The Love of a Mother

The Love of a Mother

11/30/2023

The Cherokee tribe lived in the southeastern section of the United States, in lands now known as North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee with some in the northern part of Alabama.  Many know of the Trail of Tears, a tragic event some believe to be only a myth but regrettably was all too real.  The Trail of Tears speaks of a relocation process conducted by the federal government in which Cherokee and Choctaw Indians were forcibly marched from northern Alabama to Oklahoma under the watchful eye of unsympathetic and caring military personnel.  The Indians were given no proper attire for the journey nor adequate food and over two-thirds perished along the way.

Long before the tribe was decimated by the deaths of those along the trail of tears, they had a mythology about death.  The climate of their homeland is hot and very humid.  The sun shines quite a great deal in this part of the world and, in the Cherokee story about the origin of death, the Sun deity plays a major role.  Her heat became too much for the Cherokee to bear so a plan was devised to kill the Sun. Unfortunately, as plans sometime do, something went wrong and instead of killing the Sun, they killed her daughter.

The Cherokee legend tells of how as a young deity, the Sun had a lover who would visit her at night so that his face remained hidden.  One night, tiring of the mystery, the Sun rubbed ashes on her lover’s face to try to identify him.  The next night, as her brother the Moon rose high in the sky, the Sun saw spots on his face and realized he was her lover.  The Moon was ashamed and vowed to always stay away from the Sun.  The Cherokee liked the Moon and often smiled at it which angered the Sun.  They only squinted at her and complained of her heat.  The more angry she became, the hotter her heat on the people and so, they decided to kill her. 

The plan was for two men to turn into snakes and when the Sun stopped to eat lunch at her daughter’s house, they would strike.  Unfortunately, the sun shone so brightly they could not see.  The adder spit at the Sun but the copperhead snake just crawled out of the house.  Two more men were turned into snakes, this time being a Ukrena snake and a rattlesnake.  When the door of the daughter’s house opened they struck but killed the daughter of the Sun instead of her mother. 

The grief-stricken Sun loved herself away and the world became dark, losing all heat with crops dying in the field.    The people needed to retrieve the Sun’s daughter from the Darkening Land where she was dancing with ghosts.  The people captured the daughter and placed her in a box.  They knew not to open the box but the Sun’s daughter pleaded and begged and finally, thinking she needed food and air to breathe, they relented.  The box opened and the Sun’s daughter flew out, having been transformed into a redbird. 

The men returned without her daughter and Sun’s grief was so over-whelming she flooded the world with her tears.  Finally, a drummer began to play a rhythm that brought comfort to the Sun.  First she smiled and then she laughed as light once again filled the world.  The Sun still shines brightly on us all but we still cannot fully gaze upon her without shielding our eyes.

For the Cherokees, the lessons from the story are not so much about death but about living.  First, life sometimes requires things that are not comfortable but they are necessary.  Mankind had no real need to look at the sun and we still are unable to do so, although we do experience and reap the rewards of its presence in our lives.  There is also a lesson to do what one is told, in this case not to open the box.  Sometimes, though, the best intentions do not result in positive actions.  When that happens, we need to turn to our faith.  The Cherokee used drums to connect with the rhythms of the earth and the spirits.  The drummer used his skills and instrument to help the Sun find balance, just as we should do with our beliefs. 

The Myth Killing Mankind

The Myth Killing Mankind

11/29/2023

The Ancient myths divided the world into sections that early man could understand and relate to, into something less scary.  Experience an earthquake or a tornado or even a blinding snowstorm and nature no longer seems like that which will sustain you.  Nature can quite suddenly become the enemy.

Desmond Tutu, an African Anglican bishop once stated the following:  “We don’t want apartheid liberalized.  We want it dismantled.  You can’t improve something that is intrinsically evil.”  Apartheid is an Afrikaans word meaning “to live apart” or “to segregate”.  It became a way of life when the Nationalist Party of South Africa adopted it by legislation.  The governing party from 1948 to 1994, this legislation separated those living in South Africa based solely upon their race.  Those who were native to the area suddenly became the enemy of those who has emigrated and those natives, the original settlers of the region were denied basic human rights.

This was not the first time the area had experienced racial segregation.  The Dutch Empire initiated racial segregation when the area was a Dutch colony and it existed until the British gained control of the Cape of Good Hope.  After apartheid legislation was passed in 1948, though, inhabitants of the region were divided into four groups.  In 1960, a forced mass removal of non-white South Africans began and by 1983 more than three and a half million people were forced into segregated neighborhoods.  Non-white political representation was abolished in 1970 and in that same year black people were denied citizenship and their education, medical care, and other benefits of living in the area were curtailed.

Apartheid has existed ever since mankind began to realize that not everyone looked the same.   When it appeared that people of a certain disposition seemed to gain favor more than others, fear set in and that fear became the motivating factor behind apartheid.   Religions are full of stories based upon favor given by deities to one group of people over another.  In some instances these favors were based not upon appearance or nationality but upon the moral actions of a person or group.  In some cases it is as simple as “Repent and you are forgiven”.  Those that did not repent were separated or ostracized by the group.  In times of harsh living where survival depends on working together, such separation could mean death and often did.

