Merkaba

Merkaba, also spelled Merkabah, is the divine light vehicle allegedly used by ascended masters to
connect with and reach those in tune with the higher realms. "Mer" means Light. "Ka" means Spirit.
"Ba" means Body. Mer-Ka-Ba means the spirit/body surrounded by counter-rotating fields of light,
(wheels within wheels), spirals of energy as in DNA, which transports spirit/body from one
dimension to another.

Sacred Geometry
Star Tetrahedron
In modern esoteric teachings, it is taught that the MerKaBa is an interdimensional vehicle consisting of two equally
sized, interlocked tetrahedra of light with a common center, where one tetrahedron points up
and the other down. This point symmetric form is called a stella octangula or stellated octahedron which
can also be obtained by extending the faces of a regular octahedron until they intersect again.

In his books, researcher and physicist Drunvalo Melchizedek describes this figure as a "Star Tetrahedron", since it
can be viewed as a three dimensional Star of David. By imagining two superimposed "Star Tetrahedrons" as
counterrotating, along with specific "prana" breathing techniques, certain eye movements and mudras, it is taught
that one can activate a non-visible 'saucer' shaped energy field around the human body that is anchored at the base of
the spine.

This looks like a UFO

Depending on the height of the person doing the exercise, this field is about 55 feet across. Once activated,
this 'saucer' shaped field is capable of carrying ones consciousness directly to higher
dimensions.

Flower of Life
The Flower of Life is a geometrical figure composed of multiple evenly-spaced, overlapping
circles, that are arranged so that they form a flower-like pattern with a six-fold symmetry like a
hexagon. In other words, the center of each circle is on the circumference of six surrounding
circles of the same diameter. The Temple of Osiris at Abydos, Egypt contains the oldest to date
example. it is carved in granite and may possibly represent the Eye of Ra a symbol of the authority
of the pharaoh.

Other examples can be found in Phoenician, Assyrian, Indian, Asian, Middle Eastern, and medieval
art. A Flower of Life pattern can be constructed with a pen, compass and paper, by creating multiple
series of interlinking circles. In some renditions, the rosette on the unofficial flag of Padania is a
partial version of the "flower of life" pattern. The Flower of Life pattern contains the basis of
Metatron's Cube. From this pattern, all five of the Platonic solids can be derived.
Mer-Ka-Ba Meditation
 The Teaching Of Spherical Breathing: Using 18 Breaths

By Drunvalo Melchizedek

There are 17+1 breaths, where the first six are for balancing the polarity, the next
seven for proper pranic flow through the entire body. The further breaths are for
shifting the consciousness from 3rd to 4th dimension and finally the last three
breaths is for re-creating the rotating Merkabah within and around the body. The
last breath is not taught. Once each day, enter into this meditation, until the time
comes when you are a conscious breather, remembering with each breath your
intimate connection with God.

FIRST BREATH: Inhale

HEART: Open your heart and feel love for all life. If you cannot do this, you must at
least open to this love as much as is possible for you. This is the most important
instruction of all.

MIND: Become aware of the male tetrahedron (the apex facing up to the sun, the
point facing to the front for male, the point to the back for females) filled with the
brilliant white light surrounding your body. Visualize it the best you can. If you cannot visualize it,
sense or feel it surrounding you.

BODY: At the same moment of inhalation, place your hands in the mudra of your
thumb and first finger touching. Remember, lightly touch your fingers, and do not
allow your fingers to touch each other or any other object. Keep your palms facing up.

BREATH: At this same moment, with empty lungs, begin to breath in a complete yogic
manner. Breath through your nostrils only, except at certain places which will be
described. Simply put, breath from your stomach first, then your diaphragm, and
finally your chest. Do this in one movement, not three parts. The exhale is completed
either by holding the chest firm and relaxing the stomach, slowly releasing the air, or
by holding the stomach firm and relaxing the chest. The most important aspect is
that this breathing must be rhythmic. Begin by using seven seconds in and seven
seconds out, but as you get familiar with this meditation, find your own rhythm. The
following instructions for a complete Yogic Breath are from "the Hindu-Yogi Science
of Breath" by Yogi Ramacharake. Perhaps this description will be helpful.

Breathing through the nostrils, inhale steadily, first filling the lower part of the
lungs, which is accomplished by bringing into play the diaphragm, which descending
exerts a gentle pressure on the abdominal organs, pushing forward the front walls of
the abdomen. Then fill the middle part of the lungs, pushing out the lower ribs,
breastbone and chest. Then fill the higher portion of the lungs, protruding the upper
chest, thus lifting the chest, including the upper six or even pairs of ribs.

At first reading it may appear that this breath consists of three distinct movements.
This, however, is not the correct idea. The inhalation is continuous, the entire chest
cavity from the lowered diaphragm to the highest point of the chest in the region of
the collar bone, being expanded with a uniform movement. Avoid a jerky series of
inhalations, and strive to attain a steady continuous action. Practice will soon
overcome the tendency to divide the inhalation into three movements, and will result
in a uniform continuous breath. You will be able to complete the inhalation in a few
seconds after a little practice.

Exhale quite slowly, holding the chest in a firm position, and drawing the abdomen in a
little and lifting it upward as the air leaves the lungs. When the air is entirely
exhaled, relax the chest and abdomen. A little practice will render this part of the
exercise easy, and the movement once acquired will be afterward performed almost
automatically.

FIRST BREATH: Exhale

HEART: Love

MIND: Become aware of the female tetrahedron, (apex pointing to the earth, point
facing to the back for males, point facing to the front for females), also filled with
the brilliant white light

BODY: Keep the same mudra.

BREATH: Do NOT hesitate at the top of the inhalation to begin the exhalation.
Exhale quite slowly, approximately seven seconds, in the Yogic manner. When the air
is out of the lungs, without forcing, relax the chest and abdomen and HOLD the
breath. When you feel pressure to breathe again, after about five seconds or so, then
do the following:

MIND: Be aware of the flat equilateral triangle at the top of the female tetrahedron
located in the horizontal plane that passes through your chest at the sternum. In a
flash, and with a pulse like energy, send that triangular plane down through the
female tetrahedron. It gets smaller as it goes down and pushes out the tip or apex of
the tetrahedron all the negative energy of the mudra or electrical circuit, a light will
shoot out of the apex toward the center of the Earth. The Mind exercise is
performed along with the following BODY movements.

BODY: Move your eyes slightly toward each other, or, in other words, slightly cross
your eyes. Now bring them up to the top of their sockets, or in other words, look up.
Also, this looking up motion should not be extreme. You will feel a tingling feeling
between your eyes in the area of your third eye . You can now look down to the lowest
point you can, as fast as you can. You should feel an electrical sensation move down
your spine. The MIND and BODY must coordinate the above mental exercis e with the
eye movements. The eyes look down from their up position at the same time the mind
sees the triangular horizontal plane of the female tetrahedron move down to the apex
of the female tetrahedron. This combined exercise will clean out the negative
thoughts and feelings that have entered into your electrical system. Specifically, it
will clean out the part of your electrical system that is associated with the particular
mudra you are using. Immediately upon pulsing the energy down your spine, you change
mudras to the next one and begin the entire cycle over again. The next five breaths
are a repeat of the first breath with the following mudra changes:

Second breath mudra: Thumb and second finger together

Third breath mudra: Thumb and third finger together

Fourth breath mudra: Thumb and little finger together

Fifth breath mudra: Thumb and first finger together (same as first breath)

Sixth breath mudra: Thumb and second finger together (same as second breath)

The first part, the first six breaths, the balancing of the polarities, and the cleansing
of your electrical system is now complete. You are now ready for the next part, the
next seven breaths.

Here an entirely new breathing pattern begins. You do not need to visualize the star
tetrahedron at this time. Only the tube that runs through the star, from the apex of
the male tetrahedron above your head to the apex of the female tetrahedron below
your feet, needs to be seen and worked with. This extends one hand length above your
head and one hand length below your feet. The diameter of YOUR tube will be the
size of the hole formed by YOUR thumb and forefinger touching.

BREATH NUMBER SEVEN: Inhale

HEART: Love. There is another refinement here that can be used after you have
perfected this meditation.
MIND: Visualize or sense the tube running through your body. The instant you begin
the seventh inhale, see the brilliant white light of the prana moving down the tube
from the top and up the tube from the bottom at the same time. This movement is
almost instantaneous. The point where these two light beams meet within your body is
controlled by the mind and is a vast science known throughout the universe. In this
teaching however, we will only be shown what is necessary , that which will take you
from third to fourth dimensional awareness. In this case you will direct the two
beams of prana to meet at your navel, or more correct, within your body at navel level,
inside the tube. The moment the two beams of prana meet, which is just as the inhale
begins, a sphere of white light or prana is formed at the meeting point about the size
of a grapefruit centered on the tube. It all happens in an instant. As you continue to
take the inhale of the seventh breath, the sphere of prana begins to concentrate and
grow slowly.

BODY: For the next seven breaths use the same mudra for both inhale and exhale,
the thumb, first and second touching together palms up.

BREATH: Deep rhythmic Yogic breathing, seven seconds in and seven seconds out.
There is no holding of the breath from now on. The flow of prana from the two poles
will not stop or change in any way when you go from inhale to exhale. It will be a
continuous flow that will not stop for a long as you breath in this manner, even after
death.

SEVENTH BREATH: Exhale

MIND: The prana sphere centered at the navel continues to grow. By the time of the
full exhale, the prana sphere will be approximately eight or nine inches in diameter.

BREATH: Do not force the air out of your lungs. When your lungs are empty naturally,
immediately begin the next breath.

EIGHTH BREATH: Inhale

HEART: Love.

MIND: The prana sphere continues to concentrate life force energy and grow in size

EIGHT BREATH: Exhale

MIND: The prana sphere continues to grow in size and will reach maximum size at the
end of this breath. This maximum size is different for each person. If you put your
longest finger in the center of your navel, the line on your wrist defining your hand
will show you the radius of the maximum size of this sphere for YOU. This sphere of
prana cannot grow larger.

NINTH BREATH: Inhale

MIND: The prana sphere cannot grow larger, so what happens is the prana begins to
concentrate within the sphere. The visual appearance is that the sphere grows
BRIGHTER.

BREATH: Sphere grows brighter and brighter as you inhale.

NINTH BREATH: Exhale

BREATH: As you exhale, the sphere continues to grow brighter and brighter.

TENTH BREATH: Inhale

MIND: About half way through this inhale, as the sphere continues to brighter, the
prana sphere reaches critical mass. The sphere ignites into a sun, a brilliant blinding
ball of white light. You are now ready for the next step.

TENTH BREATH: Exhale

MIND: At the moment of exhale, the small sphere two hand lengths in diameter
bulges to expand. In one second, combined with the breath talked about below, the
sphere expands quickly out to the sphere of Leonardo, out at your finger tips of your
extended arms. Your body is now completely enclosed within a huge sphere of brilliant
white light. You have returned to the ancient form of spherical breathing. However,
at this point, this sphere is not stable. You MUST breath three more times to keep
the sphere stable.

BREATH: At the moment of exhale, make a small hole with your lips and blow out your
air with pressure. As you feel the sphere begin to bulge, all within the first second of
this exhale, let all of your air out rapidly. The sphere will expand at that moment.

ELEVENTH, TWELFTH and THIRTEENTH BREATH: Inhale and Exhale

MIND: Relax and just feel the flow of the prana flowing from the two poles and
meeting at the navel and then expanding out to the large sphere

BREATH: Breath rhythmically and deeply. At the end of the thirteenth breath you
have stabilized the large sphere and are ready for the important 14th breath.

THE FOURTEENTH BREATH

HEART: Love

MIND: On the inhale of the 14th breath, at the very beginning of the breath, move
the point where the two beams of prana meet from the navel to the sternum, the
fourth dimensional chakra. The entire large sphere, along with the original sphere,
which is also still contained within the large sphere, moves up to the new meeting
point within the tube. Though this is very easy to do, it is an extremely powerful
movement. Breathing from this new point within the tube will inevitably change your
awareness from third to fourth dimensional consciousness, or from earth
consciousness to Christ consciousness.

BODY: This mudra will be used for the rest of the meditation. Place the left palm on
top of the right palm for males and the right palm on top of the left palm for females.
It is a mudra that relaxes.

BREATH: Rhythmic breath and deep. However, if you continue to breathe from your
Christ center without moving on to the MER-KA-BA, which is what is recommended
until you have made contact with your Higher Self, then shift to a shallow breath. In
other words, breath rhythmically but in a comfortable manner where your attention is
more on the flow of energy moving up and down the tube meeting at the sternum and
expanding out to the large sphere. Just feel the flow. Use your feminine side to just
be. At this point don't think, just breath, feel and be. Feel your connection to All Life
through the Christ Breath. Remember your intimate connection with God.

The Mer-Ka-Ba, The Vehicle Of Ascension

The Last Three Breaths

You are asked not to attempt this FOURTH PART until you have made contact with
your Higher Self, AND your Higher Self has given you permission to proceed. This
part is to be taken seriously. The energies that will come into and around your body
and spirit are of tremendous power. If you are not ready, you could hurt yourself. If
your Higher Self gives you permission to enter into the MER-KA-BA, then don t fear,
for you will be ready.

FIFTEENTH BREATH: Inhale:

HEART: Love

MIND: Be aware of the whole star tetrahedron. Realize that there are three whole
star tetrahedrons superimposed over each other. One is the body itself, and is locked
in place and never, except under certain conditions, moves. It is placed around the
body according to maleness or femaleness. The second whole star tetrahedron is male
in nature, it is electrical, is literally the human mind and rotates counter-clockwise
relative to your body looking out, or to put it another way, it rotates toward your left
side. The third whole star tetrahedron is female in nature, is magnetic, is literally the
human emotional body and rotates clockwise relative to your body looking out, or to
put it another way, it rotates toward your right side.

To be clear, we are not telling you to rotate the male tetrahedron one way and the
female the other way. When we say rotate the whole star tetrahedron, we mean the
whole thing.

On the inhale of the fifteenth breath, as you are inhaling, you will say to yourself, in
your head, the code words, EQUAL SPEED. This will tell your mind that you want the
two rotatable whole star tetrahedrons to begin spinning in opposite directions at
equal speeds at the time of the exhale. Meaning that for every complete rotation of
the mind tetrahedrons, there will be a complete rotation of the emotional
tetrahedrons.

BODY: Continue the mudra of the folded hands from now on.

BREATH: Breath Yogic and rhythmically an deeply again, but only for the next three
breaths, after that return to the shallow breathing.

FIFTEENTH BREATH: Exhale

MIND: The two sets of tetrahedrons take off spinning. In an instant, they will be
moving at exactly one third the speed of light at their outer tips. You probably will
not be able to see this because of their tremendous speed, but you can feel it. What
you have just done is to start the MOTOR of the MER-KA-BA. You will not go
anywhere, or have an experience. It is just like starting the motor of a car, but having
the transmission in neutral.

BREATH: Make a small hole with your lips just like you did for breath Number Ten.
Blow out in the same manner, and as you do, feel the two sets of tetrahedrons take
off spinning.

SIXTEENTH BREATH: Inhale

MIND: As you let out the breathe, the two sets of tetrahedrons take off from their
one third speed of light setting to two third speed of light in an instant. As they
approach two thirds speed of light speed a phenomena takes place. A disk about 55
feet in diameter forms around the body at the level of the base of the spine. And the
sphere of energy that is centered around the two sets of tetrahedrons forms with
the disk to create a shape that looks like a FLYING SAUCER around the body. This
energy matrix is called the MER-KA-BA. However, it is not stable. If you see or sense
the MER-KA-BA around you at this point, you will know it to be unstable. It will be
slowly wobbling. Therefore Breath Number Seventeen is necessary.

BREATH: Same as breath 16, make a small hole in your lips, and blow out with
pressure. It is at this point that the speeds increases. As you feel the speed
increasing, let out all your breath with force. This action will cause the higher speed
to be fully obtained and the MER-KA-BA to be formed.

SEVENTEENTH BREATH: Inhale

HEART: Remember, unconditional love for all life must be felt through out all of this
meditation or no results will be realized.

MIND: As you breathe in, say to yourself, in your head, the code NINE TENTHS THE
SPEED OF LIGHT. This code will tell your mind to increase the speed of the MER-KA-
BA to nine tenths the speed of light which will stabilize the rotating field of energy.
It will also do something else. This third dimensional universe that we live in is tuned
to 9/10 the speed of light. Every electron in your body is rotating around every atom
in your body at 9/10 the speed of light. This is the reason this particular speed is
selected.

BREATH: Breathe rhythmically and in a Yogic manner.

SEVENTEENTH BREATH: Exhale

MIND: The speed increases to 9/10 the speed of light and stabilizes the MER-KA-BA.

