spirituality – The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon

Blue Star Symbolism in Indigenous Cultures

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Marcha's Two-Cents Worth in Astronomy, Hopi prophecy, Indigenous wisdom, Native American Prophecy, Native American Wisdom, Native Americans, Northern Cheyenne culture, spirituality, Videos

Astronomical photo of Orion — Orion, with Rigel at bottom right, at optical wavelengths plus the Hα (hydrogen-alpha) spectral line to emphasize gas clouds. [Attribution: Photo by Rogelio Bernal Andreo – http://deepskycolors.com/astro/JPEG/RBA_Orion_HeadToToes.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=207932%5D

Cheyenne Blue Star

The importance of the Blue Star is not unique to the Hopi. It is also a symbol the Cheyenne revere and paint on their faces for sacred rituals such as their Massaum ceremony as well as ceremonial fasts. Originally, it comprised four triangles joined at the apex, similar to a Maltese cross. [Learn more about the Massaum and its significance as the Earth Giving Ceremony in “The Revenge of Dead Horse Canyon: Sweet Medicine Spirits – Novavose.”]

The Blue Star is currently represented by a blue diamond shape that comprises four lines, two from the hairline above the bridge of the nose to the base of each ear, then lines drawn to the base of the chin.

Rigel, a star in the constellation Orion, is what the Cheyenne consider the blue star, its rising when the Massaum ceremony public performance began.

Attribution: IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg) – [1], CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15407823

Navajo (Dine)

The Navajo (Dine) call Orion Atse Ets’Ozi, the First Slender One, a young, strong warrior responsible to provide protection to his family and people. Whether they attribute special meaning to Rigel is known only to their medicine men and elders because most of their star lore is considered sacred. They only talk about their constellations as part of their winter stories or to a limited extent during the summer solstice.

The Cheyenne also view the Pleiades as significant and paint it on their lodges. The Cherokee believe that is where they originally came from. This well-known grouping of seven stars is also revered by the Mayan, who return to it figuratively via sacred ritual.

Attribution: By NASA, ESA and AURA/Caltech – Hubble Refines Distance to Pleiades Star Cluster (STScI-2004-20), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17899258

Mayan Tradition

Paul Werner Duarte, a German/Mayan descendant of the Olmec culture from Vera Cruz, Mexico, has a lengthy and informative section in Nancy Red Star’s book, “Star Ancestors.” In it he states, “The Red man has had a covenant with the beings from space since the beginning. The Red man is the Atlantean. Edgar Cayce once said, ‘Take an Aztec, take a Maya, take a Hopi, take a Cherokee, take a Cheyenne, and you’re looking at an Atlantean.’ Earth is not the original home for any human…. The Red man descended to Earth from the Pleiades; indienous people have a long history of space exploration and extraterrestrial contact.”

The Navajo (Dine) call the Pleiades Dilyehe, which translates “seed-like sparkles. Its rising and setting have been used for centuries and probably millennia to time when to begin as well as when to cease planting crops to assure they don’t freeze when planted too early or too late.

Dakota Blue Star

In the following video by Wanbdi Wakita, a Dakota elder, he explains how they came from the Blue Star . Their women had dreams about it and made it into their star quilts. He does not specify which star in the sky it might be. You cannot listen to this man without feeling his strong spirit.

Hopi Prophecy

The Hopi Blue Star prophecy is currently receiving a lot of attention with the appearance of 3I/Atlas. As far back as 1972 their holy man, Thomas Manyacya, attempted to warn the world. The video’s description on YouTube states:

The Blue Star – Thomas Banyacya: Thomas Banyacya: The Hopi Prophecy was first produced as a video letter to the United Nations Environmental Programme, at the request of the Hopi elders of Hotevilla. Thomas Banyacya, a Hopi leader and spokesman for the Hopi high religious leaders was in his 80s in 1989 when this important meeting took place and was recorded on film. In a traditional circle, Banyacya and the elders meet with visiting Lummi, Lacandone, and American and Mexican environmentalists.

