Native American Spirituality
In Response To Questions 111410 http://www.ethericwarriors.com/ip/viewtopic.php?t=2800
Author Message
Pahinh Winh/Carol Two Eagle
Joined: October 2009
Posts: 41
Location: Walkin' the earth on Turtle Island
In Response To Questions 111410
Hanh mitakuyapi. Hello my relatives. This is a formal, respectful
greeting in the Lakota Way.
Before we go any further, I thank you for not asking if I mean
"the Sioux Way" - most emphatically, we are not "the Sioux". That's
part of an ephithet from when Europeans first invaded Turtle
Island. European group A was standing with ITI (Indigenous Turtle
Islander) group A & asked, "who are those people over there?" If
ITI group A got along with ITI group B, they told them whatever the
B people called themselves. If they didn't, then they called them
some ephithet or at best, their word for "enemy". The Europeans
then passed the 'slam' along & went their merry way, renaming &
insulting everyone & everything originally here. Has made quite a
mess over 518 years.
About the Holy Pipe - properly it is called a C'hannunpa (chah-NOONH-pah. The
'nh' indicates a nasalized 'n' as in French, since most word
processing programs won't do diacritical marks.) It is
never used to smoke dope! Not by a 'real' Pipe Keeper,
anyway. Idiots have done it. Idiots kill & cripple themselves
doing all manner of idiotic things. I have less than no patience
for idiocy - not that you would ever guess it. I'm such a stoic.
Not..
Everyone who Keeps a C'hannunpa authentically gets theirs by one
of these means: It is handed down by a relative who has seen that
they are suitable to Carry this incredible spiritual
responsibility. Or, it is brought to them by elders
who see they should do this HOly Job. Or, someone -
sometimes elders, sometimes a courier - brings a person stone &
tobacco. Or, a person has visions (generally,
unsolicited, which are more powerful) & is given a C'hannunpa by a
spiritual person because their visions are interpreted as indicating
this is their calling. C'hannunpa are never to be bought
or sold; the stone is never to be bought or sold; nor do women
become Keepers by sleeping with some so-called medicine man.
There is a Teaching about a Pipe & It's Keeper - Everything a
Keeper does affects everyone who comes within the sphere of
influence that that Pipe. Therefore, Pipe Keeper's lives are
defined by a number of taboos. There is no such thing as being a
part-time Keeper. There is not an instant of 'time off'. Each
Channunpa & It's Keeper are tied together by a spiritual bond. This
is not a 'perspective'. It is not breakable.
Because of missionaries & their efforts to destroy wome's power &
standing within th original cultures, & they intentionally
slaughtered Women of Power & often,beheaded us & paraded our heads
on pikes, long ago we began to hide our Women of Power & lie about
our existence. The down side of that is, if you tell a lie long
enough, it can come to be regarded as the truth. Thus today, it is
often said that women never Kept C'hannunpa & so 'of course' no
woman who Keeps a C'hannunpa today is authentic.
Given that a Holy Woman brought the original C'hannunpa to us
Lakota, this is obviously hogwash. She was not a delivery service
courier & her title was not "instructor".
She was Holy. The legend of how She brought the C'hannunpa to us
proves that.
Next time, I'll tell you that legend. Mitakuye oiasin -
mee-TAH-koo-yeh oh-ee-AH-seenh - All (are) my relatives.l
____________
What have you done today to help heal the Sacred Hoop of the world,
of which you, too, are a part?
Hanh mitakuyapi. About how we got the Holy C'hannunpa -
Lila ota ehanni - A long time ago - the (Lakota) People were
starving. They had forgotten to be grateful to the spirits & our
Holy Mother the Earth, & they suffered for it. Every day, people
went out searching for food, but there wasn't so much as a root to
be found. The situation was dire. The People were down to eating
their hanpa (mocassins).