BREATH: Same as breath 15 and 16, make a small hole in your lips, and blow out with
pressure. As you feel the speed take off, let all your breath out with force. You are
now in your stable and Third dimensionally tuned MER-KA-BA. With the help of your
Higher Self, you will understand what this really means.

EIGHTEENTH BREATH:

This very special breath will not be taught here. You must receive it from Your Higher
Self. It is the breath that will take you through the speed of light into the fourth
dimension. You will disappear from this world and reappear in another one that will be
your new home for awhile. This is not the end, but the beginning of an ever expanding
consciousness returning you HOME to your FATHER.
 Merkaba

The word Merkaba or Merkava - Hebrew 'Chariot'or general meaning "to ride an animal, in a chariot" - is used in the
Bible (Ezekiel 1:4-26) to refer to the throne-chariot of God, the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four Cherubim, each
of which has four wings and four faces (of a man, lion, ox, and eagle). Four means 'time' in alchemy.
 Ezekiel, Sumerian Gods, UFO Connections

Wheels Within Wheels

In medieval Judaism, the beginning of the book of Ezekiel was regarded as the most mystical
passage in the Bible, and its study was discouraged, except by mature individuals with an extensive
grounding in the study of traditional Jewish texts.
Jewish biblical commentaries emphasize that the imagery of the Merkaba is not meant to be taken
literally; rather the chariot and its accompanying angels are analogies for the various ways that God
reveals Himself in this world.

Maimonides in his 13 principles of faith emphasies that God is not limited to any particular form, as
this prophesy might seem to imply.

Chassidic philosophy and Kaballah explain at length what each aspect of this vision represents in this
world, and how they in no way imply that God is made up of these forms. The danger of
understanding these passages as literal decriptions of God's image likely accounts for the opposition
among Torah scholars towards learning this topic without the proper initiation. Jews customarily
read the Biblical passages concerning the Merkaba in their synagogues every year on the holiday of
Shavuot.

History

The earliest merkabah speculations were exegetical expositions of the prophetic visions of God in
the heavens, and the divine retinue of angels, hosts, and heavenly creatures surrounding God. The
earliest evidence suggests that merkabah homiletics did not give rise to ascent experiences - as one
rabbinic sage states: "Many have expounded upon the merkabah without ever seeing it" (Tosefta'
Megillah 3[4]:28).

The Talmudic interdictions concerning merkabah speculation are numerous and widely held.
Discussions concerning the merkabah were limited to only the most worthy sages, and admonitory
legends are preserved about the dangers of overzealous speculation concerning the merkabah. The
sages Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai (d. ca. 80 CE) and later, Rabbi Akiva (d. 135) were deeply involved
in merkabah speculation. Rabbi Akiva and his contemporary Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha are most often
the protagonists of later merkabah ascent literature.

Beyond the rabbinic community, Jewish apocalyptists also engaged in visionary speculations
concerning the divine realm and the divine creatures which are remarkably similar to the rabbinic
material. A small number of texts unearthed at Qumran indicate that the Dead Sea community also
engaged in merkabah speculation. Recently uncovered Jewish mystical texts also evidence a deep
affinity with the rabbinic merkabah homilies. Recently, considerable scholarly attention has been
paid to the use of merkabah themes in early Jewish-Christian circles.

The merkabah homilies eventually consisted of detailed descriptions of multiple layered heavens
(usually seven in number), often guarded over by angels, and encircled by flames and lightning. The
highest heaven contains seven palaces (hekhalot), and in the innermost palace resides a supreme
divine image (God's Glory or an angelic image) seated on a throne, surrounded by awesome hosts who
sing God's praise.

When these images were combined with an actual mystical experiential motif of individual ascent
(paradoxically called "descent" in most texts) and union is not precisely known. By inference,
contemporary historians of Jewish mysticism usually date this development to the third century CE.
Again, there is a significant dispute amongst historians over whether these ascent and unitive
themes were the result of some "foreign," usually Gnostic, influence, or a natural progression of
religious dynamics within rabbinic Judaism.

The Biblical Merkaba in Depth

According to the verses in Ezekiel and its attendant commentaries, the analogy of the Mekaba
image consists of a chariot made of many angels being driven by the "Likeness of a Man." Four angels
form the basic structure of the chariot. These angels are called the "Chayot".

The bodies of the "Chayot" are like that of a human being, but each of them had four faces,
corresponding to the four directions the chariot can go (north, east south and west). The faces are
that of a man, a lion, an ox (later changed to a child or cherub) and an eagle. Since there are four
angels and each has four faces, there are a total of 16 faces. Each Chayot angel also has four wings.

Two of these wings spread across the length of the chariot and connected with the wings of the
angel on the other side.

This created a sort of 'box' of wings that formed the perimeter of the chariot. With the remaining
two wings, each angel covered its own body.

Below, but not attached to the feet of the "Chayot" angels are other angels that are shaped like
wheels. These wheel angels, which are described as "a wheel inside of a wheel", are called
"Ophannim" - wheels, cycles or ways).

These wheels are not directly under the chariot, but are nearby and along its perimeter much like
the wheels of a car. The angel with the face of the man is always on the east side and looks up at
the "Likeness of a Man" that drives the chariot. The "Likeness of a Man" sits on a throne made of
saphire.

The Bible later makes mention of a third type of angel found in the Merkaba called "Seraphim" (lit.
burning) angels. These angels appear like flashes of fire continuously ascending and decending.

These "Seraphim" angels functioned somewhat like pistons in that they powered the movement of
the chariot. In the hierarchy of these angels, "Seraphim" are the highest, that is, closest to God,
followed by the "Chayot", which are followed by the "Ophannim".

The chariot is in a constant state of motion, and the energy behind this movement runs according to
this heirarchy. The movement of the "Ofanim" is controlled by the "Chayot" while the movement of
the "Chayot" is controlled by the "Serafim". The movement of all the angels of the chariot are
controlled by the "Likeness of a Man" on the Throne.

A Chassidic Explanation
Chassidic philosophy explains that Merkaba is a multi-layered analogy that offers insight into the
nature of man, the ecosystem, the world, and teaches us how to become better people.

The four Chayot angels represent the basic archetypes that God used to create the current nature
of the world. Ofannim, which means ways, are the ways these archetypes combine to create actual
entities that exist in the world. For instance, in the basic elements of the world, the lion represents
fire, the ox earth, the eagle wind, and the man water.

However, in practice, everything in the world is some combination of all four, and the particular
combination of each element that exist in each thing are its particular Ofannim or ways. In another
example, the four Chayot represent spring, summer, winter and fall. These four types of weather
are the archetypal forms. The Ofannim would be the combination of weather that exists on a
particular day, which may be a winter-like day within the summer or a summer like day within the
winter or whatever.

The Man on the throne represents God, who is controlling everything that goes on in the world, and
how all of the archetypes He set up should interact.

The Man on the throne, however, can only drive when the four angels connect their wings.

This means that God will not be revealed to us by us looking at all four elements (for instance) as
separate and independent entities. However, when one looks at the way that earth, wind, fire and
water (for instance) which all oppose each other are able to work together and coexist in complete
harmony in the world, this shows that there is really a higher power (God) telling these elements
how to act.

This very lesson carries over to explain how the four basic groups of animals and the four basic
archetypal philosophies and personalities reveal a higher, godly source when one is able to read
between the lines and see how these opposing forces can and do interact in harmony. A person
should strive to be like a Merkaba, that is to say, he should realize all the different qualities,
talents and inclinations he has (his angels).

They may seem to contradict, but when one directs his life to a higher goal such as doing God's will
(the man on the chair driving the chariot) he will see how they all can work together and even
complement eachother.

Ultimately, we should strive to realize how all of the forces in the world, though they may seem to
conflict can unite when one knows how to use them all to fulfill a higher purpose, namely to serve
God.

Key Texts

The ascent texts are extant in four principal works, all redacted well after the third but certainly
before the ninth century CE.
They are: 1) Hekhalot Zutartey ("The Lesser Palaces"), which details an ascent of Rabbi Akiva; 2)
Hekhalot Rabbati ("The Greater Palaces"), which details an ascent of Rabbi Ishmael; 3) Ma`aseh
Merkabah ("Account of the Chariot"), a collection of hymns recited by the "descenders" and heard
during their ascent; and 4) Sepher Hekhalot ("Book of Palaces," also known as 3 Enoch), which
recounts an ascent and divine transformation of the biblical figure Enoch into the archanel
Metatron, as related by Rabbi Ishmael.

A fifth work provides a detailed description of the Creator as seen by the "descenders" at the
climax of their ascent.

This work, preserved in various forms, is called Shi`ur Qomah ("Measurement of the Body"), and is
rooted in a mystical exegesis of the Song of Songs, a book reputedly venerated by Rabbi Akiva.

The literal message of the work was repulsive to those who maintained God's incorporeality;
Maimonides (d. 1204) wrote that the book should be erased and all mention of its existence
deleted.While throughout the era of merkabah mysticism the problem of creation was not of
paramount importance, the treatise Sefer Yetzirah ("Book of Creation") represents an attempt at
cosmogony from within a merkabah milieu.

This text was probably composed during the seventh century CE, and evidences influence of
Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism, and Stoicism.

It features a linguistic theory of creation in which God creates the universe by combining the 22
letters of the Hebrew alphabet, along with emanations represented by the ten numerals, or sefirot.

Space Vehicles
UFOs - Volcanoes - Z-Mobile - Merkabah Vehicle
Do you recognize the man in the ship (sarcophagus) above?
It's not Z ... It's Osiris ... One and the same.
August 12, 2008

As I mentioned recently, with increased sightings of spaceships and lights throughout the planet,
people are being drawn together to 'call down' UFOs. This is all part of the awakening process.
Networking is fun and can create friendships for those of like-mind. Whatever these groups of
people see and experience in some way transforms their consciousness - and often their emotional
and spiritual connection to closure.

My friend Mike plans to visit James Gilliland's ranch in Washington State in October as they have
become close friends. They plan to 'call down' the ships, some metallic, other seemingly biological,
that are regularly seen over the mountains of James' property.

I am told, these mountains are dormant volcanoes. Mt. Popocatepetl in Mexico is another volcano
where UFOs have been photographed and taped in recent years. Are these volcanoes portals?

My take, with almost all of the UFO sightings, is that they are mostly ships monitoring the program,
are unmanned, are appearing more frequently now to awaken consciousness ... or they are
government craft created by reverse engineering. Legitimate alien spaceships are conscious, can
time travel, are preprogrammed, and exist in all realities of the program. Many people attribute
their appearance to gods or creator beings. I don't think so ... and please never worship anything or
anybody. It's all a learning experience.

Let's get mythological, metaphorical, or whatever ... The alleged biological craft share the
characteristics of the winged 'Ring of Cosmic Power' of Zoroaster - Z. In Jewish mysticism, this
winged ring is known as the Merkabah vehicle - rotation and spin. Hence we have the Z-Mobile.

Z - Zoroaster aka Zarathustra is said to sail the universe in this mystical light craft, that spirals
consciousness to the next level of human evolution by awakening inherent codes within our DNA. If
you visualize the ring as a craft ... listen to its tones (rings) as they resonate within your
consciousness at higher frequency. Yup! You can ride the soul train ... come on aboard.

Whether you are: watching and waiting for a ship to return, for a stealth vehicle to reveal itself,
for government disclosure and a truth you think will change everything, or just sensing that the time
to leave is at hand - your answers will soon be given. Feel it...

In truth, the Merkabah is male/female merged, is a star tetrahedron crystal vehicle of light and
consciousness. One could think of it as your personal starship out of here.

Related Files
Qabbalah, Star of David
Above and Below

Hermes Trismegistus
 The Emerald Tablets of Thoth (thought, consciousness)
As is Above, So is Below

Flower of Life

Sacred Geometry, Spiraling DNA, Golden Ratio, Fibonacci Numbers

12 Spiraling Cones Around 1 - Creation
Tube Torus

Conical Hats
Metatron's Cube

Gordian Knot
The Garden of Eden
Sumerian Gods Allegedly Create a Biogenetic Experiment

Dilmun, Iraq
 All Seeing Eye

Isis, Iris, Pupil, Rods and Cones, Masonic Symbolism

Caduceus Rod of Hermes, DNA
Alchemy
 Lyra of Hermes

Using the Rod to Slay the Dragon

Omega Project, Ending the Human DNA Experiment, Leo, Lion

Ouroboros, 2012
Reptilian Connections

Coiling Snake, Dragons

Kundalini
Uraeus, Egyptian Connections Alpha, Omega
Quetzalcoatl Feather Serpent God, 2012, Mayan Calendar
Dogon Nommo
Reptilian Part of the Brain
 Gods with Water Buckets

Amphibious Gods
Oannes, Oneness, Babylon, Baby Lion, Many Others
 Twin Flames
Balance
Reunion of both aspects of your soul at Zero Point
Zero Point
The Eclipse of Time and Consciousness
 Center, Heart Chakra

Hour Glass Effect - Time - Hours - Horus Rebirth

 Sacred Geometry

Sacred geometry involves sacred universal patterns used in the design of everything in our reality,
most often seen in sacred architecture and sacred art. The basic belief is that geometry and
mathematical ratios, harmonics and proportion are also found in music, light, cosmology. This value
system is seen as widespread even in prehistory, a cultural universal of the human condition. It is
considered foundational to building sacred structures such as temples, mosques, megaliths,
monuments and churches; sacred spaces such as altars, temenoi and tabernacles; meeting places
such as sacred groves, village greens and holy wells and the creation of religious art, iconography
and using "divine" proportions. Alternatively, sacred geometry based arts may be ephemeral, such as
visualization, sandpainting and medicine wheels.

Sacred geometry may be understood as a worldview of pattern recognition, a complex system of

religious symbols and structures involving space, time and form. According to this view the basic
patterns of existence are perceived as sacred. By connecting with these, a believer contemplates
the Great Mysteries, and the Great Design. By studying the nature of these patterns, forms and
relationships and their connections, insight may be gained into the mysteries the laws and lore of
the Universe.
 Music
Even though Hans Jenny did pioneer cymatics in modern times, the study of geometric
relationships to wave interaction (sound) obviously has much older roots (Pythagoras). A work
that shows ancient peoples understanding of sacred geometry can be found in Scotland. In the
Rosslyn Chapel, Thomas J. Mitchell, and his son, my friend Stuart Mitchell, have has found what he
calls "frozen music". Apparently, there are 213 cubes with different symbols that are
believed to have musical significance. After 27 years of study and research, Mitchell
has found the correct pitches and tonality that matches each symbol on each cube,
revealing harmonic and melodic progressions. He has fully discovered the "frozen
music", which he has named the Rosslyn Motet, and is set to have it performed in the
chapel on May 18, 2007, and June 1, 2007.

Cosmology
At least as late as Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), a belief in the geometric underpinnings of the
cosmos persisted among scientists. Kepler explored the ratios of the planetary orbits, at first in
two dimensions (having spotted that the ratio of the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn approximate to
the in-circle and out-circle of an equilateral triangle). When this did not give him a neat enough
outcome, he tried using the Platonic solids. In fact, planetary orbits can be related using two-
dimensional geometric figures, but the figures do not occur in a particularly neat order. Even in his
own lifetime (with less accurate data than we now possess) Kepler could see that the fit of the
Platonic solids was imperfect. However, other geometric configurations are possible.

Natural Forms

Many forms observed in nature can be related to geometry (for sound reasons of resource
optimization). For example, the chambered nautilus grows at a constant rate and so its shell forms a
logarithmic spiral to accommodate that growth without changing shape. Also, honeybees construct
hexagonal cells to hold their honey. These and other correspondences are seen by believers in
sacred geometry to be further proof of the cosmic significance of geometric forms. But some
scientists see such phenomena as the logical outcome of natural principles.

