The Lehigh River acted as a surrogate for all the rivers of the world as the Lehighton-based Clan of the Holy Stone prayed and blessed its waters with a healing ceremony this weekend.

About 30 members and guests of the Native American-inspired Clan of the Holy Stone gathered in a circle to send out energy to help cleanse the memories of the Earth.They met on Saturday at Riverview Park in East Penn Township, across from Bowmanstown."The Clan of the Holy Stone is a group of people who got together to share common beliefs," explained Grey Wolf, also known as Joe Ring, who co-coordinates the Lehighton chapter, also the founding chapter of the clan, with Melissa Lammy Mondegreen.The clan's motto is Different Paths, Same Trail.Mondegreen said that she has heritage from the Passamaquoddy tribe of the Wabanaki Confederacy in Massachusetts and Maine.The clan's ceremonies are reminiscent of Native Americans."Similar, but unique to the Clan of the Holy Stone," said Mondegreen.She has not filed the paperwork to be recognized as a Native American, because she feels that filing paperwork is unnecessary. She created the Clan of the Holy Stone as her interpretation of a Native American-inspired, Earth-centered spirituality.The ceremony began with those in attendance forming a circle. Once the circle was formed, sage was burned and passed around for all the attendees to purify themselves. Then a ceremony began wherein each person touched their heart and then the heart of the person next to them saying, "Heart to heart."Coming to the theme of the gathering, Mondegreen brought forth three bottles of water. The bottle of water was passed around so that it can be infused with love and blessings. A ceremony in July was held honoring water, she said.Mondegreen said, "We each brought water from our favorite places and poured it into this bottle. It was left out in the full moon and a couple of really bad storms. So it is very highly energetic water.""Today we pour our blessings into it," she continued. "We hope it goes down the river."Drumming and chanting of a water-blessing song began."It means we are sorry for what we did to the water and we promise to do better to try to make it better," she explained.With the drums continuing, most of the group walked into the Lehigh River until most people were waist deep. Then, Ring, Mondegreen, and Michelle Gallagher of Jim Thorpe slowly emptied the bottles into the Lehigh River."We passed around the water in a circle with all our prayers and intentions," Ring said. "Then we poured the water into the river with all our prayers, shared that with the creator's energy, and let that go out into the oceans so that we can clear all the waters and help cleanse it."Mondegreen led the cleansing, drumming and chanting in the Lehigh River.Asked how she felt about the Lehigh River, she replied, "All our waters are in danger. The Lehigh River I worry about it because of all the pesticides from farming. It's probably not horrible, but it still needs attention. I still think we all should pay attention to what we are doing.""So many of my friends are poisoned with the toxins that we have made," said Michelle Gallagher. "I'm nearly 40, so many of my friends have cancer. Today I came to help purify the river. As a mother, it's important to sustain our planet for our children's future and to teach them our ways. Prayer lifts consciousness, and consciousness when it is lifted makes miracles."The Clan of the Holy Stone meets monthly in Lehighton.For information, see

www.rockamourherbs.com.