Two men were hunting some distance from camp when they heard a
beautiful singing. When they looked in the direction of the sound,
they saw a pure white cloud. As they watched, it came towards them
- & the singing got louder. Eventually the cloud opened, & they saw
a beautiful Woman walking toward them, with the white cloud fanned
out around her. She was wearing a beautiful white skin dress
decorated with superb quillwork, & She was carrying a
bundle. Obviously, She was a Holy Woman.
One of the men was terrified, & he began to pray as a means of
showing respect to Her. The other man had improper sexual thoughts
about Her because She was so beautiful; & made improper remarks
about Her to the first man. The devout man chastised his friend,
saying, "She's Holy! You will suffer for your thoughts!" The
disrespectful man laughed at this friend & said, "She's just a
beautiful woman carrying a bundle. When she gets closer, I'm going
to enjoy her." The devout man prayed harder, now for them both.
When the Woman was some distance away, She stopped, & the white
cloud stopped with her. She said, "I know what you're thinking" to
the disrespectful man. "Come to me. I won't hurt you. I won't do
anything." The disrespectful man laughed & called his friend a
fool, & swaggered to Her, thinking to do improper things with
Her. When he got to her & the white cloud, the cloud closed around
the man, the Woman, & the bundle. The devout man heard terrible
screams from his friend. He was so terrified, he nearly fell on the
ground.
Then the white cloud fanned out again, & the disrespectful man was
nothing but a pile of bones on the ground, being crawled on & eaten
by terrible snakes. The Woman was fine. The devout man nearly
passed out from fear.
The Woman called to the devout man, "Come here. You are safe with
me, because you showed respect. I need you to do something. It's
important." The devout man was now so terrified, he couldn't
think. His feet took him to the Holy Woman by themselves.
She told him to return to camp & tell the People what had
happened. Also that She was bringing them a Holy gift of tremendous
power & value, & that they should prepare a proper Big Lodge & a
feast. That She would bring this Holy gift to them in 4 days.
The man did as he was told, but most of the People just laughed at
him & called him a liar & stupid. Except for one old woman. The
power of the Traditions has always rested with the women, especially
the old women, and this Elder ordered everyone to do as the man
relayed in the message. The People did it, although some grumbled
that it was a waste of time, & so on. By the 4th day, everything
was ready. The People were dressed in their best. Their meager
food supply was ready, as for a feast. They waited all day. By
sunset, People were ready to banish the devout man for being a fool
& causing them a lot of wasted energy & time.
But as things were getting ugly, everyone heard singing coming
from out on the prairie. When they looked toward the sound, they
saw a white cloud coming along the ground toward them. The singing
was coming from the white cloud, just like before to the devout man
& the arrogant man. Everyone was struck dumb except the devout man
& the Elder woman.
When the white cloud came close, it fanned out on 3 sides of the
Holy Woman, & She stepped ahead of it, with the bundle. She opened
the bundle at the altar of the Big Lodge, & showed it to the
People. She told them that it was Holy & had tremendous power, both
in its stem, which is the male part, & the bowl, of red stone, which
is the female part. She taught them that when the stem & bowl are
united, It makes a direct "hot line" to all the Holy Power of the
universe, so It should only put together when someone is going to
pray with It. To put it goether anyother time, especially if it is
not surrounded & plugged with sage, is to invite disaster. Ten She
taught them how to use It, & the first of our Seven Sacred
Ceremonies.
Before She left, She told them that She would return again, to
teach the People more ceremonies; & after that, She would return
when life on the earth was in terrible times. If She had to return
a 4th time, She would take the Channunpa back to the Source, & the
world would end. She has since returned 3 times. We are currently
in the Time of the Prophecies, at a turning point. Another special
woman would be able to stop Her from taking the Holy Pipe away -
this woman is called the Woman Who Dances The Four Winds, which is a
prayer to heal the Sacred Hoop of the world. The Elders told me
that I am that Woman, some years ago, when I first picked up my Pipe
& began to walk with it. This is not something that a person would
seek. It is something that a sane person would try not to seek. I
certainly tried to avoid it. But it is my Job; the Elders showed me
that; they said I "fit the profile" for this person, & in the
Traditional Way, if a person knows of a problem & has the ability to
relieve or cure that problem & does not then they shoulder a burden
equal to the burden they could have relieved & didn't. Since the
spirits showed me that the mess was already 'too big', & it wouldn't
get smaller by itself, we all know, I picked up my C'hannunpa & have
walked with it since.