Art and Architecture

The golden ratio, geometric ratios, and geometric figures were often employed in the design of
Egyptian, ancient Indian, Greek and Roman architecture. Medieval European cathedrals also
incorporated symbolic geometry. Indian and Himalayan spiritual communities often constructed
temples and fortifications on design plans of mandala and yantra. For examples of sacred geometry
in art and architecture refer:

• Labyrinth (an Eulerian path, as distinct from a maze)

• Mandala
• Parthenon
• Taijitu (Yin-Yang)
• Tree of Life
• Rose Window
• Celtic art such as the Book of Kells
• Yantra
• Swastika
• Dharmacakra

Contemporary Usage

A contemporary usage of the term sacred geometry describes New Age and occult assertions of a
mathematical order to the intrinsic nature of the universe. Scientists see the same geometric and
mathematical patterns as arising directly from natural principles. Some of the most prevalent
traditional geometric forms ascribed to sacred geometry include the sine wave, the sphere, the
vesica piscis, the 5 platonic solids, the torus (donut), the tesseract (4-dimensional cube), and the
merkaba (2 oppositely oriented and interpenetrating tetrahedrons), and the the golden spiral. Some
believers in sacred geometry also see significance in crop circles and in ancient architecture, such as
the Great Pyramid of Giza and Stonehenge.
Golden Spiral
 Blocks - Grids

The golden ratio, also known as the god ratio, golden proportion, golden mean, golden
section, golden number, divine proportion or sectio divina, is an irrational number,
approximately 1.618 033 988 749 894 848, that possesses many interesting
properties. Shapes proportioned according to the golden ratio have long been
considered aesthetically pleasing in Western cultures, and the golden ratio is still
used frequently in art and design, suggesting a natural balance between symmetry and
asymmetry. The ancient Pythagoreans, who defined numbers as expressions of ratios
(and not as units as is common today), believed that reality is numerical and that the
golden ratio expressed an underlying truth about existence.

References:
 • Beginnings: Geomancy, Builders' Rites and Electional Astrology in the European
Tradition by Nigel Pennick
• Sacred Geometry: Symbolism and Purpose in Religious Structures by Nigel
Pennick
• The Ancient Science of Geomancy: Living in Harmony with the Earth by Nigel
Pennick
• George Bain.Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction. Dover, 1973.
• Robert Lawlor. Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice (Art and Imagination).
Thames & Hudson, 1989 (1st edition 1979, 1980, or 1982).
• John Michell. City of Revelation. Abacus, 1972.
• Michael S. Schneider. A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe:
Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science. Harper Paperbacks,
1995.
• Lucy R Lippard: Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory. Pantheon
Books New York 1983
• Sacred Geometry at the Open Directory Project

Art - Architecture - Great Pyramid

M.C. Escher Gallery

Charles Gilchrist: Sacred Geometry and the Architecture of the Universe
Sacred Geometry of Crop Circles
The Prehistoric Alignment of World Wonders
Sacred Geometry and Carved Stones
 Sacred Geometry - Library of Halexandria
Great Pyramid, Golden Ratio, Royal Cubit
Geometry of the Great Pyramid

Sacred Geometry

by Ellie Crystal

Our reality is a geometric consciousness hologram. It is a virtual experiment in linear time to

experience, journal, film, and record emotions. The term "sacred geometry" is often used by
archaeologists, anthropologists, geometricians, and metaphysicians to encompass the religious,
philosophical, and spiritual beliefs that have sprung up around this geometry in various cultures
during the course of the human biogenetic experiment.
 12 Spiraling Cones Around 1 - Creation

Sacred Geometry is abbreviated SG referencing Stargate, the Wheel of Time or Karma through
which we experience and evolve. We are soul sparks of light having a physical experience, our
consciousness spiral down through the patterns of the golden ratio the (slinky effect) about to
reverse the spiral (spin) and return to source consciousness. The program is evolving back to its
natural state of consciousness.

To understand reality is to focus on the patterns that have always repeated in time, as if on a
higher octave with each programmed experience for the souls. We live in the Age of Technology,
paralleling spiritual awakening, reverse Fibonacci Numbers back to zero point.

Related Files
Flower of Life

Tube Torus
 Zero Point

The Court Jester and the Fleur de Lis (Flower of Life)

Qabbalah - Flower of Life - Star of David
Above and Below
 All Seeing Eye
Isis, Iris, Pupil, Rods and Cones, Masonic Symbolism
 \
Hermes Trismegistus
The Emerald Tablets of Thoth (thought, consciousness)
As is Above, So is Below
 Gordian Knot

Metatron's Cube
 Merkabah
Counter rotating fields - Rotation and Spin
Movement of consciousness between realities
Center, Heart Chakra

Archetypes
11:11 Vertical Pupils - Balance
The Great Serpent Mound Creation
Medicine wheels are stone structures built by the natives of America and Canada for
various spiritual and ritual purposes. Appearing mostly in Alberta, Canada, medicine
wheels were built by laying out stones in a circular pattern that often looked like a
wagon wheel laying on its side. The wheels could be large, reaching diameters of 75
feet. Although archeologists aren't exactly sure what each one was used for, it is
thought that they probably had ceremonial or astronomical significance.

History

Erecting massive stone structures is a well-documented activity of ancient man, from

the Egyptian pyramids to Stonehenge, and the natives of Northern America are no
different in this regard. What does separate them from the rest is how non-intrusive
their structures were. Unlike the usual towering stone monoliths, the natives simply
laid down lots of stones on the earth in certain arrangements. One of the more obtuse
arrangements is the medicine wheel.

Medicine wheels appear all over northern United States and southern Canada,
specifically South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Most of
the wheels have been found in Alberta. In all over 70 medicine wheels have been
found.
One of the prototypical medicine wheels is in Big Horn County, Wyoming. This 75 foot
diameter wheel has 28 spokes, and is part of a vast set of old Native American sites
that document 7,000 years of their history in that area. It is located on a ridge of
Medicine Mountain, part of northern Wyoming's Big Horn Range.

It is a circular arrangement of stones measuring 75 feet across with 28 rows of

stones that radiate from a central cairn to an encircling stone rim. Placed around the
periphery of the wheel are five smaller, stone circles. The Medicine Wheel's function
and builders remain a mystery. However, there is general agreement that it was built
approximately 200 years ago by indigenous Native Americans, and that its 28
"spokes" may symbolize the days in a lunar month. To Native Americans, this remains
a sacred, ceremonial site.

How are they made?

Medicine wheels were constructed by laying stones in a particular pattern on the

ground. Most medicine wheels follow the basic pattern of having a center cairn of
stones, and surrounding that would be an outer ring of stones, then there would be
"spokes", or lines of rocks, coming out the cairn.

Almost all medicine wheels would have at least two of the three elements mentioned
above (the center cairn, the outer ring, and the spokes), but beyond that there were
many variations on this basic design, and every wheel found has been unique and has
had its own style and eccentricities.

The most common deviation between different wheels are the spokes. There is no set
number of spokes for a medicine wheel to have. The spokes within each wheel are
rarely evenly spaced out, or even all the same length. Some medicine wheels will have
one particular spoke that's significantly longer than the rest, suggesting something
important about the direction it points.

Another variation is whether the spokes start from the center cairn and go out only
to the outer ring, or whether they go past the outer ring, or whether they start at
the outer ring and go out from there.

An odd variation sometimes found in medicine wheels is the presence of a passageway,

or a doorway, in the circles. The outer ring of stones will be broken, and there will be
a stone path leading up to the center of the wheel.
Also many medicine wheels have various other circles around the outside of the wheel,
sometimes attached to spokes or the outer ring, and sometimes just seemingly
floating free of the main structure.

What do they mean?

Medicine wheels have been built and used for so long, and each one has enough unique
characteristics, that archeologists have found it nearly impossible to tell exactly
what each one was for, and haven't had much success at making broad generalizations
about their function and meaning.

One of the older wheels has been dated to over 4,500 years old; it had been built up
by successive generations who would add new features to the circle. Due to the long
existence of such a basic structure, archeologists suspect that the function and
meaning of the medicine wheel changed over time, and it is doubtful that we will ever
know what the original purpose was.

It is not hard to imagine that medicine wheels, like most large stone structures, would
probably have served a ceremonial or ritual purpose. There is evidence of dancing
within some of the wheels. Other wheels were probably used as part of a ritual vision
quest.

Astronomer John Eddy put forth the theory that some of the wheels had
astronomical significance, where the longest spoke on a wheel could be pointing to a
certain star at a certain time of the year, suggesting that the wheels were a way to
mark certain days of the year.

Other scientists have shown that some of the wheels mark the longest day of the
year. (Note that an astronomical/calendar theory has been suggested for just about
every unnatural stone structure on Earth.)

The Provincial Museum of Alberta Human History Archaeology

What is a Medicine Wheel?

Scattered across the plains of Alberta are tens of thousands of stone structures.
Most of these are simple circles of cobble stones which once held down the edges of
the famous tipi of the Plains Indians; these are known as "tipi rings." Others,
however, were of a more esoteric nature. Extremely large stone circles - some
greater than 12 metres across - may be the remains of special ceremonial dance
structures. A few cobble arrangements form the outlines of human figures, most of
them obviously male. Perhaps the most intriguing cobble constructions, however, are
the ones known as medicine wheels.

The term "medicine wheel" was first applied to the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in
Wyoming, the most southern one known. That site consists of a central cairn or rock
pile surrounded by a circle of stone; lines of cobbles link the central cairn and the
surrounding circle. The whole structure looks rather like a wagon wheel lain-out on the
ground with the central cairn forming the hub, the radiating cobble lines the spokes,
and the surrounding circle the rim. The "medicine" part of the name implies that it
was of religious significance to Native peoples.

John Brumley, an archaeologist from Medicine Hat, has provided a very exacting
definition of what constitutes a medicine wheel. He notes that a medicine wheel
consists of at least two of the following three traits: (1) a central stone cairn, (2) one
or more concentric stone circles, and/or (3) two or more stone lines radiating outward
from a central point. Using this definition, there are a total of 46 medicine wheels in
Alberta. This constitutes about 66% of all medicine wheels known. Alberta, it seems,
is the core area for medicine wheels.

Virtually each medicine wheel has a unique form. However, we can group them into
eight categories or "Types" based of their general shape. The most common form
consists of a central cairn surrounded by a stone circle; 18 of these Type 1 medicine
wheels are known in Alberta. A variant, known as a Type 2 medicine wheel, contains a
passageway leading out from the stone circle; four are known. Type 3 structures
consist of a central cairn with radiating cobble lines or "spokes;" again, four are
known. Type 4 medicine wheels consist of a stone circle from which spokes radiate
outward. These are the second most common form and 14 have been recorded in
Alberta. Type 5 structures contain a circle with spokes radiating inward, while the
Type 6 is similar but has a central cairn; only one of each occurs in the province. Type
7 medicine wheels have a central cairn surrounded by a stone circle with spokes
radiating outward; three are known. Type 8 structures are similar, but the spokes
radiate from the central cairn and cross the circle. Three of the former and one of
the latter have been discovered in the province.

The type groupings are, of course, only a convenience for analysis. As was noted
earlier, each medicine wheel is unique. Here is a sample of maps of Alberta medicine
wheels reduced to more-or-less a common scale. The reader may find some
amusement trying to decide which type each is.

At least one of the categories, Type 4, appears to be a correct classification. This

type consists of a central circle from which spokes radiate outward. The central
circle appears to be a common domestic tipi ring. The radiating spokes appear to have
no consistent pattern in terms of orientation or length. Amazingly, some Type 4
medicine wheels have been built in this century by the Blood Indians of southern
Alberta; one, Many Spotted Horses Medicine Wheel, is illustrated here. These
modern Blood Indian structures were built to commemorate the death place of, or the
last tipi occupied by, a famous warrior. The spokes are said to have no specific
meaning other than to indicate that a famous warrior had died. Of course, the
community is well aware of who deserves such a memorial. It appears almost certain
that the prehistoric examples served the same purpose.

The purpose of all of the other types of medicine wheel are not known by
archaeologists. One, Majorville Medicine Wheel, was partly excavated in 1971. This
wheel contains an enormous central cairn 9 metres in diameter, surrounded by a stone
circle 27 metre across; about 28 spokes link the circle and central cairn. The
excavation yielded artifacts which archaeologists can "date" by style; the style of
spear points and arrowheads changed in a regular manner over time and archaeologists
have figured out the sequence of these changes. It seems that the central cairn at
the Majorville wheel was initially constructed some 4,500 years ago! Radiocarbon
dating of bone from the bottom of the cairn confirmed this date. It seems that
successive groups of people added new layers of rock, and some of their arrowheads,
from that time until the coming of Europeans to Alberta. Curiously, the site does not
seem to have been used between about 3,000 and 2,000 years ago; the distinctive
barbed spear points of that time are not present in the cairn. Archaeologists do not
know when the spokes and surrounding circle were constructed, or even if they were
constructed at the same time.

The long period of use and construction of the central cairn at the Majorville
Medicine Wheel suggests that such sites may have served different functions over
the years. That is, the rituals and ceremonies conducted at the site may have changed
over time. It is not unusual for human beings to regard particular places as sacred,
even when religions change. For example, many modern Catholic churches in Mexico
occupy locales which formerly contained Aztec Indian temples.

Thus, while we can reasonably surmise that the Majorville wheel served as a
ceremonial centre for several thousand years, it is unlikely that archaeologists will
ever know the details of the ceremonies or the religious philosophy which motivated
the construction of the site. One suspects that hunting magic or buffalo fertility
might have played a part in the rituals, but the deeper meaning of the site is lost in
time.

Perhaps one of the most interesting theories to be advanced is that there are
significant stellar alignments present at the medicine wheels. This theory was
proposed by astronomer John Eddy. He suggested that a line drawn between the
central cairn and an outlying cairn at the Bighorn Medicine Wheel pointed to within
1/3 of a degree of the rising point of the sun at the summer solstice. Other
alignments, both to the summer solstice sunrise and to certain bright stars such as
Aldebaran, Rigel or Sirius, have been proposed for a number of Alberta medicine
wheels. The wheels would thus have functioned as a calender to mark the longest day
of the year. Presumably, such a calendar would be used for the timing of important
rituals.

It is very difficult to confirm the astronomical hypothesis, and it is no longer as

popular as it was a decade ago. A number of astronomers such as Steven Haak in
Nebraska and David Vogt in Vancouver have critically evaluated the idea and have
expressed severe reservations about the hypothesis. They note that simple
familiarity with the night sky would likely produce an adequate estimate for timing
ceremonies. Further, if great accuracy had been desired, it could have been attained
better by using narrow poles as foresight and backsight than by using wider rock
cairns.

Alberta's medicine wheels thus remain an enigma. Research has suggested a number
of functions for the wheels, and has indicated their use over a very long period of
time. Medicine wheels seem to be primarily an Alberta phenomenon; we have many
more here than do the adjacent provinces and states. Investigation and preservation
of these unique features has been an on-going concern of the Archaeological Survey,
The Provincial Museum of Alberta, and the Planning and Resource Management Branch,
Historic Sites and Archives Service.

The Ancient Geology of Medicine Mountain

There are 10 places in the world called "nuclei of continents". These are widely
separated places of relatively small patches of ancient rocks, first cooled to the
molten earth's crust 2-3 billion years old. Overlying younger rock has worn away.

These are thought to be the relatively small nuclei first cooled and built up that grew
by volcanic activity and sediment accretion into a single huge island (called
Gondwanaland) that began to break up in the Carboniferous era (300,000,000 years
ago).
They separated, drifting on continental plates of ancient rockbed, into our present
continents sometime between 65,000,000 and about 1,000,000 years ago (the
continental plates continue to drift).

Medicine Mountain is one of these rare ancient continental roots. The cutaway profile
shows layers of rock color-coded by age, the youngest lying in the valleys where the
Bighorn and Powder Rivers run, and the oldest peaking against the sky, ancient roots
down into deepest earth.

The Medicine Wheel looks from the shoulder of the most ancient times down
surrounding precipices (that give it nearly a 360° horizon view) to slopes that get
progressively more "modern" until in the valleys on either side are sedimentary rocks
deposited in merely the last million to few hundred thousand years. Along the range's
spine, this character of most ancient age exposed to the sky is not maintained very
far north or south of the Wheel, although the physical appearance of the mountains is
the same. Thus the Medicine Wheel floats on a high island of time, the world's oldest
rocks, layered in reverse order of the epochs of geological history.

The other continental roots are in Yellow Knife province and a place on the Canadian
Shield north of Lake Superior; the Guyana Highland in South America; the Dnieper
Plateau in central Europe; Dharwar province in southern India; Guinea, Tanganyika and
Rhodesian highlands in Africa; and Southwestern Australia. In none of these other
continental root nuclei is there a neat folding-and-wearing of the rock layers in an
ordered set peaking by age, such as is found in the Bighorns. Medicine Mountain is a
very special place, where the whole geological history of the earth is layered, with the
most ancient rocks of all on the peaks, layered through time downhill to the modern
valleys where people live. Perhaps this was felt somehow by those who built the Wheel
there many centuries ago.

- Star Knowledge Website

Legends and Theories

There are some who suggest that the spoke-like structure resembles the "Sun Dance
Lodge" or "Medicine Lodge". The Sun Dance Ceremony is a celebration which is part of
the fabric of Native American culture and religion.
A contemporary Cheyenne cultural leader stated, "the tribes traditionally went and
still do go to the sacred mountain. The people sought the high mountain for prayer.
They sought spiritual harmony with the powerful spirits there. Many offerings have
been left on this mountain. The center cairn, once occupied by a large buffalo skull,
was a place to make prayer offerings. Vision questors would have offered prayers for
thanks for plant and animal life that had, and would, sustain them in the future.
Prayers of thanks were offered for all of creation. Prayers are made for families and
loved ones who are ill. Atonements are made for any offense to Mother Earth. When
asking for guidance, prayers for wisdom and strength are always part of this ritual.
All of this is done so that spiritual harmony will be our constant companion throughout
the year.