They discuss the Hopi Prophecy that foretold, “Koyaanisqatsi”, meaning “life in turmoil, life out of balance,” as a result of increasing materialism and environmental destruction. Thomas carries the Hopi message which calls for universal peace and spiritual unity and how the only hope for humankind to survive is to return to connectedness with Mother Earth. Humanity must use its knowledge and technology to clean up the water, the air, and the contaminated land. At the same time, we must conserve the remaining natural resources. The individual greed of both people and nations must be replaced with global concern for the balance of life on this planet.

He repeated the message again in 1995 as you can listen to in the following videos.

Conclusion

Why is the Blue Star revered across numerous Indigenous cultures? Has the Blue Star arrived at last in the form of 3I/Atlas?

Whatever that object is, it has baffled scientists as its behavior defies the laws of physics. Is it being controlled by intelligent beings? It seems beyond coincidence that the WOW signal received back in 1977 that lasted 72 seconds came from the same place in the cosmos from which 3I/Atlas originated. Coincidence? Not likely, with odds around a billion to one.

Is it a message from the star people?

Time will tell.

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss future updates.

The Indigenous World View and the Physics of Consciousness

Posted on December 1, 2025 by Marcha's Two-Cents Worth in Book Reviews, Indigenous wisdom, Native American Prophecy, Native American Wisdom, Native Americans, Northern Cheyenne culture, Spirit Medicine, spirituality

If there’s one thing that few will argue, it’s that Indigenous people have a closer connection to the Earth and all living things than the science-based white man. They repeatedly tell us we are all related, including the animals and all other living things.

Book cover for "The Making of a Healer" by Russell FourEagles

Even what a geologist would consider an inanimate mineral can have a story to tell, as conveyed in “The Making of a Healer” by Russell FourEagles. In that book he found a stone that was shaped such that it had apparently been the head of hide scraping tool. Using his Indigenous healer gift of perception, which inspired him to pick it up in the first place, he discerned its history, from when the rock was found by a young girl, to its evolution to a tool when it was secured in a young tree to grow around it to form it’s handle.

Book cover of "The Physics of Consciousness" by Ivan Antic

Many supposed “scientists” would undoubtedly think that this was nothing short of some elaborate hallucination. Except, perhaps, a man named Ivan Antic whose book “The Physics of Consciousness: In the Quantum Field, Minerals, Plants, Animals, and Human Souls” I recently finished reading.

Yeah, that’s who I am. I read weird stuff like that. But I must admit that much of this went over my head, but what I did absorb was remarkable. And right in synch with Native American beliefs regarding the unity of all existence.

I have a bachelors degree in physics. Thus, I’ve had college classes in quantum theory. I’ve had my own thoughts on that over the years. Years ago scientists thought that light needed to propagate through some medium and theorized the existence of the aether, that permeated all of creation, including outer space. Then, when this couldn’t be detected and proven to exist, it was dismissed, the term declared verboten, and space declared an empty vacuum. Then a few decades later, they come up with dark matter, which to me, is the same thing with a different name. And Mr. Antic agrees.

The quantum world is nothing like what we experience day to day. Its weird and loaded with mystery. Gradually, science is admitting it doesn’t know everything. Big surprise! In my mind the most laughable scientific period of time was “The Enlightenment” where we were supposedly beginning to understand how the world operates.

Yeah, right.

Instead, the true essence of existence was dismissed if it couldn’t be proven in the lab in a repeatable manner. Sadly, too many people still believe that today.

Like Antic states in this book, “Since our current stage of evolution has not gone past the monkey phase, obviously that explains why we are so imperfect, incapable, and destructive, and appear to be on a collision course aimed at destroying the whole planet we live on.”

He describes the world of quantum physics as the very foundation of nature where there is nothing solid. “There is not a material world as such, it is rather a universal energy field, a big information field where everything is interconnected in one unity outside of space and time, in which all the subatomic particles communicate with one another currently and irrelevantly of space and time.” [Emphasis added]

Well, well, well. Imagine that.

He goes on to explain that the infamous Maxwell Equations that I learned in college were actually modified by mathematicians after Maxwell’s death because the world was not ready for what the originals contained. Indeed, they blasted the “Enlightenment” out of the water by recognizing the aether as well as both Hertzian and non-Hertzian waves, which are separated by the speed of light.