There is a website called Ten Biggest Myths.  On it they list the ten biggest myths or untrue facts about mankind.  The first is that “Among human beings, distinct races exist.”  While I support their stated purpose in bringing about world peace, I must view this first myth with skepticism.  After all, DNA testing is based upon the fact that one can determine one’s ethnicity and that is defined as one’s race.  I do agree that the second and third “myths” are not true: “Myth #2:  Human beings were not created equal.  Myth #3:  Racism is justifiable.”

None of us are the same and if you define humans being equal as humans being the same then…we are not.  However, whoever said that we must all be the same to be equal?  After all, two 2’s in base ten do not look the same as the number 4 and yet, two 2’s equal 4 when added together.  If you take those same two 2’s and divide them, then they equal one.  The “2” has stayed the same but the actions placed upon it, the stress if you will that it undergoes determines whether or not that “2” is equal to a “1” or a “4”.

Last night in the historic town of Charleston, South Carolina, a group of people were attending a prayer service.  The weekly Wednesday night service is a regularly scheduled event in their faith and these people were simply going about their religious practice.  Suddenly a twenty-one-year-old man stood up and began firing a weapon.  Nine people were killed.  Those killed were black while the gunman was white.  It appears the victims were targets because of their race and the gunman is still at large as I write this.  [This post was delayed because I was hoping to be able to tell you he had been caught but sadly, that is not at the present time the case.]

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Anan once said:  “Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity. Racism can, will, and must be defeated.”  A ten year-old boy survived last night’s killings but it can be assumed that someone in his family died.  No one has the right to destroy a young boy’s future, his family, his life.  It is the greatest myth of all to think you have that power.

The mythologies we have and will continue to review during this series are stories of mankind.  Some are very hard to take as fact but others are believed and worshipped every day.  Some have a basis in truth while others are taken on faith.  What is a fact is what former American President Abraham Lincoln stated:  “Achievement has no color.” 

In her book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee wrote:  ““Some Negroes lie, some are immoral, some Negro men are not be trusted around women – black and white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men.”   Clearly, based upon his actions last night, this twenty-one-year-old Caucasian male was not to be trusted around living beings of another color.  He proved his unworthiness by his actions.  Color had and will continue to have very little to do with a person’s actions.  What determines how a person grows up and what they become are their stresses.  When we divide those two 2’s, we lessen their strength.  The same is true with mankind.  When we put them together, they become as strong as 4; they double their power.  When mankind comes together, the best of the impossible can happen and we all benefit.

H. G. Wells said it best: “Our true nationality is mankind.”  It is a sad myth that mankind believes peace is not possible, that racism is a path one should walk, and that one human being is better than another.  To paraphrase Frederick Douglas: No one person’s happiness or achievements can be obtained by creating misery or death for another. 

A Box of Crayons

A Box of Crayons

11/28/2023

There is a very old African myth which tells the story of how mankind came to be “scattered” all over the world.  In this myth, every person starts out as equal with the same amount of possessions, the same type of clothes and housing, and all look exactly the same.  Sounds like a great world, huh?  Is it, though?  Is there anything wrong with different?  I don’t think so.  I find it exciting and interesting.

The thing about sameness is that it can be boring.  While the supreme deity in this myth believes the oneness of mankind will prevent future problems, mankind becomes bored.  Imagine if you bought a box of crayons, opened it, and discovered they were all the same color.  While some art forms emphasize black and white designs, most of us prefer color images.  We are very much like the people in this myth.

The story tells of the people sending a messenger to God, begging for some diversity.  God protests but eventually relents.  With differences, though, problems do arise.  Now that the people are no longer equal, some become jealous, others envious, and still more are greedy.

I once taught a class of young men and, like most of life, there were good days and bad days.  On one particular bad day, it seemed like they were competing for the title of “worse kid ever”.  Completely frustrated with their bickering and fighting, I made each of them come up to the front of the room one by one and stand before the class.  Then we went down the roll and everyone had to say something nice about the student standing in front of them. 

I expected this exercise to take up the rest of the class period.  After all, these kids had spent quite a bit of time bullying each other.  How could I expect them to go the opposite way and start praising one another?  It did not take very long at all.  Once they really looked at each other, the compliments flowed.  They knew deep down good things about each other.  They loved the exercise.  It became our Friday routine after classwork and tests were done. 

The students in this class began to broaden their horizons and learn new things.  We need to take pride in our diversity and value it in others, not spend our time tearing people down because of their individuality.  Diversity makes life interesting, not threatening.  When we allow ourselves to see the goodness in others, then we become happier and then lead fuller lives.  After all, we all want a box of crayons with the colors of the rainbow, don’t we?