A Crow Chief stated that Medicine Wheel was built "before the light came". Other
Crow stories say the Sun God dropped it from the sky. And still others say it was
built by the "Sheepeaters," a Shoshone band whose name is derived from their
expertise at hunting mountain sheep. Many Crow feel it is a guide for building tipis.
Some explain the wheel was built by "people without iron."

One Crow story speaks of a man named Scarface. He was handsome and was fond of
strutting in his finery before young women. One day while entering his mother's tipi,
he fell into the fire which severely burned his face and was thereafter embarrassed
to be seen. Shamed at his appearance, he left his people and went to live in the
mountains. Scarface lived alone for many years.

One day while a young woman and her grandmother were hunting berries, they became
separated from their people and couldn't find their way back. They traveled along a
trail which took them into the mountains. They occasionally saw Scarface and one day
made contact with him. Scarface later married the young woman. On their travels
back to his people, Scarface supposedly built the Medicine Wheel as their shelter. On
the second day he built another tipi by the Big Horn river in the valley below. The tipi
rings are believed to still exist.

It is also said that Red Plume, a great Crow Chief during the time of Lewis and Clark,
found great spiritual medicine at the Medicine Wheel. The legend states that
following four days without food of water, Red Plume was visited by little people who
inhabited the passage to the wheel. They took him into the earth where they lived
and told him that the red eagle feathers was his powerful medicine guide and
protector. He was told to always wear the small feather from the back of the eagle
above his tail feathers. Thus Red Plume received his name. Upon his deathbed, he told
his people his spirit would be found at the wheel and that they might communicate
with him there.

Big Horn Medicine Wheel

The term "medicine wheel" was first applied to the Big Horn Medicine Wheel. It is
located on a ridge of Medicine Mountain, part of northern Wyoming's Big Horn Range.
It is a circular arrangement of stones measuring 80 feet across with 28 rows of
stones that radiate from a central cairn to an encircling stone rim. Placed around the
periphery of the wheel are five smaller, stone circles. The Medicine Wheel's function
and builders remain a mystery. However, there is general agreement that it was built
approximately 200 years ago by indigenous Native Americans, and that its 28
"spokes" may symbolize the days in a lunar month. To Native Americans, this remains
a sacred, ceremonial site.

The Ancient Geology of Medicine Mountain

There are 10 places in the world called "nuclei of continents". These are widely
separated places of relatively small patches of ancient rocks, first cooled to the
molten earth's crust 2-3 billion years old. Overlying younger rock has worn away.

These are thought to be the relatively small nuclei first cooled and built up that grew
by volcanic activity and sediment accretion into a single huge island (called
Gondwanaland) that began to break up in the Carboniferous era (300,000,000 years
ago).

They separated, drifting on continental plates of ancient rockbed, into our present
continents sometime between 65,000,000 and about 1,000,000 years ago (the
continental plates continue to drift).

Medicine Mountain is one of these rare ancient continental roots. The cutaway profile
shows layers of rock color-coded by age, the youngest lying in the valleys where the
Bighorn and Powder Rivers run, and the oldest peaking against the sky, ancient roots
down into deepest earth.
The Medicine Wheel looks from the shoulder of the most ancient times down
surrounding precipices (that give it nearly a 360° horizon view) to slopes that get
progressively more "modern" until in the valleys on either side are sedimentary rocks
deposited in merely the last million to few hundred thousand years. Along the range's
spine, this character of most ancient age exposed to the sky is not maintained very
far north or south of the Wheel, although the physical appearance of the mountains is
the same. Thus the Medicine Wheel floats on a high island of time, the world's oldest
rocks, layered in reverse order of the epochs of geological history.

The other continental roots are in Yellow Knife province and a place on the Canadian
Shield north of Lake Superior; the Guyana Highland in South America; the Dnieper
Plateau in central Europe; Dharwar province in southern India; Guinea, Tanganyika and
Rhodesian highlands in Africa; and Southwestern Australia. In none of these other
continental root nuclei is there a neat folding-and-wearing of the rock layers in an
ordered set peaking by age, such as is found in the Bighorns. Medicine Mountain is a
very special place, where the whole geological history of the earth is layered, with the
most ancient rocks of all on the peaks, layered through time downhill to the modern
valleys where people live. Perhaps this was felt somehow by those who built the Wheel
there many centuries ago.

- Star Knowledge Website

LEGENDS AND THEORIES

There are some who suggest that the spoke-like structure resembles the "Sun Dance
Lodge" or "Medicine Lodge". The Sun Dance Ceremony is a celebration which is part of
the fabric of Native American culture and religion.

A contemporary Cheyenne cultural leader stated, "the tribes traditionally went and
still do go to the sacred mountain. The people sought the high mountain for prayer.
They sought spiritual harmony with the powerful spirits there. Many offerings have
been left on this mountain. The center cairn, once occupied by a large buffalo skull,
was a place to make prayer offerings. Vision questors would have offered prayers for
thanks for plant and animal life that had, and would, sustain them in the future.
Prayers of thanks were offered for all of creation. Prayers are made for families and
loved ones who are ill. Atonements are made for any offense to Mother Earth. When
asking for guidance, prayers for wisdom and strength are always part of this ritual.
All of this is done so that spiritual harmony will be our constant companion throughout
the year.

A Crow Chief stated that Medicine Wheel was built "before the light came". Other
Crow stories say the Sun God dropped it from the sky. And still others say it was
built by the "Sheepeaters," a Shoshone band whose name is derived from their
expertise at hunting mountain sheep. Many Crow feel it is a guide for building tipis.
Some explain the wheel was built by "people without iron."

One Crow story speaks of a man named Scarface. He was handsome and was fond of
strutting in his finery before young women. One day while entering his mother's tipi,
he fell into the fire which severely burned his face and was thereafter embarrassed
to be seen. Shamed at his appearance, he left his people and went to live in the
mountains. Scarface lived alone for many years.

One day while a young woman and her grandmother were hunting berries, they became
separated from their people and couldn't find their way back. They traveled along a
trail which took them into the mountains. They occasionally saw Scarface and one day
made contact with him. Scarface later married the young woman. On their travels
back to his people, Scarface supposedly built the Medicine Wheel as their shelter. On
the second day he built another tipi by the Big Horn river in the valley below. The tipi
rings are believed to still exist.

It is also said that Red Plume, a great Crow Chief during the time of Lewis and Clark,
found great spiritual medicine at the Medicine Wheel. The legend states that
following four days without food of water, Red Plume was visited by little people who
inhabited the passage to the wheel. They took him into the earth where they lived
and told him that the red eagle feathers was his powerful medicine guide and
protector. He was told to always wear the small feather from the back of the eagle
above his tail feathers. Thus Red Plume received his name. Upon his deathbed, he told
his people his spirit would be found at the wheel and that they might communicate
with him there.
NATIVE AMERICANS
 Anasazi People

Ancient Pueblo People, or Ancestral Puebloans is a preferred term for the cultural
group of people often known as Anasazi who are the ancestors of the modern Pueblo
peoples. The ancestral Puebloans were a prehistoric Native American civilization
centered around the present-day Four Corners area of the Southwest United States.

Archaeologists still debate when a distinct culture emerged, but the current
consensus, based on terminology defined by the Pecos Classification, suggests their
emergence around 1200 B.C., the Basketmaker II Era.

The civilization is perhaps best-known for the jacal, adobe and sandstone dwellings
that they built along cliff walls, particularly during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III eras.

The best-preserved examples of those dwellings are in parks such as Chaco Culture
National Historical Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument,
Bandelier National Monument, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument. These
villages, called pueblos by Mexican settlers, were often only accessible by rope or
through rock climbing.
The Ancestral Puebloans are also known for their unique style of pottery, today
considered valuable for their rarity. They also created many petroglyphs and
pictographs.

The Ancestral Puebloans migrated from their ancient homeland for several complex
reasons. These may include pressure from Numic-speaking peoples moving onto the
Colorado Plateau as well as climate change which resulted in agricultural failures.

Confirming evidence for climatic change in North America is found in excavations of

western regions in the Mississippi Valley between A.D. 1150 and 1350 which show long
lasting patterns of warmer, wetter winters and cooler, dryer summers.

Most modern Pueblo peoples (whether Keresans, Hopi, or Tanoans) and historians like
James W. Loewen, in his book Lies Across America, assert these people did not
"vanish," as is commonly portrayed, but merged into the various pueblo peoples whose
descendants still live in Arizona and New Mexico.
This perspective is not new and was also presented in reports from early 20th
century anthropologists, including Frank Hamilton Cushing, J. Walter Fewkes and
Alfred V. Kidder.

Many modern Pueblo tribes trace their lineage from settlements in the Anasazi area
and areas inhabited by their cultural neighbors, the Mogollon. For example, the San
Ildefonso Pueblo people believe that their ancestors lived in both the Mesa Verde
area and the current Bandelier.

The term "Anasazi" was established in archaeological terminology through the Pecos
Classification system in 1927. Archaeologist Linda Cordell discussed the word's
etymology and use:

"The name "Anasazi" has come to mean "ancient people," "ancient ones", although
the word itself is Navajo, meaning "enemy ancestors." It is unfortunate that a
non-Pueblo word has come to stand for a tradition that is certainly ancestral
Pueblo.

The term was first applied to ruins of the Mesa Verde by Richard Wetherill, a
rancher and trader who, in 1888-1889, was the first Anglo-American to explore
the sites in that area. Wetherill knew and worked with Navajos and understood
what the word meant.

The name was further sanctioned in archaeology when it was adopted by Alfred
V. Kidder, the acknowledged dean of Southwestern Archaeology. Kidder felt
that is was less cumbersome than a more technical term he might have used.
Subsequently some archaeologists who would try to change the term have
worried that because the Pueblos speak different languages, there are
different words for "ancestor," and using one might be offensive to people
speaking other languages.

Some modern Pueblo peoples object to the use of the term Anasazi, although there is
still controversy among them on a native alternative. The modern Hopi use the word
"Hisatsinom" in preference to Anasazi. However, Navajo Nation Historic Preservation
Department (NNHPD) spokeman Ronald Maldonado has indicated the Navajo do not
favor use of the term "Ancestral Puebloan." In fact, reports submitted for review by
NNHPD are rejected if they include use of the term.

Cultural Divisions
Archaeological cultural units such as "Anasazi", Hohokam, Patayan or Mogollon are
used by archaeologists to define material culture similarities and differences that
may identify prehistoric socio-cultural units which may be understood as equivalent to
modern tribes, societies or peoples. The names and divisions are classificatory devices
based on theoretical perspectives, analytical methods and data available at the time
of analysis and publication. They are subject to change, not only on the basis of new
information and discoveries, but also as attitudes and perspectives change within the
scientific community. It should not be assumed that an archaeological division or
culture unit corresponds to a particular language group or to a socio-political entity
such as a tribe.

When making use of modern cultural divisions in the American Southwest, it is

important to understand three limitations in the current conventions:

• Archaeological research focuses on items left behind during people's activities;

fragments of pottery vessels, human remains, stone tools or evidence left from
the construction of dwellings. However, many other aspects of the culture of
prehistoric peoples are not tangible. Languages spoken by these people and their
beliefs and behavior are difficult to decipher from physical materials. Cultural
divisions are tools of the modern scientist, and so should not be considered
similar to divisions or relationships the ancient residents may have recognized.
Modern cultures in this region, many of whom claim some of these ancient people
as ancestors, contain a striking range of diversity in lifestyles, social
organization, language and religious beliefs. This suggests the ancient people
were also more diverse than their material remains may suggest.
• The modern term 'style' has a bearing on how material items such as pottery or
architecture can be interpreted. Within a people, different means to accomplish
the same goal can be adopted by subsets of the larger group. For example, in
modern Western cultures, there are alternative styles of clothing that
characterized older and younger generations. Some cultural differences may be
based on linear traditions, on teaching from one generation or 'school' to
another. Other varieties in style may have distinguished between arbitrary
groups within a culture, perhaps defining status, gender, clan or guild affiliation,
religious belief or cultural alliances. Variations may also simply reflect the
different resources available in a given time or area.
• Defining cultural groups, such as the Ancient Pueblo peoples, tends to create an
image of territories separated by clear-cut boundaries, like modern state lines.
 These simply did not exist. Prehistoric people traded, worshipped and
collaborated most often with other nearby groups. Cultural differences should
therefore be understood as 'clinal', "increasing gradually as the distance
separating groups also increases." (Plog, p. 72.) Departures from the expected
pattern may occur because of unidentified social or political situations or
because of geographic barriers. In the Southwest, mountain ranges, rivers and,
most obviously, the Grand Canyon can be significant barriers for human
communities, likely reducing the frequency of contact with other groups.
Current opinion holds that the closer cultural similarity between the Mogollon
and Ancient Pueblos and their greater differences from the Hohokam and
Patayan is due to both the geography and the variety of climate zones in the
Southwest.

References

MESA VERDI, COLORADO

Mesa Verdi was home to the Anasazi Indians for more than 1,000 years. The people
that first built their houses here at the time of the Roman Empire farmed the mesas,
plateaus, river bottoms, and canyons. They created a thriving, populous civilization
that eventually raised towers and built hundred-room cities in the cliffs and caves of
Mesa Verde.
Anthropologists Nicole Torres and Steven Stuart explore Mesa Verde

-
Cliff Palace
KIVA - Ceremonial Chamber
Anasazi cliff dwellings contain petroglyphs
 MOAB UTAH

Steven and Nicole

Archeological evidence suggests that the Moab area and surrounding country was inhabited by the Anasazi (in
Navajo language, the ancient ones). The present town of Moab sits on the ruins of pueblo farming communities
dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. These Anasazi Indians mysteriously vacated the Four Corners area around
1300 AD, leaving ruins of their homes scattered throughout the area. The villages were never inhabited again. They
were "burned, possibly by the inhabitants, shortly before abandonment.
Window

It is impossible to find a cause as to why they left. But there appear to be several causes that contributed. First, the
climate during the Pueblo III period was somewhat unstable with erratic rainfall patterns and periods of drought.
This weather problem climaxed with a thirty-year drought starting about 1270 that coincided with a cooling trend
that significantly shortened the growing season. Perhaps the expanding population had pressed the limits of the land's
capacity to support the people so that they were unable to survive the climatic upheavals of the thirteenth century.
 Steve on the Top of the Mountain

Could they have been driven out by nomadic tribes, such as Utes or Navajos? There is no direct evidence that either
group, or any other like them, was in the area that early. There is mounting evidence, however, that the Numic-
speaking peoples, of whom the Utes and Paiutes are part, had spread northwestward out of southwestern Nevada and
were in contact with the Pueblo-like peoples of western Utah by A.D. 1200. It is certainly possible that they were in
San Juan County shortly after that. Ute and Paiute sites are very difficult to distinguish from Anasazi campsites, and
we may not be recognizing them.

Navajos were in northwestern New Mexico by 1500, but we do not know where they were before that. Perhaps the
answer to the Anasazis' departure from Utah lies in a combination of the bad-climate and the arriving-nomads
theories.

ARTICLES IN THE NEWS

Secret ruins unveiled in Utah canyon
Arizona Republic - June 2004

Range Creek area southeast of East Carbon City, Utah Archaeologists led reporters into a remote canyon to reveal an
almost perfectly preserved picture of ancient life: stone pit houses, granaries and a bounty of artifacts kept secret for
more than a half-century. Hundreds of sites on a private ranch turned over to the state offer some of the best evidence
of the little-understood Fremont culture, hunter-gatherers and farmers who lived mostly within the present-day
borders of Utah. The sites at Range Creek may be up to 4,500 years old.

A caravan of news organizations traveled for two hours from the mining town of East Carbon City, over a serpentine
thriller of a dirt road that topped an 8,200-foot mountain before dropping into the narrow canyon in Utah's Book
Cliffs region. Officials kept known burial sites and human remains out of view of reporters and cameras, but within a
single square mile of verdant meadows, archaeologists showed off one village site and said there were five more,
where arrowheads, pottery shards and other artifacts can still be found lying on the ground. Archaeologists said the
occupation sites, which include granaries full of grass seed and corn, offer an unspoiled slice of life of the ancestors
of modern American Indian tribes. The settlements are scattered along 12 miles of Range Creek and up side canyons.

