The Unexpected Source

Please bear with me as I momentarily leap ahead to Christianity and today’s service at Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church.

I took my Mom to church this morning. The sermon was on the parable, The Good Samaritan. In the story a man is traveling on the Jericho Road, this is a dangerous road. Bandits beat and rob the man stealing even his clothes and leaving him to die on the side of the road. A Priest on the road passes him by not wanting to violate any priestly taboos by touching someone dirty before performing his priestly duties. A Levite also passes the man by. It was the unlikely person, a Samaritan, who stopped to give aid and rescue this unfortunate traveler.

The minister asked us to think of Jesus as the unexpected source. As a Pagan, a Buddhist, and a feminist who believes in evolution, Jesus would be an unexpected source for me. However, I am in no position to quibble. Prayer is about survival. The shamanic hunters made prayers for meat. The Ancient Maize growers prayed for a good harvest. As a 21st century would-be artist working part-time for a non-profit I am in serious need of some livelihood restructuring. I need money. It sounds so completely crass, so vulgar. Maybe that is my hang-up. More out of pride than faith I just put my last five dollars in the collection plate. Payday is not until Wednesday. Jesus?

Blue Corn Muffins

Blue Corn, Photo: One Perfect Bite

Blue Corn Muffins

“The Native Americans of the Southwest call blue corn Hopi corn and it has spiritual importance to them. It represents the rising sun and the beginning of life, wisdom and understanding. Blue cornmeal comes from the dried blue kernels of corn grown on plateaus and mesas in New Mexico and Arizona.”

from: One Perfect Bite


Blue Corn Muffins...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
1 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
1/4 cup fresh or frozen corn, thawed
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro leaves
3/4 cup blue cornmeal (can substitute yellow)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Directions:
1) Adjust a rack to middle-third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Grease a 6 slot muffin pan with non-stick vegetable spray. Set aside.
2) Melt butter in a small saucepan; add onions and garlic and cook until soft. Set aside to cool.
3) In a large mixing bowl, combine milk, eggs, bell pepper, jalapeno, corn and cilantro. Whisk in butter mixture. Set aside.
4)In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar. Whisk to combine. Mix into the liquid mixture.
5) Divide batter evenly among the 6 muffins slots and bake for 16 minutes or until set, turning pan once for even baking. Yield: 6 muffins

Sacred Corn Used by Navajo Code Talker

Unidentified American Indian Marine uses a “Walky-Talky”
to send communications in the South Pacific, November 1943

During World War II Navajo "Code-Talkers" developed a special code based on their native language. The code talkers served with bravery and distinction and were critical to the success of American forces. In an interview with the National Museum of the American Indian Navajo Code Talker Sam Tso who fought at Iwo Jima spoke of praying with corn.

"Before we hit the beach, the uh, officer on that ship he tell us to pray in your own belief. Me I just took out my corn powder as I was told by our medicine man and then pray. So, I think some of the kids join me to pray."

Sam Tso, Navajo Code Talker:
National Museum of the American Indian interview, 2004

Learn more about Sam Tso at:
The Sad Red Earth

Grain of the Gods

Hopi Woman Grinding Corn, Adam Clark Vroman

gelatin silver print, 1897,
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

One thing ice age hunting magic and later agricultural fertility rituals have in common is the central importance of food. Hunters relied on the shaman’s uncanny perception to secure a successful hunt. In the corn grower’s world the grain itself is considered sacred.

Corn as we know it today was slowly domesticated in the Valley of Mexico between 10,000 and 6,000 years ago. The name of its wild ancestral variety, teosinte, literally means “grain of the Gods”. As corn became domesticated it lost its ability to survive as a wild plant but also became a more palatable and a more valuable food source. From a tiny ear a few inches long with only a few kernels encased in hard shells it was selected over time to produce the plump juicy ears of corn we know today. 1

Corn remains influential in the spiritual traditions of the American Southwest. The Hopi prepare prayer-meal called Hooma from coarsely ground white maize. It is rubbed on the hands before handling sacred objects and is sprinkled on altars and shrines. The substance is considered sacred and is used for purification and as a vehicle to carry spiritual intentions. 2

1. Nicolle Ranger Fuller, National Science Foundation

2. Hopi Indian Altar Iconography by Armin W. Geertz

Teisinte - Modern Corn

John Trudell - Spirit Healer

John Trudell
“He is extremely eloquent therefore extremely dangerous.”
- The F.B.I.