He notes that “There is a common belief that the earth we walk on is a conscious being.” He notes that water has “physical properties that are a characteristic of the quantum world: it reacts to thoughts and neighboring frequencies, it remembers all the shapes and informational influences it was exposed to, both physical and mental, and acts the way consciousness would act in its most elementary form. Water unites consciousness with the elements, making it the foundation of life that is present in all living beings….”

I cannot count the times I’ve seen the statement “Water is Life” in Native American context.

Antic notes that “Plants adapt to their environment showing creative consciousness in their forming…Plants live on water and sunlight, sense and perceive, have non-local communication, bond emotionally with other beings, and feel the states of living organisms in their surroundings, especially in people.”

Is it any wonder that Indigenous people have certain plants they consider sacred?

He points out that “Tree trunks are antennas connecting the earth to the cosmos; they communicate with the stars. They communicate with people who are aware enough to have communication of this kind, those who can sense in their bodies the mild signals containing simple messages, always amicable and full of affection.“ [Emphasis mine]

The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon book cover

I was delighted when I read that since that’s exactly what Charlie did in “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon” in the chapter entitled “The Aspen” where the tree that witnessed the accident that killed his best friend gave him a clue on where to find evidence. When I wrote some of these scenes I wondered if they were realistic. My Cheyenne coauthor, Pete Risingsun, assured me that they were.

And there it is, in a book about the physics of consciousness.

Out-of-body experiences, such as near-death experiences (NDEs) have an important message in that they teach individuals directly that they are not their body but immortal consciousness. Per Antic, “For as long as we remain identified with the physical body as the only reality, we cannot know the true nature of consciousness and existence.”

This explains the reason why people who have had NDEs often are changed upon returning to their bodies. In the Dead Horse Canyon trilogy, both Sara and Charlie are different after going through NDEs. In many instances I’ve read that one is necessary for one to become a medicine man or shaman because it opens up their perception to other dimensions.

Shona Bear Clark in Nancy Redstar’s book “Our Star Ancestors” states, “I had been dead for seven minutes. I was in pure light. I didn’t see or hear anyone in the light, but ever since then I have been able to hear people thinking. I can see a person’s spirit floating above his head, which tells me a great deal about the person.” She goes on to say, ” I have lived a long life, continually aware of the existence of other realities and of strange, magical beings who can traverse the dimensional barriers and enter my world. These are things Indians rarely speak about to White men. But we are changing all that now.”

I found it profound, satisfying and gratifying to find the phenomena depicted in mine and Pete’s books to be validated by a book that describes the “physics of consciousness.”

Undoubtedly what is commonly called our current “civilized” world is a gross overstatement.

Antic’s book, of which this is one of many, is not an easy read. I think I underlined a substantial percentage of it due to its wealth of fascinating content. Many paragraphs I had to read several times before I could grok what he was saying. It’s a book I will definitely read again. If you’re interested in what consciousness really is and its amazing implication, then you might want to pick up a copy on Amazon here.

If you enjoyed this blog be sure to subscribe so you’re notified when a new one is posted. I plan to do several more posts on this subject in the days and weeks to come. I also invite you to read “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon” trilogy, which is loaded with examples of Indigenous culture and their connection to dimensions most people cannot see and some claim don’t exist.

Like Antic noted, sadly too many are still at the monkey stage.

Medicine Men: Then and Now (Part 1)

Posted on October 29, 2025 by Marcha's Two-Cents Worth in Book Reviews, conspiracies, Government Policies, In the News, Indigenous wisdom, Native American history, Native American Wisdom, Native Americans, Spirit Medicine

AI Generated image of a traditional medicine man shaking hands with a modern woman doctor

Healing is something we all seek at one time or another. In these modern times, many turn to their physician, who then sends a prescription to their chosen pharmacy. If you can afford it, you take it as directed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Yet the human race survived for thousands of years without pharmaceutical companies. Probably the most questionable thing about them is how they did all in their power to suppress natural cures.

Why?

A natural substance cannot be patented and thus assure income.

Of course it’s becoming more apparent day by day that the pharmaceutical/healthcare industry isn’t about helping people get well–it’s about profits. While this subject is ripe for discussing any number of conspiracy theories, that is not the point I want to make.

Rather, I’d like to illustrate similarities between methods used for thousands of years by indigenous healers (i.e., medicine men or, in some cultures, shamans) versus “new” alternative medicine approaches that eschew drugs for other means for optimizing health, both physical and emotional, which are more connected than most people realize.