The collapsing half-buried houses don't have the grandeur of New Mexico's Chaco Canyon or Colorado's Mesa
Verde, where overhanging cliffs shelter stacked stone houses. But they are remarkable in that they hold a treasure of
information about the Fremont culture that has been untouched by looters. The Fremont people were efficient
hunters, taking down deer, elk, bison and small game and leaving behind piles of animal bone waste, Jones said.
They fished for trout in Range Creek, using a hook and line or weirs. In their more advanced stage they grew corn.

Waldo Wilcox, the rancher who sold the land and returned Wednesday, kept the archaeological sites a closely
guarded secret for more than 50 years. The San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land bought Wilcox's 4,200-acre
ranch for $2.5 million. The conservation group transferred the ranch to the Bureau of Land Management, which
turned it over to Utah. The deal calls for the ranch to be opened for public access, a subject certain to raise debate
over the proper stewardship of a significant archaeological find.

Artifacts found in the Wilcox collection include a wide array of bone needles, stone awls, bone and shell beads,
projectile points, knives, scrapers and other stone tools from an interesting variety of cherts,-- obsidian, pink agate
and what resembled Llano Estacado alibate.
Fremont People

Petroglyphs
 Reconstructed Pithouse - State Park, Boulder, Utah

The Fremont culture or Fremont people, named by Noel Morss of Harvard's Peabody Museum after the Fremont
River in Utah, is an archaeological culture that inhabited what is now Utah and parts of eastern Nevada, southern
Idaho, southern Wyoming, and eastern Colorado between about 400 and 1300 AD.

The Fremont culture unit was characterised by small, scattered communities that subsisted primarily through maize
cultivation. Archaeologists have long debated whether the Fremont were a local Archaic population that adopted
village-dwelling life from the neighboring Anasazi culture to the south, or whether they represent an actual migration
of Basketmakers (the earliest culture stage in the Anasazi Culture) into the northern American Southwest or the area
that Julian Steward once called the "Northern Periphery".

The Fremont have some unique material culture traits that mark them as a distinct and identifiable archaeological
culture unit, and recent mtDNA data indicate they are a biologically distinct population, separate from the
Basketmaker. What early archaeologists such as Morss or Marie Wormington used to define the Fremont was their
distinctive pottery, particularly vessel forms, incised and applique decorations, and unique leather moccasins.
However, their house forms and overall technology are virtually indistinguishable from the Anasazi. Their
habitations were initially circular pit-houses but they began to adopt rectangular stone-built pueblo homes above
ground.

Marwitt (1970) defined local or geographic variations within the Fremont culture area based largely on differences in
ceramic production and geography. Marwitt's subdivisions are the Parowan Fremont in southwestern Utah, the
Sevier Fremont in west central Utah and eastern Nevada, the Great Salt Lake Fremont stretching between the Great
Salt Lake and the Snake River in southern Idaho, Uinta Fremont in northeastern Utah, and arguably the San Rafael
Fremont in eastern Utah and western Colorado. (The latter geographic variant may well be indivisible from the San
Juan Anasazi.)

Ancient Timbers Reveal Secrets of Anasazi Builders

National Geographic - September 28, 2001

Some of America's earliest high-rise architects lived in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, between the tenth and twelfth
centuries. Here these Anasazi designers and engineers built 12 great houses up to five stories high with hundreds of
rooms. However, where the Chaco residents harvested the lumber for these enormous buildings is a question that has
stumped archaeologists. Now scientists have found a way to let ancient timbers tell their secrets. Geochemist Nathan
English, of the University of Arizona, has developed a chemical test to determine the origin of these trees.

In the same way that human bones absorb and store calcium from food, trees take up the element strontium. Exactly
how much is absorbed depends on the quantity in the surrounding soil and rock where the tree grows. The test is
based on comparing ratios of two strontium isotopes from wooden construction beams in the Chaco houses with
measurements taken from modern trees in the surrounding mountain ranges.

The 12 Chaco dwellings together contain about 200,000 wooden beams that were used to construct the roofs. But the
Chaco Canyon is an almost treeless landscape that was certainly never the source of the timber. When English
analyzed the strontium ratios from the timber used to construct the houses, they matched those from spruce and pine
trees located on mountaintops up to 60 miles (100 kilometers) away in the Chuska and San Mateo mountain ranges.It
is amazing that the Chaco dwellers carried thousands of these enormous logs most of which measured about 5 meters
(15 feet), about 22 cm (9 inches) in diameter and weighed about 275 kilograms (600 pounds) for up to one hundred
kilometers, said English."

These findings amplify our suspicions that these people were tremendously well organized and socially powerful,"
says archaeologist Jeffrey Dean, also of the University of Arizona. It takes a lot of determination and coordination to
harvest logs from up to 100 kilometers away and bring them back to the village, he added.English's team also found
wood within single rooms that came from both the Chuska and San Mateo mountains, and that trees from different
great houses were harvested in the same year.

Continued

KOKOPELLI

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 Apache Nation

Apache is the collective name for several culturally related tribes of Native Americans, aboriginal inhabitants of
North America, who speak a Southern Athabaskan language. The modern term excludes the related Navajo
people.The origin of the name Apache is uncertain. It may derive from the Yavapai word epache, meaning "people".
The origin has also been claimed to be the Zuni word apachu, meaning "enemy" (but this may have been the Zuni
name for the Navajo people) or an unspecified Quechan word meaning "fighting-men".

The Apaches formerly ranged over southeastern Arizona and north-western Mexico. The chief divisions of the
Apaches were the Arivaipa, Chiricahua, Coyotero, Faraone Gileno, Llanero, Mescalero, Mimbreno, Mogollon,
Naisha, Tchikun and Tchishi. They were a powerful and warlike tribe, constantly at enmity with the whites. The final
surrender of the tribe took place in 1886, when the Chiricahuas, the division involved, were deported to Florida and
Alabama, where they underwent military imprisonment. The U.S. Army, in their various confrontations, found them
to be fierce warriors and skillful strategists. The Apaches are now in reservations in Arizona, New Mexico and
Oklahoma, and number between 5000 and 6000.

The word "Apache" comes from the Yuma word for "fighting-men". It also comes from a Zuni word meaning
"enemy". The Zuni name for Navajo was called "Apachis de Nabaju" by the earliest Spaniards exploring New
Mexico. They called themselves Inde, or Nide "the people".

The Apache Nation is composed of six regional groups:

• Jicarilla - Tinde - an Apache people currently living in New Mexico and to the Southern Athabaskan
language they speak. The term jicarilla comes from Mexican Spanish meaning 'little basket'. During their
zenith in the SouthWest, two divisions of the Jicarilla Apache were known: the Llanero, or "plains people,"
and the Hoyero, the "mountain people." They roamed from central and eastern Colorado into western
Oklahoma, and as far south as Estancia, New Mexico. As a result of their eastern contacts, the Jicarilla
 adopted certain cultural traits of the Plains Indians, as did the Mescalero who also ranged the eastern plains.
The Jicarilla of northeastern New Mexico hunted buffalo in the plains, and planted corn in the mountains.
• Mescalero - Faraon - Native American tribe of Southern Athabaskan stock currently living on the Mescalero
Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico where they live with other Chiricahua and Lipan Apaches.
The Reorganization Act of 1936 consolidated the tribes onto this reservation, which currently has an Apache
population of approximately 4,000. The population is integrated with the rest of Lincoln county, which
includes ranching and tourism as major sources of income.

The Mescalero to the south were originally hunter-gatherers who developed an appetite for the roasted heads
of wild mescal plants. The Mescalero band consisted of followers and a headman. They had no formal leader
such as a tribal chief, or council, nor a decision making process. The core of the band was a "relative group",
predominantly--but not necessarily kinsmen. They were named by the Spanish for the mescal cactus the
Apaches used for food, drink, and fiber.

They moved freely, wintering on the Rio Grande or farther south, ranging the buffalo plains in the summer,
always following the sun and the food supply. They owned nothing and everything. They did as they pleased
and bowed to no man. Their women were chaste. Their leaders kept their promises. They were mighty
warriors who depended on success in raiding for wealth and honor. To their families they were kind and
gentle, but they could be unbelievably cruel to their enemies - fierce and revengeful when they felt that they
had been betrayed.

• Chiricahua - southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and adjacent Mexican states of Chihuahua
and Sonora. They were the fiercest of all tribal groups, raided along the Mexican border. The band was the
informal political unit, consisting of followers and a headman. They had no formal leader such as a tribal
chief, or council, nor a decision making process. The core of the band was a "relative group," predominantly,
but not nessarily, kinsmen. Named by the Spanish for the mescal cactus the Apaches used for food, drink, and
fiber. The basic shelter of the Chiricahua was the domeshaped wickiup made of brush. Similar the Navajo,
they also regarded coyotes, insects, and birds as having been human beings; the human race, then, but
following in the tracks of those who have gone before.
• Lipan - Lipan Apache are also known as Nide buffalo hunters, called by anthropologists and historians for
many years as Eastern Apache, Apache de los Llanos, Lipan, Ipande, and other names. Today it is known that
the Cuelgahen Nde Lipan Apache of Texas comprise the descendents of the Tall Grass People known as
Lipan Apache - Apache following Chiefs Cuelga de Castro, John Castro, and Ramon Castro. Lipan Apache is
also an Southern Athabaskan language spoken by Meredith Begay, Ted Rodriguez, and others on the
Mescalero Apache Reservation. The general consensus of the Lipan Apache Committee on the same
reservation is that linguistic and anthropological considerations of their cultural extinction are mistaken and
incorrect.
• Kiowa - Gataka Nation of Native Americans who lived mostly in the plains of west Texas, Oklahoma and
eastern New Mexico at the time of the arrival of Europeans. Currently the Kiowa Nation is a registered tribe,
with about 6000 members living in southwestern Oklahoma in 1989. The Kiowas originated in the northern
basin of the Missouri River, but migrated south to the Black Hills around 1650 and lived there with the Crow.
Pushed southward by the invading Cheyennes and Sioux who were being pushed out of their lands in the
great lake regions by the Objiwe tribes, the Kiowas moved down the Platte River basin to the Arkansas River
area. There they fought with the Comanches, who already occupied the land. Around 1790, the two groups
made an alliance and agreed to share the area. From that time on, the Comanches and Kiowas formed a deep
bond; the peoples hunted, travelled, and made war together. An additional group, the Plains Apache (also
called Kiowa-Apache), also affiliated with the Kiowas at this time.The Kiowas lived a not atypical Plains
Indian lifestyle. Mostly nomadic, they survived on buffalo meat and gathered vegetables, living in tipis, and
depended on their horses for hunting and military uses. The Kiowa were notorious for long-distance raids as
far north as Canada and south into Mexico. After 1840 the Kiowas joined forces with their former enemies,
the Cheyennes, as well as the Comanches and the Apaches, to fight and raid the Eastern natives then moving
into the Indian Territory. The United States military intervened, and in the Treaty of Medicine Lodge of 1867
 the Kiowa agreed to settle on a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. Some bands of Kiowas remained at
large until 1875. On August 6, 1901 Kiowa land in Oklahoma was opened for white settlement, effectively
dissolving the contiguous reservation. While each Kiowa head of household was alloted 80 acres, the only
land remaining in Kiowa tribal ownership today is what was the scattered parcels of 'grass land' which had
been leased to the white settlers for grazing before the reservation was opened for settlement.
• Western Apache - Pinal Coyotero - most of eastern Arizona which include the White Mountain, Cibuecue,
San Carlos, and Northern and Southern Tonto bands. They are reputed by tradition to have been the first of
the Apache to have penetrated below the Little Colorado among the Pueblo peoples, with whom they
intermarried (Bourke in Jour. Am. Folklore, III, 112, 1890). They possessed the country from San Francisco
mountains to the Gila until they were subdued by Gen. Crook in 1873. Since then they have peaceably tilled
their land at San Carlos.

The Apaches are well-known for their superior skills in warfare strategy and inexhaustible endurance. Continuous
wars among other tribes and invaders from Mexico followed the Apaches' growing reputation of warlike character.
When they confronted Coronado in 1540, they lived in eastern New Mexico, and reached Arizona in the 1600s. The
Apache are described as a gentel people; faithful in their friendship.

HISTORY

Early Apache inhabitants of the southwestern United States were a nomadic people; some groups roamed as far
south as Mexico. They were primarily hunters of buffalo but they also practiced limited farming. For centuries they
were fierce warriors, adept in desert survival, who carried out raids on those who encroached on their territory.

The primitive Apache was a true nomad, a wandering child of Nature, whose birthright was a craving for the warpath
with courage and endurance probably exceeded by no other people and with cunning beyond reckoning. Although
his character is a strong mixture of courage and ferocity, the Apache is gentle and affectionate toward those with his
own flesh and blood, particularly his children.

The Apache people (including the Navajo) came from the Far North to settle the Plains and Southwest around A.D.
850. They settled in three desert regions, the Great Basin, the Sonoran, and the Chihuachuan.

They were always known as 'wild" Indians, and indeed their early warfare with all neighboring tribes as well as their
recent persistent hostility toward our Government, which precipitated a "war of extermination," bear out the
appropriateness of the designation.

The first intruders were the Spanish, who penetrated Apache territory in the late 1500s. The Spanish drive northward
disrupted ancient Apache trade connections with neighboring tribes.

When New Mexico became a Spanish colony in 1598, hostilities increased between Spaniards and Apaches. An
influx of Comanche into traditional Apache territory in the early 1700s forced the Lipan and other Apaches to move
south of their main food source, the buffalo. These displaced Apaches began raiding for food.

Apache raids on settlers accompanied the American westward movement and the United States acquisition of New
Mexico in 1848. The Native Americans and the United States military authorities engaged in fierce wars until all
Apache tribes were eventually placed on reservations.
Most of the tribes were subdued by 1868, except for the Chiricahua, who continued their attacks until 1872, when
their chief, Cochise, signed a treaty with the U.S. government and moved with his band to an Apache reservation in
Arizona. The last band of Apache raiders, led by the Chief Geronimo, was hunted down in 1886 and was confined in
Florida, Alabama, and finally Oklahoma Territory.

Chief Geronimo - Medicine Man - Shaman

June 16, 1829 - February 17, 1909

Geronimo was born in what is now the state of New Mexico and according to the maps of the time was part of
Mexico, but which his family considered Bedonkohe Apache land. Geronimo himself was a Chiricahua Apache. He
grew up to be a respected medicine man and an accomplished warrior who fought frequently with Mexican troops.
Mexican bandits massacred some of his relatives in 1858, and as a result he hated all Mexicans for the rest of his life.
His Mexican adversaries gave him the nickname of "Geronimo", the Spanish version of the name "Jerome".

Geronimo fought against ever increasing numbers of both Mexican and United States troops and became famous for
his daring exploits and numerous escapes from capture. His forces became the last major force of independent Indian
warriors who refused to acknowledge the United States Government in the American West. This came to an end on
September 4, 1886, when Geronimo surrendered to United States Army General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton
Canyon, Arizona.
Geronimo was sent in as a prisoner to Fort Pickens, Florida. In 1894 he was moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In his old
age Geronimo became something of a celebrity, appearing at fairs and selling souvenirs and photographs of himself,
but not allowed to return to the land of his birth. He rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inaugural parade.
He died of pneumonia at Fort Sill.

Read More

Apache Warriors

The Apache's gorilla war tactics came naturally and were unsurpassed. The name Apache struck fear into the hearts
of Pueblo tribes, and in later years the Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American settlers, which they raided for food,
and livestock.

The Apache and the Pueblos managed to maintain generally peaceful relations. But the arrival of the Spaniards
changed everything. A source of friction was the activity of Spanish slave traders, who hunted down captives to
serve as labor in the silver mines of Chihuahua in northern Mexico. The Apache, in turn, raided Spanish settlements
to seize cattle, horses, firearms, and captives of their own.

The prowess of the Apache in battle became legend. It was said that an Apache warrior could run 50 miles without
stopping and travel more swiftly than a troop of mounted soldiers.
 Cochise

Cochise (c. 1812June 9, 1874) was a chief of one of the bands of the Chiricahua Apache and the leader of an uprising
that began in 1861. Cochise was a chief of central Chiricahua in the southwestern United States. Cochise was the
most famous Apache leader to resist intrusions by whites during the 19th century.Cochise was born in the area that
now contains the border between Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona. That area had experienced significant tension
between the Apache and European settlers from about 1831 until the greater part of the area was annexed by the
United States in 1850, which ushered in a time of relative peace. Cochise worked as a woodcutter at the stagecoach
station in Apache Pass for the Butterfield Overland line.

