The Beauty Way
The indigenous people of the Navajo tribe describe their traditional way of living as the ‘Beauty Way’. To them living in right relationship with the Earth is to ‘walk in beauty’.
But with the rise of globalization, the human species has challenged this law and disturbed the equilibrium of not the Beauty way, but of our own Beauty as a species.
In order to restore our Beauty, we must re-learn the indigenous earth-centered practices and their wisdom of our relationship with ‘All that is.
Words: Sidsel Solmer Eriksen
(10 min read)
To live in right relationship.
The Beauty Way is an central indigenous wisdom teaching that is crucial to the way we can understand - and reframe- ourselves as a species during the time of crisis.
As human beings, we are currently playing the paradoxical role of being both part of the problem and part of the solution of life on Earth. As life, we have the power to create conditions conducive to life. We can become the healers and we can become the destroyers.
But living in ‘right relationship’ is not only a thing, we can choose, if we want to. It is one of the elemental laws of nature, that we have depended on as a species so far. To harvest in right relationship and to sow in right relationship was the code to prosperity and progress for our agricultural tradition here in the Nordic countries as well as for most of the countries in the world.
Somewhere along the way, we lost not only the right relationship and the wisdom of The Beauty Way. We also lost our own beauty as a species.
And being forced by events such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, pollution and pandemics, we can no longer just look a sustainability for our own sake. We are being called towards the much greater job of creating diverse regenerative cultures and a thriving future not just for all of humanity but for the whole community of life!
It’s time to re-learn the wisdom of the indigenous earth-centered practices, that speak of balance and ‘right relationship as an ongoing practice. We must look to the Beauty Way and re-weave it with the modern way. We must heal the wounds of the damage done and become stewards - again- of the Earth, our home.
“Hózhóogo Naasháa Doo — If you walk into the future walk in beauty.”
The Beauty Way - according to Navajo Culture
Taking its name from the Native American word ‘Hózhó’ in Dine (Navajo) culture, The Beauty Way can best be translated into a feeling of ‘oneness’ and the human experiences we call Beauty, Balance, Harmony and Well-Being.
It has been said that Hózhó may be the most important word in the Navajo language. Often translated as ‘balance and beauty’ the concept of Hózhó carries with it an important emphasis on states of harmony of the many connections that link the ephemeral and changing parts of the world together into a larger, more persistent and significant whole.
Originating from a ceremony called ‘Beauty way’, which helps ‘the patient’ to re-establish balance in their life when they are ill, depleted, or sad, the concept of Hózhó is the sweet medicine of the interaction between the animal world and the human one that teaches us about love, heart-connection and relationship of ‘Walking in Beauty’ through our lives here on earth.
To Walk in Beauty means to walk in harmony with all things (people, objects, animals…). This includes how we walk, feeling physically and emotionally, and in exploring our own inner wilderness.
Beauty is central to Navajo life and thought. While Western societies often emphasize beauty as a surface phenomenon, evident in a person's or object's physical appearance, in the Navajo mind, beauty extends beyond what can be perceived directly by the senses.
It encompasses basic ideas about health, and goodness and is expressed in orderly and harmonious relationship with other people, other parts of the natural world and with the world of spiritual beings and forces. Physical beauty - visible in a healthy person or a well-crafted weaving - is an indicator of something more.
It is an outward sign of a deeper and more all-encompassing beauty. That beauty is a product of striving for harmony in how one lives one's life. This understanding of beauty can be heard, for instance, in the ritual poetry of the Blessingway Ceremony. It contains lines that emphasize the image of "walking in beauty." This involves a person living their life in a harmonious way and as an active, ongoing force for good.
Interbeing - the Buddhist idea that everything is interconnected
A similar style of thought can be found in the concept of ‘Interbeing’ which is central in Buddhist philosophy, particularly in the teachings of the Vietnamese Zen master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh.
The concept of interbeing, also known as interdependence or inter-connectedness, is based on the idea that everything in the universe is connected and interdependent. According to this concept, nothing exists in isolation, but rather everything is connected to everything else, forming a vast network of relationships and interconnections. This includes not only living beings, but also non-living things like rocks, water, and air. All phenomena are said to be interdependent and interconnected, with each influencing the other.
Ultimately Interbeing means, that no one exists on their own. Every life is connected to something else. Their origins, their surroundings, the change of the seasons.