Cover of Louise Hay's book "You Can Heal Your Life"

That is one of the most fascinating “breakthroughs” in relatively recent times. Much of this began with Louise Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life. A similar book that was my first introduction to the possibility is Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol Kuhn Truman.

In his book, A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle states, “Suffering or negativity is often misperceived by the ego as pleasure because up to a point the ego strengthens itself through it. For example, anger or resentment strengthen the ego enormously. . . If you were able to observe the physiological changes that take place inside your body when possessed by such negative states, how they adversely affect the functioning of the heart, the digestive and immune systems, and countless other bodily functions, it would become abundantly clear that such states are indeed pathological, are forms of suffering and not pleasure…”

Cover of Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth"

He goes on to say, ” The remnants of pain left behind by every strong negative emotion that is not fully faced, accepted, and then let go of join together to form an energy field that lives in the very cells of your body…The pain-body is a semi-autonomous energy-form that lives within more human beings, an entity made up of emotion. It has its own primitive intelligence, not unlike a cunning animal, and its intelligence is directed primarily at survival…That’s why it thrives on negative thinking as well as drama in relationships. The pain-body is an addiction to unhappiness.

Cover of "The Making of a Healer" by Russell FourEagles

Here is what Russell FourEagles, a modern-day Native American healer, has to say about such emotions:

“We humans tend to hang on to too much baggage such as anger, guilt, and pain. We tend to keep inside the hurts and sorrows from losses of family and friends. We also hang onto other life losses such as money and material things. That little place the Creator gave us to store our hurts was meant to be used for just a short while, until we were ready to let them go. But instead, we stuff our heart boxes with more and more hurts and traumas until we learn from our life’s lessons or die. We may often carry this baggage for many lifetimes if we don’t learn to let it go…

“The addition of the new trauma has caused the heart box to swell, so that it presses uncomfortably against the heart and lungs. But then, in an unconscious ability the Creator gave us, we have stolen energy from our own cells to build a wall around our heart box… One way to unload our heart boxes is through the Oneida Fire Ceremony. The ceremony’s main function is for us to give all our painful memories and traumas to the Creator. We do this through writing things down and offering them up in prayer. This ritual helps us to heal and get stronger. In the process, we uncover ever and ever deeper old hurts.” (The Making of a Healer: Teachings of my Oneida Grandmother)

Cover of Dr. Bradley Nelson's book "The Emotion Code"

As far as the Heart Box is concerned, modern researcher and chiropractor, Bradley Nelson, states: “Trapped emotions can create a wall around your heart that can block you from living life to the fullest…Your subconscious mind–which knows no limitations–will sometimes use the energy of these trapped emotions to create a barrier or shield around your heart. Literally, it creates a wall of energy around your heart, to protect it…

“When you have a Heart Wall, you are not able to give love as well as you might, because that love energy that is in your heart cannot get out as well. (The Emotion Code: How to Release Your Trapped Emotions for Abundant Health, Love and Happiness)

Cover of Karol Kuhn Truman's book "Feelings Buried Alive Never Die."

The heart is not the only place that emotions can be trapped. As Louise Hay, Karol Kuhn Truman, and Dr. Bradley Nelson each explained, different feelings get stored in different organs. If you have specific health problems, its origin could lie in some past emotional trauma.

I invite you to check out one or all of these books for details.

Watch for more on this fascinating subject of how ancient beliefs about everything from healing to the true meaning of consciousness are coming full-circle with modern science.

The Fascinating World We Cannot See

Posted on June 22, 2025June 26, 2025 by Marcha's Two-Cents Worth in Book Reviews, Indigenous wisdom, Native American Wisdom, Native Americans, Northern Cheyenne culture, Spirit Animals, spirituality

If you’ve read any books in the Dead Horse Canyon trilogy you’ve encountered numerous instances where Charlie received a message from something other than another human being. In the Cheyenne culture these messengers are known as the maiyun, or spirit helpers. When I was writing these stories and Charlie would come across one, I always wondered if it was a stretch, my imagination getting out of hand. However, my coauthor, Pete Risinsun, always assured me they were quite typical in his culture.