The peace was shattered in 1861 when an Apache raiding party drove away a local rancher's cattle and kidnapped his
12-year-old son. Cochise and five others of his band were falsely accused of the incident (which had actually been
done by the Coyotero band of Apaches), and were ordered by an inexperienced Army officer (Lt. George Bascom) to
report to the fort for questioning. When they went there and maintained their innocence the group was arrested and
imprisoned.

The five soon mounted an escape attempt; one was killed and Cochise was shot three times but managed to slip
away. He quickly took hostages to use in negotiations to free the other four Chiricahua. However, the plan backfired
and both sides killed all their hostages in what was later known as "The Bascom Affair."

Cochise then joined with his father-in-law Mangas Coloradas (Colorado), a Mimbreño Apache chief, in a long series
of retaliatory skirmishes and raids among the settlements. Many were killed on both sides, but the Apaches began to
achieve the upper hand, which prompted the United States Army to send an expedition (led by General James
Carleton).
At Apache Pass in 1862, Cochise and Colorado, with 500 fighters, held their ground against a force of 3000
California volunteers under Carleton until artillery fire was brought to bear on their position. Colorado was later
captured and subsequently killed while imprisoned leaving Cochise in sole command of the insurrection.

He and his men were gradually driven into the Dragoon Mountains but were nevertheless able to use the mountains
as cover and as a base to continue significant skirmishes against white settlements from. This was the situation until
1871 when General George Crook assumed command and used other Apaches as scouts and informants and was
thereby able to force Cochise's men to surrender. Cochise was taken into custody in September of that year.

The next year the Chiricahua were ordered to Tularosa Reservation in New Mexico but refused to leave their
ancestral lands, which were guaranteed to them under treaty. Cochise managed to escape again and renewed raids
and skirmishes against settlements through most of 1872. A new treaty was later negotiated by General Oliver O.
Howard and Cochise retired to an Arizona reservation where he died of natural causes.

LANGUAGE

The Apache and Navajo (Diné) tribal groups of the American Southwest speak related languages of the language
family referred to as 'Athabaskan.' Southern Athabaskan peoples in North America fan out from west-central Canada
where some Southern Athabaskan-speaking groups still reside. Linguistic similarities indicate the Navajo and
Apache were once a single ethnic group. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests a recent entry of these
people into the American Southwest, with substantial numbers not present until the early 1500s.
 CLOTHING

The primitive dress of the men was deerskin shirt, leggings, and moccasins. They were never without a loin-cloth. A
deerskin cap with attractive symbolic ornamentation was worn. The women wore short deerskin skirts and high boot
top moccasins.

DWELLINGS
The Apache dwellings consisted of a dome shaped frame of cottonwood or other poles, thatched with grass. The
house itself was termed, "Kowa" and the grass thatch, "Pi".

They pitched tentlike dwellings made of brush or hide, called 'wikiups'. The wickiup was the most common shelter
of the Apache. The dome shaped lodge was constructed of wood poles covered with brush, grass, or reed mats. It
contained a fire pit and a smoke hole for a chimney. The Jicarillas and Kiowa-Apaches, which roamed the Plains,
used buffalo hide tepees. The basic shelter of the Chiricahua was the domeshaped wickiup made of brush.

RELIGION - CEREMONIES

The ceremonies are invariably called "dances. Among these are the rain dance, a puberty right, a harvest and good
crop dance, and a spirit dance.

The Apache are devoutly religious and pray on many occasions and in various ways. Recreated in the human form,
Apache spirits are supposed to dwell in a land of peace and plenty, where there is neither disease or death.
To celebrate each noted event a feast and dance is given. The music for our dance is sung by the warriors, and
accompanied by beating the esadadedne (buck-skin-on-a-hoop). No words are sung - only the tones. When the
feasting and dancing are over they have horse races, foot races, wrestling, jumping, and all sorts of games
(gambling),

There are no formal churches, no religious organizations, no sabbath day, no holidays, and yet they worship.
Sometimes the whole tribe assembles to sing and pray; sometimes a smaller number, perhaps only two or three. The
songs have a few words, but are not formal. The singer will occasionally put in such words as he wished instead of
the usual tone sound. Sometimes they prayed in silence; sometimes each one prays aloud; sometimes an aged person
prays for all of us. At other times they rise and speak to us of our duties to each other and to Usen. The services are
short.

When disease or pestilence abound we assemble and are questioned by our leaders to ascertain what evil we had
done, and how Usen - a god - could be satisfied. Sometimes sacrifice is deemed necessary. Sometimes the offending
one is punished.

If an Apache has allowed his aged parents to suffer for food or shelter, if he has neglected or abused the sick, if he
has profaned our religion, or has been unfaithful, he can be banished from the tribe.

The Apaches have no prisons as white men have. Instead of sending their criminals into prison they send them out of
their tribe. These faithless, cruel, lazy, or cowardly members of the tribe are excluded in such a manner that they
cannot join any other tribe. Neither can they have any protection from our unwritten tribal laws.

Frequently these outlaw Indians band together and commit depredations which were charged against the regular
tribe. However, the life of an outlaw Indian is a hard lot, and their bands never become very large; besides, these
bands frequently provoke the wrath of the tribe and secured their own destruction.

FOOD

The Apaches were nomadic hunter-gatherers - hunting of wild game and gathering of cactus fruits and other wild
plant foods. . They chased any wild game located within their territory, especially deer and rabbits. When necessary,
they lived off the land by gathering wild berries, roots, cactus fruit and seeds of the mesquite tree. They planted some
corn, beans, and squash as crops. They were extremely hardy prior to the arrival of European diseases, and could live
practically naked in zero temperature.

Hunting is a part of daily life - for food, clothing, shelter, blankets. Apache hunted deer, wild turkeys, rabbits,
buffalo, bears, mountain lions. There was no fishing. Eagles were hunted for their feathers.

They exchanged buffalo hides, tallow and meat, bones that could be worked into needles and scrapers for hides, and
salt from the desert with the Pueblos for pottery, cotton, blankets, turquoise, corn and other goods. But at times they
simply saw what they wanted and took it. They became known among the Pueblo villages by another name, Apachu,
"the enemy".
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE

The Apache regarded coyotes, insects, and birds as having been human beings. The human race, then, but following
in the tracks of those who have gone before.

The Apache lived in extended family groups, all loosely related through the female line - matriarcial society. Each
group operated independently under a respected family leader....settling its own disputes, answering to no higher
human authority.

The main exception to this occurred during wartime, when neighboring groups banded together to fight a common
enemy. Unlike ordinary raiding, where the main object was to acquire food and possessions, war meant lethal
business. An act of vengeance for the deaths of band members in earlier raids or battles.

Leaders of the local family groups would meet in council to elect a war chief, who led the campaign. But if any one
group preferred to follow its own war chief, it was free to do so.

Apache bands that roamed the same area admitted to a loose cultural kinship.

The more peaceble Western Apache of Arizona spent part of each year farming.

A strict code of conduct governed Apache life, based on strong family loyalties.

Each Apache group was composed of extended families or clans.

Basic social, economic, and political units based on female inherited leadership. The most important bond led from
an Apache mother to her children and on to her children.

When the son married his obligations from then on were to his mother-in-law's family.
 Apache Bride

Beyond this code of propriety and family obligations, the Apache shared a rich oral history of myths and legends and
a legacy of intense religious devotion that touched virtually every aspect of their lives.

Medicine Men presided over religious ceremonies. They believed in many supernatural beings including Usen, the
Giver of Life, to be the most powerful of them all. The Gans, or Mountain Spirits, were especially important in
Apache ceremonies. Males garbed themselves in elaborate costumes to impersonate the Gans in ritual dance,
wearing kilts, black masks, tall wooden-slat head-dresses, and body paint carrying wooden swords.

Many Apache bands were so influenced by the tribes they came into contact that they took on many of their customs
and practices.

- Encyclopedia Britannica
 Bear Symbology - Clans

In shamanism bears are totem animals or power animals. This takes us to the very source of 'nature in motion' - the
summer solstice - shaminism - the rhythm of drumming - sweat lodges and cleansing - as we meditate - initiate - and
activate our DNA to uncover our lost wisdom and soul's purpose.
 White Bear Medicine Woman

There is a Pawnee legend about White Bear Medicine Woman. She was born with the spirit of a bear, after her father
killed a bear while she was in her mother's womb. She is the origin of the Bear Medicine Ceremony invoking healing
powers by actions of a bear based on her narrative myth.

White Bear Medicine Woman is connected to the wheel - circles.

• Medicine Wheels - the Big Bear Medicine Wheel

• Wheel of Time - Karma - Cycles of Life
• Alchemy Wheel of Creation
• Dream Catchers
• Swastika - 4 elements - seasons

As you sit there ... close your eyes. Take 2 slow deep breaths. Relax. If White Bear Medicine Woman is part if your
journey - ask her to come to you with a message. Wait for her! Record what is shown and told. If you wish to do this
with drumming music - please click the power animal link above.

Bear Symbology

Bears hibernate in the winter, which may explain their association with "dreaming the Great Spirit" or
retrospection. The symbolism of the Bear's cave reflects returning to the womb of Mother Earth. [A cave is
an archetype for the mind - sleep - returning/flying/spiraling to higher consciousness.] This also suggests a
strong feminine aspect, one of nurturing and protection. Bear cubs, born in the early spring, can spend as
many as seven years with their mother before reaching maturity. People with Bear Medicine are considered
by many as self-sufficient, and would rather stand on their own two feet than rely on others. They are
 sometimes considered dreamers. Many have developed the skill of visualizing new things, but as a result can
get caught up in the dreaming, making little progress in waking reality. Bear's medicine includes
introspection, healing, solitude, wisdom, change, communication with Spirit, death and rebirth,
transformation, astral travel, creature of dreams, shamans and mystics.

Bear Medicine

With Bear Medicine we find:

The Bear is the keeper of the dreamtime, and stores the teachings of dreams until the dreamer wakes up to
them. Many tribes have called this space of inner-knowing the Dream Lodge, where the death of the illusion
of physical reality overlays the expansiveness of eternity. It is in the Dream Lodge that our ancestors sit in
Council and advise us regarding alternative pathways that lead to our goals.

If you like bears, you should maybe look into some books on interpreting dreams; especially if you're a heavy
dreamer. If you need a lot of sleep, it may be Bear working. This female receptive energy, for centuries has
allowed visionaries, mystics, and shamans to prophesy.

The strength of Bear medicine is the power of introspection. Bear is not one to make snap decisions, nor one
to ramrod or force into any position. Bear takes in all available information, takes it into his quiet place,
studies that information carefully, gives it careful thought for a while, and then reaches his own informed
decisions based on the facts at hand. Bear is the one who says, "I have to think about this. I'll be in touch
later." You can rely on opinions coming from a Bear person as being well thought out and thorough, and
based on the facts given. To accomplish the goals and dreams that we carry, the art of introspection is
necessary.

Bear is a fierce warrior, especially when protecting their young. They appear to be lumbering and slow, but
can have lightning speed when threatened. They love fish when they can get it, but they also eat berries,
honey, etc. Bear people like home and shelter, and like to be warm and cozy.

With Bear Medicine, the power of knowing has invited you to enter the silence and become acquainted with
the Dream Lodge, so that your goals may become concrete realities. This is the strength of Bear.

Bears in Mythology

There is some evidence for prehistoric bear worship, see Arctic, Arcturus, Great Bear, Berserker, Kalevala.

The bear is a national emblem of Russia.

Numerous cities around the world have adopted the bear as a symbol, notably the Swiss capital Bern, which
takes its name from the German for bear, bar. The bear is also the name-emblem of Berlin.

Bears are a common symbol of heraldry. In the arms of the bishopric of Freising the bear is the dangerous
totem animal tamed by Saint Corbinian and made to carry his civilized baggage over the mountains: the
allegory of the civilizing influence of Christianity is inescapable.

The bear is also the name-emblem of Berlin.

Bears are a common symbol of heraldry. In the arms of the bishopric of Freising the bear is the dangerous
totem animal tamed by Saint Corbinian and made to carry his civilized baggage over the mountains: the
allegory of the civilizing influence of Christianity is inescapable. Read More ...
Bear Clan Origin Myth

The Bear Clan (Hundj Hik'ik'áradjera) is a large clan of the Lower or Earth Moiety, and in contemporary
Wisconsin, it is now the largest clan. The Bear Clan had to be consulted on all matters pertaining to the earth
(such as land transfers), just as the Waterspirit Clan was in charge of matters pertaining to water, and the
Thunderbird Clan to matters aerial. Read More...

Bear Constellation - Ursa Major

Kochab -- Polaris -- Precession of the Equinoxes

Big Dipper Stars in Summer Sky Space.com - June 10, 2005

Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in the northern hemisphere. Its name means Great
Bear in Latin, and is associated with the legend of Callisto.
 Zeus fell in love with a mortal woman named Callisto, who was a far-traveler and a huntress. His wife
Hera became jealous, and changed Callisto into a large bear. When Callisto failed to return after a
long journey, her son Arcas set out to find her, and in a forest one day met a huge bear. To his horror,
the bear started to run toward him. Not perceiving it was his mother, Arcas fitted an arrow to his bow
and was about to slay the bear, when Zeus, to avert the impending tragedy, changed Arcas into a
smaller bear. Zeus could not undo Hera's spell. Then Zeus grabbed both bears by the tails, swung
them around (thus stretching their tails out), and hurled them into the sky where they would be safe
and immortal. However, Hera had the last word, moving them to the portion of the sky that never sets,
so that until the end of the world Callisto and Arcas must endure weariness without rest.

The seven brightest stars of Ursa Major form a famous asterism known in the United Kingdom as the
Plough, and was formerly called by the old name Charles's Wain ("wain" meaning "wagon") as it still is in
Scandinavia, Karlavagnen. This common Germanic name originally meant the men's wagon (churls' wagon)
in contrast to the women's wagon (Ursa Minor). There is also a theory that it was named after Charlemagne.
In North America it is commonly known as the Big Dipper, because the major stars can be seen to follow the
rough outline of a large ladle, or dipper; this is recognized as a grouping of stars in many cultures throughout
the eras. In Hindu astronomy, it is referred to as Sapta Rishi meaning "The Seven Sages". Read More ...

Asterism derives from the Greek word for 'star', 'aster'. In astronomy, an asterism is a recognized pattern of stars
seen in Earth's sky which is neither an official constellation nor a true star cluster. Asterisms are considered to be
distinct from constellations, although the origin of most constellations is also a recognizable pattern of stars. An
asterism might be a part of a constellation, a pattern composed of stars from two or more constellations, or a smaller
distinctive pattern of stars which are not physically associated and are therefore not classified as a cluster. Examples
of Asterisms Aster - in reference to a planet, or to a particular configuration of planets or a conjunction of planets
and stars - might be implicit in Matthew's description of the Star (aster) of Bethlehem which, if it was not an angelic
or supernatural phenomenon, need not have been a single star.

Aster is also associated with Zoroaster. The 3 Magi were Zoroastrian priests.

Bears Today

In our current timeline - with environmental changes - bears - as well as other forest animals - often find food
scarce. Their food sources become displaced as housing expands. As a result, many bears come down from
the mountains and wander into people's yards and homes in search of food. This is an increasing pattern - as
reported by friends, clients, and the media. Learning how to cope with this situation is most important so as
not to endanger local residents and their pets. Here in NY state - many friends have found hungry bears
lurking on their property, rummaging through garbage.

Some people report bear sightings in patterns - meaning bears come into a neighborhood - stay a few days -
then return 3 weeks later - or whatever the pattern is - as if on cue!

Totem Animals
Totem animals represents great spirit or that which they need to survive. We all have power animals which can be
accessed by meditation. Below are a list of animals and their symbology.

Ant: group mind, patience, action

Antelope: action, agility and sacrifice

 Armadillo: safety, boundaries, medicine shield

Bat: rebirth, secrets and initiation

Bear: power, healing

Bears hibernate in the winter, which may explain their association with "dreaming the Great Spirit" or retrospection.
The symbolism of the Bear's cave reflects returning to the womb of Mother Earth. [A Cave is an archetype for the
mind - sleep - returning to higher consciousness.] This also suggests a strong feminine aspect, one of nurturing and
protection. Bear cubs, born in the early spring, can spend as many as seven years with their mother before reaching
maturity. People with Bear Medicine are considered by many as self-sufficient, and would rather stand on their own
two feet than rely on others. They are often considered dreamers. Many have developed the skill of visualizing new
things, but as a result can get caught up in the dreaming, making little progress in waking reality. Bear's medicine
includes introspection, healing, solitude, wisdom, change, communication with Spirit, death and rebirth,
transformation, astral travel, creature of dreams, shamans and mystics. Bear Symbology and More [scroll down]

Bearpaw: power and direction

Beaver: builder, protector

Boar: is one of the most important totem animals of the Gaelic Celts: the South and the element of Fire: The life
giving power of the sun

Buffalo: sacredness, life, abundance

Buffalo is considered by many tribes as a symbol of abundance: its meat fed the people, skins were used for clothing
and covering, bones and sinew were crafted as survival tools, hooves were converted into glue. According to Lakota
tradition, White Buffalo Calf Woman gave them the Sacred Pipe, promising abundance as long as they prayed to the
Great Spirit and honored All Their Relations, that is, all other creations of nature. Buffalo's Medicine symbolizes an
honor, reverence or special love for all the things that Mother Earth offers her children. It is also knowing that
abundance is present when all relations are honored as sacred, and when gratitude is expressed to every living part of
Creation. Buffalo signals a moment to reconnect with the meaning of life and the value of peace, to praise the gifts
you already have, and to recognize and honor the sacredness in all paths, though they may be different than yours.

