressed my thanks to the North, South, East and West winds as I watched the smoke rise from this Fire dedicated to world peace. This was a wonderful experience."

• Turka, Finland - A coal was placed in the Nord Stroem (North Stream) which empties into the Baltic Sea.

• Uganda - A coal bundle was sent in April, 1998, to Frank Katoola, the teacher who accompanies the Uganda Children's Charity Foundation dance troop. Winners of the best performers category at the acclaimed 1993 International Children's Festival. The Tour of Light song and dance troop is composed of eighteen orphans whose parents died from AIDS. This performance provides a forum to speak out about the AIDS- related orphan crisis in Uganda, and its devastating effects on children as well as adults.

• Virginia Beach, Virginia - Coal bundles were given to elders from all over the world to carry back to be used in their traditional Fires. This unique week long gathering Belonging to Mother Earth: Indigenous Wisdom and Healing, October 4-10, 1998, was held at the Edgar Cayce Institute.

• Walpi Village, First Mesa, Arizona - A coal was left at Flowering Rock,in April 1997, on top of First Mesa near the old village site. Rituals and ceremonies are still conducted here by the Hopis as they have been for hundreds and hundreds of years.

• Wanblee, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota - A coal bundle was placed in the Inipi fire of Godfrey Chips, in July, 1998. Godfrey Chips is the most recognized and respected Yuwipi healer among the Lakota. A fourth generation healer his great grandfather, Chips, was the medicine man for Crazy Horse.

• Venezuela, South America - Coal bundles were given to Chief Shoefoot, a Yanomamo Indian, on February 9, 1999, during his visit to Northeastern Illinois University, in Chicago. Northeastern was his first stop to speak to people while he was in the United States. Chief Shoefoot discussed the "Spirit of the Rainforest: A Yanomamo Shaman's Story." He shared their culture, traditions, and struggles. He has been known as the "Peacemaker" by all the Yanomamos for the last thirty years.

• Washington, D.C. - Jean Berube carried coal bundles to One People, One Prayer, a peace gathering, September 4 -7, 1997, with traditional elders from numerous cultures. A coal was put in The Fire located at the International Teepee Peace Village.

Items from several gatherings have been added to the Fire this year:

*  Steve McCullough, Sundance Chief of the Salt Creek Sundance located in Indiana,  placed a coal bundle from The Gathering of Eagles- Spiritual Unity of the World, Black Hills, South Dakota.

*  Pieces from three of the oldest cedars (female energy) in the state of Washington  along with a piece from the oldest spruce tree (male energy) in the United States were placed in the Fire.

*  Margaret Connolly carried a fire coal from the Beltane Ceremonial Fire, she was asked to light on April 28, 2001, on the Hill of Uisneach, County West Meath, Ireland.  This was the first time in centuries this ceremonial fire had been lighted for the all of Ireland.  Long ago the Hill of Uisneach was a sacred place of assembly for all of Ireland.  It is an ancient Peace Hill.  Margaret asked Frankie Heckman, a 12 year old young man to place the fire coal , for her, into our Fire at Northeastern.  Frankie is the son of Laurie Heckman who had the vision about the Grandmothers Speaking to the world leaders about peace.
 

Here is a five page document of where we know the Peace Fire Coal Bundles have traveled in 2002.   If you want the complete story, go to our web site at: www.neiu.edu/~team

*  Alta, Wyoming -  Stacey Chapman shared, " Following the guidance and tradition of Chief Arvol Looking Horse, a very special and loving group of people joined together in prayer and meditation for world peace.
We gathered on the evening of Thursday, June 20th, in Teton Canyon, and celebrated with song, dance, drumming and meditation until Sunday, June 23rd.  We lit the Sacred fire at sunrise, on the Solstice, June 21st, 2002, and began the heartbeat drum until sunset when we let the Fire go out.  I put a Fire Coal Bundle we received from Grandmother Twylah Nitsch, into our sacred fire, to honor all who have gone before."

*  Americas, Georgia -  A peace coal was left in the School of the Americas, by  a "scout for peace," at a 300 year old elder, the oldest tree in the complex.  The protests over the last ten years at this site were started by a single priest who believed what they were doing was wrong.  Now thousands join him each year.

