Any members ready to get dirty? Chris was inspired to build a subterranean sweat lodge at the Sanctuary to replace the current sweat lodge (photo below). For those who have attended ceremony, it is across from the original sweat lodge beside the creek.

Read a related 2012 STORY about an Iroquois Indian subterranean sweat lodge discovered in Wabash County Indiana

BLUEMONT, VA

"Calling the Rain"
    This music video, in the rain, is not what we had in mind when we set out to play Native American Flute during a mass release of butterflies. But sometimes, Great Spirit leads us to create what we create.

An Authentic First in a Historical Place
     Military veteran and musician Alan Stanz, now stands where another people stood 10,470 years ago. Experts have authenticated Paleo-Indians were here. They held ceremony in these symbolic concentric circles of stones. There is intelligence here. We found it. (Link)

A Spontaneous New Song
     Alan is spontaneously playing a new song. His first recording. Not from a song sheet, but from his heart. 
     Did Paleo-Indians play songs here too, within these circles? Was it eagle bone flute? Church bells? Trumpet taps? What did they pray for? How many heard it? Did they call for rain? Did they release butterflies? We have lots of questions.

Authentic and Real
     This video is as authentic and real as the place Alan stands now; a place where others stood more than 10,000 years ago.
     This is a "one-shot" music video recorded on this spot. One take. One camera. One microphone. Authentic. Real.

Giving Thanks
     We give thanks in all things. For this opportunity. For this song. For this knowledge. For this place. For the rain.

By Josette Keelor
Northern Virginia Daily

BLUEMONT -- The Native American Church of Virginia started in 2009, but a recent discovery of an artifact dating back 10,470 years to a Paleo-Indian site has inspired Rene White (Feather) and Chris (Comeswithclouds) White to call it the oldest church in continuous operation in the world....

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY

Photo by Emy Dean

BLUEMONT VA – A sacred blessing for the Paleo-Indian ceremonial grounds took place at the Sanctuary on the Trail™ in Bluemont, Va. on April 26.
      The smell of sacred medicine of sage, cedar and tobacco filled the air Saturday as Seminole Medicine Man, and co-founder of the Oklevueha Native American Church and Priory of the Indigenous People for the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, James (Flaming Eagle) Mooney and Paleo-Indian site custodian Chris (Comeswithclouds) White, of Cherokee ancestry, held a sacred blessing ceremony. Mooney and his wife, medicine woman Linda (Bright Hawk) Mooney, flew in from Utah to conduct the historic sacred event.
      There was no large audience for the hour-long sacred blessing. No ribbon cutting. No band. Only sounds of a bubbling creek, singing birds, an occasional flutter of a butterfly or buzzing bee landing on nearby spring flowers, and sacred prayers.
     A council of three, elder Mooney, elder/land owner White, and a sacred all-consuming fire of truth (symbolized as Jesus Christ/Holy Spirit) sat inside a talking circle along the Blue Ridge Mountain, with a clutch of Eagle feathers, a few soft leather pouches, sacred prayer pipes and an eagle bone flute, while praying as a sacred crackling fire’s smoke delivered their prayers upward. The ritual included a traditional smudging ceremony used to remove any negative energy from the Paleo-Indian ceremonial grounds now and into the future.
      “Our Indigenous American Native spiritual traditions have been suppressed and taken to the verge of extinction. Such as a time as this, what a blessing Great Spirit has called Chris and René to this place and to this mission of preserving, protecting, and restoring this sacred ceremonial space,” Mooney said. “It is our hope that with their Native American Church of Virginia that they be a hub or center to assist in healing our world and all our relations,” Mooney added.     

