How,the,Hopi,Create,Their,Worl DIY How the Hopi Create Their World

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God gives food to every bird, but does not throw it into thenest. -Montenegrin Proverb"Do you hear that?" I whispered to my friend Tobias."No, what?" he answered under his breath."Drumming. The sound of soft, distant drumming.""No, but I see a faint glow over there by the cliff. Like asmall fire. A vague, flickering light cast against the rock face."My friend Tobias and I love to explore old Indian ruins inArizona's desert canyons and mesas. Our favorite ones are thesecluded, out-of-the-way remains not normally visited by otherpeople. These remnants of a bygone civilization are quiet,dreamy and somewhat desolate. Many of the aged, abandonedfortresses and homes are over a thousand years old. Thesetimeworn vestiges of ancestral life are extremely serene-andmystical. When Tobias and I sit and meditate within their erodedwalls, we often see a dim, blurry campfire, or hear subtle,muffled, elusive drumming, chanting or the sound of childrenplaying. Experiencing visual and auditory glimpses of thedistant past is enthralling to us and serves to heighten ourinterest in learning more about the ancient ones who lived inthe American Southwest so long ago.One day, while exploring a windy, arid, remote mesa in the highnorthern desert of Arizona, Tobias and I happened upon anAnazazi Indian ruin with several partial dwellings stillstanding. The crumbling abodes were awash in relics of antiquity.Delighted to find a site that obviously hadn't received manyvisitors over the years, we dropped to our hands and knees, andsifted through the dirt for artifacts to help us understand thelong-departed residents. Our efforts were rewarded witharrowheads, pottery shards and corncobs preserved by the extremedryness. In the center of this native village is a large ovalpit about sixty feet wide. Surrounded by a wall of verycarefully fitted slate stones, the pit sinks approximately fivefeet into the ground. This submerged ring of stones is called akiva by Native Americans.The structure served as a ceremonial circle for Indian rituals.Spellbound by the aura and electricity we sensed within theceremonial pit, Tobias and I speculated about its history. As wesat on the sun-warmed stones in the kiva, we longed to know thespecific nature and focus of the ancient rituals conducted bythe Anazazi Indians so long ago.The absolute quiet and serenity of the kiva reminded me of apsychology experiment I read about in college. The researchproject revealed a fascinating quality inherent in a vacuum.Relaxing in the ominous silence of the kiva, I related theexperiment to my fellow explorer.Scientists set up a near vacuum in a completely empty room.Installed in this vacuum-sealed room were a speaker and alistening device. From outside the room, one of the researchersspoke distinctly one secret word, known only to him, through thespeaker into the room. The chamber was then locked and sealedfor five years. At the end of the five years, the scientistsreturned. From outside the room, they turned on the highlysophisticated sound sensing equipment to listen to whatever theycould hear from inside the room. The device picked up the secretword spoken into the vacuum five years earlier! The soundvibration of the word was still alive and detectable within thatenvironment after five years.The kiva was almost as still and empty as I imagined a vacuum tobe. It was the kind of quiet that absorbs every sound. Even theintermittent whistling of the wind was consumed by the all-prevailing silence.Sitting in this timeless place, we allowed the tranquility toenvelop us. I sensed the space around us had been this serenefor the last thousand years. That's when the notion came to me.Was it possible that whatever happened in the kiva a millenniumago still exists on some subtle, vibrational level, just likethe sound of the spoken word in the scientists' vacuum? And,like the word, is that vibration accessible and perceivable now?What an exciting concept! I turned to Tobias to share myproposal, "Maybe we could contact whatever occurred in this kivalong ago. Perhaps even hear part of a ceremony."Tobias caught my enthusiasm. Blond, blue-eyed and innocent,Tobias had the adventurous curiosity of his Norse forebears. Hewas as anxious as I to see if such a feat was possible. We wereflush with excitement. We were on a mission to connect with thekindred souls who had preceded us on the planet!We decided to sit quietly inside the circle and open ourselvesto sensing any vibrations remaining from previous activities inthe kiva. The most we expected was something along the lines ofwhat we'd experienced before-a faint vision, a vague mumbling,or, if extremely fortunate, a hazy, dreamlike apparition.After about half an hour, neither of us had picked up any soundor sighting. Then suddenly, to our right sat a Native AmericanIndian-in the flesh! I tentatively reached over lightly touchinghim to make sure he was real. I was taken aback by my discovery."Yes," I nodded to Tobias, "the man is a solid, physical humanbeing. He's not a phantom!"The stoic Indian sat cross-legged on the bare ground. A hundredcanyon-like lines etched his noble, bronze face. He lookedancient, and very sweet and gentle. His soft eyes, quietlysmiling, were so penetrating I kept losing myself in his calm,accepting gaze.A reverent