*  Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico - A Peace Coal bundle was left in the ceremonial kiva located 140' above the valley floor.  The volcano that erupted here 1.1 million years ago was fifty times more powerful than Mount St. Helens.  It moved 50 cubic miles of earth when it erupted, and left a layer of ash 1000' feet thick.

*  Barrow, Alaska -  Jane Browden, an 89 year old Eskimo, living in Barrow, Alaska, was given one of the Fire Coal bundles by Rhonda Thurman, who lives in Wisconsin.

*  Bejing, China -  In October, Ray Wohl, a Chicago Public School teacher at Irving Park Middle School, and committee member of TEAM, traveled throughout China with 50 American educators to celebrate and honor the memory of Pearl S. Buck, a noted humanitarian and Nobel Prize winning author for literature.  The international cultural exchange was sponsored by the Chinese government.  Fire Coals were shared in two places. The first was given to a teacher at the Middle School No. 2 where Pearl S. Buck taught eighty years ago.  The second bundle was placed within the Forbidden City in Bejing, in a formal incense burner once used by the Emperor.

*  Cape Town, South Africa - Dr. Bruce Copley shared, "I have been using the Fire Coal Bundles for some years now in my learning workshops for corporate executives in South Africa."

*  Chaingmai, Thailand - Cliff Knapp, a retired professor from Northern Illinois University, participated in an Interfaith Solidarity Forest Walk and presented the Fire Coal Bundle to Pau Luang Joni Odachao on January 6, 2002.  He is the Karen village headman and preserver of traditional tribal wisdom at the Wat Luang, Samoeng District.  The purpose of the walk was to advocate for the indigenous Hill Tribes, especially the Karen, in their struggle against the Thai  government to retain their sustainable way of life in the forest.  Pau Luang is the leader of Siam's forum of the Poor, a coalition of farmers and indigenous people.  "Pau took the coal to help promote peace in his part of the world."

*  Chicago, Illinois - On February 16, 2002, His Holiness Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a realized Master, mystic and Yogi, from South India, lit the Peace Fire at Northeastern.  He embodies India's spiritual heritage and the universal truths of great spiritual masters of both east and west, which transcend religious divide.  A delegate to the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit, Sadhguru's message of inner peace through individual transformation has reached around the world.

*  Chicago, Illinois - Christine Boskoff, CEO of Mountain Madness, received twelve of the Peace Coal Bundles on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 after her keynote speech to initiate Women's History Month at Northeastern.  Christine is one of the premier female alpinists in the world and has summitted  Mt. Everest. Her company climbs the highest peaks on all seven continents.

*  Chicago, Illinois - The Fire coal bundles were presented to Jane Goodall, by Pat Cleveland, on May 4, 2003, at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.  Pat shared with Jane the story of the Peace Fire.  Jane said, "This moment was meant to be.  Receiving these coals was one of the reasons I came to Chicago.  I was just asked by the indigenous council of elders to be their voice at Global Peace Gatherings.  The Native people are the only ones, of all the spiritual leaders, who understand the connection to the earth and why we must save her.  They presented me with a  talking stick to hold when I speak for them."

*  Chicago, Illinois - The bundles from the Peace Fire were given to Mairead Maguire, on June 19, 2002, at St. Patrick's church, the oldest church in Chicago, built in 1856.  Mairead Maguire was the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner from Northern Ireland.  She spoke about love and peace over war.

*  Chicago, Illinois -  The Fire Coal bundles were brought to an Indian Homa Fire  Ceremony on July 29, 2002.  The homa fire ceremonies were organized by Sri Karunamayi.  She is venerated in India as a living incarnation of the divine mother.  All Seven Homa Fire ceremonies were performed with the last one being for world peace.  Fire coal bundles were given to her associate to carry back to India with them after their peace tour.

*  Chicago, Illinois - Coal bundles were given to Sri Srinivasan, the keynote speaker, at the Yoga Conference, held at Northeastern Illinois University, on Friday, October 11, 2002. Sri was also invited to light the Peace Fire to officially open the conference.  Sri is the director of international Sivananda yoga centers and Ashram.  He is a senior disciple of Swami Vishnudevananada.  He has been teaching yoga for twenty-six years and was recently the keynote speaker at an international yoga conference in Iran.  Sri stated, "The reason behind yoga at the deepest level is for World Peace."