My own financial insecurity coupled with the employment suggestions of my dentist’s assistant had me so depressed I could barely breathe. Then I started listening to John Trudell. Trudell is a Native American activist, poet and visionary. First, I watched the documentary film, Trudell by Heather Rae. Trudell was a spokesperson for the American Indian Movement in the 1970s. He has since become a visionary spoken-word artist greatly admired by the likes of Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and Robert Redford.

Then, I downloaded Trudell’s spoken-word chant song, Shaman (Make a Chant) on the album AKA Graffiti Man. It is available from itunes. I have been listening to it repeatedly. I feel much better now. I do not know if this is shamanic healing but my spirit was feeling crushed and John Trudell gave it a life force transfusion.

“Shaman gonna make a chant a chant a chant
Healing in a song a song a song
Shaman gonna make a chant a chant a chant
See who you are you are you are
Shaman gonna make a chant a chant a chant
Listen to your heart your heart your heart.”

A short excerpt from Shaman (Make a Chant)
on the album AKA Graffiti Man.

The Second American Religion

Centeotl - Aztec Corn God

The first American religion was the shamanic hunting magic brought from the north by the ice age hunters. The second American religion came up from the valley of Mexico to the south. This younger spiritual tradition was an agricultural religion based on the cultivation of maize. Unlike the the hunting and gathering band's reliance on one or two shaman to interpret the spirit world the agriculturalists developed priesthoods and cults. Theirs was a ceremonial religion based on the fertility of the land. These two forms of religious expression intermingled for centuries among the tribes that populated the North American continent. Remnants of both survive in numerous variations throughout Native North American spiritual traditions.

reference: Atlas of the North American Indian by Carl Waldman

Blue Corn Maiden (Pueblo) by Gilbert Atencio

The Tuva Connection

Tuva: Shamans and Spirit

Presented by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies

Violently repressed for almost 50 years during the Soviet era, shamanism is experiencing an enthusiastic revival in the Russian region of Tuva, (between Mongolia and Siberia). This currant revival may be the closest contemporary example of America’s earliest religion or for that matter humankind’s most ancient spiritual practice. Photographer, Yann Mingard describes Tuvan shamanism… “According to the shamanic worldview, the world is divided into two realms, the real and the invisible, the latter being a projection of the real world inhabited by spirits whose actions influence the life of humans. Shamans are believed to have the power to see the invisible world and communicate with spirits. Some work in 'shamanic clinics' and have clients from all over the world. Other shamans prefer to live surrounded by nature, which they worship over all other things, working alone and receiving clients in their home, according to ancient traditions.”

Tuva Shaman Healing Ritual
Yann Mingard for Time

Meanwhile back in the USA, I ordered Sandra Ingerman’s audio book, Beginner’s Guide to Shamanic Journeying from Sounds True. Ingerman is the educational director for the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and teaches about Shamanism throughout the world. On the Beginner’s Guide she gives an overview and then introduces the listener to the technique of “journeying” or entering non-ordinary reality to solve problems and contact spirit helpers.

Laying on my bed listening to it I began to drift in and out of dream states when I had a surprising… dream? vision? that woke me with a little jolt. I was riding a winged horse through a night sky filled with stars and planets… I was surprised. I’ve been asking to find my spirit animal. I was thinking maybe a frog would hop into my consciousness but my fleeting vision seemed like something out of Narnia or Harry Potter. A Pegasus? My first reaction was, “oh no”. It was too much like the little girl’s toy, my little pony.” But Ingerman says not to dismiss anything that comes. So I haven’t. Pegasus carried thunderbolts for Zeus. The Tibetan version of a flying horse, the Windhorse represents power swift as the wind. Now, I find myself whispering to my Spirit Pony. Thumbing through a catalog at work I found this poster by the Cree Artist George Littlechild. It captures the feeling of my dream vision.

Look Back to the Land by George Littlechild
Poster available from Native Northwest