Light and Dark

Light and Dark

11/27/2023

Light and Dark

Many things have been done in the name of religion and spiritual beliefs, things that actually seem, when one thinks about them, that are actually contradictory to the very nature of both.  Condemnation, discrimination, and bullying are just a few examples of this.  We’ve seen how some myths became incorporated into religious beliefs and spiritual practices.  What about one of the world’s biggest problems – racism?  The African myth of Sa and Alatanga not only explained creation but might just be the first case of racism, all brought about my a father’s anger.

In this myth, Sa is the god of death and he lives in a house he built from mud.  One day Alatanga comes to visit and is unimpressed by the dirt house.  Alatanga sends Sa and his wife away and sets about redecorating, adding lush vegetation and animals.  Sa and Alatanga become friends, very good friends. 

Alatanga falls in love with Sa’s daughter and asks for her hand in marriage.  Sa procrastinates giving an answer so his daughter and Alatanga elope, moving far away to escape an angry Sa.  The couple lives a very happy life and raises fourteen children.  Three of their seven daughters are black and four are white; three of their seven sons are black and four are white.  Each child speaks a different language so their parents have no way to talk to them or understand them. 

Alatanga goes to visit Sa, suspecting he has caused this and Sa admits he did so out of anger at the elopement.  Sa instructs Alatanga that his white children must marry only white and the blacks must marry only blacks.  This is done and the world, according to the myth, becomes a place of all white and black tribes, a very segregated world indeed.  However, they still live in darkness because there is no light.  Alatanga returns to Sa for help. 

Sa calls to the bird that rise the earliest, the red tou tou and the golden rooster or cock, and tells them to call the light with their musical warbling.  In payment for giving the world light, Sa tells Alatanga he must give Sa one of his children whenever Sa requests.  Alatanga agrees since he had violated custom by not paying the bride payment when he married Sa’s daughter.  This, according to the legend, was when death became a reality for humanity.

This myth may sound incredibly cruel but it creates some interesting thoughts to ponder.  What if there was no death?  How do we call light into our own lives?  Is diversity really a curse?  For any people, death is nothing more than a step.  Perhaps the true value of this myth is the attention it gives to diversity and how afraid many people are of it.  Is diversity really an excuse for murder? 

Many myths and parables were told to make us think.  Perhaps that is the real value of the myth of Sa.  The giving or sacrificing of a child appears also in the story of Abraham and Isaac. In that myth, the emphasis is on obedience but perhaps it should be on faith and the true nature of Abraham’s Creator.  After all, would a loving God encourage a father to sacrifice his child? 

This takes us back to the beginning of this post:  Many things have been done in the name of religion and spiritual beliefs, things that actually seem, when one thinks about them, that are actually contradictory to the very nature of both.  What do we ask of those we love?

Breaking Through

Breaking Through

11/26/2023

There was water everywhere and mother of the children of the spirit of all possibilities realized that something was needed for those animals that could not live in the water.  The one who could envision anything and everything was called “Kitchi Manitou” and he was the creator of the Ojibwa people, a tribe of the First Nations of Canada.  There are many variations of the mythology of Kitchi Manitou.  In most, there are lesser Manitous, the spirit of the wind, the Sky God woman who bore Kitchi Manitou’s children, and the water Manitous.

The Water Manitous were not happy that Geezhigo-Quae, the Sky God, was having the children of Kitchi Manitou and they flooded the world with water.  Sky Woman as the deity of the sky was called realized she needed to help those animals who could survive in the water.  Suddenly she saw an animal that, although it breathed air, could swim.  She called the big giant turtle to help and other animals that could swim. 

Their myth stated that if Sky Woman had some of the soil from which Kitchi Manitou had made the world, then she could recreate some land and save the animals that could not survive in the water.  The giant turtle tried to dive to the bottom of the ocean but it could not reach the depths it needed to reach to get some of the soil.  The other animals tried, the loon and the beaver.  No one had any success.  Finally the last animal to try was the small muskrat.  Everyone was losing hope and fear was taking control.

We all have recently felt the fear in many due to the recent tragedies last week in Paris and today in Mali.  When almost two hundred people are taken hostage it shakes all of our confidence in the safety of our homes and lodgings.  Many do lose hope and even more have reacted in fear.

The muskrat in the Turtle Island myth of the Ojibwa knew that same fear.  However, in the myth, the muskrat decided that no one else was left and it was it time to make the effort.  Muskrats are not very deep divers so no one had much confidence.  The muskrat took several deep breaths, according to the legend, and then disappeared beneath the surface of the waters.  The day turned to night and the muskrat did not reappear.

A new day dawned in our story and suddenly Sky Woman saw something floating in the distance.  It was muskrat but he had perished in his quest.  Suddenly they notice something held tightly in one of his paws.  It was the soil, the soil needed to make new land for the animals and the children Geezhigo-Quae, the Sky Woman would bear, the children of Kitchi Manitou.  The little, lowly muskrat had done what no one else could, what no one else had the faith to do.

Sky Woman rubbed the soil on the back of the big giant turtle and suddenly a continent grew.  The Ojibwa mythology says the land was called Turtle Island; we know it today as the continent of North America.  In time the children of Geezhigo-Quae, who now was given the name Nokomis, and Kitchi Manitou were born and they in turn had children who then had their own children. 

