Eagle Feather Falling

Distant rattles
Singing in pebbly voices
Dancing in ancient rhythms
Drawing me
Drawing me
Into and through
Great Spirit's Sandpainting:
A sacred rendez-vous.

The Old Man sits,
Tosses some sticks,
Nods,
While he watches them land…
Takes a feather to smudge
What Fate cannot budge,
Nods again,
And wipes off his hands.

Sandstone echoes
weave the sunlight
into a Ancient tapestry...
Who calls me here?
and where is laid
the Path of my own Destiny?

I stood on the mountain’s ledge
and watched the rainbow’s arc
Crossing the thirsty valley,
traversing the stormy dark,
When, sudden, before my eyes,
it twisted within the air
Spiraling on its own…
a cosmoglyphic flare…
And became the mystic Rainbow
that I was meant to ride
With hawks to guide my passage
and lightning bolts inside:
Sand-painting on the Heavens
– a template of Great Spirit—
Let all who see, now understand,
and all who ask, now hear it.

A rustling in the brush
A whispering of voices
Ancient Ones, Council Ones
The kind that reach out
from Sacred sandpaintings...
Soft, gravelly murmurings
on the edge of the Path...
Hands touching my shoulders
Words my heart can hear:
"Step up to the Sacred Highway
--the Spirit Path--
--the Heyokah Rainbow--
Come with us...
It is time."

I see the Rainbow Spirit
whene'er I close my eyes:
swirling, drawing, beckoning,
speaking in disguise:
"I can draw your Circle;
I can touch the Sand,
and help you paint the Prophecy
upon the Sacred Land."

Rainbow-Spirit comes
weaving from my hands
to touch Earthmother's Hoop
with mystic Painted Sands,
as if Great Spirit's healing
were channeled through my Ray,
and the Medicine so drawn
preserved the Sacred Way.

A Vision of a Medicine bowl
manifested upon the ground,
while - facing East to greet the Sun -
I sat within my Round...
I watched the Bowl be filled somehow
with Water, pure and clear;
and, then, as Sunrise touched the Earth...
the whole thing disappeared.

Mesa
Rain
Dance
Water spiraling down
from upraised palms
to muddy toes;
An intimate exchange
of Rain and Shamaness
of Earth and Windsbreath
of a sheltered Crow;
We are One -
We are the Dance:
Dance on -
There is nothing more.

Ho! Grandmother, as I sit at your knee,
please show me the Weavings of Prophecy;
the Warp of the Path, the Weft of Great Spirit,
the Voice of the Wind, and the Truth as you hear it;
the Tapestry of Sand that my hands seek to free;
the Rainbows that guard this Space around me;
Show me, Grandmother, the Way of the Ark,
the Web of my Destiny, the Anchor of my Spark;
Show me the Dance that Wovoka once knew,
but this time done proper, so the Dream will come true;
Honor, Grandmother, from your Daughter of Light,
may a sacred Wind carry you upon every Flight.

The clouds have sent the stars away
-- the moon is but a glow --
The wind wraps darkness 'round the cliffs,
and breathes into my soul;
I stand upon the Eagles' Rock
--at one with all the night --
its cool soft voice cuts through my fears,
and clears my Inner Sight.

I carry Thunder in my pouch
and Lightning in my eyes;
My hands weave worlds of light and dark,
and calm the stormy skies;
I stand upon the Mesa top -
my heart, the Earth's own drum -
And as the beat grows strong and sure,
I know I am the One.

There are times
when I have dared the Lightning,
Standing still upon the Eagle’s rock;
And there are times,
when seeking Higher Power,
I have learned to take a wiser Walk.

Behold the key in “kiva”,
and listen, if you can
to hear the Ancient secret
that reveals the Higher Land.

Sandstone echoes weave the sunlight
into a Ancient tapestry...
Who calls me here?
and where is laid the Path
of my own Destiny?

Painted patterns in the sand,
spiral etchings laid by hand,
draw me to the Ancient land
...I hear a Shaman call...
Distant rattles call my name,
Mystic drummings draw my flame,
I know I cannot be the same
...I must release it all...

Wolf-song
rises from the canyon,
shares its power with the moon;
Shadow
through the pinyons
the Wolf weaves calmly
the night as his cocoon.

The hawk flies to the mesa...
she knows the home she seeks
she listens to the Wind's song
and believes the Truth it speaks...
Touch me; take me with you -
it's mine to make the choice;
it's mine to see your vision;
it's mine to hear your voice.

Nightwind comes now
on tip-toe feet,
whiskers whispering
across my hands and face,
less than a shadow
moving with the moon...
Nightwind comes now,
what does it seek?

See, here,
how the Earth
cups her hands
and holds the River;
She brings a Stillness
and a Deepness
to the River's wandering soul.

I watch the Sun
gather in his children,
'til darkness prowls untouched
and the moon
sings through the canyon.

Grass dancer:

I step...
and weave...
and quietly pass...
like summer wind
through prairie grass;
I dance the hunt,
dressed as the wheat,
and let the drums
talk to my feet.

The Dance begins...
and I become
the dance
the song
the hoop
the drum.

