Native ceremonies connect with earth, Spirit
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

COMMUNITY IN RHYTHM- Mike Willis, member of the Choctaw and Cherokee nations, is dressed in a Northern tradition costume as he leads a drumming session during the Moonlight Meditation and Drumming Circle at Tierra Rejada Ranch in Moorpark on Tuesday. The event was hosted by OneSpirit Center for Conscious Living in Simi Valley.

About 70 people enjoyed an experimental evening of peace and power, blending American Indian practices with mindful exercises led by Dennis Merritt Jones, director of OneSpirit Center for Conscious Living in Simi Valley, and Mike Willis, an American Indian chiropractor who resides in Newbury Park.

The event took place at Tierra Rejada Ranch in Moorpark on Tuesday evening.

Participants particularly enjoyed the drumming circle sessions during the threehour ceremony, which also included a purification ritual, native dancing and mediation.

Drumming circles are an important symbol to American Indian people. They are mainly used in powwows. They draw people closer to one another because they unit people, said organizers.

SACRED ACT- Mike Willis, a Newbury Park resident, smudges Elliot Persico, 14, of Simi Valley. Smudging is a purification process used by American Indians. Photos by SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn Newspapers

Sandi Webb, who never attended such a ceremony before, said she loved the event. "I'm so glad my friend dragged me to it," she said.

"I love American Indian drums and flute because it's so pretty," said the Simi Valley resident who plans to do this again.

Willis, who led the native ceremonies, is a member of the Cherokee and Choctaw nations. When he's not guiding others spiritually, he's helping them to heal physically at his chiropractic office in Simi Valley, he said.

There is a connection between emotional well being and physical health, he said.

His timely sense of humor injected zing to the ceremonial event as frogs croaked loudly in the nearby creek. "I don't think everything has to be so very serious," said Willis.

Willis has given powwows for years. He's a Vietnam veteran and dances in the name of his brother soldiers who fell during that war, said Jones.

All American Indian dancers dedicated themselves to a cause or purpose- it gives it a deeper sense of meaning, he said.

"Native American traditions really resonate to use because they connect with nature and Mother Earth and the presence of the Great Spirit, which we think of as God," Jones said.

OneSpirit draws spirituality from just about every source of teaching that deals directly with the Spirit or God's presence, he said.

"For us, it's more about spirituality than it is religion. My job is to give people an experience of what it feels like to be in the presence of God and drumming gets you into the presence," he said, indicating about half of the attendees at Tuesday's event were not members of his center.

The moon wasn't full as organizers hoped for because the Tierra Rejada Ranch facility was not available at the time of the full moon. The center has hosted special activities at the ranch for many years because this place is spiritual and it has a distinctive sacred feel, said Jones.