*  Chicago, Illinois - Coal bundles were given to Swami Shiv Yogi on Saturday, October 12, 2002.  Swami was the keynote presenter on day two of the yoga conference, at Northeastern.  His Ashram is located in one of the holiest cities in India.  He has helped to built schools and hospitals, for the people, back in his area.  A swami gives up all his worldly possessions and is designated by his orange robe.  As he walked across campus to the Fire Circle a cold, gentle, drizzle started to fall.  He said, "In India we feel this a blessing when the rain falls gently like this.  This is good."   His gentle smile acknowledged  an understanding of what was occurring beyond the physical level.  He lit our Peace Fire and silently watched it burn for a few minutes then turned to his helper and said, "These are people with good hearts."

*  Chicago, Illinois -  Ed Savage, a student at Northeastern, presented a Fire coal bundle to Angaagaq Lyberth after his lecture on November 16, 2002. He discussed "The Effects of Global Warming" from the perspective of an Inuit.  Elder Angaagaq, who is from Greenland, has had an impact on people in
approximately 30 nations as he has traveled to learn and share his knowledge of traditional aboriginal teachings with the world.  He shared, "The ice pack has receded two and a half miles from the time when I was a little child.  I have been invited by NASA to come and share what I know.  Unfortunately the only time the white culture calls is when they are in trouble."

*  Chicago, Illinois -  Karl Rohnke added a Fire Coal Bundle to the memorial Fire we held at Northeastern Illinois University, on Saturday, December, 7,2002, for Gus Pausz.  Karl had carried this coal bundle for over 80,000 miles on his many trips to China and around the world.  "It seems appropriate to place this coal in the Fire Gus helped to take care of for the last six years."   For the last twelve years Gus was involved in everything we did at TEAM. He was a great human being, a great teacher, and a true servant leader.

*  Chimayo, New Mexico - El Santuario De Chimayo, "The Lourdes of America," was completed on 1816 and is the site of the miraculous earth with curative powers.  The Fire coal bundles were left in the chapel where the healing dirt is located, and with Fr. C. Roca on March 24, 2002.  Fr. Roca was the first priest assigned to the church.  He arrived on July 4, 1954 and has been there ever since.  "The church has made me tired.  It almost fell down a few years ago, but then the people started to come from all over to visit  and pray.  Nearly 50,000 people will make a pilgrimage to our tiny church during Easter week.  Some will walk great distances to get here."  "The Flame of Peace - carried around the world in 1986" is located on the altar in the main part of the church has been burning here for the last eighteen years.

*  Greek Islands - Fire coals were left at six different locations by Kathy  and Molly Creely  between June 14 and July 1, 2002.  Fire coals were left at: 1)  The Parthenon - it was built between 447 and 438 B.C.  A Peace Palace built to honor Athena who offered the olive branch to the people.  They accepted her offer and chose peace (the arts, and culture) over war;  2)  The Temple of Poseidon - it was built on the highest point of the acropolis between 444 and 440 B.C. and was dedicated to the god of the sea.  Poseidon occupied a position second only to Athena herself.  3)  Delphi is a holy city dedicated to Gaia, the mother goddess, is considered the navel of the earth.  The fire coal was left under the navel stone;  4)  The Original Olympic Flame - Prytaneis honored the winners at the original flame. The fire coal bundle was put into the original flame;  5)  The Temple of Zeus - A fire coal bundle was left by the statue which is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world built in 470 to 456 B.C.;  and 6)  The volcano on the Island of Santorini - in 1500 B.C. eighty-three square miles of earth vanished into the abyss of the crater which had a depth of 800 feet.  Mount St. Helen's blew out one square mile of ash when it erupted.  A coal bundle was left near the rim over looking the crater.

*  Haystack, New Mexico - Our Fire Coals were carried by Grandfather Leon Secatero, Grand Elder, Spiritual Elders of Mother Earth, to the sacred nine-day Navajo ceremony led by  Grandfather Martin Martinez and the spiritual leaders of the Navajo nation had received as sacred prophecy.  The ceremony was held from October 3 thru the 12th, 2002.  It was estimated that 2,000 people were in attendance including 200 medicine people from all nations coming together at this one time. "This ceremony has not been held for seven generations.  It  was also to begin the new Mayan Calendar and put in place the journey for the next 500 years."

