The hoop of the world is actually in the winter night sky: “cangleska wakan”, the sacred hoop. It is also on the earth, mirrored and in motion around the oldest and highest exposed rock of those mountains.
As the winter goes to equinox and the star places and star knowledge in the sky meet the sun at the horizon at the beginning and end of each day, the elect of the People must go to the place on earth where these mirrored stars reside, which is found in and around this Heart of Everything That Is.
The spring journey of the Lakota timekeeping bands begins at “maka”, the original rock that came from the original waters and the breath. Aloha, Yahweh, animating Spirit
“The grandfathers” was this rock before it was Harney before it was Black Elk before he saw there was a man on the tree of his second vision and that man was Christ.
The spring journey proceeds clockwise (so as not to unwind the world) and traces evolution represented by the slate prairies within paha sapa through the turtle that emerges from water to land, to tayamni of the four leggeds and concluding at “pe sla”, or the skull, which is the terminus of evolution of the two-leggeds which of course includes bears as well as humans. When asked how they knew the faces and names of these shapes visible from satellites they said “eagles told us”.
Once the timekeepers had wound the world they proceeded beyond the red clay racetrack worn round Paha Sapa, taking rocks from matotiplapaha, the hill of the bear’s lodge, later called Devils Tower to heat the sweat lodge at inyan Kara, where on or around the solstice is the sun dance which if done once must be done three more times in a lifetime. Four years of torn flesh and scars to mark the commitment.
This sacred hoop of the sky is mirrored on the earth because the universe is two discs with conical hourglass intersection at the plane of the earth; kapemni or “the twisting motion of the wind” which in summer months can come in miniature nested within our world and destroy the rodeo grounds as it did in the early 90’s. Again, our world must move clockwise around the grandfathers. Nicholas Black Elk was in this Creation though not of the world and perhaps would prefer his grandfathers kept the name. He saw that it was Good and the so was Jesus.
Paha sapa is their garden, perhaps lost. The racetrack surrounds it and we emerged with the 28-ribbed buffalo at wind cave at the south of this sacred red heart formed by hills that are black. Nearby are the waters that flow to the four directions. but adding Up, Down and Within, there are 7 directions with names and colors.
4 winds x 7 directions = 28 ribs of the Buffalo. The buffalo that walks into winter camp to make self-sacrifice and feed the starving People who are its Wind Cave birth mates. The Good Red Road is to be chosen over the Black, as catechist Nicolas later visioned for Lakota children so they could choose for themselves.
This is how I remember it was told to me over a 3 year period by the Sigangu, but that was 30 years ago. So for a verification start with “Lakota Star Knowledge” by Stanley Redbird Jr and Goodman.
Then head west from rosebud for the true Oglala Achilles story and read “Crazy Horse: A Lakota Story” from oral history - not McMurtry (no offense intended but the vision given is only found in the Lakota stories).
Then go to Valentine and find Bill Quigley to show you the upside down mountain behind the old schoolhouse, snaking through the sand hills where a horse at least twice in history emerged from water bearing a rider with a Red Crescent rock tied behind his ear, a lightning bolt on his right cheek and blue hailstones on his chest. Go in an early spring thunder mist if you can. Something may happen, including lightning on cheek and hailstones chest. You might also catch a trout of mythic stature or find a fossil hoof in a spawning bed. Be sure to cover your tracks when you leave, and beware of rattlesnakes in the west facing vision rocks.
Tell Bill and Anne I said hello. He may also miss Jimmy who Bill helped to find his story of that place and who sent me there later so that I could find this one.
“How do you think we learned the language?” asked Edna Little Elk during our last audience. “It was here when we got here”. “If it can’t be heard by those living here now it is not the time to speak it”.
Clark, thank you for the thoughtful comment. I have much to learn--just started Marshall III's history of Crazy Horse. I've driven through the Nebraska Sandhills many times, and have stopped by Valentine once or twice. (I remember tubing down the Niobrara with my family as a kid.) But I'd like to get back. I'll ask around for Bill when I do...
Thank you for turning our attention to this. Reminds me of Berry: “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.”
