PRAYER FLAGS TEACHING

Prayer Flags, also known as Tobacco Flags, are for defining a sacred space and keeping it protected from unwanted external energies.

Prayer Flags is comprised of a group of 7 different colored strips of cloth with a handful of tobacco tied to one end and the excess material dropping down like a tail.

The 7 colors represent the 7 Sacred Directions and the help received from the Spirits in that direction.

1. Yellow for East is for inner-child work.
2. Red for South is for work on the youth stage of life.
3. Black for West is for work on adulthood.
4. White for North is for work on elders and Ancestors.
5. Blue for the Above Direction representing help and assistance from Father Sky and other Supernatural Spirits.
6. Green for the Below Direction representing help and assistance from Mother Earth and other Earth Spirits.
7. Purple for the Within Direction, representing Great Mystery which is the connection between your spirit to all of Creation.

People going on a Vision Quest make Prayer Flags to keep them protected from distraction from outside energies so that the individual can focus on going within self to find the help and answers they are seeking with the help of spirit guides.

The 7 Flags are hung up independently with each color in the appropriate cardinal direction beginning with the yellow cloth and going clockwise in attaching to a tree branch or stick on the ground in a circular pattern around their personal space.

The green and blue flags are usually hung in the western direction with the black flag while the purple is hung in the northern direction with the white flag.

For a building that serves to help children and youth, the Prayer Flags are usually combined altogether and hung up near the main entrance to protect the building from the negativity of outside energies. So that the building and people in it can focus on purpose of being there.

Flags are made from 4-inch strips of fabric usually broadcloth with one end having a handful of tobacco or with a mixture of other medicines tied in.

This end holding the tobacco is hung upwards so that the top has the offering requesting spirits for help and guidance.

The tail of the material allows a pathway for spirits to come down and do whatever is needed to accomplish the request made with the tobacco.
If no intention was made while making the Prayer

Flags, expect no results because people get what they asked which was nothing.

The Prayer Flags are to be burned at the end of the term be it at end of a vision quest, school year or physical year end.

Nothing lasts forever and tobacco does wear out and so does the cloth.

Tina Eshkawkogan