Date: Fri, 5 May 2006 22:54:54 +0000
From: andre cramblit
Subject: Gifts of 4 Directions (musings)
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=726
The Gifts From the Four Directions
by Ilarion (Larry) Merculieff
Ancient stories tell of a time when the peoples of the world are
reunited and their gifts bring a new world into being. Might this
healing process already be underway?
Four years ago, the Bering Sea Council of Elders was formed to focus
on the health of the Bering Sea ecosystem and the viability of the
coastal and river cultures dependent on it. The Council is often
referred to as the WisdomKeepers of the North. The Council is
composed of some of the most revered elders in seven culturally
distinct regions of Alaska. As the coordinator for the Council, I
have the privilege of implementing the Council's instructions and
making connections with Wisdomkeepers from many indigenous
traditions in the Western Hemisphere.
During the course of my work, I have been given many messages,
stories, and prophecies, and have found that many are related or
similar. One of the prophecies involves what I call The Gifts from
the Four Directions. There are many iterations of this prophecy as
it is interpreted through cultural lenses. The Hopi Wisdomkeepers
talk about the World of the Fifth Hoop where the four sacred colors
will reconnect. The Navajo call this time the Fifth World. This
version is one I synthesized from the stories of several cultures,
taking care to ensure that the integrity of the messages is
maintained.
Many stories talk about how there has been a pendulum effect in
which the world shifts back and forth between masculine and feminine
imbalance over many millennia. The current cycle, which began
thousands of years ago, is a time of masculine imbalance. Spiritual
leaders throughout the world knew that this time was coming-a time
when all things feminine would be exploited, smashed, and destroyed,
including all Mother Earth-based cultures, feminine-based
spirituality, and women. The spiritual leaders around the world
communicated with one another through the original language created
from an intimate connection with Creation. They decided to hide the
sacred and secret teachings because they knew that the two-leggeds
(people)would abuse and misuse the teachings. There were many
ingenious ways the teachings were hidden-in common words of
different cultures, in story, in song, in art, and geometric
patterns woven in cloth and garments. In many cases, specific parts
of the teachings were intentionally forgotten. The spiritual leaders
knew that the sacred and secret teachings would only be made whole
again when the two-leggeds heal enough to open their hearts and thus
reconnect with their brothers and sisters from the different
directions and colors around the world. In doing so, they would
share their sacred ways with others until the sacred and secret
teachings are fully restored.
It is said that there will be a time when the gifts of the four
sacred colors, red, white, black, and yellow, will come together
from the Four Directions and combine to create something new that
has not been seen since the beginning of time.
It is said that only when humans are open enough in the heart will
there be the deep reconnection that allows a true sharing of the
sacred and secret teachings. These teachings from the Four
Directions come in the form of the four sacred elements-earth, air,
fire, and water.
The sacred yellow color brings the gift of air from the East. The
Eastern traditions understand and are masters of the use of air
through breath and how breath combines with chants and sounds to
create powerful healing and connection to Divine Silence.
The sacred black color brings the gift of water from the South. The
African traditions understand and are masters of the use of motion
and rhythm that is in complete harmony with the movement and rhythm
of the Universe, through dances and complex drumming to help human
beings harmonize with Creation.
The sacred red color brings the gift of earth from the West.
Indigenous traditions throughout the world understand and are
masters in the use of knowledge in communications with, and the
nurturing and healing of, Mother Earth.
The sacred white color brings the gift of fire from the North. The
people of the sacred white color understand and are masters in the
use and application of energy in technology, like the spark plug,
rocket engine, and the like.
The combining of these gifts will occur only when the humans have
learned the true wisdom that comes from open-heartedness born of
love, compassion, silence, and truth. Indeed, real sharing- cannot
occur without these four qualities. With these four qualities, and
with conscious intent and action to combine the gifts of the four
sacred colors, one can only speculate as to what immense beauty will
be created.
It is also said that women will be restored to their place as the
original healers, and when this occurs they shall lead the way. The
role of the men as the spiritual warriors in this new time is to
protect the sacred space of women so they can do their work. When
these things are done, the pendulum of imbalance will stop for the
first time since the beginning of time.
This journey has already begun as Eastern meditation traditions and
breath mastery are shared throughout the world, as technology of the
West spreads, as African dance and drumming is shared in every
corner of the world and melded with other musical traditions, and as
people throughout the world seek indigenous wisdom to learn how to
live on and with Mother Earth.
World religions are beginning to find common ground as spiritual
leaders engage in dialogue. Science, in such areas as quantum
physics, quantum mechanics, biology, and astrophysics, is beginning
to converge with spirituality and metaphysics as they seek answers
to how the Universe works. Indigenous teachings are found on the
Internet and in large numbers of published works, and indigenous
spiritual leaders and elders are gathering around the world to share
their ways with greater and greater frequency. Conventional
medicine is slowly beginning to explore the healing ways of
other traditions. Women are actively seeking their own healing and
creating the new ways of leadership that heal separation in its
myriad of forms throughout the world.
Much of the world has yet to see the incredible new possibilities
that can come from spiritual intent to share consciously and combine
knowledge and wisdom from the four sacred colors, but it is
beginning to happen. The Elders say, "nothing is created outside
until it is created inside first."
If we stay the course in healing separation within and without, it
is only a question of time until the sacred Gifts from the Four
Directions--the four sacred colors--come together for the purpose of
creating a new world.
--------------------------------------------------------
Ilarion Larry Merculieff is an Aleut, born and raised in the Pribilof
Islands in the Bering Sea. He serves as the coordinator of the
Bering Sea Council of Elders and is currently raising funds for a
gathering of elders and youth in Alaska. You can contact him at
lmerculieff@netscape.net or 1610 Woo Boulevard, Anchorage, Alaska
99515.
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