Yes. Berry's name came up a *lot* last weekend.
The hoop of the world is actually in the winter night sky: “cangleska wakan”, the sacred hoop. It is also on the earth, mirrored and in motion around the oldest and highest exposed rock of those mountains.
As the winter goes to equinox and the star places and star knowledge in the sky meet the sun at the horizon at the beginning and end of each day, the elect of the People must go to the place on earth where these mirrored stars reside, which is found in and around this Heart of Everything That Is.
The spring journey of the Lakota timekeeping bands begins at “maka”, the original rock that came from the original waters and the breath. Aloha, Yahweh, animating Spirit
“The grandfathers” was this rock before it was Harney before it was Black Elk before he saw there was a man on the tree of his second vision and that man was Christ.
The spring journey proceeds clockwise (so as not to unwind the world) and traces evolution represented by the slate prairies within paha sapa through the turtle that emerges from water to land, to tayamni of the four leggeds and concluding at “pe sla”, or the skull, which is the terminus of evolution of the two-leggeds which of course includes bears as well as humans. When asked how they knew the faces and names of these shapes visible from satellites they said “eagles told us”.
Once the timekeepers had wound the world they proceeded beyond the red clay racetrack worn round Paha Sapa, taking rocks from matotiplapaha, the hill of the bear’s lodge, later called Devils Tower to heat the sweat lodge at inyan Kara, where on or around the solstice is the sun dance which if done once must be done three more times in a lifetime. Four years of torn flesh and scars to mark the commitment.
This sacred hoop of the sky is mirrored on the earth because the universe is two discs with conical hourglass intersection at the plane of the earth; kapemni or “the twisting motion of the wind” which in summer months can come in miniature nested within our world and destroy the rodeo grounds as it did in the early 90’s. Again, our world must move clockwise around the grandfathers. Nicholas Black Elk was in this Creation though not of the world and perhaps would prefer his grandfathers kept the name. He saw that it was Good and the so was Jesus.
Paha sapa is their garden, perhaps lost. The racetrack surrounds it and we emerged with the 28-ribbed buffalo at wind cave at the south of this sacred red heart formed by hills that are black. Nearby are the waters that flow to the four directions. but adding Up, Down and Within, there are 7 directions with names and colors.
4 winds x 7 directions = 28 ribs of the Buffalo. The buffalo that walks into winter camp to make self-sacrifice and feed the starving People who are its Wind Cave birth mates. The Good Red Road is to be chosen over the Black, as catechist Nicolas later visioned for Lakota children so they could choose for themselves.
This is how I remember it was told to me over a 3 year period by the Sigangu, but that was 30 years ago. So for a verification start with “Lakota Star Knowledge” by Stanley Redbird Jr and Goodman.
Then head west from rosebud for the true Oglala Achilles story and read “Crazy Horse: A Lakota Story” from oral history - not McMurtry (no offense intended but the vision given is only found in the Lakota stories).
Then go to Valentine and find Bill Quigley to show you the upside down mountain behind the old schoolhouse, snaking through the sand hills where a horse at least twice in history emerged from water bearing a rider with a Red Crescent rock tied behind his ear, a lightning bolt on his right cheek and blue hailstones on his chest. Go in an early spring thunder mist if you can. Something may happen, including lightning on cheek and hailstones chest. You might also catch a trout of mythic stature or find a fossil hoof in a spawning bed. Be sure to cover your tracks when you leave, and beware of rattlesnakes in the west facing vision rocks.
Tell Bill and Anne I said hello. He may also miss Jimmy who Bill helped to find his story of that place and who sent me there later so that I could find this one.
“How do you think we learned the language?” asked Edna Little Elk during our last audience. “It was here when we got here”. “If it can’t be heard by those living here now it is not the time to speak it”.
Clark, thank you for the thoughtful comment. I have much to learn--just started Marshall III's history of Crazy Horse. I've driven through the Nebraska Sandhills many times, and have stopped by Valentine once or twice. (I remember tubing down the Niobrara with my family as a kid.) But I'd like to get back. I'll ask around for Bill when I do...