      The Whites plan to leverage the Paleo-Indian site and their “Sanctuary on the Trail”™ as a hub to “help leaders first,” especially military veterans returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
     In response to helping military veterans, C. White, CEO of the Native American of Virginia, who found the Paleo-Indian site, shared this short story:
     “In Native American culture, when warriors went off to fight it was an individual sacrifice made for the tribe as a whole. Through the wisdom of the elders it was known beforehand that the atrocities of war and the sacrifices warriors made were not just being absent from the tribe and their families,” explained C. White.
     “While warriors may lose their life, all were exposed to unseen wounds in the spirit,” he added. “Upon returning to the tribe they were isolated, prayed over, and went through ceremonial cleansing to heal so that the things witnessed in spiritual trauma would be cleansed before entering back into society; thus, not tainting society nor the tribe, of that which they had seen and witnessed or done. So when entering back into society, they leave the warrior behind healed and enter back in to society complete and as whole as they left.”
     C. White’s wife, a retired military veteran with 22 years active duty service is also blessed in leading Native American ceremonies. R. White said, “Using sacred ceremonies is one way we hope to help our warriors.”
     She added, “Do you believe? Do you believe a person can be cleansed of war? We do.”
     The Whites are trained in leading scared ceremonies. They plan to use sacred “sweats” to help veterans cope with anxieties related to combat experiences.
     The “sweat lodge” may be new to Northern Virginia, but it is not new to Military Veteran Affairs (VA). The VA offers many sweat lodges at VA hospitals nationwide, including the VA Hospital in Richmond, Va. It is the White’s plan to partner with the Department of Defense and veteran groups to assist with the healing.
     “Leveraging the Paleo-Indian site helps validate this place as an already sacred place and a place to heal,” said R. White who is 100% percent Native American from the Lumbee Tribe.

     Speaking about the blessing ceremony for the Paleo-Indian site, C. White explains, “This is an exercise in “sacerdotalism,” which is common throughout history. It is an exercise in respect of elders. We sit like this in council with our elders. As in all cultures we honor our elders and spiritual leaders. We do not go off and do things on our own. As in many cultures, whether priest, rabbi, or cleric, we hear their words and positions on issues we feel Great Spirit is leading us towards. Their blessing is not only a concurrence and affirmation of the initiatives ahead, it is a physical attribute of our core values in regard to honor and respect. Did not Abraham receive a blessing from Melchizedek?,” he concluded.

     Does God really visit physical places? Does God consider one place more sacred than another? Is there such a thing as a scared place? Or are all places sacred?
     In reaction to these questions, C. White gave this example, “Some feel a draw to Stonehenge. Some feel a spiritual draw to Vatican City. The Bible, records Abraham heard from God concerning his inheritance in a heavenly place at Bethel (translated “house of God”.) Jacob dreamed of a ladder that went to heaven at Bethel. Elijah was translated into heaven, and that day he was at Bethel.”
        During the ceremony, Mooney acknowledged the Whites as restoring a sacred site that had been left desolate. Mooney envisioned it being restored and that people would say, “It is as the ‘Garden of Eden.’”
     C. White pointed out that Mooney had just paraphrased Biblical prophecy from Ezekiel and Isaiah.
     Hours later, following the blessing ceremony at the Paleo-Indian ceremonial grounds, the Whites unveiled the Archeologist and Anthropologist dating results of the Paleo-Indian ceremonial site at the Barns of Rose Hill community center in Berryville, Va. The evidence they released validates the site’s integrity as positive for a Paleo-Indian era ceremonial sacred usage 10,470 years ago.
      For more about the Paleo-Indian site or the Native American Church of Virginia visit www.SanctuaryontheTrail.org. The Native American Church of Virginia is a 501(c)3 compliant faith-based initiative.
     The Paleo-Indian site received an official site number (44CK151) from the Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources adding it to the state’s inventory of archaeological sites in 2011.

Related Veteran News.

• In Sweat Lodge, Vets Find Healing ‘Down to the Core’ NPR Article
• Sacred smoke to heal US war veterans BBC Article
• VA Promoting Veterans Treatment Courts at National Conference Veterans Blog Article
• Women Work through Trauma Together Article