silence engulfed the three of us for a very longwhile. Finally the Indian elder smiled and stated, "You'd liketo know the purpose for which we used this ceremonial circle. Isthat not right?"We had not expected a living tour guide and eagerly bobbed ourheads up and down to indicate "yes"-a thousand times "yes!" Henodded, took a long, quiet breath and began our lesson increating abundance:"Many, many moons ago, when the antelope ran free, the buffalograzed across all the land, and my brothers and sisters lived inharmony with each other and Mother Earth, we would meet in thiscircle every fall for the most important ceremony of the wholeyear. This most sacred, vital ritual was attended by the chiefof the tribe, the medicine man, the tribe elders and all ofthose who had achieved the status of a brave-the hunters of thetribe. After many days of purification through chanting,drumming and praying in our sweat lodges, we sat around thiscircle in silence and waited until the Great Spirit honored uswith a vision."Then, one by one, each brave would see and feel the specificanimals they would kill and bring to the village as food for thetribe in the coming year. Each animal's spirit made an agreementwith the warrior who would be killing the animal. For a periodof time, their spirits would commune in the beauty and harmonyof their shared intention. In this time-honored way, the warriorwould connect with each bison, antelope and deer that he wouldbe providing for the tribe. When his vision was complete, thebrave announced to the rest of the group what he had seen andexperienced."At this point, the Indian took a full breath and said in a verydeliberate manner:"And on this day, the entire year's food supply for the tribewas created."He stared at us closely to see if we heard his last statement.Satisfied, he continued:"Each warrior waited until he saw, greeted and came to a mutualunderstanding with the spirit of each buffalo, antelope and deerbefore announcing to the circle, 'I will bring so many buffalo,antelope and deer to the tribe in the coming year.' And so itwent until, one by one, each brave met the spirit of each animalthat would come to him to be killed in the next year. One by one,each warrior announced the food they would provide to the tribein the coming year."Again, the venerable, timeworn storyteller paused. With greatpassion, he looked directly into our eyes-first mine, thenTobias'. I have never felt such a piercing gaze. His lookpenetrated the depths of my soul. Dramatically, he drew air intohis lungs. Repeating his message, he declared:"And on this day, the entire year's food supply for the tribewas created."Once again, he waited until he sensed that the import of hiswords was fully absorbed before resuming:"After all the braves had proclaimed the food they would bringfor the coming year, the chief, medicine man and elders wouldbless the ceremony. All would leave the kiva knowing that onthis day, the entire year's food supply for the tribe wascreated."Again, he waited, watching to see if we were fully digesting hislast sentence before speaking again. He continued in a veryemphatic tone:"In the winter when the warriors could not go out huntingbecause there was a blizzard with snow drifts twenty feet high,the chief, medicine man, elders and braves would meet again inthe kiva and wait in silent, expectant meditation. Soon, fromthe wind-swept prairie and the snow-covered plateaus would comea bison, a deer or an antelope. On its own, the animal wouldfind its way into the tribal encampment and then into the kivacircle. The creature would stand in the center of the circleuntil it recognized the brave with whom it had made a spiritagreement. Then the animal would walk over to the warrior, standright in front of him, and calmly allow itself to be killed in avery quick and painless way. The creature gave itself up to thebrave, as previously agreed in the kiva, so that the peoplewould have food during the harsh, winter months. For, on thatspecial day the previous fall, the entire year's food supply forthe tribe had been created."It wasn't until the Indian told us about the animals coming intothe circle in the winter and recognizing the warriors with whomthey had an agreement that Tobias and I finally realized whatthe Indian was telling us. And at the exact moment we got thepoint of the story, the old man disappeared in front of our eyes.Not believing our vision, we scanned the kiva quickly, thinkinghe must have been a very fast escape artist. It was thirty feetto the edge of the circle and neither of us saw him leave. Hevanished the second we understood his message!Driving back to Phoenix later that day, Tobias and I discussedour shared encounter at great length. We agreed the Indian wastelling us something far more important than how the Hopi usedto create food for a year. He was opening a gateway for us tounderstand how creation itself works.The message Tobias and I received in the kiva was simple, yetprofound: the power to create lies in the Present, not in thefuture. Creation happens now when declared with power, heart andstrong intention. Then, that which is created in the Presentunfolds in future time and space according to our mutualagreements with the rest of the living beings of Mother Earth. Article Tags: Entire Year's Food, Year's Food Supply, Five Years, Waited Until, Coming Year, Entire Year's, Year's Food, Food Supply