Indigenous Magic for Turbulent Times, Part 2: Aligning Yourself Daily (With Christin Dennis)
In Part 2 of our discussion with Christin Dennis, he explains the core principles, rituals, and practices that help keep him aligned with the Creator. He shows us how he lives his day-to-day life, conversing with Spirit, praying in unexpected ways, and meeting his challenges with courage. You’ll relish his surprising stories, and the universal wisdom he offers for living better every day.
Christin Dennis is a member of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Southern Ontario, Canada. His traditional name is Gzhiiaqwat (She u quot), which translates to Fast-Moving Cloud. He is an artist and a musician. He is also a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, in which indigenous children were forcefully taken away from their families and communities and adopted into predominantly Christian, Caucasian homes.
Christin’s art reflects on the current era in Indigenous culture, focusing on the sweat lodge and carrying the traditions of old into the contemporary world. He tells the stories of indigenous heritage and the importance of preserving traditional values.
For Christin, art is a means of expressing his passionate interconnection with "the spirit of all that exists." A spiritual healer as well as an artist, he stresses the importance of traditional teachings and spiritual growth. As such, he has facilitated sweat lodges for many years. Christin emphasizes that awareness of self and one's place in the world is important for members of both Native and non-Native cultures. Perhaps paradoxically, he uses cutting edge technology to make a statement about the distinctive place of ancient Indigenous cultures in a complex, contemporary, multicultural world.
By understanding and embracing the teachings of the ancestral past, Christin seeks to preserve a way of life, document its core value, and help build a vision for our future.
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