songs of experience

It’s Saturday, so it’s time to write my weekly seejanerun e-mail about where to meet and what to do next week. After the nuts and bolts of how many intervals with how much rest, or how many minutes to add to their long runs, I tack on a (required) reading/quote which can be anything from an article like the one I copied and pasted from 37 Days, to song lyrics (i.e. “just another manic Monday …. whoa-oh … I don’t wanna run day”), to a serious poem like Wilbur’s below. I am ever on the prowl for new ways to think about, talk about, nurture and protect the connection we all feel in our sacred circle of running moms. With this group of women I am not afraid to share ideas that others might call “out there” (or what my former sister-in-law and I once referred to as woo-woo … as in, almost crazy).

Today I will send them this explanation of the Mohegan flag for their weekly reading:

The new flag is white bearing a royal blue band around the outer edge. In the center is the new tribal seal with the name, “The Mohegan Tribe” arcing over the seal in black letters. Arcing under the new seal is the Mohegan phrase “MUNDU WIGO”, a favorite expression of Ms. Fidelia Fielding, one of the last fluent speakers of the Mohegan tongue. “Mundu Wigo” translates into “The Creator is good”.

The new seal is a black circle ringed by a red border. Centered on the black ring is a red dot circled by thirteen smaller white dots. These lie on a black background edged by a white narrow border forming a square. Attached to each side of the square is a roayl blue semicircle, again edged in white. From each corner of the square a diagonal white line aims out toward the edge of the red outer circle. Just prior to touching the red ring, the white line separates and folds back upon itself.

The meaning of the four semicircular domes point to each of the four sacred directions, represent the back of “Grandfather Turtle upon whom the earth was formed ” and reflects the shape of the old wigwam dwellings of the Mohegan people. The four diagonal lines are four sacred trees reminding us of the”The Sacred Tree” or the “Tree of Life”. They also represent a “branching out towards future generations.”

The thirteen white dots recall the thirteen moons in a lunar year, the thirteen sections on a turtle’s back and thirteen generation’s since Uncas, great leader of the Mohegans. Finally, the central red dot is the “Sacred Center Circle” of the spiritual life force felt throughout the universe.

I found this Mundu Wigo flag logo on a sweater in a discount clothing store (hey, it was only $5.00!). I had been on the look-out for a warm sweater to wear in our often-chilly church, so I felt literally blessed to find one that had “the creator is good” karma attached to it. When I tell my seejanerunners that I truly believe God showed me this sweater - smilingly, yes? - they won’t laugh at me (well, they might, but it will be to my face and not behind my back :)), and they won’t judge me for being ultra-religious (because I’m not), and they won’t feel pressured to believe the same thing (who ever does?). Instead, my friends - my sacred circle of friends - will say, “That’s just Joan.”

And to think … running brought us all together.
The creator is good.