| Traditions and Beliefs |
| The Words on this page are of different origin - not from the Sacred Path Cards |
| Ceremonies and Rituals All traditional cultures are drawn together by ritual or liturgical calendars that link the human, the natural, the celstial, and the divine realms. Of course, these rituals or ceremonies are astonishingly diverse, ranging from medieval Christian pageants to Australian Aboriginal dances, from Easter to solstice festivals. A similar diversity obtains within American Indian traditions, ranging from th annual mask dances found in tribes on the east coast, the west coast and the southern United States, down into Mesoamerica, to the Sun Dance of the Plains tribes, to the Mide ceremonies of the upper mid-west and Canada. But regardless of this enormous range of rituals and ceremonies, we find the same traditional principles apply in all of them. |
| Nature While there are of course countless differences among the many tribal traditions of the Americas, nonetheless all the Native American traditions share a common recognition of nature as being informed by spiritual significance. What is more, there are certain animals, landforms, and other manifestations of nature that embody spiritual signifance for tribal peoples across almost the entire length and breadth of the Americas. Eagles and many other creatures not only bear spiritual significances, but can infact be the manifestations of spirits themselves. In order to understand something of Native American traditions, then, one must come to recognise what is meant by hierophanic nature. )the word hierophanic means roughly 'spiritual revelation') Nature is a Spiritual Being There are certain creatures and landforms that always possess aspecial significance for tribal peoples; the eagle, the hawk, the crow, the owl, the muskrat, the otter, the deer, the buffalo, mountains, rivers, bluffs and rocks, all have spiritual local sigbificance that is linked to particualr tribal traditions and local geography or characterisitcs. Although the names for and special significants of these creatures may diffe, underlying the many diverse traditions there is a recognition of how the natural world bodies forth the invisible realms. A hawk is a hawk, but it also possesses spiritual significance and sometimes is a manifested spirit-being come as a protector, for example. In short, nature is also spiritual revelation.The eagle, for instance, as in the highest flying and noblest bird of prey, is always associated with the sun and with the highest spiritually discerning power in man. One must understand that nature is, in Native Amercian traditions, the theatre in which the spirit realms and the human world intersect. The physical world is a reflection in matter of its archetypes. For in tribal traditions, as in Islam, Christianity, andthe other world religions, we are taught that this world in which we live is not the only world. In fat, there are three worlds or realms; the physical; the subtle; the spiritual, in Hinduism called earth, atmosphere and sky. Of these, the physical realm is the smallest and also the densest. But it is also the reflection and the manifestation of higher realms. So in a sense, nature is like the theatre in which the higher realms can be seen acting, having their effects. This is of course, the profound meaning of sacred mask dances held by so many tribes, in which we see precisely the higher power taking on physical form before us in masked dancers. In Native American traditions, as in other world religions, we find a visionary spirituality that affirms the existence of an 'other world', an archetypal world that is 'more real' and more alive' thatn this physical world. Black Elk, for example, spoke of his life's greatest vision, and said exactly at its culmination: "I saw more that I can tell, and understand more that I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit" What he saw was , he tells us, more beautiful than the things of earth can be; he saw the archetypal realm, the shapes of all things in the spirit. Yellowtail affirms the same reverence for nature we see in Black Elk and many other medicine men and tribal leaders. This reverence for nature derives from the realisation that nature is hierophanic, that it reflects and bodies forth the realm of the spirit. As Yellowtail tells. us; "A man's attitude toward the Nature around him and the animals in Nature is of special importance, because as we respect our created world, so also do we show respect for the real world that we cannot see." |
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| As you can imagine this subject is quite extensive, to list an explanation of all or even half of Native American traditions and beliefs would create a web site all of its own. I will be happy to send you any information you desire. Just email me with your requests Here are some I didn't cover 'Medicine Wheel' 'Medicine Bundle' 'Give Away Ceremony' ' Talking Stick' 'Drum' 'Smoke Signals' 'Pow Wow' 'Sun Dance' ' Counting Coup' just to name a few hinhan_ska_wanji@yahoo.com.au |
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