Sacred Ceremony for a Sacred Earth: Indigenous Wisdom for Healing and Transformation

by Aniwa Council of Elders

For the first time, over a dozen respected Indigenous elders from around the world have united to share their timeless wisdom beyond their lands and lineages.

Aniwa’s Council of Elders includes some of the globe’s most renowned Indigenous Wisdom Keepers. In a time fraught with ecological, social, political, and mental health crises, they share a mission to unite people of all races, colors, and creeds to promote healing and a deeper reciprocal relationship with our planet. Sacred Ceremony for a Sacred Earth brings together their profound teachings, stories, sacred ceremonies, and healing practices, amplifying the voices of Indigenous healers from diverse traditions.

In their worldview, we are all children of Mother Earth, destined to return to her embrace. This extraordinary book serves as a guiding light, beckoning humanity back to ancestral wisdom and restoring forgotten bonds with nature and self through ceremonies and practices.

Embark on a journey of self-discovery, unveiling the purpose of your soul and reclaiming your intrinsic relationship with Mother Earth, through ancient practices such as:

Use of Feathers to Bless Yourself and Relieve Pain
Pagamento for Trees
Hopi Message of Comfort to Say Good-Bye to Loved Ones Who Have Passed
Practices for Conscious Conception
Create a Spiritual House for Your Inner Child
The Feagaiga (Sacred Promise or Covenant) with Mother Earth
Connect with Your Ancestors

Sacred Ceremony for a Sacred Earth calls upon us to awaken and rekindle the flame of connection with our roots and the natural world. Let the eternal wisdom of elders guide you toward healing, growth, and a profound reconnection with nature.

Genres: Spirituality, Native American, Nonfiction, Indigenous

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 6, 2025

Reviews

[Michael Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding Balance

The Aniwa Council of Elders has collected the teachings of over a dozen of its members from around the world in “Sacred Ceremony for a Sacred Earth.” Here we see the thoughts and practices of Indigenous people. Alongside North America’s Diné, Hopi, Ramapough Lenape, and Apache, we have Indigenous wisdom keepers from Australia, Peru, Guatemala, Columbia, and Polynesia. Each passage offers the ceremonial details and meditations on different approaches designed to remove the barriers that prevent healing through nature.

Shared elements in reconnecting with the natural world include physically interacting with nature, eliminating distractions, communicating with natural elements, and being open to the messages nature has to tell. These practices are branched into sections titled Awakening, Air, Medicine, Earth, Body, Water, Clearing, Fire, Conception, Space, Time, Ceremony, and Love. A few of the teachings within these chapters include “Finding Balance When the Whole World is Shaking,” “Create a Spiritual House for Your Inner Child,” and “Connect With Your Ancestors.”

A particularly moving reading for me was the beautiful “Hopi Message for Those Who Have Passed Away”--
I haven’t left you. I am here with you.
When you hear the sound of the water bubbling and it makes you smile, that’s me.
When you hear the wind blowing and singing through the leaves of the trees,
that’s me.
Light a remembrance candle and, when the flame flickers brightly,
that’s me giving you the light and the warmth of my love.
Wherever my final resting place is, you know where I am.
I am with you.

The book's physical beauty is enhanced by breathtaking photos, which include portraits of the authors. The faces of these elders convey history, harmony, and undeniable wisdom.

This guide is best experienced gradually, at your own pace. Its true value lies in its ability to change your life outlook, not provide instant gratification. These time-honored traditions require a mental shift and cannot be rushed. I look forward to drawing upon these messages as a resource going forward.

Significantly, the publishers emphasize “This book shares rituals and wisdom that, until now, have only been passed down orally and taught within closed circles.”

Thank you to Fair Winds Press, the Aniwa Council of Elders, and Edelweiss for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Emily Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous book with beautiful photos and ancient wisdom written throughout.

It felt like sacred secrets were being shared on each page so I read it slowly with reverence. The key takeaways are that everything in life can be an offering and that we need to treat all living things with respect.

The elder bios and stories shared about different healing concepts were my favorite part of the book.

If you would like to welcome more sacred practices into your life, this book would be a lovely addition.

This book was gifted by the publisher for an honest review. Thank you Fair Winds Press, Quarto Books, and the Aniwa Counsel of Elders.