Healing is not a job for the faint of heart. It is warrior work,
because healers battle evil spirits. Because women's jobs include
birthing, burying, & healing, & because a Woman brought us the Holy
Pipe, it is a woman's job to Dance The Four Winds. It is a very
hard garment to look at, let alone to wear, that I am the woman from
the Prophecies who Dances The Four Winds. But that doesn't make it
any less true.
I am the lead dancer - everyone is needed to dance, too. Thus my
signature / question,"What have you done today to help heal the
Sacred Hoop, of which you, too, are a part?" Mitakuye oiasin - All
{are} my relatives. This is both a blessing & a reminder of where
we really stand in the order of things in the world, in the Lakota
Way.
Next time, I will tell you more.
____________
What have you done today to help heal the Sacred Hoop of the world,
of which you, too, are a part?
<< About Arrogance >> Hanh mitakuyapi. The churchtians aren't the only
ones with dona-hey 'deadly sins' – every culture has them, mine
included. And high on the list is “arrogance”. The majority culture calls
it “pride”, but like so much else, what is really meant is “false
pride”. There is nothing wrong with having pride in your legitimate
accomplishments – that's good. There is nothing wrong with knowing how your
accomplishments stack up against whatever standards exist for your endeavors. You
need to know where you stand relative to the standard(s) or you can't ever
improve. You're 'shooting in the dark', so to speak. Out of the darkness,
into the Light – my lifelong motto, gifted to me by the spirits, & it has
served me well as I've walked along..
The arrogant man in the legend of how we got the Ch'annunpa / the Holy
Pipe didn't die a bad death because of anything the Holy Woman, the white
cloud, or the Holy Pipe did. He did it to himself. “What goes
around”.. It sometimes comes back to bite a person faster than they
expect. Instantaneously, even.
His result is also a living example of the old Teaching, “Be careful what
you ask for, you may get it. But the form may be considerably different
than you thought you asked for.” I have a true-life example of this. Lila
ota ehanni – a long time ago – I new someone who became a multimillionaire
due to injuries he suffered in a terrible car crash. He remained in his
vehicle even when it rolled, but he was impaled through the windshield by a
steel fence post.
His injuries were horrible, his scars were the stuff of nightmares, and so
was his healing. I can't count how many people say they wished they had his
money. No, they don't! - because in order to do that, they
would also have to get it in the same way he got his
fortune. Think about that, takoszja..
In the Lakota Way, we are taught we must strive to “walk our
talk”. Today, because of the inroads of washichu schooling, there are a lot
of lost souls out there, getting into a lot of needless trouble & suffering
- & causing it.
But in the Lakota Way, there is also a Teaching about those who Walk With
A Pipe. People like me. That Teaching is, “As the Keeper of a Pipe lives,
so live the People who come into that Pipe's sphere of influence”. We who
Keep Pipes do not own Them; we are owned by Them.
We are Tested, often & hard. Sometimes we fail. Then we have to do
penance. And our hearts had better be good, or we'll get smacked hard by
the spirits for lying. They know the purity of our hearts far better than
we ever will. The washichu way argues that. And falls on its face every
time.
These Traditional Ways are not some recent invention or development – they
are the result of thousands of repetitions by thousands of people over
thousands of years. That builds a huge amount of spirit – power into the
processes.
The repetitions aren't 'by rote', & they aren't 'lock step', but they are
very similar.. you might say 'according to a format'. We have many songs to
choose from when we do ceremony; which ones we use is always up to the
ceremonial leader. Before the washichu came here, we had thousands of
them. Today, after 518 years of assault, we have hundreds. But we still
have 'some', & those are the most powerful ones, I believe. Doesn't really
matter; they work, & that's what's important.
