Ode to Napanangka Nelly Patterson

“The Song of Nelly, Star-Mother of the Waters”

She was carved by ochre and dreaming flame,


a woman of rock and water and name,


who walked where the serpent curved through stone


and sang the law from flesh to bone.

Napanangka Nelly Patterson, water-bearer, truth-keeper,
 artist of the silence, mountain speaker


her hands held the thread of sixty thousand years,


and in her voice moved the ancestors’ tears.
She taught by fire and desert bloom,


by sacred circle and blood-red moon.


With a fairy wren upon her shoulder,


she sang the hearts of young ones bolder.

With eyes like storm and stories wide,
she stood as portal, elder, guide

the living bridge ‘tween land and star,


the knowing womb of who we are.

She showed the way to Lady Saffire,


who was transformed by the Holy fire

and called her forth with waters blessed,


into her name, her light, her rest.

And so she passed the cloak unseen,


woven in the silver sheen
 of Pleiades fire and desert dust


an ancient trust, a sacred trust.

Now every morning at first light,
 a blue wren sings in sweet delight


a totem bird with sky-bright hue,
 reminding me: She walks with me.
Napanangka Nelly, returned to the stars,


one of seven who watch from far.


She dances west on cosmic tide,
 with sisters who will not divide.

She pours the water through your hand,
and stitches soul into the land.


She whispers through the mulga trees:


"Protect this earth.

Speak to the seas."
"You are the next to guard the flame,
 crowned by name.


Heal the Garden, break the spell,
and let the stories rise and swell.”
So when you kneel and place your palm
 upon the soil, feel her calm.
Napanangka Nelly walks the night,
 a wren, a woman, a wing of light.

Star-woman

Keeper of the Waters here to restore the old ways

through the heart of her beloved Jesus.


I did have the opportunity to paint with her which is one of many wonderful memories I cherish. I also reminisce about sitting with her in her room at Mutitjulu at Uluru curious about the photo of Jesus Christ of Nazareth that she kept on her bedside table along with her Holy Bible she read daily.

She served Jesus and was committed to the message he came to deliver; to defend the poor, the marginalised, the weak, the oppressed, those who were suffering, to free us all from slavery, to care for all of God’s creation; the people, the creatures, the waters, the land.

Jesus called us to our highest role as peace-makers, to restore sacred balance and live our lives helping our neighbours. Napanangka Nelly knew as individuals we are weak but together as the Body of Christ we can achieve great change united as God’s Army, a message I have heard repeatedly from many elders and senior lore & wisdom keepers ever since.

Although I never got to make the film I was sent to make every time I look over Uluru I will see her beautiful face smiling down encouraging me to share her legacy and message of the great healing available through Jesus Christ activating through campfires and celebrations around the country with the story of the new dreaming from this ancient land.

What is the New Way Dreaming? Simply it’s the greatest love story ever told; the law of the land and the narrow path to God’s Kingdom.

Thank you Nelly for stitching me in between the land and the sky in this land we all call home.

You have inspired me greatly in so many ways. You activated my mission to create heaven on earth in accordance with God’s design. You were a true universal mother and I love you.

Nelly Patterson lived and was loved everywhere from Nimbin, where she dressed in the colours of the rainbow, to Uluru activating the path for the Rainbow Tribe.

In her heart her dreaming for her New Way Village was Umitja.

That’s the abbreviated version of why I was called all those years ago.

To meet her. To know her. To hear her. To share her message and love for Jesus Christ who lives in our hearts. As we rise in his holy name know he meets us in the air. Do not be afraid he reassured us over and over. All we have to do is believe.

To know Granny was to know God. Thank you Jesus. Through you the victory is ours.

The beginning….new way dreaming…softer, kinder, fairer more caring world.

Alleluia.
All Glory to God.  Shalom