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A Native American Vision of Creation
-- J. Reuben Silverbird
Yata-Hey.
Erase all thoughts from your mind and let me take you back in time to the land of my people and the universe of life.
For nothing is more powerful than Earth and Sky.
From this moment on, close your eyes and relax. Let your body float away on the ocean’s tide and your mind travel through uncharted waters.
In the beginning...Earth Maker created the stars. He took the water in his mouth and spurted up into the sky. But the first night his stars did not give enough light. So he took a quartz crystal, smashed it, and threw the tiny pieces up into the sky to mix with the water of the stars. Then there was enough light. Rays of the sun impregnated the Earth and from such a miraculous union, celestial offspring are born. Our people would call them Sky Father and Earth Mother.
From the beginning, Earth Mother and Sky Father were changeable, even as smoke in the wind. They could manifest themselves in any form at will. They changed themselves into a man and a woman. On the rim of each world country, terraced mountains shall separate country from country. This, Mother Earth declared, shall be the home of my tiny children.
From my bosom they shall draw liquid nourishment. White clouds shall float up from the great waters at the borders of the world. The clouds shall be hardened and broken by Sky Father’s cold, shedding downward in rain, spray the water of life into the hollow places of my lap.
Mankind and creatures will nestle for warmth from thy coldness. Even the trees on high mountains near the clouds and Sky Father crouch low toward Earth Mother for warmth and protection. Warm is Earth Mother and cold is Sky Father, even as woman is warm and man the cold being.
Seasons would come and go as distinct and different as their names:
Spring...Summer...Fall...Winter
The seasons were linked and formed the circle of life for our people to follow. Everything an American Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles. As long as the sacred hoop was unbroken, the people flourished.
Deep in the forest when the night was black, while the Earth rested, the owl stood guard. His eyes glowing, perched up high, silhouetted by the moon and shooting stars.
The morning star is up. The smell of sweet clover lingers in the fields. The forest comes alive. Taste me, I am the wind. Look at me. I am the bear that faces east. Touch me, I am the gray, lean deer dancing in the forest.
The river is life. Its icy cold waters splash white foam from the mountains that lie below its surface. The rainbow shimmers in the mist that comes off the crystal waters.
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time. What is death? It is the relentless pounding of the sun’s blistering rays burning down on the desert floor.
You are rain, and you can bring fertility, or you can bring destruction. You can cause the rainbow to come out in all its splendorous glory, with multi-colors vivid. You feel easy to touch. Yes, you are rain. You bring life to plants and flowers, to the endless waterfalls, rivers, streams that flow. You are rain.
The river runs to the sea. The ocean movement is like the beat of life. And deep below is the silence of the universe, like in ourselves. We are all part of the universe. The bottom of the ocean is like our deep conscience, and waves breaking are our thoughts coming out from deep inside.
Life from the ocean brought life to the land. White cloud eagles, lift me up with your wings. Take me to the entrance to the Earth. Master of the sky, who flies closest to the Great Spirit, lift me up with your wings, high over the world. Let no one see where you take me.
Let us live in a house of harmony.
From my head, may it be happy.
To my feet, may it be happy.
Where I lie, may it be happy.
All around me, may it be happy.
I am beautiful, and all is beautiful around me.
Walk in Beauty with the Great Spirit
-- J. Reuben Silverbird
Special gratitude and appreciation to J. Reuben Silverbird for his continued help and guidance and for sharing this wonderful story of creation. This is truly a case where the written word, while very beautiful and touching, does not do justice to this exceptional tale of wisdom.
We highly recommend that you find a copy of the CD or download a copy from a reputable site on the internet. It is only through listening to Silverbird tell this hauntingly beautiful story that we can truly appreciate the depths of the wisdom within.
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Project NatureConnect