In time, this family that had its beginnings on soil that took root on the back of a turtle made possible because of a lowly muskrat who gave his effort for the good of all, spread across the land of Turtle Island.  They became known as Ojibwa, Chippewa, Ottawa, Pottawatomi, and Mississauga.  Today we call them Canadians and Americans.  All due, according to the myth of the Ojibwa, because of a muskrat who tried, who did not give in to fear but instead gave life his very best.

We have all those times when fear rises to the forefront of our emotions.  Fear is not always a bad thing.  It can protect us and give us cause to rethink our actions.  However, when it comes to the very essence of life, we cannot let fear define us.  We have a choice in everything we do and sometimes things are not as successful as we might like.  This does not mean that we have failed, though.  The muskrat is not extinct and the Ojibwa believe it is because one gave his life for the world.  

Life offers us many lessons every day.  We can learn from our experiences or we can let them defeat us.  The husband of one of the victims in Paris wrote to the terrorists who orchestrated the terrible Paris bombing in 2015:  “I will not give you my hatred.”  We cannot give life our fear.  Life needs our efforts.  We will thrive when we break through our fear to try.  The success is in the effort, not the results.  Results are seldom quantifiable so who can say what real success is?  To define success depends on perspective.  When we realize that we win when we live a life of faith and goodness, then winning becomes possible in every way for everyone, even a little muskrat.

A Stolen Sun

A Stolen Sun

11/25/2023

They were called the poles that held up the sky.  To many in modern times they represent religious beliefs or perhaps identification.  Totem poles were much more than the first name badges, however.  They were a type of family tree.  They represented what a family believed in and who, to a stranger, might offer hospitality.  It was easy to identify which families shared similar totems or beliefs and what those beliefs were.  Common to the indigenous people of the northwestern part of North America, totem poles often traced the lineage these “First Families” felt they had with animal ancestors.

A common representation found on totem poles is that of the raven.  There are many myths that feature the raven and in British Columbia, the mythology begins with the world covered in darkness.\ and the Kungalas tribe.  The chief of this tribe and his wife had a son they loved very much but unfortunately their son died.  Every morning the chief and his wife, accompanied by the entire tribe would grieve by the son’s corpse.  One morning a young man who seemed to glow was found sitting where the corpse had been.  The chief’s wife was convinced her son had come back to life and when asked by the chief if he was their son, the young boy answered affirmatively.

The tribe was overjoyed at the return of the chief’s son but the boy would not eat.  Finally a slave called Mouth-at-Each-End offered the boy a piece of whale meat.  The boy ate it and then began eating everything else in sight.  The son, in an effort to save his tribe from starvation, decided to send his reborn son away.  He gave the boy a raven blanket as well as berries and fish eggs to scatter on the land so that he himself would never be hungry.

The legend tells that the young man put on his raven blanket, which was nothing more than a complete skin from a human-sized raven, and flew up to what the Kungalas called the sky world, a world much different from theirs, a world of light.  He waited by a fresh water stream until the daughter of Chief-of-the-Skies happened along.  The boy changed himself into a leaf and when the girl partook of the water, she swallowed the leaf.  Soon thereafter a young baby was born to the girl.  The baby was the darkling of the Sky People but he would never stop crying.  They finally deduced he wanted to play with the ball in which daylight was kept. 

The lad played with his ball of light for several years but one day put it on his shoulder and ran to the hole in the sky where the ball had once been.  Putting on the raven suit, he flew the ball of light back to earth.  He found the Kungalas by the Nass River eating what the natives called olachen or candle-fish.  He asked them to throw him a fish but they refused.  He then told them he wanted to make a trade – the ball of light for the fish.  The clan refused and began shouting insults at him.  The boy in anger cut the ball open, throwing light upon all the ends of the earth.

The myth addresses a common concept of ravens being trickster spirits and, as any farmer can tell you, there might be some truth to that.  What I find most interesting is that the type of fish the people were eating at the end when the boy returns to earth is so specifically identified.  The candle fish has many names such as olachen, eulachon, hooligan, oolichan, or ooligan.  Found along the Pacific coast of the northwest coasts of both the United States of America and Canada.  The name eulachon is a Chinook tribal name but some of the other names come from English and Irish names. 

The candle fish during spawning season packs on an extra fifteen percent of body weight and if caught, was sometimes dried and then used as a candle.  It is a very greasy fish and they were often processed for their oil.  The oil was then traded and the trade routes were often called grease trails.  The fish eats smaller fish along the ocean floor and is an integral part of the aquatic food chain of the region as well as being a staple of the tribes in the area.

The boy wanted to trade one small beam of light for the sun he had stolen from the Sky People.  Would he have made the trade?  We will never know.  He was considered a trickster so perhaps not.  By refusing the simply give up a fish which gave them both artificial light and sustenance, the Kungalas gained sunlight.  Many might say they made the better trade.

