Photograph of Tall Mandan: Lakota shaman, healer and orator.

In the life of the Indian there was only one inevitable duty, – the duty of prayer – the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal. His daily devotions were more necessary to him than daily food. He wakes at day break, puts on his moccasins and steps down to the water’s edge. Here he throws handfuls of clear, cold water into his face, or plunges in bodily. After the bath, he stands erect before the advancing dawn, facing the sun as it dances upon the horizon, and offers his unspoken orison. His mate may precede or follow him in his devotions, but never accompanies him. Each soul must meet the morning sun, the new sweet earth and the Great Silence alone! – Ohiyesa

The loss of spiritual reality

Elva Thompson – It would appear that for many people, spiritual reality and the understanding of a mystical union with all life has been forgotten, thrown in the trash bin with the plastic bags and the wrappings of the entertainment and fast-food industry. The rubbish dumps and landfills of our ‘civilised culture’ scar the good earth, and our plastic ‘throw aways’ float upon the oceans of the world: signaling the epitaph of an insane and dying species.

Our modern hip…smart culture is a far cry from the spiritual union and respect that native peoples had for the earth and its creatures.

The above quotation from Chief Ohiyesa shows the humongous divide between ‘civilized society’ and the natural man. Today in the age of electronic subjugation there are few natives left who greet the sun, follow the Sundance way of life, and follow the dictates of natural law. Many indigenous peoples have been assimilated into the barbaric mindset of western culture, and have no interest in the metaphysical understanding of their heritage. Humanity is in decline, standing on its last poisoned legs as it reaches for a hamburger and coke.

It is worth reminding the reader that once upon a time we were all tribal…the natural man who lived in balance with the world around him. But the smug intellect that denies the spirit in all things has conquered the world…polluted the earth, water and air, and destroyed thousands of species, which in its   mindset are ‘pests’, those ensouled beings that can’t be exploited for food, fur or fun.

In their spiritual blindness and ignorance, the mind of impostor consciousness cannot comprehend that all things are connected, and when the web of life, the sacred hoop is broken… there is no return. It is a death knell for us all.

Many people who have lost their intuitive capabilities, denigrate those who have spiritual experiences. This intellectual mindset cannot partake of the mystical, so therefore in their narrow little minds…how could it possibly exist! Mystical understanding is available for everyone who bothers to look, and take the time to open their hearts and commune with nature on a daily basis.

Mystical experience

And while I stood there, I saw more than I can tell,
and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of things in the spirit,and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. Black Elk.

Then and now

Living with Native people, I cannot help but compare their lifestyle from a hundred and fifty years ago to the lifestyle of the modern age. Young people glued to their cell phones and tablets are a far cry from the natural man. It would appear that our species is devolving into a mindless, often brutal self centered beast that cares for no one but themselves and the gratification of their sense bound thinking. In our pursuit of materialism, we have turned our backs on the energetic reality which makes up the other half of our being. Overtaken by greed, getting for self, we have walked away from true spiritual communion with the All. For most their spiritual life…or lack of it! is overseen by priests…many it would seem from recent disclosures that like to sexually abuse little children.

Immersed in the program

What percentage of our waking life is consumed within the anxious, drama ridden conflict of the ‘matrix game’ with its ups and downs and repeating rounds? In this noisy, ego centered game of life, how many people take time to stop, take time out of their busy lives to contemplate the mystery of being alive, the energetic reality that creates the physicality we call life?

Inner attunement

The times in which we live are dramatic, fearful and confusing. It is easy to become depressed as we witness the rape of our planet, which is the horrendous price of ‘human technological progress’. But we must remember that there can be no renewal without a dying process…the old must perish for the new to be born. In these apocalyptic times, we need a spiritual focus, an inner beacon to light up the darkness of this world.

And, this communion can only manifest when the mind is quiet; freed from the shackles of sense bound thinking. Only in silence can we experience the quickening of the spirit, our divine nature, our natural state of Grace. We can touch divinity directly and become its instrument: its divine conversation…the music of the sphere of All being.

We are at the end of the Age, and we have the opportunity for expansion and transformation of the soul, and with the call comes the responsibility to open to our higher self. Through the core of our divinity which we share with all life, and through love for all creatures, contact with higher planes of consciousness can be achieved. This is the true communion…..the coming of age for those who are hearing the call…the call of the soul.

“The word Whole is Holy. Healing is a restoring to wholeness. We enter gropingly into a vast vision of the Oneness of All Life, and it is breathtaking. It is the inflooding of an understanding which will lift us right out of and beyond the materialistic, reductionist view of life.” George Trevelyan. Operation Redemption

This collection of solo flute pieces from Navajo-Ute musician R. Carlos Nakai is an evocative delight. The album consists of mostly original material, from the composition “Canyon Reverie,” to the improvisational “In Media Res,” to “Athabascan Song,” an arrangement of a traditional song. The latter in particular stands out, with a faster rhythm and more lilting melody than most of the other pieces. There’s also “Ancient Dreams,” performed on a bone whistle; the instrument almost exceeds the upper range of human hearing, and Nakai occasionally sounds like he’s imitating birdcalls. A classically trained musician, Nakai blends musical traditions to create a whole that reminds one, on occasion, of Japanese shakuhachi music.

Carlos Nakai: Earth Spirit

SF Source Heart Star Books  Feb 2016