If we focused on tuning into nature, considering we’re all part of the same greater, spiritual whole, we could hear them, too. You could start with noticing spirit animals, which is when you spot anything from a spider, bird, squirrel, or other wild animal that gets your attention. What is he or she trying to tell you? Often it will relate to one or more of its characteristics that you would do well to replicate. You can find a previous blog on spirit animals here.

If relating to an indigenous culture is too much of a stretch, try reading about the experiences of someone from a more familiar western way of life; someone whose work provides a bridge of sorts between the two belief systems. One I’ve learned from is medium, Rob Gutro, who has first-hand experience with the world of spirits.

I first discovered his books when I stumbled upon his “Pets and the Afterlife” series after losing one of my fur babies, an 18 year old Bengal named Ophelia. He not only channels humans, but pets as well, providing information he couldn’t possible know or understand, yet has meaning to grieving pet parents. I found considerable comfort in the stories, which include information on signs to watch for that your pet is paying you a visit from beyond the Rainbow Bridge.

Indeed, shortly after reading the first book in that series, Ophelia did, indeed, come to visit one night. I have her cremated remains on a bookshelf in a little wooden box. Next to it is her favorite toy that she used to carry around. When she did, she would meow as Bengals do which, with the toy in her mouth, came out as a distorted blood-curdling yowl.

She loved her “baby” and often slept with it. And one morning, when I got up, her “baby” was on the floor. There was no other way it could have gotten there since it was out of reach of my other two cats. Furthermore, there was a chair stacked with pillows in front of it, so it should have fallen on top. If one of the cats had jumped on it, the pillows would have fallen. However, the toy was not only on the floor, but underneath the chair.

I’m sure she’s come by other times as well, most likely with her much larger brother, who passed in 2020, which I suspect is what’s going on when my other two cats are staring with wide eyes at something I cannot see.

If you have ever lost a beloved pet, I highly recommend this series. I had the first two books, both of which I’ve given away to friends and family when they were grieving a similar loss.

Thus, when I encountered another of Gutro’s book, “Kindred Spirits: When a Medium Befriends a Spirit” I was fascinated. The other books were very informative about the Spirit World, so I wondered what else I might learn. A few details came out that were new and directly related to the Cheyenne concept of maiyuns.

One very basic concept is that our deceased loved ones are not as far away as we may think. He explains how spirits are those who “go into the light” when they pass while ghosts remain in a fixed location for some reason known only to them. Sometimes they’re lost or confused and can be helped to cross over, which Gutro has done on occasion.

If you’ve read the Dead Horse Canyon books, you may recall White Wolf and Charlie talking about doing that in book 2 when they drove to Billings to get a new alternator for the Explorer and perceived spirits along the highway, which according to Gutro’s explanations, would have been ghosts.

Gutro noted that spirits can interact with anything living. There are various instances in the trilogy where Charlie encountered just that. What comes to mind is whether it was the spirit of the aspen tree (Book 1, Chapter 6), or the squirrel (Book 3, Chapter 43) that spoke to him, or was it a spirit of one of his ancestors prompting the interaction?

According to Gutro, visiting spirits often leave something for you to find, like a coin. In most cases its date will relate to the person in some way, such as their birth or death year, or other key time, for example when you met. Such an example in the books is the arrowhead Charlie came upon during a trail ride. (Book 2, Chapter 39). Later, in Book 3, White Wolf told him that a maiyun spooked the horse so that he would fall off and find it.

Gutro also mentioned how a person’s energy is retained in their cherished possessions. This is what “sentimental value” is all about. What do you have that is quite possibly just sitting around collecting dust, but you simply can’t get rid of it because it means something to you or did to someone you cared about and is now gone?

Here’s an example of such an object I have doing just that. That little knick knack,

which is older than I am and at one time cost $0.79, which is inked on the bottom, belonged to my mom. As long as I can remember it sat on the kitchen windowsill. I have no idea what it meant to her or why, but it was always there, and has been broken and repaired numerous times. For whatever weird reason, I think I would protect that little bull with my life! (Maybe not, but you get the idea.) Something about that little guy touches my heart.