We should not forget the name-calling aspect of this story, though.  None of the tribe’s people seem to have tried explaining their refusal.  Instead they laughed at such a suggestion.  All too often in today’s world we are very quick to judge and yes, some engage in name-calling.  When we offer an option perhaps not thought of by the masses, we are considered to be instantly wrong.  When someone doesn’t go along with the proposed scheme, they are called stupid or a spoil=sport.

Not every scheme is a winner and there are certainly enough unscrupulous people out there that it makes good sense to be leery.  Good communication is also vital whether we are agreeing or refusing.  Can grief return a loved one to life?  Science would tell us no but maybe we need to look at how we are defining “life”.  The chief’s son, if he had not died, would have become the leader and it was the duty of every leader to lead the tribe into a better future than before and to provide for the living.  Certainly having the sun in their lives helped…until it got too hot as in yesterday’s story.

Most of us have lost a beloved family member.  We have a variety of ways to keep that person’s memory alive.  Some make scrapbooks while others dedicate memorials or establish scholarship funds.  The simplest thing is to live a life that would have made that loved one proud.  When we lose a loved one it seems as if the sun of our own personal lives has gone dark.  Finding our own way back into the light can be difficult. 

Thanksgiving Day for Americans was two days ago and many celebrated with friends and family.  Some, however, will be alone, left to grieve as the tribe did in loss of a loved one.  I fervently hope that if you are one of those who finds themselves sitting in the dark, that you find a glimmer of light.  Volunteer any day of the year at a homeless shelter or assist at a soup kitchen.  Being alone is not a crime nor is it shameful.  Being alive, though, should be celebrated and we all have things for which to give thanks. 

The raven has had something of a misnomer for hundreds of years.  A member of the Corvus genus, ravens, along with crows which are a close cousin, are actually some of the most intelligent birds on earth and ravens live an amazing thirty years.  In the colonial period of the U.S.A. ravens and crows were an integral part of both agriculture and urbanization.

The light is not just about being bright in the company of others but walking in goodness and peace.  If you are reading this, you are a blessing to me.  We may not all seem to give light to others like the candle fish could, but you sustain me and are a bright light to me.  Daily I give thanks for you.  It is one of my prayers that you are blessed and walk in peace. 

Coming to an End

Coming to an End

11/24/2023

Mythologies address many of the same questions we still ask today.  A universal question that had plagued humans forever revolves around the question “What next?  What happens when we die?”  Often, when someone dies, eulogies extol the person’s life.  Sometimes details of the passing are mentioned as if it will alleviate our grief.  Maybe we want to know such details because it helps us understand the concept of death.  Reading the mythologies of the world, we realize that the legends of the world’s cultures seem to treat death as one colossal “OOPS!”

According to mythology, death is a mistake, and was not originally part of any deity’s great plan of creation.  After all, who spends time on a masterpiece work of art only to then destroy it?  So, if death was not an intentional part of life, why does it exist?  Who made the mistake that resulted in the consequences we know as death?  If you answer to that last question was mankind, then you would be incorrect in your answer. 

Rarely can one find a mythological story that puts the blame on humans for death.  And those that do address mankind’s mistake as just that – a goof or, in the case of the Burma culture, a failed attempt at humor.  In Burma, a country that now goes by the name Myanmar, legend tells of a man who tried to play a joke on the sun god by pretending to be dead.  Perhaps his attempt to “prank” the sun deity was the first game of “playing possum”, a children’s game in which kids pretend to be asleep.  At any rate, the Burmese sun god was not a deity with a well-developed sense of humor.  He took the man’s joke and made it a reality, causing people to really die and making death a part of life, the final chapter.

In the Pacific Island culture of New Britain, it was a twin deity that goofed up.  To Purgo was a twin.  His twin was mentally superior and when To Purgo was given a message to take from the gods to mankind, he sort of mixed it up.  In his confusion, he transposed the subjects of the message.  Instead of telling mankind that people would live forever and snakes would perish, he stated that mankind would die and snakes would be eternal.  As a result, death has been a part of humanity ever since.

The Dogon culture of Mali also has a myth about death, humans, and snakes.  The Dogon believed that a person did not die; they were simply turned into snakes.  The Dogon legend tells of a young woman who wished to purchase a cow.  The deity Amma told her the price of the cos was “Death” but the young woman did not understand the answer correctly.  She agreed to the purchase price.  Soon thereafter, the young woman’s husband died and his death was the first of the rest of the world’s acquaintance with death.

There is also a Moroccan myth that talks about death as a temporary state of being.  People would simply fall into unconsciousness and then, later, would seem to “wake up”.  This was the way of living for quite some time until a prophet’s daughter named Fatima gave in to her petty feelings about a rival.  The rival’s daughter became ill and Fatima saw this as a way to inflict pain on the woman she perceived to be an enemy.  Fatima asked her father to arrange for the very ill daughter of this woman to actually die a lasting death. This she felt would cause her rival great pain and the woman would no longer be a competitor to her.  Her father granted her wish.  Later the son of Fatima was seriously wounded in battle and he also died.  Fatima waited for him to “wake up” but her father told her what she had wished for the other woman was now the law of the land and her own son would not be awakening from his death.  Death it seemed, in accordance to her wishes, was not permanent.

