A long time ago, the Sacred White
Buffalo Calf Maiden came to Earth and gave to the Lakota People a Sacred
Pipe and a small round stone. These gifts were to be used in the first
rite, The Keeping of the Soul, which she taught them. She also said that
six other rituals would be revealed to them.
Then she left the people, saying,
"There will be four ages, and I will look in on you once each age. At the
end of the four ages, I will return." As she left, she changed from a beautiful
maiden into a black Buffalo, then a red/brown Buffalo, then a yellow Buffalo
and finally into a white Buffalo. And then she disappeared into the clouds.
The bowl of the Pipe she gave the
Lakota was made of red stone, representing the Earth. Carved on the bowl
was the head of a Buffalo, symbolizing all of the four-legged animals of
the Earth.
The stem was of wood and represented
all that grows on the Earth. Twelve eagle feathers hung from the place
where the bowl joined the stem symbolizing all the birds. The round stone
was made out of the same red earth as the pipe and had seven circles on
it representing the seven rites.
When a Lakota smokes a Sacred Pipe, his
or her voice is sent to Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit.
Spirit
Flight The Keeping of the Soul
The Sacred White Buffalo Calf Maiden told
the Lakota that when they die, their souls must be purified so they can
reunite with the Great Spirit. A lock of hair from a departed person was
taken and held over a piece of burning sweetgrass to purify it. Then it
was wrapped in a piece sacred buckskin, and the Sacred Pipe was smoked.
The soul bundle was kept in a special place in the tipi of the soul's Keeper,
usually a relative. The Keeper of the Soul vowed to live a harmonious life
until the soul could be released, usually in about one year.
The ceremony to release the soul started with
a buffalo hunt. A special lodge was constructed. Kinnikinnik, sacred tobacco,
was smoked in the Pipe and special food was buried as an offering to the
Earth. The bundle containing the soul was carried outside the lodge, and
as soon as it reached the air the soul was released. The soul then traveled
along the Spirit Path, which is the Milky Way, until it reached Maya Owichapaha,
the old woman who judges each soul. If she judged it worthy, she sent the
soul to the right, to Wakan Tanka. Unworthy souls were sent to the left
and remained until they finally become purified and could join Wakan Tanka.
The
Sun Dance O, Wakan Tanka, be merciful to me that
my People may live. It is for this that I am sacrificing myself.
The Sun Dance was held every year in June
(the moon of fattening) or July (moon of cherries ripening) when the moon
was full.
It was first revealed in a vision to a
Lakota named Kablaya.
Wakan Tanka told him that his People had
become lazy in their prayers,
so he sent them a new way of praying-the
Sun Dance.
In a Sun Dance, dancers offer their bodies
as a sacrifice on behalf of all the people.
Through their sacrifice, the people gain
strength and understanding.
In the old days, a large tipi was built
and several ritual objects gathered or made.
One of these was a round rawhide circle,
representing the sun. It was painted red,
with a smaller blue circle in the center,
which represented Wakan Tanka.
Many singers came to sing the sacred songs,
and a drum was brought
.It's roundness representing the universe,
its steady beat the pulse of the heart.
Central to the ceremony was a cottonwood
tree, a "rustling" tree,
which was placed at the center of the
tipi. It represented an enemy
who has been attacked and conquered. A
group of people went out to find
the cottonwood, and when they did, a sacred
Pipe was smoked.
One person was selected to make the first
cut on the tree.
This symbolized counting coup on the tree,
or enemy.
Others then helped cut it down, but it
was not allowed to touch the ground.
The tree was carried back to the dance
place and put into the earth at the
center of what became the sweat lodge.
Then all of the ritual objects and the
tree were purified with the smoke of sweetgrass.
A sweat lodge was built around the tree
and the chosen dancers
entered it and were purified in an Inipi.
The Pipe was smoked and sacred songs were
sung. One of them was:
"The Sun, the Light of the world.
I hear him coming.
I see his face as he comes.
He makes the beings on earth happy
And they rejoice.
O, Wakan Tanka, I offer to You this world
of Light. "
-- Black Elk's The Sacred Pipe.
Wreaths of sage were placed on each dancer's
head.
Then each described what he or she would
sacrifice.
The sacrifice was either pieces of flesh
or piercing of the flesh.
Flesh represents ignorance, so the tearing
or cutting of
the flesh represented freeing the body
from the bonds of ignorance.
On the final day of the Sun Dance, some
dancers had their flesh pierced,
and rawhide thongs were threaded through
the flesh and tied to the tree.
