Have you ever wondered why people seek out natural settings as vacation spots or long to camp in a wilderness setting miles from civilization? The easy answer is because it is beautiful and far from things that create stress in our lives. But there is a much deeper level to this experience that Native Americans, because of their dependence on the natural world, were well aware of and even created rituals designed to bring them into contact with these deeper levels. Simply put, when we are in these situations we can look all around us and not find a single thing that is out of place. No leaf, twig or rock needs to be moved from where it is to where it needs to be. We are free to be in the moment and just observe a perfection that we are constantly searching for in our everyday lives. Of course, survival needs will bring us out of these moments but we are left with the knowledge that they are real and attainable.
The Soul of the Indian was written by Charles Eastman who was a Sioux Indian who became a doctor and lived on the South Dakota Indian Reservation at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is an attempt by the author to explain why Native Americans had no use for the Christian theology that was being forced upon them by a white culture that saw them as needing to be saved. They had their own religion that did not come from a collection of stories written in a book but was rather written in the natural world that they experienced as their mother and teacher. Nature was their church and they were taught that if you found yourself traveling through the woods and came upon a particularly inspiring scene, you would be committing a sin by not stopping and honoring this gift you were being given. The author describes rituals such as the fire dance used to bring about transcendent experiences in those ready to receive them and in these rituals we can see the attempt to shut down the left brain and bring us to the experience of unfiltered sensation. And they also knew to be on the lookout for those individuals born into the tribe who have the potential to become the medicine men they needed to lead and instruct the tribe. These individuals were then separated from the rest and raised in ways designed to bring out this potential they were exhibiting. If you want to understand Native American spirituality then this is the only book you will need.
Jumping Mouse
A mouse (the animal in the South on the Wheel) experiences what a Buddhist would call a perfect vision in a dream about the far-off land and decides ‘ it sounds too beautiful to live a lifetime and not see it ‘. So he decides to leave his home and begin a journey in search of this far-off land. And with the help of a magic frog and many sacrifices eventually arrives at his destination where magic frog reappears and tells him what he needs to do to transform himself into the new creature he has become, the eagle. The animal in the East on the Wheel. An amazing tale of a trip around the Medicine Wheel that works for all ages.
