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World peace and prayer day: White Buffalo Calf Woman promised to return Grey Horn Butte (Devil’s Tower), in the Black Hills of Wyoming, is of special significance to the Lakota Sioux people because near it they received the rituals of their religion. Their legend concerns a Messiah figure who came at a time when the people were in great suffering. She is called the White Buffalo Calf Woman, and when she came she brought a pipe made of the leg bone of a buffalo calf. When she gave the pipe to the people, she said that it would be their way to pray to God, to ask for help when in trouble, to give thanks and praise. She taught them seven rituals which are still in practice today. So began for them a new relationship with the world of spirit. Legend says that, before she left, the wakan (holy) woman promised to return. As she walked away she turned into a buffalo that changed into four different colors — red, black, yellow, and white — colors which represent the races of humanity. The birth of four white buffalo calves in our own era symbolizes for the Native Americans the return of the White Buffalo Calf Woman (see accompanying text). They say she has come to unify the races and help in the healing of the earth. Over the generations the original pipe has been given into the keeping of one worthy person. Arvol Looking Horse, a Lakota Sioux spiritual leader, is the 19th Generation Keeper of the Pipe. In this function it is his task to be a caretaker of the Mother Earth, to bring her honor and respect by continuing the ceremonial traditions of his ancestors. On 21 June l996, 3,000 people gathered at Grey Horn Butte to pray for global unity and the healing of the earth. This World Peace and Prayer Day was inspired by the vision of Arvol Looking Horse. In preparation for the day he contacted world leaders and indigenous groups on all continents, asking them to pray, at the same time, in their own sacred centers. Looking Horse said: "According to spiritual leaders and Elders ... the ‘signs’ of indigenous people’s prophecies have shown themselves. The prophecies tell us it is time to begin mending the Sacred Hoop and begin global healing by working towards world peace and harmony.... The birth of the White Buffalo Calf lets us know that we are at a crossroads — either return to balance or face global disaster. It is our duty to return back to the sacred places and pray for world peace. If we don’t do this our children will suffer." For some of those gathered on the summer solstice, the journey to Grey Horn Butte had begun on 3 May in Wahpeton, Saskatchewan, Canada, where 80 trail riders had begun a 1,200 kilometer journey to Wyoming called the Unity Ride. Its purpose was to unify tribes which had been torn apart by artificial boundaries, cultural destruction, and internal disharmony. Some who made the ride were the Bundle Keepers, those given the responsibility of care for the sacred objects of their religion. Ceremonies were held at sacred sites along the way. The ceremony On the day of the ceremony people from many cultures and nations gathered in a circle around the sacred bundles. Arvol Looking Horse led the trail riders in a preliminary rite, the White Buffalo Dance. A tribal Elder with a shaggy buffalo mask entered first to bless the sacred ground. The ceremonial pipe, the chanunpa, was offered to Tunkashila, the Father Spirit. There were prayers to the four directions, to the earth and to the sky. Long chants became hypnotic, the words circling around to the trilling refrain of the Indian women. From Tibet, the Noble Princess of Kartze Ozang recited a prayer to the Wind Horse. She mingled the Tibetan names of Padmasambhava and Avalokitesvara with those of the native deities. One could hear, from time to time, the piercing cry of a hawk, or see an eagle ride the wind. In the end all were invited to offer their individual prayer bundles, their private petitions to the spirit world. After the ritual, the microphone was available for two more hours for anyone to share a song, a thought, or a prayer. Arvol Looking Horse, in deep reverence on this day, came briefly to the microphone and addressed the gathering: "Today we have come together, not to talk, but to pray. This gathering is for global healing, because no one person can do it. Today it doesn’t matter what you believe or where you come from — but the prayers must come together. We need each other. "Today the message of peace must be delivered. I have prayed with many world leaders for peace on Mother Earth and I know that a lot of good people are coming here today, people with good hearts and good minds. "Today we are coming together in awareness and knowledge of our sacred sites. When people have been praying at these sacred places for many generations, we know that the sacred energy is there. Today there are a lot more people who have been feeling that energy. If we pray from our heart in a respectful manner, that’s where the healing begins — it’s called natural law, the gift of life the Great Spirit has shown us; it’s going to bring balance in its own way. "We remember the stories foretold by our ancestors — these are going to carry our children into the generations that are coming. It is up to us today to carry this message. We have a lot of prophesies from 100 years ago that are happening today. That is why we made this journey, because we know the power of prophesies. Crazy Horse predicted that in the seventh generation many horses of different colors would gather at a sacred place. Black Elk said that in the seventh generation the mending of the sacred hoop would happen. "We are trying to get this knowledge of our ancestors back to the people because we are in the seventh generation today, when once again we turn a page in history. Already we have signs that show us — the birth of the white buffalo calf. Today people are caught up in anger, hatred, jealousy and confusion. They carry so much pain that they are striking out. But ceremonies like the one we will do here will heal that pain and show us how to find inner peace. "We need to get the message of respect and honor to all nations upon the earth — to carry that message of peace and non-violence. Our families are suffering, our children are suffering, but prayers of peace can reach all nations. Today we pray so that people all over the world can have the balance of life. From this day we hope to see some changes throughout the world." White buffalo calf — a good omen In 1933 a white buffalo calf was born in Colorado, and in 1994 another one, named Miracle, was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, on the ranch of Dave and Valerie Heider. Thousands of people of many different faiths have visited Miracle, testifying that her birth is a call for all races to come together to heal the earth and solve our mutual problems. On 9 May of this year, a silvery-white buffalo calf named Medicine Wheel was born at the ranch of Joe Merrival on the Pine Ridge reservation of South Dakota. Another white calf, Rainbow, had been born in the same herd on 27 April. It died 25 hours later of scours, a diarrhea-type condition. The birth of a white buffalo calf is seen by the Native Americans as the most significant of prophetic signs, equivalent to the weeping statues, bleeding icons, and crosses of light that are becoming prevalent within the Christian churches. Just as the Christian faithful who attend these signs see them as a renewal of God’s ongoing relationship with humanity, so do the Native Americans see the white buffalo calf as a sign to begin to mend life’s sacred hoop. The recent births were surrounded by controversy. Some have suggested that the calf is a beefalo, a buffalo and beef cattle mix. Some have accused Mr Merrival of genetic engineering. The odds of the birth of a white buffalo are estimated as 6-10 million to one. In response, he says that there is little probability of mixed parentage and none whatsoever of genetic manipulation. Mr Merrival, who is of Oglala Sioux ancestry, thinks the birth of Medicine Wheel is a great gift that must now be used to try and help as many people as possible. His son Darrin thinks that the calf was sent to us to unify the nation. James Dubray, a medicine man, said: "Our young people need it the most. They need to have hope. They need to have a future. And this will help. This place has been chosen as the starting point for the healing process to begin." Floyd Hand Looks For Buffalo, an Oglala medicine man, has commented: "Here is a man, a poor farmer, who has been kind to animals all his life, and now there is a white buffalo calf here. These are omens, and they are happening in the most unexpected place among the poorest people in the country. They are good omens, if we pay attention to them. For us, this would be something like coming to see Jesus lying in the manger." When asked whether the birth of the latest calf was a sign, Benjamin Creme replied: "Yes indeed, it is a sign. The important ones are the last two. These were created with the influence of the Masters." More articles by Bette Stockbauer Who is Maitreya? |