Wreaths of sage were placed on each dancer's
head and around their
wrists and ankles. As they danced, they
blew eagle bone whistles.
As singing and drumming continued throughout;
they danced until the
thongs break free. Other offered pieces
of flesh to Wakan Tanka,
to the Earth or the four powers of the
four directions.
When the dance was done, the dancers went
into the sweat lodge
and smoked a Pipe. Then all returned to
the tipi and a feast was held.
Sweat
Lodge The sweat lodge is constructed of young
willow trees placed in a circle which represents many things:
the earth, the womb, the universe.
The door opening faces East--the direction
of light and wisdom.
In the center is a round fireplace, the
center of the universe, where Wakan Tanka rests.
Ten paces from the door, to the East,
is the sacred fireplace where rocks are heated.
In front of that is a mound of earth.
Prayers are said at each stage of the
construction of a sweat lodge.
When it is completed, a burning coal is
brought in and sweetgrass is
burned by the leader of the Inipi to purify
the lodge.
He or she then smokes some sacred tobacco
in the Pipe and carries it outside,
placing it on the mound of earth.
The other participants enter the lodge,
sitting in a circle on sacred sage,
and the Pipe is brought in and smoked.
The heated rocks are placed on the
center fireplace and the Pipe returned
to the earth mound.
Then, the door is closed. During the ritual,
the door is thrown open four times
to represent the four ages described by
the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Maiden.
The fourth time the participants leave
the lodge, emerging from dark to light which
represents the liberation from the physical
universe.
All that is impure is left behind in the
sweat lodge.
Mother
Earth Understanding that
all things are inter-connected, we are
all linked to our environment.
We all live on Mother Earth. What
affects one affects
the whole. Use this oil to walk in balance and
harmony with all things,
for all is sacred.
Use two drops to anoint
yourself.
Dream
Catcher Dreams have always
had meaning to Native Americans. They believed
that both good and
bad dreams float above the dreamer. The dream catcher
allows the good dreams
to go through the hole in the center. The bad
dreams are confused
and are caught in the webbing and perish in the
first light of day.
Use two drops of this oil to anoint your body or Dream
Catcher before bedtime.
The oil will also help you recall your dreams.
Its a great help if
you are working with your dreams for guidance or to
help your understanding
of everyday experiences.
Vision
Quest The Vision Quest is
a retreat to a private place in nature for guidance,
instruction and focus.
It also helps tune you into available power if you
are seeking solutions
and want to get to the core of your life's issues.
To undertake a Vision
Quest in the proper way, a Wicasa Wakan (holy man) should advise the seeker
and interpret the vision.
The Vision Quest was
used in the old days to prepare for going on the warpath, before a Sun
Dance, or to ask Wakan Tanka for a favor. The most important reason for
the Vision Quest is so a person can understand better his/her oneness with
all things and gain knowledge of the Great Spirit.
A person undertaking
a Vision Quest first goes with a Pipe to a holy man, and he prays for them.
Everyone present smokes the Pipe. The Inipi is conducted to purify them.
In the old days, the seeker had to build the sweat lodge by himself. The
seeker then takes his Pipe and some tobacco and goes up the mountain. Helpers
have gone ahead and prepared a sacred place. The seeker stays there and
prays for a vision. Often it comes in the form of an animal. Dreams often
carry the most powerful visions.
At the end of the Vision
Quest, the helpers come and take the seeker down the mountain to the sweat
lodge. The holy man listens to everything the seeker has seen and heard
and interprets the vision.
Sage
Woman Brings health or helps
people when they are in need of assistance.
This oil will invoke
the medicine woman within you. It will help you
develop your own unique
powers.
Medicine
Wheel The "Medicine Wheel"
creates a sacred space for self empowerment.
It may be physically
constructed or constructed within the mind’s eye.
The essence of the
Medicine Wheel is change and movement. It also
represents harmony
and balance. It can help protect you and establish
peace with all things.
It may also be used to pray, meditate, or contemplate.
Use this oil when making
changes, to obtain self-knowledge, guidance,
direction and centering.
Wellness” can be defined as the state when the
mind, the body, and
the spirit are all connected and in balance. One cannot
be separated from the
other. The medicine circle, having no beginning
and no end, represents
this concept of harmonious unity.
Shaman's
Journey This oil helps heal
you and your environment while reconnecting you with
yourself, nature and
spirit. It is an excellent oil to use before journeying.
It will also invoke
the great power of the imagination and visions. Use this
oil in your quest for
knowledge and personal power. It will help bridge the
worlds of vision and
reality.