When I first began to Walk with 'My' Pipe, I went through some incredibly
hard testing. “Many are Called, few are Chosen” requires some proving. It
isn't a matter of whether or not a person wants that testing – the spirits
decide & we either pass or fail depending on our reactions to the
testing. It is not fun. It is not easy. It is generally terrifying. It
truly proves – at least for someone like me – the truth of my observation
that “Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing what you know
you must, even if you're so scared you fall down while crawling.” I've been
there, & done that. It takes a great deal to terrify me.. So when I say I
have no doubt about who's really in charge, I know from personal
experience. Not from mere personal perspective.
For years I had had a vision of a man who turned out to be the current
Keeper of the Holy White Buffalo Calf Pipe – the One the Holy Woman brought
to us Lakota so long ago. His name is Arvol Looking Horse. It was a
tremendously saddening thing to learn that his faith is minimal; but it's
because he thought that Keeping that particular Pipe would enable him to do
nearly anything, & he took it very hard when he found out that's not true.
I lamented to the spirits about this, because it really hurt to learn this
truth; & they responded by means of a vision in which I learned that the
Keeper of the White Buffalo isn't the only – or the most – important
Keeper! That was a stunning thing to learn.
They showed me that how every Keeper lives makes a bigger difference, & to
some degree, that's why there are so many of them. Roughly, it's a parallel
to the old teaching about not putting all of one's eggs in one basket. Do
you see the wisdom of that? I don't mean to be rude, but it should be
intuitively obvious to you, & I trust that it is. Just the same, you would
do well to contemplate this..
We'll go on with this next time. Mitakuye oiasin.
____________
What have you done today to help heal the Sacred Hoop of the world, of which
you, too, are a part?
<< Purposes of the Holy Pipes >>
Since missionaries first came here, we IndigenUs Turtle Islanders & our
Traditional Ways have been under assault. Most focused have been attacks on
our Traditional beliefs, especially those regarding spirituality. Someone
once defined 'spirituality' & 'religion' as, 'spirituality' is believing &
living in a way, while 'religion' is a set of practices & protocols
surrounding or encouraging a set of beliefs.
Missionaries are not 'really' about 'saving people's souls'. They are
really about 'collecting those souls into a religion & corralling them
there. This stifles creativity & individuality of practice. In our
Traditional Ways, certain aspects of worship are in a format, but we have no
formal prayers. Our spiritual guides tell people who ask “how do we pray”,
“from your heart of hearts” or “from the center of your heart”. We also
caution people to be careful of the words you use, because you will get what
you ask for, but the form may be radically different from what you thought
you asked for. Because of that, we always caution people to ask for things
to come to them in a good way – for them or for all concerned, as is
appropriate. Because of this, missionaries have tried hard to eradicate our
Traditional Ways. So far, they have made dents in our numbers, but they
have failed to eradicate our Ways. I pray they will continue to fail.
It is one thing to say “I wish I had so&so's money”, but if so&so got
his/her money via a long painful recovery from terrible injuries, you don't
want that. A word to the wise.
Such foolish statements are more dangerous if the speaker is handling – or
sometimes, just carrying – tobacco at the time, because Takuskanskan made
tobacco specifically to carry every thought, wish, & emotion that comes
close to it to the spirits as a prayer. It does this automatically &
spontaneously. Because of this, tobacco is a holy entity or person. It is
to be shown respect. If a person does not, & uses tobacco casually, it will
teach respect by taking over that person's will (addiction) & eating their
offending body parts (cancer, emphysema, for example). Tobacco is smoked in
the Holy Ch'annunpa. Sometimes with other holy materials, but never with
drugs. It is never to be used for any smoking that does not include prayer
or contemplation, seeking answers to some question or problem. Never.