*  Klemanth, California - A Fire coal bundle was left in the Lightening Tree at the "Trees of Mystery."   An unmarked trail leads to this grandmother high above the gravel path.  The coal was placed in the heart of this 1200 year old, 256' redwood.  It was an impressive monument to the power of the thunders and the splendor of the forest.

*  Lassen Volcanic National Park, California - A fire coal was left at about 11,000 feet.  Mt. Lassen is the southern most peak in a chain of volcanoes called "The Ring of Fire."   It is also the location of Ishi the last of the Yahi tribe.  In 1911, Ishi was found by local settlers.  He lived another five years but died from tuberculosis. What is know n about the California Indian culture was learned from Ishi while he lived.

*  Los Alamos, New Mexico - The Fire Coal Bundles were shared along with the Grandmothers Peace Song by Tanoden  John Lorenzen, of the Miniss Kitigan Drum, at the 20th anniversary of the "Pilgrimage for Peace" on April 18, 2002.  Started in 1982 by Sister  June Fisher, Joan Leahigh and her husband, it was one of the first protests against nuclear weapons.  Since 1987, "The Flame of Peace,"  along with the sacred healing dirt from Chimayo, has been carried by runners from Chimayo to Los Alamos, NM., the birth place of nuclear weapons.  The flame on this candle circled the globe before finding a permanent home in New Mexico at the Santuario de Chimayo.  It originated with the torch that was carried around the world in the First Earth Run marking 1986 as the United Nations International Year of Peace.

*  Mt. Shasta, California - The Fire Coal Bundles were left with Mary Ma McChrist for the Our Lady of All Nations Peace Garden, on Monday, July  15, 2002.  The garden was dedicated to world peace on Easter Sunday, April 23, 2000.  Grandmother Blue Eagle said, " A great joining has occurred  here.  The joining of the 13 spiritual grandmothers will now occur.  The coal bundles are such a gift to humanity for they establish and requalify long traditions of transmutation by fire.  Let this be an inner fire and an outer fire which burns off all outmoded and detrimental emotions and violence."

* Mt. Shasta - A Fire Coal Bundle was placed in heart of a nine-trunk tree in Panther Meadow directly above the the head waters of Panther Springs.  Panther Meadow has been used by the Native people for thousands of years for ceremony, meditation, and prayer.  Mt. Shasta, a place of pilgrimage, is the northern most mountain in California, it has the cleanest air in the United States along with Sedona, Az.

*  Mt. Shasta, California - A Fire Coal bundle was dropped into the head waters of the Sacramento River at the source where it flows from the ground on Monday, July 17, 2002. The Sacramento feeds the entire valley  and is an invaluable resource of fresh water to all the life forms in the entire area.

*  Nambe Pueblo, New Mexico - The Fire Coal bundles were left with Connie and Ernest Mirabel on March 25, 2002.  Connie is one of six grandmothers who formed the Fire of the Rainbow Women.  "We are a circle of six women of diverse backgrounds called together by spirit to serve Creator through spiritual
gatherings."  Connie travels with Arvol Looking Horse around the world on his June 21st, Summer Solstice, peace missions.

*  New Harmony, Indiana -  A Fire Coal Bundle was given to Jane Owen on Saturday, October 5, 2002.  Jane is the "moving spirit" behind the transformation of New Harmony.  Laurie Howland met with Jane, on Sunday, and shared her vision about The Grandmothers Peace Project.  Jane said, " I totally agree with what you are doing and will do what ever  I can to support your efforts."

*  Old Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico - A Fire Coal Bundle was left at "Commandment Rock" on March 28, 2002.  John Duke, a Hopi Clan Chief, and elder said, "It is one of the most unique archeological finds in New Mexico.  It is the Ten Commandments carved into a 3' by 4' rock up in the mountains.  The language is Phonecian and dates back about 2,500 years."

*  Paris, France - A peace coal bundle was left in Cathedral Notre dame de Paris on September 25, 2002,
by Katherine Cheshire.

*  San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala - June Fisher, a Catholic Sister from the order of the Blessed Sacrament,
on June 29,2002, carried the Fire Coal Bundle on a pilgrimage to a Sacred Mayan Site.  "A villager took us to a Sacred Mayan Site where his ancestors took him as a child.  Prayers for peace and The Journey of the Sacred Fire are now part of this sacred Mayan site."