Some other place
some other time
the drums have sent my bones -
I hear the ancient war cry,
and answer with my own;
I feel no one beside me
--the drums and I are one--
the Dance ignites my passion
--My blood burns as the Sun.

Spiral into the smoke,
what Vision do you see,
what prophecy calls the Wind
to weave with your destiny?
Spiral into the smoke,
the drums will mark your trail;
Dance til you are the Vision,
and know you cannot fail.

Drums...
distant urgent beat-
a few ears turn,
a few mouths speak:
"It's not on our list
of accepted calls -
it isn't registered,
after all.."
Drums...
a distant, urgent Gift
"The Turtle wakens -
Dance to the Shift;
tis Wakan come
to share His meat..."
but only children
hear His beat.

Giveaway to Nancy Red Cloud
Lakota drums are calling
Like buffalo on the plains
Drumbeat of the Earth heart
In South Dakota rains;
My feet move to the chanting
My feathers make me fly
My heart leaps to be dancing
Neath the South Dakota sky...
......Lakota drums
......Lakota drums
......My heart is in your Song:
......A Sacred beat
......That calls my feet
......Back where they belong.
Lakota drums are calling
Like thunder in the hills
And though I must be leaving,
My soul is dancing still;
No matter where I journey
My heart and feet remain
Within the Dancing Circle
Til I come home again.

Blue Corn Woman is coming.
Blue Corn Woman is coming in.
Blue Corn Woman is coming and singing.
Blue Corn Woman is coming and singing in the Wind.



The Earth is humming, too,
chanting with the Crow Mother -
a deeper humming that resonates in my bones;
The day is awakening, too,
rising anew, in the Changing -
a purer harmony that sings among the stones.


Sing the sun to rising!
Sing the day to come!
Katsinas are revising
the Way the Weave is spun...
Sing the moon to setting!
Sing her lullaby!
The Change is now abetting
the Shifting of the Sky.


Crow speaks of chaos in the Change:
of Stars that move and re-arrange -
of Sea and Sand that trade their Homes -
of Lightning Shifts of Fire and Stone.


Stones whisper
Third Mesa sighs
Lizards watch
Crow Mother cries;
Children run
Coyote spins
Lightning flashes
The Change begins.


Here, in these footprints,
do you see your own?
...ancient engravings
...echoes in stone;
Here, in these weavings,
do you see your rhyme?
...sentient tapestry
...ripple in time.


Call not in fear, but listen well
within the stories that they tell,
for knowledge and Knowing come from the same Source,
and all dreams are One Dream within that Force.


Too long, the thirsting of the Land;
Too deep, the shifting of the Sand;
Too soft, the Flute's insistent Call;
Too late, the rains have come to fall.


Taste the Song upon the Air
- Feel it, touch it, breathe it;
Hear the Coming of the Heir
- Can you dare believe it?


A breath of Spirit
calls me near,
calls me to enter
a Door of woven threads;
A whisper of Earth
calls me here,
calls me to center
where my Path has led.


Full Moon softly lights the Sky,
preparing for the Dance;
Morning Sun will soon arise,
responding to the Chants;
Crow Mother gently walks the Trail,
holding her basket near -
Her sacred Beans, just like the Grail,
renew the Land each year.


I stand and listen to the sound
that brushes and rushes along the ground,
calling to every sacred Clan:
the Time of Crow Mother comes as planned!
Come bless the Way, and what She holds;
Receive the Beans whose Life unfolds
to Those who plant them, right and strong,
in Harmony with the Earth's own Song.


She allowed me to come,
to approach where She stood;
She allowed me to take
the Beans that I could;
She allowed me to feel
such Power in Her Song;
She allowed me to share,
and so, to belong.


Strong and gentle, like a summer Stream,
She drew me into a sacred Dream,
and down a Path into a Place
that held a mystic sun-lit space,
where Women - humming ancient Chants -
prepared a Rite for me to dance:
"The Time has come", They said to me,
"to purify your Energy.
Let go your Roots and thought-filled mind;
Become a mute - both deaf and blind;
Drink from the Grail within your Soul;
Dance til the Fire makes you whole.
No matter, here, what hue your skin -
the Truth is singing from within;
So trust the Dream and trust the Trail -
Trust yourself-- you will not fail."
And then I woke to find that I
still stood beneath a dawning sky,
with moon and sun in full array -
while She walked, chanting, on Her Way.

(Bean Dance Ceremony - Hotevilla - 2/7/2004)

Wolf Katsina Guardian-
Protector: you appear
beside me in the Darkness
and walk - in silence - near;
my mind holds you in reverence
my heart is reassured
that you would guard a Stranger
with the Truth of Spirit's Word.

Mother Crow Katsina
You greet me on the day
You send me hope
You send me love
You send me on my way...
And I'm doing ok,
Yeah, I'm doing ok.

In the early morning
When I'm not thinking right
You keep me safe
You keep me warm
You keep me in your Light...
And I'm doing ok,
Yeah, I'm doing ok.

Mother Crow Katsina
I honor all you've done
You bring me corn
You bring me beans
You bring the morning sun...
And I'm doing ok,
Yeah, I'm doing ok.

Lyrics: Dev Young
Tune: Jimmy Buffet's "Mother Ocean"