Not long ago, a friend sent me something and when I received it I could feel the affection it contained. That made me rethink my usual practice of having presents drop-shipped to save money rather than reshipping them myself. Should I be infusing these gifts with affection, like Star did with the gifts for Sara and her family in Book 2? And what about Amasani’s blanket, (Book 1, Chapter 24) that conveyed her love and comfort to Charlie?

I can’t help wondering about trickster maiyuns, like the ones that always caused minor household problems whenever White Wolf and Charlie were away from home. If you’ve ever had a friend or relative who was prone to practical jokes, could that be their origin? Still up to no good in the afterlife?

Gutro’s knowledge of the Spirit World has vast similarities with what the Northern Cheyenne and other indigenous cultures not only know but take for granted. Spiritually enlightened people continue to remind us we are all connected and love is the strongest energy there is. We can always hope that daily living spirituality is making a comeback.

The real question is not only why but when was it lost to the white man, but not indigenous people?

History undoubtedly holds the answer.

[Note:–The Dead Horse Canyon Trilogy mega-ebook that contains all three Dead Horse Canyon volumes is now on Kindle Unlimited! If you haven’t yet indulged in this series and don’t have Kindle Unlimited, you can get your copy for only $7.99, a 38% savings over buying the ebooks separately, plus a special addendum is included.]

Do You Believe in Magic?

Posted on February 18, 2022February 12, 2022 by Marcha's Two-Cents Worth in Book Reviews, Indigenous wisdom, Native Americans, Spirit Medicine, spirituality

What is magic? A figment of your imagination? Superstition? Illusion? Folklore? Sleight of hand? Myth?

The Dead Horse Canyon series includes what one reviewer referred to as “a smidgen of the paranomal.” That undoubtedly refers to the main character, Charlie Littlewolf, seeking answers he can’t find anywhere else by returning to his Northern Cheyenne culture and the world of the Grandfather Spirits. Rituals involving the sweat lodge ceremony and sacred red pipe open up other dimensions that expand his consciousness. The indigenous belief in panpsychism, i.e. that everything has a form of consciousness, lays the foundation for a connection to all beings, including the Earth.

Of course, all of this defies the post-enlightenment view of the world:

If you can’t prove it using the scientific method in a laboratory, it’s not real.

Or is it?

If you’re a person who thinks, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” others will counsel you, “You’ll see it when you believe it.”

Entering such a world requires effort fueled by a huge dose of faith.

If you’re skeptical about psychic phenomena, something that’s been looked down upon by “rationale” people for hundreds of years, you might be interested to know that at least one scientist is investigating such things using the scientific method.

That man is Dr. Dean Radin and you can learn about some of his research and progress in this area in this video.

“You’re telepathic and don’t even know it–Scientific proof of Clairvoyance”

I’ve read two of his books, “The Conscious Universe” and “Entangled Minds” and am looking forward to his latest, “Real Magic.”

If you’re already a believer (or perhaps open-minded enough to entertain such a concept), then I recommend reading, “The Making of a Healer: Teachings of My Oneida Grandmother” by Russell FourEagles. He explains this world. It’s among my Top 5 “Life Changing” reads. Here’s what I said about it in my blog back in 2019:

I hardly know where to start expressing my impressions of this book. Let’s just say that it is clearly in my list of the Top Ten Most Influential Books I’ve ever read. I was actually sad when I finished it, yet know this is one of the few books that I will read many times.

Probably the most powerful message I received was the highly spiritual nature of indigenous American teachings. Interestingly enough, it comprised everything included in my own beliefs, which I’ve collected from various sources. These include organized religions, my own experiences, scientific research, meditation, as well as the teachings of various yogis and motivational speakers. It was clearly a revelation to find my own belief system, which I’ve assembled over a lifetime, expressed in a single book.

The philosophies expressed are nothing short of profound and beautiful. The respect for Mother Earth and all her creatures, including those of other cultures, is such a powerful concept that has been blatantly ignored by western cultures. Living in harmony is essential to our health and well-being. The concept of the “heart box” where we store and build up the various hurts, disappointments, and traumas of our lifetime rang true. The Oneida Fire Ceremony used to clear those issues is one I’d heard variations of before and it works.

Bottom line, we must live with an attitude of love, not fear. The author’s personal experiences illustrate these principles in a humble and powerful way, from being taught these things by his grandmother, to being a soldier in Vietnam, to becoming an inspired healer.