The Blackfoot Indians also have a tale about death.   Their creator had one of the best names, albeit a bit sexist, I have studied – Old Man.  It does make sense.  I mean, the one who created all would be older than anyone else, right?  And the male nomenclature was not shared by pother tribes as we will read about later in the week.  For now, though, our story is about Old Man, the creator deity of the Blackfoot Indians.  Old Man had taken clay and formed a woman and a young boy.  This was the beginning of the human race, the Blackfoot tribe believed.  One day the woman asked Old man about their lifespan and Old man conceded he had not thought that far ahead.  He suggested they throw a buffalo chip (dried waste from the prolific animal that gave the indigenous people both food and skin for clothing and shelter material) into the water.  “If it floats,” Old Man promised, “People will die for four days but then return to life.”  No knowing all the aspects of floatability of a buffalo chip, woman was unsure of this plan.  (In fact, there are many variables as to whether a buffalo chip will float or not.) The woman proposed replacing the dried chip matter with a rock.  She convinced Old Man to use the rock, saying “If it sinks, life will end in death as you said.”  We perhaps can understand her feeling the rock was a better choice because rocks were solid.  Unfortunately, that which made the rock a comfortable choice for her also guaranteed life would end in death.  Even if one can skip a rock across the water’s surface, it will eventually sink to the bottom of the river or lake bed.

Perhaps the real end of life occurs when we exhibit a lack of faith and then engage in a penchant to try to control everything ourselves to the benefit of only ourselves.  Maybe the way to longevity in life and perhaps immortality is found in having faith and living a life that benefits all makind, living our faith and not just talking about it.

Grateful Blessings

Wandering Blessings

11/23/2023

The Alaskan Inuit are a very interesting group of indigenous people.  For one, they are not just an ancient culture, they are a modern one.  Many of the tribe live as their ancestors did, in spite of the modern world being all around them.  For another thing, the Inuit mythology has no gods, no deities.  Today’s Inuk, the singular form for a member of this culture, is thought to be descended from the Thule culture around 1000 ACE.  The Thule culture denotes those indigenous people who did not settle in the Alaskan tundra but continued their migration eastward.  Some left the tribe and headed south, inhabiting the lower regions of Canada and becoming part of the Algonquin and Iroquois groups of tribes.  The majority continued their travels until their reached Greenland and interacted with the Vikings.

Today’s Inuit are a group of similar indigenous people who live in the Arctic areas of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland.  While many use the designation Eskimo as a synonym for the Inuit, this is really not correct.  Eskimo is a group term which includes the Inuit as well as the Yupik and Inupiat tribes.  Most Canadian and Greenland Inuit consider the term “Eskimo” to be derogatory as they see themselves as distinctively different cultures.  Oral languages of these people are not do distinctive, however.  Inuit languages are classified in Eskimo-Aleut language families while Inuit sign language is spoken in Nunavut, the northernmost section of Canada newly formed as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.  Further differences between Eskimo and Inuit are noted in the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 which refers to the Inuit as “a distinctive group of Aboriginal Canadians who are not included under either the First Nations or the Metis.”  Those Inuit in Greenland are citizens of Denmark but not of the European Union.

So what spirits were important to the Inuit?  As with all of the indigenous people who inhabited and became the earliest of settlers and immigrants in North America, animism was an important part of life.  Animism is a belief that things in the universe possess souls. [ A typical modern-day descendant living the ancient customs will apologize to a table leg that is kicked, recognizing the spirit within the table and respecting it.]  The Inuit believed deeply that there were spirit masters of the animals they hunted and shared space with on the planet.  Qayaq is the mythology of a hero who could transform himself into all sorts of living creatures – animals, birds, and fish.  His journeys are told in an epic cycle of Alaskan Inuit tales, portraying his journey of discovery and mastery of the environment and natural world.  In short, his story is an illustration of the process of learning by being.

Qayaq wandered all over and had many different adventures, overcoming enemies and making new friends.  IF ever caught and eaten, he would be reborn and continue his journey.  Sadly, when he did return home, he discovered his parents had died during the course of his explorations.  In grief he turned himself into a hawk, spreading his wings to fly over the land from which his family had been born.

Today in the United States of America it is Thanksgiving Day.  It is a day for people to celebrate and give thanks for all they have.  The first such festivity was supposedly between different cultures – the American Indians of Massachusetts and the Pilgrims.  It was a day of peace and sharing, a time to give thanks for a harvest and, I’m sure, to pray for the future.

The story of Qayaq is one that encourages us to step outside of our comfort zone and live.  It also warns of being so focused on the future that we forget the past and our own heritage.  The world is a glorious place and we all hope to make it better.  However, we should not and cannot forget the blessing of the past.  They are the cornerstones of the future.

