What seemed like an eternity of preparation and organization for Oracle 2000 in the Sonoran Desert outside Tucson, Arizona, became a non- ordinary reality on April 5th and continued through the 9th.

The days of April 4th and 5th, the council and affiliates of Tending Sacred Circles scurried around the YMCA camp, eagerly setting the stage for the Village that was about to gather, the arrival of the clans, our brothers and sisters from around this globe, Mother Earth. The hours passed swiftly, it was now 12 noon on the 5th, and the village was about to grow in size 10-fold, to 117 strong.

Our Villagers began to enter this now sacred space by car, airport transport, singularly and in droves. The registration table was buzzing with activity, and at this point the Council and Affiliates served as hosts to the new arrivals, gui ding and assisting wherever possible. As each Villager registered, we were given a World Map Marble, invited to string beads onto the World Necklace, and draw the name of one of the 14 clans we would be part of while we experienced the whole within this 'gathering of nations'.

We officially began with our first dinner in the dining hall followed by the Opening Ceremony. Re-connecting and meeting new villagers gave a feeling of how powerful the 'traditional' gathering of clans must have been when the ancestors made their journeys across these lands many moons ago.

A very noticeable humming began to spiral the Village that evening, and it continued to grow with every moment shared at Oracle. This was the hum of the web being spun across the world, the beginning of the powerful healing that would transpire in this Desert and reach out completely encircling the globe and all those who inhabit our Great Mother Earth.

Rising each morning with the final shades of darkness lifting, we would greet the new day, drumming up the sun, awaking the spirits of the place, giving gratitude that another moon had passed and the light had once again appeared.

Day by day the World Map grew more beautiful as the mountain ranges rose, rivers and valleys appeared, countries became clearly defined, oceans flowed bluer, islands slowly appeared.....the world unfolded before our eyes.. It was a masterpiece created through the hands and hearts of many, constantly showered with love and healing by the entire village.

Walking through the village could only be described as amazing. There were tents filled with folks learning crafts and making objects such as masks, rattles, mandalas, and shields. In the picnic area some learned to play the flute, in other tents off in the distance were groups participating in Passover rituals, nature writing, plant medicine, story telling, stones and minerals, Kali, tarot, soul songs, the men's circle, Nordic seidr singing and much more. An authentic village it was.

Ceremony began and ended each day, all unique and wondrous, honoring and blessing all things in the universe, bringing us together as one. Every ceremony a gift from and toâ the spirits and to all that is.

Throughout this week, one could hear the heartbeat of the drums, the voices singing joyful praises to the ancestors and the spirits of the land, the flute with it's haunting melodies of gifts from Kokopelli, the creatures of the desert harmonizing. This music, these songs, wafted gracefully on the waves of brother wind, mesmerizing the entire desert and all Mother Earth's kin. ..... for it is now we truly know....

"The Desert Speaks"