White Buffalo and Prophecy

Butterfly: metamorphosis and transformation

Scientific research has shown that the butterfly is the only living being capable of changing entirely its genetic
structure during the process of transformation: the caterpillar's DNA is totally different from the butterfly's. Thus, it
is the symbol of total transformation. Butterfly represents a need for change and greater freedom, and at the same
time it represents courage: one requires courage to carry out the changes necessary in the process of growth. Its
Medicine is related to the air and the mental powers. It teaches us to find clarity in the mental processes, to organize
projects or to figure out the next step in our internal growth. If Butterfly is your Power Animal or if you feel in any
way attracted to it, this means you are ready to undergo some kind of transformation. Examine which stage calls
your attention the most: the egg is the beginning, the birth of some project or idea. The larva is de decision to
manifest something in the physical world. The cocoon has to do with "going inside", either through insight or the
development of the project or idea. The breaking of the cocoon deals with sharing the splendor of your creation with
the whole world. Once you understand the stage you are on, you can discover which is the next step.

Cat: Independence

In Egypt cats were always given special privileges and were treated like royalty. In Scandinavia the cat stood for
fertility, and in India it is a symbol of childbirth. In ancient times it was believed that witches took the form of their
cats at night. Cats are fiercely independent. You can never own one: it allows you to take care of it and love it, but
only on its terms. They come and go as they please, when they please. Cat's medicine is independence, curiosity,
many lives, cleverness, unpredictability, healing, the ability to fight when cornered, seeing the unseen, and
protection. He also represents love and can assist us in meditation. If Cat is your Power Animal, then you have magic
and mystery in your life. You are independent and a free thinker. You probably feel energized at night. You will stay
with a person or situation until it bores you, and then you're gone. You have a great talent for organizing things.

Coyote: the trickster, devilment

Crane: solitude and independence

Crow: law, shape shifting, change

Deer: gentleness, caring and kindness

Deer blend very well with their environment but are very sensitive to every sound or movement. Often twins, even
triplets, are born in the spring. Does and bucks live in separate groups until the mating season. The white-tailed deer
are moderately gregarious, and family members forage food together along with other family groups, giving the
appearance of a large herd. People with Deer Medicine are often described as being swift and alert. They are
intuitive, often appearing to have well developed, even extrasensory perceptions. Sometimes their thoughts seem to
race ahead, and they appear not to be listening. Deer's medicine includes gentleness in word, thought and touch,
ability to listen, grace and appreciation for the beauty of balance, understanding of what's necessary for survival,
power of gratitude and giving, ability to sacrifice for the higher good, connection to the woodland spirits, alternative
paths to a goal. The gentleness of Deer is the heart-space of the Great Spirit which embodies His love for us all. Deer
teaches us to find the gentleness of spirit that heals all wounds, to stop pushing to get others to change and to love
and accept them as they are. The only true balance to power is love and compassion.

Dog: noble, loyal, teaching

Dog was the servant/soldier that guarded the tribe's dwellings and protected them from surprise attacks. Dog helped
during the hunting¹s and provided warmth in winter. It is a symbol of loyalty, unconditional love, protection and
service. Its Medicine incorporates the loving kindness of the best friend and the protective energy of the guardian. If
your Power Animal is Dog, your devotion towards your family and friends is infinite. You get great satisfaction from
rendering service to others, offering your hand to a friend in need. A kind word, a caress, an act of kindness mean
much more to you than material things. However, there is a risk of coming too close to the other side: allowing
people to take advantage of you because of your gentle nature. Dog reminds you that your loyalty should always be
to yourself, to your own truth. He reminds you that by respecting and valuing yourself you can truly render a service
to those who honor what you can give them.
 Dolphin: kindness and play energy

The beautiful, graceful, sleek dolphin carries many messages for the two-legged. Even though it is a mammal, its
home is the sea and has mastered the art of breath control. Since water is the symbol of all life - of creation, passion
and even sexuality - dolphin brings us teachings from the waters of life. Playful creatures, dolphins have long
entertained man with their joyful antics. Studying dolphin communication has proved to be an awesome task for
man. As in all animals, dolphins have developed sophisticated auditory signals that warn others of impending
danger. Some believe that these animals are now warning man of impending danger as he ignores the balance of the
natural world. Swimming with the dolphins has become a powerful experience for many people, and as they interact
with these playful creatures, they cannot help but feel their communication.

Dolphin reminds us that time to play is a crucial element to walk in balance. It moves through the water quickly and
with great grace. Dolphin tells us to move with the ebb and flow of life, and not to search for brick walls to smash
into, for to spend our energy fighting the current gets us nowhere. Dolphin medicine includes change, wisdom,
balance, harmony, communication skills, freedom, trust, understanding the power of rhythm in your life, use of
breath to release intense emotions, water power.

Dragon: longevity, infinity, wisdom, movement through space

Dragonfly: Illusion - Transcendence

Eagle: divine Spirit and connection to creator

Eagle feathers are used all over the world as ceremonial instruments and are considered to be the most sacred healing
tools. They are a symbol of power, healing and wisdom. Eagle represents a state of grace that is reached through
inner work, understanding and passing the initiation tests that result from reclaiming our personal power. Eagle
Medicine is the Power of the Great Spirit. It is the spirit of tenacity. It is the gift of clear vision with which one can
truly see the things one sees. It is the patience to wait for the appropriate moment. It is to live in balance with heaven
and Earth. Eagle reminds you of your connection with the Great Spirit. It tells you that the universe is giving you the
opportunity to fly above your life's worldly levels, or above the shadow of past realities. Eagle teaches you to look
above in order to touch Grandfather Sun with your heart, to love the Shadow as much as the Light. Eagle asks you to
grant yourself permission to be free in order to reach the joy that your heart desires.

Elk: strength and agility

Fox: cunning, agility, quick-witted

Frog: water energy

Hawk: messenger, intuition, discernment

Horse: stamina, mobility

The horse shows up in almost every mythological writing, folklore, and reality. There is the mighty winged Pegasus,
the eight-legged horse of the Norse god Odin, the stallions of the Hindu sun god, the stallions of Apollo, and so on.
Many legends speak of the horse as being clairvoyant and able to perceive humans with magical powers. No single
animal has given man the physical freedom of movement as the horse. If you are drawn to Horse, you feel a power in
your spirit that is sometimes difficult to control. Horse is a symbol of loyalty and devotion, of unquestioning love
and faith in his master. He says that you love to travel, and have more than a touch of gypsy in your soul. Horse is
also your warrior spirit - the brave fighter who brings you safety in your journeys, both physical and metaphysical.
Horse's medicine includes power, stamina, endurance, faithfulness, freedom to run free, control of the environment,
awareness of power achieved with true cooperation, interspecies communication, expanding one's own potential
abilities, friendship and cooperation, travel, astral travel, guardian of travelers, warns of possible danger, guide to
overcoming obstacles.

Hummingbird: messenger, timelessness

Hummingbird - the tiniest of all birds - brings special messages for us. It is the only creature that can stop dead while
traveling at full speed. It can hover, or can go forward, backward, up or down. It lives on nectar and searches for the
sweetness of life. Its long tongue lets it bypass the often tough and bitter outer layer to find the hidden treasures
underneath. Hummingbird is loved by the flowers and plants, for as it sucks the nectar from the flower, the plant
reproduces and more of its kind are created. In many traditions, Hummingbird feathers have been prized for their
almost magical qualities. It is said that Hummingbird brings love as no other medicine can, and its presence brings
joy to the observer.

If you have Hummingbird medicine, you adapt easily to whatever situation you may find yourself in, and make the
most of your new circumstances. You don't waste time looking back and wishing for "what was" for you are
concerned with making the most of "what is". Also, you could never become addicted to any artificial stimulants, for
you find joy in your own heart. You take great pleasure in spreading joy and love and beauty to all around you, and
have the gift of taking that inner joy into new and different surroundings. You have a talent for finding the good in
people, and are not put off by a gruff or abrupt exterior, for you know that, if you can only get beyond that tough
outside layer, you'll find goodness and beauty inside. You may have a gift for working with flowers, maybe growing
them to share with others, or using flower essences for healing. Aroma therapy may be your calling. You have high
energy and a spirit that must be free. To restrict that wonderful, free, loving energy is to suffer great depressions and
feelings of uselessness. Hummingbird must fly free in search of beauty, spreading joy and love to all it touches.

Kokopelli: fertility, music and joy

Lion: Power of feminine energy

The female hunts and kills prey, feeds the group and takes care of the young. She is the nurturing force in all senses.
The male roars to frighten prey and force them toward the lioness, who waits patiently for the right moment to
attack. Although the male is the group's protector, he doesn't look for confrontation nor attacks needlessly. He only
acts when challenged and will fight to death in order to protect, but in reality he prefers the easy, peaceful life. Lion's
Medicine teaches us the magic of group interaction, of group energy. It also teaches us the secrets of silence and
patience. Patience is to pay attention to detail. Lion suggests that we examine ourselves closely in order to
understand our strengths and weaknesses, and to wait for the proper moment to act and take full advantage of a given
situation. Learn from Lion the proper way to use power and strength. Stay calm and still, sure of your power. But if
necessary, don't hesitate to fight for the things you are interested in.

Lizard: conservation

Lynx: keeper of secrets, guardian and guide

Moose: headstrong, longevity, steadfastness

 Mountain lion: courage, leadership and foresight

Mouse: scrutiny, order, organizer

Opossum: diversion, strategist, deceiver

Otter: playful, prognostication, woman medicine

Owl: deception, clairvoyance, insight (the night eagle)

Owls come in all sizes, from a tiny miniature that actually lives inside the cactus in the desert, to the great horned
owl, which is the only bird that can out fly the golden eagle. A fully grown great horned is an awe inspiring creature.
Its talons are furry, and closely resemble the paws of a baby mountain lion with claws extended. It is a meat eater,
which means it can be a fierce warrior if challenged, or if something dear to it is threatened. It is often referred to as
Night Eagle. Owl is at home in the night. It has great awareness of all that is around it at all times. It has predator
vision, which means it sees clearly what it looks at. It has great intuition: it is the totem of psychics and clairvoyants.
It has the courage to follow its instincts. Owl's medicine includes seeing behind masks, silent and swift movement,
keen sight, messenger of secrets and omens, shape-shifting, link between the dark, unseen world and the world of
light, comfort with shadow self, moon power, freedom.

Porcupine: innocence, companionship, trust

Rabbit: fear, timidity, nervousness, humility

Rabbit's medicine includes moving through fear, living by one's own wits, receiving hidden teachings and intuitive
messages, quick thinking, strengthening intuition, and paradox. Rabbit also represents humility, because he is quiet
and soft and not self-asserting. Rabbit reminds us not to be afraid. Fearful thoughts reproduce (like rabbits) and bring
the very thing we fear. Rabbit people are so afraid of tragedy, illness, and disaster, that they call those very fears to
them to teach them lessons. If you see Rabbit or in any way feel attracted to him, it may be telling you to wait for the
forces of the universe to start moving again, to stop worrying and to get rid of your fears. It always indicates a need
to re-evaluate the process you are undergoing, to rid yourself of any negative feelings or barriers, and to be more
humble.

Raven: introspection, courage, self-knowledge

Seahorse: confidence and grace

Shark: hunter, survival, adaptability

Skunk: reputation, presence, strength

Snake: shrewdness, rebirth

Spider: Creatrix, web spinner

 Squirrel: planner, gatherer

Swan: grace, balance and innocence

Turkey: generosity, life-giver, sharer

Turtle: nurturer, protector, mother energy

Many Natives refer to North America as Turtle Island, because their legends say that when the earth was covered
with water, Turtle dove to the bottom of the oceans bringing up earth on its back so that the people could have a safe
and dry home. Turtle is at home anywhere because it carries its home on its back. It does not become attached to
places, for it is free to search for new opportunities wherever they may be found. When they sense danger, or are in
uncomfortable and insecure settings, they withdraw into their shell, and are protected. If you have Turtle medicine,
you value both the power of the earth, the waters of the earth, and the magic of the heavens, for Turtle symbolizes
both the grounding quality of earth energy, and the magic of the mystical. Using Turtle energy can help you achieve
real balance in your life and your spirit so that you don't get "stuck in the mud". Turtle's medicine includes a
connection with the center, navigation skills, patience, self-boundaries, associated with the feminine, power to heal
female diseases, respecting the boundaries of others, developing new ideas, psychically protecting oneself, self-
reliance, tenacity, non-violent defense.

Whale: wisdom, provider

Weasel: (ferret) strength, energy, ingenuity and stealth

Wolf: loyalty, perseverance, success

Wolves have been long regarded by Native Americans as teachers or pathfinders. Wolves are fiercely loyal to their
mates, and have a strong sense of family while maintaining individualism. In the stars, Wolf is represented by the
Dog, Sirius, thought by many aboriginal tribes to be the home of the Ancients. Wolves are probably the most
misunderstood of wild animals. Tales of cold-bloodedness abound, in spite of their friendly, social and intelligent
traits. They are truly free spirits, even though their packs are highly organized. They seem to go out of their way to
avoid a fight. One is rarely necessary when a shift in posture, a growl, or a glance gets the point across quite readily.

Traditionally, someone with Wolf Medicine has a strong sense of self, and communicates well through subtle
changes in voice inflection and body movements. They often find new solutions to problems while providing
stability and support that one normally associates with a family structure.

Wolf's medicine includes facing the end of one's cycle with dignity and courage, death and rebirth, Spirit teaching,
guidance in dreams and meditations, instinct linked with intelligence, social and family values, outwitting enemies,
ability to pass unseen, steadfastness, skill in protection of self and family, taking advantage of change.

- Julia White
Totem Poles

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Power Animals

Power animals most often come to us in dreams, meditations, initiations, and visions. You can have more than one
power animal. Your power animal at a given time can change depending on your lifepath at that time. Power animals
are often attracted by one's emotional needs of the person - viewed as protectors wh help overcome fears and
empower us.

The concept of a Power Animal is universal to all cultures. Tribal cultures will recognize a Totem for the tribe, one
for the clan one belongs to, and one for the family that one is born into. In the United States, and in other countries,
the Tribal and Clan Totem still exists, although it is thought of in a slightly different manner.

There are also totems for our adopted cultures, such as clubs or societies which we may belong to, such as the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Lions Club.

Even Christianity, the prevalent religion of this country, has maintained two Totem animals, these being the Fish and
the Lamb. Specialized Totems are also seen in organized sports, their names being reflected in the team names.
Example: Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Falcons

The next type of Power Animal or Totem is that which is personal for the individual. These Totems are protective
spirits which help us in our everyday life. Everyone has such a Totem. Even today most parents give a special
protective Power Animal to their children and tell the child that it will be protected over night by that Power Animal.
They don't realize that is what they are doing when they give a teddy bear to their little one.

We often unconsciously recognize the Power Animal affecting someone, and use terms which give away our
unconscious recognition.

Our heavens/zodiac include animal references (Leo -- Scorpio -- Cancer -- Taurus).

 Shamanism

The first item of business for a potential Shaman is to learn to travel in the other worlds, then to discover his Totem
or Power Animal. That knowledge is necessary in order to start the long process of learning.

Power Animals are usually a reflection of your deepest self and also represent qualities which you need in this world,
but which are often hidden or obscured. A mistake that people often make is to be dissatisfied when they find that
their Power Animal is some non-ferocious animal like a mouse. We tend to think that a mouse is not very powerful -
that it is meek and afraid. What they forget is that spirits are not limited to physical reality and that size is irrelevant.
Your Power Animal may be a tiny mouse, but in times of need this mouse can and will change its size and
deportment to that which is appropriate to the occasion.

There is nothing weak of meek about a 500-foot tall mouse! Your personal Power Animal (as opposed to your
family, clan, or tribal spirit) may change several times in your lifetime, depending upon your specific needs. If you
are dispirited, your animal is far away from you and needs to be brought back, or a replacement found.