In the Buddhist tradition, the concept of interbeing is closely related to the idea of impermanence and non-self. Impermanence refers to the fact that all things are constantly changing and nothing is permanent, while non-self refers to the idea that there is no separate, permanent self or ego that exists independently of the rest of the universe.
In this way, the concept of interbeing encourages us to see ourselves not as separate individuals, but as part of a larger whole. By recognizing our interconnection with all things, we can cultivate a sense of compassion and responsibility for the well-being of all beings, as well as a deep appreciation for the beauty and complexity of the natural world.
The Modern Way
So much about the way, we live in modernity is hostile, even fatal, to the ‘Beauty Way’, our ‘Interbeing’ or what the Jungians call ‘the feminine.’
In many ways, we have exhausted ourselves with keeping pace with the growth-obsessed society of modern time and its emphasis on productivity and prestige and the aims to accumulate wealth and power. Not only has it over time chipped away our inner beauty, leaving us stressed, worried and in a state of lack, because we are never enough, it has also depleted the beautiful ecosystem of Mother Earth and wiped out ecological diversity.
It has brought us to the critical point in the history on humanity where we must face our own presence as a destructive force rather than a re-generative one, where the thriving of the whole leads us to the thriving of humanity.
The Healing Way
In order to restore our Beauty, we can look to the indigenous earth-centered practices and their wisdom of relationship with ‘All that is.
We can re-learn to move in a new way - or old way. Like the Earth-centered traditions, we can cultivate the Beauty Way of being in the world in order to retrieve what we lost along the way.
For many modern people, the ecological crisis is something, we try to separate from ourselves. Something that takes place ‘out there’ and ‘the others’ hopefully will do something about. To many people, the situation is simply too complex, too overwhelming -and too much change. We are not ready to give up on our everyday comfort and privilege in order for something better to arrive. We prefer to move on as normal, to be able to consume, move and travel in the ways, we are used to. In many ways, the ecological crisis has come to represent limitation to our current lives and loss of freedom.
But we are missing a huge piece of the puzzle. Because the truth is, we have already payed a much bigger prize, than what we are not willing to give up by choice. That of our own beauty. How can we still look ourselves in the eyes, when we have reduced ourselves to something less that we are. What happened to our Beauty Way of our innovation, of solution, of collaboration?
The irony is, that we don’t necessarily have to ‘give up’ something. But we do have to change. And like the concept of Interbeing has just taught us, things are constantly changing and nothing is permanent anyway.
We can move, consume, move and travel in The Beauty Way, when we realize that moving in beauty is not just about how we move. It is about our very being as we journey, how we interact with other beings on the way and what we leave behind. It is about taking the time and daring to ask the right questions, before we rush into the answers and achieve the goal. To re-frame, to see and apply what we need to do differently to achieve the goal without harming the other and the Earth.
The Woven Way
If we look to the idea of walking in beauty where the aim is to live in harmony with everything. (yes even your neighbours, plants, animals…), we can start to change and completely transform our perception of life.
We can learn to restore our own beauty as we bit by bit become more and more physically and emotionally connected. We can gain a deeper sense of ourselves, as well as our physical and emotional footprints. Our perception of life and its complexities is completely transformed when you think and act with the Beauty Way.
When we retrieve the wisdom of the earth-based traditions for guidance on how the human species can be a regenerative rather than destructive presence on Earth, we can access new ideas that can guide us in the uncertain path forwards.
While Hózhó is a central concept in Navajo life - one that unifies the modern Navajo community - it is also a very personal choice. Each individual in the community must determine how to realize Hózhó personally. A choice that arises each time they shear a sheep, gather a plant for dying, design and weave a rug, engage with non-Navajo buyers, or help support their families.
Now that you know about the Beauty Way, you too can make a choice. To re-member, to re-weave beauty back into your own life -and into the world.
Would love to hear from you, what The Beauty Way has sparked in you and how you weave beauty into your life in the comments below.
As a blessing for your own Beauty Way, I offer you the words of the from Navajo Way Blessing Ceremony below.
May you walk in beauty.
Forward,
Walking in Beauty
By Closing Prayer from the Navajo Way Blessing Ceremony
In beauty I walk
With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again
Today I will walk out, today everything negative will leave me
I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.
I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me.
I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.
In beauty all day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With dew about my feet, may I walk.
With beauty before me may I walk.
With beauty behind me may I walk.
With beauty below me may I walk.
With beauty above me may I walk.
With beauty all around me may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
My words will be beautiful…