Date: 27.01.2023
Author: Kaija
Position: One World Farm, Costa Rica
Etmal: 7566 NM
Ship: Pelican of London

Days of Experiences

Over two and a half weeks have passed, since our journey to Costa Rica started. It was a really crazy time with many different experiences and today is our last day. With our arrival on Pelican, planned tomorrow afternoon, our time in Costa Rica will have an end. We saw so many different places and learnt a lot about other cultures, which was one of my favourite.

A different Culture

The last days we were at the One World Farm and Ken explained so much about the Bri-Bris, a group of natives. That was possible because his wife is a Bri-Bri and for a couple of years he has been a part of that group too, but his family lives outside of the native camp, which we visited on our first day. There we had the first opportunity to learn something about their culture and today we were a part of a special ceremony which came from the Lakota and is used by the Bri-Bris too.The ceremony is the main-point in the life of people of that culture between child and adult. Our ceremony was a combination between the tradition and Ken’s own interpretation.

A special Building in a special Place

Since yesterday we‘ve been building a „sweatlodge“, which was built with branches from the willow tree. They were really flexible and so we could form them to a building that looks like an Iglu. After that we put big leaves, for example bananatree leaves, on that. In the afternoon a big portion was built and with every step of building we found more and more things that we knew from our first visit at the Bri-Bris. For example, there are normally only eight places to sit in the lodge because eight is a sacred number. Bri-Bris have eight sacred trees, eight sacred animals and eight sacred shamans. Only one shaman is for the medical needs of the people. Every other one has his one speciality, for example there is one to help souls in the realm of the dead. A second important part of the lounge was the entrance. The entrance was pointed to the east, the side were the sun rises.

Our own Ceremony

After dinner we went in two groups to the part of the forest were we build the lodge. Ken told us to be quiet, so we could feel the special vibes. He said that the lodge is the utterus of mother earth in and welcomed us. Mother earth is one of the most important parts of the Bri-Bris faith. On our first visit they told us for example, that they didn‘t use resources from the earth such as oil or coal. The knowledge that they told us in a short time was a lot and the connection to earth was an important part of the ceremony. After we sat around the whole filled with hot stones, Ken started to play the drums and talked to the holy spirits. Then we honoured the first element, fire. With Adolfo‘s help (a Bri-Bri), Ken brought hot stones directly out of the fire in our middle.

The stones were not only the element fire, they symbolize the dead parts of family, which gave us their last energy. Then Ken put water on the stones, the second element. Ken explained, that the water symbolizes the circle of life. The third element was earth. Ken put lemon grass and several other herbs onto the hot stones. The earth, the spring of life. The fourth was air. We breathed deeply and long, in and out. With every breath the combination of air, the plants, the water and the temperature came into our body. We thanked every element and the mother earth because she gave us the opportunity to live. All in all it was so interesting to see how thankful the Bri-Bris are for every breath and for their life. The first priority of the Bri-Bri is to save mother earth and all its creations. After all, it provides everything they (and we) need to live. After this experience we used the quiet in the river with the ears under the cold water. Everyone was deeply in thoughts.