Today I will give thanks for my life and the ability to live.  It is not a perfect life but is continually offers lessons and chances to be reborn and to rebuild.  I will also give thanks for each of you.  You are my environment and are shaping the future by your own living.  My wish for you is a healthy life, one full of prosperity and joy.  Most of all, I will give thanks that we have a future.  Spread you wings and soar, my friends.  We can make it great!

The Myth of Must

The Myth of Must

11/22/2023

Recently thousands of people have been forced to flee their homeland or die.  They have no clear vision of where they are going or what their life will be like but they know what will happen if they stay and so they feel they have to leave.  If they wish to stay alive and give their children any chance at life at all, the answer of whether to undertake the unknown and treacherous journey is simple …They must.  While no one can fault a parent or another human being for doing what they can to preserve life, there is another type of “must” that affects us all in a much less severe way but that can be just as deadly.  It is the mythology of must.

We often think of peer pressure as something that only affects children but in reality, peer pressure is something that affects us all.  Young people are leaving their lives to become part of terrorist cells because the social online presence is a type of peer pressure.  Just like a supposedly cool kid at school who offers other students drugs, these radical unhealthy groups offer the promise of popularity, of purpose, or being a part of the “cool crowd”.

Adults face peer pressure but it often is in the form of competition.  And just like the kids at school, we often fall prey to the myth of must because we too want to be liked.  The easiest example of this type of mythology is the child who throws a temper tantrum in the store to get a certain toy.  The parent often gives in, feeling they “must”, because they do not wish to be considered a bad parent or to become the object of other shopper’s attention as their child throws a temper tantrum in the middle of the store. 

There are other examples, of course, of this type of myth, this peer pressure that we all feel.  It might be in someone purchasing a certain type of car – the old “everyone is buying this” excuse.  It can be something as minor as a type of pencil or color of handbag, to something a bit more necessary like a certain style of clothing or shoes.  It might be a particular address or “the right side of town in which to buy a home” or a popular after work pub or bar.  Let’s be honest – we all are followers of the mythology of “must”. 

Peer pressure is not always an obvious thing and neither is the feeling that someone “must” adhere to the societal norms, even when doing exactly opposite of the more common societal norms.  It can be as direct as someone telling you what to do.  However, it can be a subconscious activity that is associated with a location or group of friends.  I once had a friend who only drank coffee away from home in large group settings.  Coffee was not something he associated with home but something that was a “must” at the workplace and at large meetings.

Many American Indian mythologies were less about past events like creation and more about how one should live. 

I decided about eighteen months ago to make this a daily blog posting and I made a conscious decision not to make the posts all about me, what I ate, what I wore, who I saw, etc.  About six months later, my day had gotten behind and I was frantic at my posting for the day being late.  A family member asked why I was so upset and when I explained about being late for posting to the blog, was asked who was putting the deadline on me to write the post before midnight.  It was an excellent question which brought up a great point and a huge part of the myth of “must”.  The answer was no one.  No one was making me post anything that day, no one except me, myself, and I. 

In our busy lives and in a world that revolves around competition, we often are our best allies and worst enemies – all because of the myth of must.  Being mature means doing what is best for ourselves and the world.  It is not about fancy cars, expansive homes, snazzy clothes, etc.  It is not even about who has the most toys.  It is about owning our lives and being responsible, not just for ourselves but for our world. 

The mythologies of the indigenous people of almost every location but especially in the Western Hemisphere focused on living together, living in peace.  War is not friendly to our environment nor does it help our planet.  Turning away refugees and putting labels on people alienates; it does not unite.  The natural world is full of proof of the saying “United we stand; divided we fall”.  Did you know this saying comes from a collection of mythologies?

There are illustrations similar to the original myth from which this quote comes from.  The stories are basically the same.  A group of people, a family of sons in the original Greek myth, are bickering and not getting along.  The patriarch gives each a stick and asks them to break it which each member does.  Then the patriarch bundles the sticks together and gives each person a chance to break them bundled together.  They cannot.  Hence, the moral of Aesop’s myth – “United we stand; divided we fall”. 

When we allow ourselves to give in to the mythology of “must”, we give away a bit of our individuality.  If I purchase something because I like it, that is fine.  If I purchase it because of peer pressure, some group has made me feel I “must”, then I am giving away some of my personal power and individuality, that which makes me…well, me!  Conformity is not necessarily wrong but it must benefit the individual and not some arbitrary leader or group.  The greatest thing we have to offer the world is not a label of being most popular but a label of being the very best “we” that is possible.  I cannot be a great you but I can be a fantastic me. 

The Myth of Cannot

The Myth of Cannot

11/21/2023

This series began very near the end of May.  Although not a strict religious blog, nor even perhaps spiritual, it is organized according to one of the several Christian calendars and, as we’ve have touched on previously, sometimes those divisions have an influence on the series being discussed.  For instance, January 6, 2015 through February 22^nd was the division called Epiphany, based upon the season of the same name on the calendar of religious institutions with an historic episcopate.  During Epiphany in past years, we discussed different epiphanies.  My favorite were those of mankind, those inventions that often are overlooked and yet play an important role in our lives.