[Kirstie Ganobsik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book introduced the concepts of self-healing and how our emotions directly impact Earth's environment. I also discovered ceremonies aimed at addressing a variety of health concerns and life situations, including:

• Alcohol addiction
• Plant-based medicine addiction
• Anger issues
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Conceiving
• Giving birth
• Proper rest
• Grieving
• Feeling stuck
• Trauma

I loved the combination of storytelling and unique healing practices included in this groundbreaking sacred guide.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this book on Libby, but this is something I want to buy so that I can highlight it and revisit it often. There is so much wisdom and knowledge to learn. A lot of the teachings in this book I already intuitively practice, which I found very interesting and encouraging.

We are all connected no matter where we are born or who our ancestors are. That is something we have become disconnected from. That is the reason why Mother Earth is dying and why there is so much war and hatred. Most people see themselves as separate from nature, when in reality, we are part of it: we are literally made of earth, air, water, and electricity. In order to heal Mother Earth, we need to return to her, become one with her cycles, and live in harmony with nature instead of against it.

[Sam Talkington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient Spiritual wisdom from North and South America along with the Polynesian Islands.

So much wisdom in here.

[Jonas Mareels · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Great introduction into the wisdom and practise of ceremonies from indigenous peoples across the Americas and Oceania, much needed insights for global minority cultures where rituals and ceremonies have much faded.

- We’re all children of Mother Earth. Guardians of Mother Earth. She is a gift to be passed over to the next generation(s).
- Interconnectedness of web of life. Sacred reciprocity
- Cultural preservation, land back efforts, food sovereignty, environmental initiatives.
- Song, drum, pray.
- Earthing
- Education system doesn’t teach us to grief, how to be happy.
- Medicine contains wisdom from different forms of consciousness coming from different worlds, known and unknown. We have to interact with medicine.
- When we fast, we purify our energies. Ideally once a month.
- There’s a ceremony for alcohol. We need to know the reason we’re drinking. It’s heavy for the soul.
- Anger is like fire.
- We are here and we are now.
- Machine-processed cacao doesn’t carry the same energy (also with more fertilizers and insecticides).
- We have different energy centres that need to be synchronised and channeled in harmony. Use energetic senses from medicinal observation.
- Our body is sacred.
- Flowers are symbol of flourishing.
- Talk to the water, talk to the plants. Introduce yourself.
- Thanking the water. Singing to the water.
- All world religions have a ritual of blessing water, using water in a holy manner. Water is sacred. We come from water. There is life in water. What happens to water will happen to us. Gently going in the water, rather than jumping in. Always take water in the direction the water is going. Water represents clarity. We must learn from water to flow.
- Pachamama is major energy.
- All life on earth are our relatives.
- Sweat lodges
- Reductionist thinking (curing symptoms) vs whole systems thinking (healing)
- Good leaders lead, great leaders heal (Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, …)
- Purify spaces (cleansing). Get rid of negative strong energies through incense/napkin/prayers. Sage makes negative energy disappear.
- Have altar, dream catcher, feathers in car.
- Smoke is the connection to the cosmos.
- Prayers are received through smoking of tobacco, not inhaling it.
- We should bless ourselves and what we hold dear around us. By sharing blessings we keep it. Expressing yourself from the heart keeps it fresh and meaningful. Talking to your guardians and yourself, and the creator.
- All of our deities, angels, and guardians that guide us, communicate with us through the rainbow bridge. Put your prayers forward through the rainbow bridge. Part of the bridge is already built inside us. We need every single color in our lives. Ongoing exchange of relationships. Giving song, breath, and creativity. Grandmother moon has neutral acceptance.
- Create a spiritual house for your inner child. Your inner child is your higher self. We first need to work on the enemy within.
- We are a diversity within Mother Earth. Every healer is born with a mission.
- Messenger birds
- Grandmother moon, grandfather sun
- We’re living for the next 7 generations
- A lot of natives have long hair. Spiritual and physical meaning. Connection spine and brain. Braiding sweet grass brings connection because someone else ideally holds it tight while braiding. 3 strains are heart, body, and mind. If a child is crying, fix the hair. Pulling someone’s hair is unacceptable.

[Emily St. Amant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. I am white, so I won’t be using these practices since it’s not my culture, but I wanted to learn more about indigenous culture and spirituality. I most appreciated how the practices focus on connecting and being in right relationship with nature.

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book with a variety of Native American elders. It includes a few rituals as well as good practices, like reminding you to always ask permission before you take a rock.

[Becca Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love learning about people’s beliefs and cultures.

[Alish by the Salish Sea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful.