This Way to the Kiva: Poems for the Journey Home

By Robyn Nygumburo Bridges

How do we find physical help for our spiritual quest? Could the structure of ancient kivas in the American Southwest offer a template for the human interface of that path? And what might nature, embedded in the kiva itself, reveal to us about our own belonging, no matter where or how we live?
These are questions author and transpersonal therapist Robyn Bridges has explored for over thirty years, winding through the Rocky Mountains from Montana to Arizona while discovering the healing power of nature. From her own blessed and challenging life experiences, resulting in years of unplanned solitude, she has quested and found meaning, solace, and support from the divine, the human community, and the natural world. This Way to the Kiva chronicles that journey and its attendant discoveries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jul 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452514451

Robyn Nygumburo Bridges

Robyn Nygumburo Bridges, M Ed, has authored several books encouraging human interface with the natural world. The Good Earth: Canyons of Gratitude is her second of five books of poetry. After 25 years of private practice as a Body-Mind-Spirit Counselor, she now continues to write, speaks at inspirational conferences, and travels in order to research and appreciate new landscapes. Robyn is the author of three “Medicine” books: Moose Medicine: Healing Wisdom from the Natural World, Two-Legged Medicine: How to be Your Own Brilliant Therapist, and Turtle Medicine: The Art of Swimming Sideways. Now, her second book of poetry, The Good Earth: Canyons of Gratitude, follows her first, This Way to the Kiva: Poems for the Journey Home. Explore link or link and order through your local bookstore, Balboa Press, or link

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THIS WAY

TO THE KIVA

Poems for the Journey Home

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Robyn Nygumburo Bridges

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Copyright © 2014 Robyn Nygumburo Bridges.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN:978-1-4525-1444-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-1445-1 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 6/15/2015

Contents

Introduction

PART I THE TERRITORY OF THE SACRED

Origins

Into the Night

From Unseen Realms

Could You Be Lost Like This?

Prayer of Peace-Making

The Related Shaman

They Always Surprise Me

Beadwork

Coming Home Is the Journey

Return

Arrival

Re-Entry

In The Round

Old Indian Flute Music

Ceremony

This Way to the Kiva

PART II THE CALL OF THE PSYCHE

When Psyche Comes Calling

I Know Her

Never Enough

Only If

Animal Dreams

The Wheel Turns

Going Below

Winged Body

It’s Just How We Live

So Long Unsaved

Your Suffering

The Stars Still Travel

PART III THE BENEVOLENCE OF NATURE

Eagle Wind

Elk Herds

Moose Morning

Winter Solstice

Horse Medicine

The Standing People

Sustenance

Just a Dead Bird

Cloud Dancing

Serengeti

Wind Brother

Ireland

Tucson, Singing

Bridgers—O-Wa-Nee

Leaving the Crazies

Arriving, Elkhorn Ranch

Acknowledgments

For the Spirits, who have lent their permission

And lit the way

For my human companions, who have listened well

And buoyed my own spirit

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INTRODUCTION

T he earth reels in diversity and beauty. It teems with, as indigenous cultures would say, four-leggeds (mammals), winged ones (birds), and creepy crawlies (insects). Through many challenges, all of these animals have honed their own instinctive skills to adapt and survive. Yet for the human species to now survive, we must renew our own intuition and remember how we belong, both to each other