Dearly Beloveds, No, wait, that’s for
funerals….let’s just
go with Beloveds, OK, that’s better.
Hi, I’m Michael Kothrade (long o, long a) living with my dear wife Wren
near Snowflake, Arizona on our 60 acre homestead we call Horizon. It’s here
we’ve loved and feared for nearly 30 years together, raising our dreams and our
family , our community, our life. As I
sit here reflecting and writing, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the One for
blessing me so. I have been so blessed
for as long as I can remember. What a blessing that’s been! I was also blessed
from an early age to know what my work was to be on this plane. Two fold: To
learn to love through all my being and to create beauty through craftsmanship.
This work continues to this day and I see no bounds. Thank you God.
Our community is, as Wren likes to say “an
unintentional community practicing disorganized religion.” It is widespread and
diverse, yet bound together by our love and tolerance. Oh yeah, and also by the
sweat held nearly every Sunday for the last thirty years, which has always been
hippie-style, free form and respectful of what we each bring to it. We are ever
thankful for the sweat as a gift of our creator to aid in our life and healing,
which has always been our intent. My heartfelt apology to any Native Americans
who may be offended by our adaptation of their sacred ritual.
My first exposure to “Sufi Dancing” was at a wedding
in our community in ’78. The minister
was a Sufi and led us in a number of dances. Coincidently that was the day Wren
first spoke of her love for me. Wow! What a day! It all fits. My heart also soared when I first saw the
winged heart associated with the Sufis. You know, that core resonance. So the seed was watered a little and began
to sprout. I incorporated the heart and wings motif into my creations. Soon I
met our now good friend and brother Bernie Sky Drummer when he would
occasionally (every few years) visit here from Santa Cruz, bringing the Sufi
dance to us. Being removed from what
was happening in the mainstream it was nice to get the message from the
“outside world”. So, our dancing was sporadic, at best, for about twenty years,
until our youngest son moved away. Bernie by that time had moved here and had
been telling us about the camps he’d been to since back in the day with Shabda
in the early 70s. With our kids all grown up, we now had our chance! So Bernie,
Stephanie, Wren and I got to attend the rainy camp at SSC fall 2000. The first rain we had seen in a while and
what a rain! Anyhow, after that, we(Wren
and I) were smitten by it all. At SSC we connected with members of our Prescott,Az.
family and started attending special events there; met Allaudin and Shabda
(first flight in air after 9/11 !).
Then on to the Maui Camp in October and I took initiation with Shabda
that fall. We were inspired to start
hosting DUP at our house monthly and are still dancing the second Sunday of
each month. We have also hosted our
“Free Spirit” dance gatherings in the fall the past few years. Can still not get too much dance.
It
was also through connecting at SSC that we found out there was another Sufi
family already in our area unbeknownst to us. That led us to meet Mira,Yakin
and daughter Habiba. Very timely as Bernie(our regular dance leader) was moving
away and Mira(also an experienced leader) jumped right in to fill his shoes.
Early
on, Shabda had gently suggested I plug in to SSC, being relatively close. Its
taken me a little while ,but sure feels good now to becoming more involved.
My deepening with the Dance, Sufism, SSC and
my heart is continuing to be a beautiful, fulfilling and exciting process. I’m
ever so thankful to be here now. Blessed Be, Michael
P.S. Although our home is not a Khanka, we
welcome Sufis on the trail to SSC to
stay with us along the way. We’re about five hours from SSC and are located about
an hour south of I-40. kothrades@hotmail.com
