Testimonials
” I have been a spirit dancer for 23 years. Every single dance brings about it’s own gifts and blessings. Every dance is as different experientially as I am in that moment because the destination of this beautiful communal Journey of enlightenment is simply me, the consciousness of my higher Self. Every dance, no matter the challenge, feels like a shower of Grace from above!” – CocoSol -Musician, Dancer, Firekeeper
“The peace chamber is a beautiful space that allows internal messages of love and wisdom to reverberate outwards into the world. My experiences there have been both healing and enlightening; the space grants a new path towards greater understanding. I always look back at my time at the lodge and the Sacred Lands with joy and gratitude.” – Grace Hannon – University of Arizona, Veterinary Science
” In my four years of dancing the SunMoon dance, each year has had its special moments. In all the hardships there is joy. For example, my dance in NM included a large plant directly in my path. I struggled with removing it but chose, in the end, to dance around it. That plant turned out to be a medicine I needed for my lungs and the dance around it taught me to dance around the obstacles on my path. The Beautiful Painted Arrow community is one of love, support, and vision. I am forever grateful”. – Rosa – Dancer, Attorney
When I moved to Pennsylvania in the 1990’s I discovered a group following his teachings and participating in the Drum Dance. He became one of my greatest life teachers and a respected elder. My love and connection to the earth and all creatures deepened through Beautiful Painted Arrow’s teachings. His presence in my life is a valued and much-loved gift. I am still participating in the Drum Dance with his student’s leading ceremony. Chi-eh, Joseph’s given name to me, means “The One dreaming the future into being”. Chie-eh, Captain Suky Cannon
Joseph Rael Beautiful Painted Arrow opened a new world to me, a world that continues to inspire and enrich me and those who are nourished by his teachings and his Being. Tom Bissinger.- Chief and caretaker of Birdsong Peace Chamber, Dancer
It is hard to put into words let alone a few sentences the enormous impact Joseph Rael has had on my life. His call one day years ago inviting me to study with him in Mystery School began my love affair with his profound teachings and life-changing ceremonies. Participating as a dancer for many years has brought tremendous healing, deep spiritual connection and personal empowerment. Because of the gifts Joseph shared so generously and impeccably, I was guided to my life’s work and purpose. I came home to myself, found joy, inner peace, love and a profound connection with all of life. Joseph ushered me into my mystical roots and my passion for creating and holding sacred, holy space in service to ALL. Lindsley Field, Long Dance and Drum Dance Chief, Dancer
I came to Birdsong looking for a sweat lodge and found so much more! The Teachings of Joseph Rael have illuminated my path and introduced me to fellow travelers that have assisted me on my journey. His choice to share this wisdom has changed my life. Our world is better because of Beautiful Painted Arrow. Thank You! Gary Goss, Dancer & Firekeeper
Joseph Rael’s work and teachings have had a profound effect on myself and my family. His life’s work builds community. Through 30+ years of sweat lodges and dances I have experienced much joy and meaningful growth and shared it with others. Joseph has said many times, ’Don’t get stuck in the form’, a great teaching! Yet, he has provided us, through Spirit’s guidance, a variety of ceremonial forms (sweat lodges, chanting, Fire Ceremonies, Long, Drum and Sun Moon Dances) which have helped ‘break down self-imposed limitations’ and have empowered myself and many others. To pray through a ceremony involving focus on Divine Spirit, listening, movement, and chanting, surrounded by nature, has deeply enriched my life and my connection to Spirit. It has brought my husband and myself into meaningful contact with many other wonderful and like-minded two-leggeds (Human Beings) around the world. Kristen Bissinger, Chief and caretaker of Birdsong Peace Chamber. Dancer
Are you “Woke”?
We believe that each one of us, young and old, has an ethical obligation to heal ourselves and contribute to the betterment of our planet. The following questions are intended to initiate exploration and conversation about your stand on the issue of Global World Peace!
Reflection:
1- Do you have a spiritual practice that helps strengthen and empower your visions and enlighten your presence in the world?
2- Are you heartfully praying for inspiration and guidance to illuminate your life’s purpose and contribution to bring health and balance to all living beings; the 2-leggeds the 4-leggeds, the wingeds, the insects, the beings of water, the ancestors and all of creation ? If so, how do you plan to utilize your own gifts and talents in that way?
3- We create our habits, and our habits make us. What are the actions, big and small, you are taking now in your daily routine to affect planetary change?
We honor your reflection and know that profound transformation begins with an honest look within.
As spoken by Joseph Rael, Beautiful Painted Arrow, Transcribed by Stella Longland
“This is the song of the Two-leggeds’ call to the Spirit of World Peace.
“Oh Spirit of Word Peace, Great Spirit of World Peace, keeper of the heart of purity, the Being that’s found in the All of life, the Being that was created in all of the 2-leggeds, the 4-leggeds, the wingeds, the beings of water, and all of creation, this being we call on at this time.
“We, the two-leggeds, have been on a journey for a long time. We have journeyed with our brothers and our sisters, the trees. We have sung songs with our brothers and our sisters of all of the different houses that you created that we might all live together. We have been on a journey with the plants who feed us and take care of us. We have tried to honor them, and we have honored them by taking of their vibration and allowing them to take our vibration so that together we could grow in wisdom. We have been walking with the vibration of the rivers and the oceans, with autumn winds and winter suns and springtime mornings and songs of birds. We have been living with the skies of white clouds and blue skies and beams of light of many places and of many colors, and we have been on a journey, walking, and sometimes running, and sometimes crawling, and sometimes sleeping in dreams of all of the different places.
“Oh, Great Spirit of Peace, the two-leggeds ask you now to help us to understand things. Help us to understand ourselves, we need to know ourselves better, we need to understand the right way to see, the appropriate way to hear. We need the knowledge of how to dream, of how to feel, and sense.
“Oh, Great Spirit of World Peace, down the many generations you have taken care of us, you have been in all of our moments. Teach us now even some of the greater lessons that you can teach us about peace. Share with us, we are ready, we are ready now. We the two-leggeds and the four-leggeds and the wing-eds and the beings of water, and all of the creations that live here together, for we are to the north, we are the east, we are the south we are the west, we are the up above, we are the down below, we are the many, many different circles, we are the fingers, we are the hands, we are the arms, we are the backs, and the legs, and the feet; and all of the different levels of knowing now seek peace. And this journey of long ago, long, long ago, on the journey we still travel with the four-leggeds and the wing-eds and the beings of water, and they travel with us.
“Oh, Great Spirit of World Peace, we ask you now to visit us. We ask you to come and live with us, that you may live in our houses, that you may live in our moments, that you may live in our songs, that you may live in our bodies, minds, and spirits, in ways that then we can then take this greatness, this beauty of world peace, and, all of us together, we can walk side by side with you. We as your children, and you as our mother, as our father, walking together we can journey in a place of peace.
“So Great Spirit of World Peace, we know that you are the heart, we know that you are the purity, we know that you are the All, we know that you are in my brother, the tree, we know that you are my sisters, the stars, we know that you are everywhere, and you have been waiting for our call, and now we give you our call and we ask you to give us the enlightenment that we need. So that, in that moment of enlightenment, we will know exactly what we must do, and then give us the energy and the strength to carry that which you ask that we must do, the energy to carry it through. We have not always done that. We have always asked sometimes and you have given us the answers and then we have not followed through on them. Now, oh Great Spirit of World Peace, we ask you in the song, in the song, that we sing to you, that you will come into and be inside of the song as we sing it so that all who may hear it will know that it is your song that we are singing; for we are being you in world peace.”