When you make your first exploratory journey you are likely to encounter spirits which may represent themselves as
being your Totem or Power Animal. If you are already aware of your spirit that spirit may greet you and give you
additional power.

All mammals and birds are positive spirits. Any positive spirit may be your Power Animal. Your Power Animal may
also be a mythical animal, such as a unicorn or Pegasus, or even one which does not exist in myth or legend.

LESSON 1 - Meeting Your Power Animal

We all have power animals - spirit animals - that are connected to us as protectors.

Many power animals are our spirit guardians that exist in other realms.

Some animals were with us from past lives but may have been another physical form. Example: We might have had
a wolf or other wild animal as a friend or protector. In this timeline the animal incarnates as a dog.

Time to find your power animal.

Find or quiet place or just relax at your computer. . .

Relax your mind . . .

Feel the muscles in your body relaxing . . . your head . . . your shoulders . . . your neck . . . your jaw . . . the torso of
your body . . . your arms . . .

Close your eyes . . .

Take 2 long slow deep breaths . . . breathing in through your nose . . . holding the breath as is comfortable for
you . . . exhaling slowly through your mouth . .
Still your thoughts.

You are going to watch the screen just behind your eyes . . .

You may see a pretty color . . . or shape . . . coming into view . . .

Telepathically ask your power animal to show itself to you on the screen in your mind.

Be patient! Your third eye (pineal gland) must open before you can see images.

Soon the image of an animal will appear.

It may - or may not - be the animal you are expecting - so have no expectations.

The image may come all at once or appear to move towards you.

You may see the front view of the animal or see it at another angle.

The animal may not be your favorite animal!

Just allow the image to manifest before you!

Once you see the animal - watch it carefully to see what it does.

Listen with your thoughts to get a telepathic message from the animal.

It may seem funny to get a message in a human language - from an animal - but it can happen.

Your animal may appear in a scene that is significant for you.

Focus as best you can . . .

Note the colors around the animal - colors have significance.

When the image fades . . . slowly open your eyes and write - or draw what you have seen.

You may see more than one animal.

You may see an animal that seems mythological vs. animals in our reality.

You may find that another day brings a different animal with a different message.

Things to consider:

Have you ever dreamed about this type of animal? What happened in the dream? Ask the animal to come to you in
tonight's dream time and interact with you.

Why would such an animal appear to you?

Perhaps you must seek the meaning of this animal.

 LESSON 2 - Working with your Power Animal

Prepare to meet your power animal - as you did in the first lesson.

You can try this while at your computer - or in a place you meditate.

Out in nature might give the best results!

Relax your mind and body.

Now close you eyes and take two long deep breaths - breathing slowly in through your nose - holding the breath as is
comfortable for you - and breathing out slowly through your mouth!

Connect with your power animal as your third eye begins to open and shows you images . . .

If you can see the animal in movement - follow the animal to see where it takes you and what messages it wishes you
to learn.

If you are having trouble following the animal - first visualize the animal - then see it moving away - perhaps
through time and space - perhaps on the Earth plane . . .

Once you have connected with the animal - mentally tell the animal that you wish it to take you on a spirit journey so
you can learn more about your soul journey at this time.

It will take you on a journey . . .

Make notes about your journey when you return.

LESSON 3 - Meditating with your Power Animal

Shaman are spiritual beings with the ability to heal, work with Earth energies and 'see' visions.

The ability to consciously move beyond the physical body is the particular specialty of the traditional shaman. These
journeys of Soul may take the shaman into the nether realms, higher levels of existence or to parallel physical worlds
or other regions of this world. Shamanic Flight, is in most instances, an experience not of an inner imaginary
landscape, but is reported to be the shamans flight beyond the limitations of the physical body.

Today you are going to become a Shaman - in the sense that you will connect with your power animal to heal and
bring light to the planet.

Please take your time . . .

As you are now seated at a computer - begin by calling your power animal to you and establishing a connection.
'Tell' the animal you wish it to remain with you today so that you can connect at various times to experience.

If you can physically go into nature - or even make contact with a tree (indoors or outdoors) - this would enhance
your experience.

You may use music to enhance your experience.

The use of any kind of mind altering drugs is your option - preferably not to be used today.

Once you are ready - close your eyes.

Take two long, slow breaths (inhaling through the nose and - exhaling slowly through the mouth).

Feel totally relaxed.

Disconnected from your physical environment.

See yourself slowly shape-shifting from your physical form - to that of a Shaman Healer.

(Shamans sometimes have the ability to shape shift).

Experience your physical body - its age, skin color, 'make-up' you may have applied, your geographic location, your
confidence to heal, your personal power returned, the secrets you possess from the ages -

Become one with that person - and experience.

Slowly shape shift again - this time into your power animal. . .

Feel each cell in your body changing . . .

Go into nature - physically or telepathically!

Move through nature as your power animal would.

Listen to the sounds. Experience all of the sensations of nature - on a higher level.

Listen to the animals communicating with each other.

Sense portals that open to other realms.

Observe how they open and close.

You stop near a tree. Make a connection - physical or telepathic.

Pull in the energy of the 'white light' from Source.

Feel the 'white light' surging through all that you are - the power animal, the shaman, your physical expression.

Allow yourself as a shaman/power animal - to see what needs to be healed today.

Heal by illuminating what you 'see' in 'white light'.

As you heal with the 'white light' - send the energy out to the planet.

Connect with the healing of the shaman energies of the indigenous people around the world.

Allow the other shaman to show you how they heal.

This may result in your initiation into higher realms of spirit and healing.

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A shaman is a medicine man or woman.
Shaman are spiritual beings with the ability to heal, work with energies and 'see'
visions. The essential characteristics of shaman are mastery of energy and fire as a
medium of transformation.

Shamanism is a range of traditional beliefs and practices that involve the ability to diagnose, cure, and sometimes
cause human suffering by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over,
spirits. Shamans have been credited with the ability to control the weather, divination, the interpretation of dreams,
astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds. Shamanistic traditions have existed throughout the world
since prehistoric times.

Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits that affect the
lives of the living. In contrast to animism and animatism, which any and usually all members of a society practice,
shamanism requires specialized knowledge or abilities. Shamans are not, however, organized into full-time ritual or
spiritual associations, as are priests.

Etymology

The word shaman originated among the Siberian Tungus (Evenks) and literally means he (or she) who knows; the
belief that the word may be derived from Sanskrit is perhaps due to a confusion of the words 'shamanism' and
'shramanism', from the sanskrit shramana, Pali and Prakrit samana; but the samanas were ascetics, not shamans.
It has replaced the older English language term witch doctor, a term which unites the two stereotypical functions of
the shaman: knowledge of magical and other lore, and the ability to cure a person and mend a situation. However, at
the present time this term is generally considered to be pejorative and anthropologically inaccurate. Medicine man is
preferred, especially as not all traditional peoples approve of the use of shaman as a generic term, given that the word
comes from a specific place and people.

History

Shamanistic practices are thought to predate all organized religions, and certainly date back to the neolithic period.
Aspects of shamanism are encountered in later, organized religions, generally in their mystic and symbolic practices.
Greek paganism was influenced by shamanism, as reflected in the stories of Tantalus, Prometheus, Medea, Calypso
among others, as well as in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and other mysteries. Some of the shamanic practices of the
Greek religion were later adopted into the Roman religion.

There is a strong shamanistic influence in the Bön religion of central Asia, and in Tibetan Buddhism. Buddhism
became popular with shamanic peoples such as the Tibetans, Mongols and Manchu beginning with the eighth
century. Forms of shamanistic ritual combined with Tibetan Buddhism became institutionalized as the state religion
under the Chinese Yuan dynasty and Qing dynasty. One common element of shamanism and Buddhism is the
attainment of spiritual realization, at times mediated by entheogenic (psychedelic) substances.

The shamanic practices of many cultures were virtually wiped out with the spread of Christianity. In Europe, starting
around 400 CE, the Christian church was instrumental in the collapse of the Greek and Roman religions. Temples
were systematically destroyed and key ceremonies were outlawed. Beginning with the middle ages and continuing
into the Renaissance, remnants of European shamanism were wiped out by campaigns against witches. These
campaigns were often orchestrated by the Catholic Inquisition.

The repression of shamanism continued as Christian influence spread with Spanish colonization. In the Caribbean,
and Central and South America, Catholic priests followed in the footsteps of the Conquistadors and were
instrumental in the destruction of the local traditions, denouncing practitioners as "devil worshippers" and having
them executed. In North America, the English Puritans conducted periodic campaigns against individuals perceived
as witches. More recently, attacks on shamanic practitioners have been carried out at the hands of Christian
missionaries to third world countries. As recently as the nineteen seventies, historic petroglyphs were being defaced
by missionaries in the Amazon.

It has been postulated that modern state campaigns against the use of psychedelic substances are the offshoot of
previous religious campaigns against shamanism.Today, shamanism, once universal, survives primarily among
indigenous peoples. Shamanic practice continues today in the tundras, jungles, deserts, and other rural areas, and also
in cities, towns, suburbs and shantytowns all over the world. This is especially widespread in Africa as well as South
America, where "mestizo shamanism" is widespread.

Many recent efforts have been made trying to link shamanic practice and knowledge with Western, scientific beliefs.
Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has proposed that shamans take their consciousness down to the molecular level,
working with DNA and viruses that they see as the twin serpents or malicious "darts". The holomovement theory
proposed by David Bohm is often seen as an approach to create a scientific foundation for concepts such as parallel
worlds and alternative ways to traverse time and space.

Aspects of the Practice

Different forms of shamanism are found around the world, and practitioners are also known as medicine men or
women, as well as witch doctors.

Initiation and Learning

In Shamanic cultures, the shaman plays a priest like role; however, there is an essential difference between the two,
as Joseph Campbell describes:

The priest is the socially initiated, ceremonially inducted member of a recognized religious organization,
where he holds a certain rank and functions as the tenant of an office that was held by others before him,
while the shaman is one who, as a consequence of a personal psychological crisis, has gained a certain power
of his own.

A shaman may be initiated via a serious illness, by being struck by lightning, or by a near-death experience (e.g. the
shaman Black Elk), and there usually is a set of cultural imagery expected to be experienced during shamanic
initiation regardless of method.

According to Mircea Eliade, such imagery often includes being transported to the spirit world and interacting with
beings inhabiting it, meeting a spiritual guide, being devoured by some being and emerging transformed, and/or
being "dismantled" and "reassembled" again, often with implanted amulets such as magical crystals. The imagery of
initiation generally speaks of transformation and granting powers, and often entails themes of death and rebirth.

In some societies shamanic powers are considered to be inherited whereas in others shamans are considered to have
been "called" - Among the Siberian Chukchis one may behave in ways that Western clinicians would characterize as
psychotic, but which Siberian culture interprets as possession by a spirit who demands that one assume the shamanic
vocation. Among the South American Tapirape shamans are called in their dreams. In other societies shamans
choose their career: First Nations would seek communion with spirits through a "vision quest"; South American
Shuar, seeking the power to defend their family against enemies, apprentice themselves to accomplished shamans.

Practice and method

The shaman plays the role of healer in shamanic societies; shamans gain knowledge and power by traversing the axis
mundi and bringing back knowledge from the heavens. Even in western society, this ancient practice of healing is
referenced by the use of the caduceus as the symbol of medicine.

Oftentimes the shaman has, or acquires, one or more familiar helping entities in the spirit world; these are often
spirits in animal form, spirits of healing plants, or (sometimes) those of departed shamans. In many shamanic
societies, magic, magical force, and knowledge are all denoted by one word, such as the Quechua term yachay.

While the causes of disease are considered to lie in the realm of the spiritual, being effected by malicious spirits or
Witchcraft, spiritual methods as well as what we would consider physical methods are used to heal. The shaman
often will enter the body of their patient to find the spirit making the patient sick, and heal by removing the
infectious spirit by the patient.

However, many shamans have expert knowledge of the plant life in their area, and an herbal regimine is often
perscribed as treatment. In many places, the shamans claim to learn from the plants directly, only being able to
determine the effects of a plant and use it to heal after meeting the spirit of the plant and getting permission.

In South America, individual spirits are called through singing icaros; to call the spirit, the spirit must teach you
their song.

The use of totem items such as rocks is common; these items are believed to have special powers and an animating
spirit.

Such practices are presumably very ancient; in circa 368 bc, Plato wrote in the Phaedrus that the "first prophecies
were the words of an oak", and that everyone who lived at that time found it rewarding enough to "listen to an oak or
a stone, so long as it was telling the truth".
The belief in witchcraft and sorcery, known as brujeria in South America, is prevalent in many shamanic societies.

Some societies distinguish shamans who cure from sorcerers who harm; others believe that all shamans have the
power to both cure and kill; that is, shamans are in some societies also thought of as being capable of harm. The
shaman usually enjoys great power and prestige in the community, renowned for their powers and knowledge; but
they may also be suspected of harming others and thus feared.

In engaging in this work the shaman exposes himself to significant personal risk, from the spirit world, from any
enemy shamans, as well as from the means employed to alter his state of consciousness. Certain of the plant
materials used can kill, and the out-of-body journey itself can lead to non-returning and physical death; spells of
protection are common, and the use of more dangerous plants is usually very highly ritualized.

Shamanic technology

Generally, the shaman traverses the axis mundi and enters the spirit world by effecting a change of consciousness in
himself, entering into an ecstatic trance, either autohypnotically or through the use of entheogens. The methods used
are diverse, and often are used in conjunction with each other.

Some of the methods for effecting such altered states of consciousness are:

• Drumming
• Singing
• Fasting
• Sweat lodge
• Vision quests /or vigils,
• Dancing or Spinning Games

Power Plants

• Tobacco
• Fly Agaric
• Psychedelic Mushrooms Alluded to euphemistically as "holy children" by Mazatec shamans such as Maria
Sabina
• Peyote
• San Pedro Named thus (St. Peter) by Andean natives because he's the guardian of Gates of Heaven
• Ayahuasca Quechua for "Vine of the Dead"
• Iboga

Shamans often observe special diets or fasts and taboos particular to their vocation. Sometimes these have physical
purposes beyond effecting a change in brain state or taboo; for example, the diet followed by shamans and
apprentices when drinking Ayahuasca includes eating foods rich in serotonin as well as avoiding foods rich in
tyramine, which could cause a hypertensive crisis if ingested with an MAOI such as Ayahuasca.

Gender and Sexuality

Most shamans are men, but there are societies in which women may be shamans. In Old Norse Religion, shamanism
was seen as un-manly and practiced mainly by women. However, in Old Norse mythology, the supreme god Odin
was also seen as the foremost shaman. In some societies shamans exhibit a two-spirit identity, assuming the dress
and attributes of the opposite sex from a young age, this may include a man taking on the role of a wife in an
otherwise ordinary marriage; this practice is common, and found among the Chukchee, Sea Dyak, Patagonians,
Aruacanians, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Navaho, Pawnee, Lakota, and Ute, as well as many other Native American tribes.
Such two-spirit shamans are thought to be especially powerful. They are highly respected and sought out in their
tribes, as they will bring high status to their mates.

Shamanism and New Age

The New Age movement imported some ideas from shamanism as well as Eastern religions. As in other such
imports, the original users of these ideas frequently condemn New Age use as misunderstood and superficial.

At the same time, there is an endeavor in occult and esoteric circles to re-invent shamanism in a modern form
drawing from core shamanism, a set of beliefs and practices synthesized by Michael Harner and often revolving
around the use of ritual drumming and dance; various indigenous forms of shamanism, often focusing on the ritual
use of entheogens, as well as chaos magic.

Much of this is focused upon in Europe, where ancient shamanic traditions was suppressed by the Christian church
and where people compelled to be shamans often find it improper to use shamanic systems rooted in other parts of
the earth. Various traditional shamans express respect for this endeavor and in this, separate it sharply from "light"
New Age shamanism.

Sometimes people from Western cultures claim to be shamans. This is considered offensive by many indigenous
medicine men, who view these new age, western "shamans" as hucksters out for money or affirmation of self. Many
shamanistic cultures feel there is a danger that their voices will be drowned out by self-styled "shamans"; citing, for
example, the fact that Lynn Andrews has sold more books than all Native American authors put together.

Shamanism Wikipedia

Israel: Oldest Shaman Grave Found; Includes Foot, Animal Parts National Geographic - November 5, 2008
A 12,000-year-old burial site in Israel contains offerings that include 50 tortoise shells and a human foot, and appears
to be one of the earliest known graves of a female shaman.

Peru: Hell and Back National Geographic - May 30, 2006

Deep in the Amazon jungle, writer Kira Salak tests ayahuasca, a shamanistic medicinal ritual, and finds a terrifying
but enlightening world within.
 VISION QUEST

POWER ANIMALS
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