If you’re looking for some genuine inspiration that dates back hundreds, possibly thousands of years, then read this book. If you need to know what actions you can take to rid yourself of old issues lurking in your subconscious that you want to release, then read this book. If you want a touch of wisdom that has been lost, yet is exactly what the world needs today, then read this book.

I can’t praise it highly enough. If you’re looking for answers, it’s highly likely you will find them here. You can pick up a copy on Amazon here.

There’s an entire world out there that most people are oblivious to. That’s why the world is in the sorry state it is today. It’s time to listen to indigenous people who have known how to live correctly for thousands of years, yet been shoved aside as primitive savages by European settlers who thought they knew better.

Considering the present state of the world, clearly they were mistaken.

Image by Debbie Walkingbird from Pixabay

Spirit Animals: Key to Life’s Answers

Posted on October 3, 2020December 8, 2020 by Marcha's Two-Cents Worth in Native Americans, Spirit Animals, Uncategorized

*Excerpt from* “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon: Cheyenne Spirits.”

“The Enlightenment” era did more to stop people from being enlightened than achieve it. True, when Galileo et al succeeded in disproving the solar system is geocentric, that was a good thing. Some things deserve scientific scrutiny. However, even to this day, hundreds of years later, there are phenomena many have experienced to be true while those blinded by science debunk them.

That attitude has done more to destroy faith and spirituality than Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. It took decades before technology advanced enough to prove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Just because it can’t be proven in a lab doesn’t mean it’s not true. Having an open mind is the most scientific thing you can do. My ongoing criticism of skeptics is that they don’t have to prove anything. I think they should have the same standards imposed on them as they expect of others.

Don’t believe astrology works? Prove it.

Don’t believe in telepathy? Prove it.

Don’t believe in past lives? Prove it.

*Space Shuttle Columbia Recovery Team, Hemphill, Texas, Spring 2003*

Indigenous people as a rule believe in animism, i.e. that everything has an innate soul. We are all brothers and sisters. Everything and everyone is connected. We all came from the Earth, are part of her, and will return there. Having such beliefs, they’re in tune with their surroundings. Situational awareness at its best. Like the Navajo shown in the picture on the left. We grid-searched the fields outside of Hemphill, Texas together, picking up debris from the space shuttle, Columbia. Men and women who could spot a copperhead sunning on a rock from fifty yards.

Do you have a question? Pay attention. “Ask and ye shall receive” or perhaps, “The truth is out there” are valid principles.

One way Indigenous people find answers is through Spirit Animals. This goes beyond identifying with one particular animal, such as a wolf, lion, bear, mountain lion, etc. Admiring and assimilating the qualities of any animal you encounter can teach you something about

yourself or your situation.

How do you know what they are teaching you? Often it’s intuitive, because you’re already looking for an answer. Charlie Littlewolf, the main character in “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon: Cheyenne Spirits” knows this. Coupled with prayer, fasting, and traditional rituals his grandfather taught him, he’ll find answers.

If you prefer more specific help, an excellent book on the subject is “Spirits of the Earth: A Guide to Native American Nature Symbols, Stories, and Ceremonies.”

The stories in particular are delightfully reminiscent of Aesop’s Fables and most are suitable to read to young children. They explain the traditional meaning of various animals, indigenous archetypes, if you will.

But first you have to pay attention.

Since expanding my awareness to this hidden realm I have encountered numerous valuable insights, from birds in particular. A small flock of sparrows and a single male cardinal at my feeder. Two bald eagles soaring directly above my house. A raven squawking from the top of a phone pole. Hundreds of white pelicans circling above my house as they arrive at their winter home.

What are the odds? Those birds are not out there whenever I happen to look up. We have buzzards galore, but that is not what I have seen when I was pondering an issue. Buzzards, too, have a message, but when they’re out there most the time, there’s far less meaning unless they do something unusual that catches your attention.

How do these animals know when to appear? Pure coincidence? Or, as part of this web of life, are they drawn to us by our asking to provide an answer only they can deliver?

Many would declare such beliefs in the realm of superstition. Have you ever noticed that superstition has the same root as supernatural? The world of the unseen?

There is so much that fails to meet the untrained eye.