*  Santa Fe, New Mexico -  Peace Fire coals were left with Harmon Houghton from Clear Light Books Inc.  He was asked if he could present them to His Eminence Rizong Rinpoche.  Harmon shared, "I will present these fire bundles to him today.  I will be picking him up from the airport in a few hours.  His eminence is recognized as one of the foremost living masters of the Buddhist tantric tradition.  He has been asked by the Dalai Lama to come, at this time, to America to lead ceremonies for healing and protection."

*  Sequoia National Park, California -  A Fire coal bundle was left at the General Sherman Tree.  The largest living thing, by volume, on the planet, on Wednesday, July 24, 2002.  It is about 2,700 years old.  A peace coal bundle was buried on the North side of the tree - the place of strength and endurance, and dreams and visions.

*  Sitka, Alaska - Maureen and Ed Zarrella left a peace coal bundle on sunny day in Southeast Alaska.

*  Snowdonia, Wales - A coal bundle was handed to GERAINT AP IORWERTH on the 17th of September, 2002 by Jane Goerss from Park Ridge, Illinois.  Geraint is a Christian priest, contemplative and spiritual guide.  He lives and works in the beautiful Dyfi Valley.  Geraint co-founded the Order of Sancta  Sophia  in 1987, a mystical community dedicated to honoring the Divine Femine, the wisdom present in all spiritual paths.  One of his works includes a twenty-five year involvement in the 'peace and justice' movement in Israel and Palestine.

"  Spencer. Tennessee -  A coal bundle was left by Karen Szczelaszczyk on the northern route of the Trail of Tears, in January, 2002.  The Trail of Tears crossed what is now Hwy.111 south of Spencer.  It is located just outside Fall Creek Falls State Park which has the highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains.

*  South Bend, Indiana -  Human Spirits Uniting  - The Midwest Convergence for Universal Peace was held from June 30 to July 4.  Four different fires were lit on the Special Olympics Island, in the middle of the the St. Joe river, next to the convention center.  The St. Joe river is the only river that flows north in the United States.  In the late 1800's South Bend was the last major encampment of the Potawatomis before they were forcibly relocated to Kansas.  Participants stated, "South Bend will never be the same."

*  St. Brigid's Well, Fraugart Co., Ireland - Margaret Connolly of Armagh, Northern Ireland lit the Fire for the
celebration at St. Brigid's well.  "Women were never allowed to light the Fire it was always the priests.  The priest stepped aside and asked me to do it."  She and the children of Northern Ireland walked the mile and a half, carrying a lit candle for peace, to the Shrine of St. Brigid.

*  Washington, D.C. - A  fire coal bundle was left in the Pentagon by Girl Scout Troop #877 on June 9, 2002.  "We were in Washington for the 90th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts, and our troop decided that the Pentagon was an appropriate place to leave it."

* Xiamen, China -  (pronounced Shamen with a long a, accent on the Sha)  Karl Rohnke included one of the coal bundles in a Fire at the ropes course site they were building.  "Actually carrying and depositing the packets is kind of fun, like I'm part of an international TEAM spreading the word, or ash in this case."

*  Yosemite National Park - Fire Coal bundles were given to Jay Johnson on Friday, July 26,2002.  Jay is the tribal leader of the Southern n Sierra Miwok Nation.  Jay was sitting outside the village roundhouse.  "The haggi (roundhouse) is the center of the village religious life and social activities.  We rebuilt our haggi in 1973, and  there are only two left in California.  You have come on an interesting day  we are waiting for the walkers from Moro Lake.  They are retracing our migration over the mountains and are due to arrive any moment.  After the feast I will share the story of the Peace Fire with all our people."

* Yosemite National Park, California -  The fire Coal bundles were given to Ray Lalley, a retired bricklayer from Boston (pronounced Bahston), Massachusetts, on July 26,2002.  He was on a solo journey and planned to hike up and over the Great Western Divide. "I will be covering alot of distance in the next two weeks.  Bears got my food the first night out so I had to come back to resupply.  I will leave the coals when it feels right."  His neatly organized, weathered, well traveled, external frame back pack had one of the original sierra cups, from 30 years ago, hanging from a back loop. Here was an elder who was living life with no regrets. We should all be so fortunate.

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