When the Holy Woman brought the Ch'annunpa to us Lakota, She taught us
that It is for healing & helping. Healing is not work for the shy,
retiring, or cowardly. It is warrior work. Healers battle evil or
malicious spirits. Any Ch'annunpa is never to be put together unless it is
intended to do some work, because when the bowl (the female part) & the stem
(the male part) are joined, any air moving through it becomes the breath of
life to any prayer, emotion or thought nearby.
Therefore, since women who are on their moon times give off death energy
because their bodies are getting rid of dead tissue, they are to stay far
away from Sacred objects, most especially Ch'annunpa & tobacco. We call
them “ishnati” - “set apart” or “isolated”. They should do it on their own,
but washichu being the way of the majority culture, many non-Indn women get
very upset by this requirement & argue it. These Ways are thousands of
years older than Churchtianity & not nearly so sophomoric as the m.c., so we
force these women to stay away if need be.
Some years back, a young woman came to me & a man I was with at the
time. He had a Pipe, although he had not Sun Danced, so was not a proper
Pipe Keeper. She had been given a Ch'annunpa by Sun Bear, & wanted to learn
to keep It properly, she said.
Since women only got Ch'annunpa by one way – going to bed with that faker
– I was suspicious of her request & didn't want to accept her tobacco,
because it is so obvious that this is a form of prostitution & any dummy
should see it instantly & refuse. The man wanted to try to help her.
We discussed it & I predicted some big problem, but I agreed to go along,
because when it happened, I would give her her tobacco back – unused. I
would put it in limbo until she either proved me wrong – not a common
occurrence – or we had to deal with whatever problem.
I had built a moon lodge & since my moons were nightmarish – horrible
pain, cramps, hemorrhages, & sickness – I used it. I built it when I was on
a moon, praying hard the entire time to heal the conditions inherent in moon
& turn those energies to something good & healing.
We instructed her to absolutely never take a man anywhere near it. She
promised. She broke her promise. She took her boyfriend to it & he stuck
his head inside “to see if he could feel the energies of the moon time”. He
was instantly taken horrendously sick with cramps, vomiting, pain, sweating,
& fever. She came back on her moon – with similar symptoms.
The boyfriend took off carrying on about evil spirits & curses. She came
to us begging for help. I refused, & gave her back her tobacco. My man did
ceremony to help her, & she got a little relief.. but her boyfriend was
terrified & refused to come for ceremony. He went through the symptoms
every 28 days for a year or a bit more. So did she. They earned this. I
have no sympathy for stupidity, because stupidity is avoidable. She was
warned; therefor she was not ignorant. By definition, she had
knowledge. Belief is not necessary. She did the thing anyway; that is
stupidity. My sympathy basket is empty. My 'give-a-damn is busted', as the
CW song says.
I was born tied to the Holy Pipe. Elders told me this, after certain
things happened to me at various times of my life. Therefore I was born
with certain gifts & with gifts of those kinds, comes responsibility – to
use them appropriately. I have not always gone along with this
graciously. I have suffered considerably for that willfulness. But I have
learned.
Among the things I have learned is that only fools ask the spirits & the
Holy Pipe to help someone who was warned & who went ahead & did the wrong
thing anyway. My man tried, & he ended up suffering considerably for it,
because unless the supplicant meets certain requirements, which she didn't,
he was asking the spirits to do a wrong thing. That neither helps nor
heals, in the long run. The Pipe is for helping & healing, but not
willy-nilly. I refused to try to help her get around her stupidity because
she earned what she got - & my moons eased considerably. Without my
asking. Duwahleh! / Wow!
I thanked the spirits & fed them all kinds of good things for a whole
year. Gratitude greases the wheels of progress, I have found. And having
suffered past description, I was really grateful. That young woman & her
arrogant boyfriend suffered as I had before they did their stupid
thing. Education / Learning are not always easy; but we sometimes insist on
learning the hard way.
____________
What have you done today to help heal the Sacred Hoop of the world, of which
you, too, are a part?