During this current series on mythology, we have discussed the spirits whose stories encompass the literature known as mythology.  This division on the calendar is called Pentecost and celebrates for those who believe in the holiest of all spirits, the essence of the monotheistic deity of the Christian faith and the third part of their Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost.  We have traveled the world in learning and discussing ancient myths and, sometimes, their modern-day counterparts.  After all, without the Norse mythologies, we would not have the Marvel comic book hero known as Thor or the current wave of zombie fever based upon ancient voodoo myths from Africa which traveled with slaves to the Caribbean and United States.

Usually it is on Friday that I answer questions or comments but today I will do so because, quite frankly, the world’s events have led me here.  As previously discussed, the most recent events capturing the world stage have been those in Ukraine and the attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas and the answering by Israel on the Gaza Strip.    Israel was a country that felt prepared; it was a country that felt it was ready.  In a few short hours, it became apparent to Israelis and those living in the Gaza Strip that one cannot fully prepare for the future.  All we can really do is our best and then continue to do our best when tragedy befalls us.

Several years ago my own family had a crisis happen to us mid-September, 2015.  A family member was involved in an automobile accident.  Through no fault of her own, a family member became a part of a physics problem, the problem being how many times can a sport utility vehicle better known as a Jeep roll on a crowded busy highway during rush-hour traffic.    Then the physics problem became a series of chance encounters and blessings.  The vehicle had no hard top, only a soft canvass covering.  The car behind my family member was being driven by a registered nurse who instantly went to said family member and enlisted the aid of two other drivers to extricate her from the vehicle once it stopped its tumbling journey of over three hundred feet.  They cut the canvas and her seat belt and pulled her to safety.  Emergency crews arrived quickly and transported her to one of the best trauma centers for such injuries in the world.

My family member arrived at the hospital unconscious and unresponsive.  I will not lie.  It was a scary time and then an even scarier sight to see her in the intensive care unit, alive and yet, seemingly not alive.  Taking that first step into the room where she was, seeing all the equipment keeping her alive, I would have thought my mind would have been focused on prayers or amazement or fear.  Instead I heard my grandmother’s voice reciting a family saying I have heard over a million times in my life from family members of all ages.  “Can’t never could do anything but jump in the lake and swallow a snake and come out with a belly ache!”

At a moment when the statistics were not in our favor, when everyone was horrified and petrified, I stood with perfect posture and smiled.  “She will get through this,” I stated.  A few people shuffled their feet and looked down.  After all, I am older than most of them and they were taught to respect their elders.  Others just shook their heads and looked away.  My older son, with his wife lying comatose, was the only one to look me in the eye.  “Yea?” he asked.  “Of course,” I replied.  “Tell me when believing in “can’t” ever accomplished anything.  After all…. “Can’t never could do anything but jump in the lake and swallow a snake and come out with a belly ache!”

History is full of those days where tomorrow seemed like an impossibility.  We may not realize it but history gives us many examples where fear has replaced faith and “cannot” has replaced confidence.  At the time of the World Trade Towers tragedy on September 11, 2001, I lived near an airport and a very good friend was a pilot who had flown the routes that ended in tragedy that day.  I revisited those feelings in 2015 during the bombing in Paris as I hurriedly emailed friends in Paris, just as I had done fourteen years ago for my friend the pilot.  I remember the strange stillness of silence in 2011 around the airport for three days as all planes were grounded in the US after the events at the World Trade Towers, The Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. 

I understand how fear can knock on the door of our souls.  Today I had a delightful and insightful conversation with someone in another country (Thank heavens for modern technology!).  She is a life and career coach and during our conversation she made a wonderful analogy that applies to both simple living and professional career paths.  She likened letting past and present hurts prevent us from succeeding to driving a car with one’s foot on the brake.   No one gets into a vehicle just to stay in one place.  We get in the car to go somewhere. 

Likewise, no one really wants to stagnate in one place in life.  We want to be successful in whatever it is we are doing.  There is no purpose in living the “cannot”.  It is a myth to think it can be profitable and yet, many of us do just that.  We let fear keep us from being who we are.  Currently, I am ashamed to admit, there are many in my own country, the U.S.A., who are clamoring to deny refugees a chance to find life here.  In the past week I have written about how every culture in North and South America sprang from emigrants.  No culture originated on these two continents.  Someone gave their ancestors a chance, the chance that many would now deny current immigrants.  Is it because they think there is no more room or is it because there are following the myth of cannot? 

Life is not a race; it is a pace.  My family member is  living proof that miracles can happen.  The road she is traveling is still very long and there will be detours ahead with speed bumps for us all.  Yet, she refused to let the Myth of Cannot direct her life and she is beating the odds each and every hour.  The “Can do; let’s give it our best effort!” attitude of herself, her medical team and the family is the reason for her success. 

I hope you give great thought to the Myth of Cannot and then make sure it does not direct your choices and actions in life.  After all, like my grandmother often said … “Can’t never could do anything but jump in the lake and swallow a snake and come out with a belly ache!”