Circle Of Life 4 June 2020 – Posted in: Reflections – Tags: , , , , , ,

With the summer solstice nearing in the northern hemisphere, Saturday 20 June 2020, it seems fitting to post about a book that I recently read, which spoke about the ‘Sacred Hoop’ [the circle of life] amongst other things.  The solstices and equinoxes always remind me of the circle of life and the seasons revolving.

Black Elk Speaks was written by John G. Neihardt, who spent a lot of time interviewing Black Elk, born in 1863. The story of Black Elk has a deeply spiritual layer where he talks about his spiritual visions, healing and leadership through exceedingly difficult times. I’m sure not all of the true spiritual depths of what Black Elk spoke about were revealed, but there was enough in the book to sing to my soul and to resonate through my being to embrace the philosophy imparted. Black Elk was from the Oglala Sioux (Lakota) people – nomads in the upper North Americas, now regionalised as North and South Dakota, USA. Mentioned in the book is a place now known as the Bad Lands. It is a place I have visited in the last few years and helped bring the story to life through its landscape.

A book of many layers, inspiring the soul spiritually on one hand and describing the dramatic change to the Native way of life in the late 1800’s on the other.

I wonder just how much of the depth of philosophy has survived from all the native people of the Americas. In this blog, I am going to share with you some of the ways of life and spiritual beliefs of the time Black Elk spoke of in the book and a little about how it resonates with me. I am hoping the interpretation I will speak about here will inspire you, or speak to your soul, encouraging you to delve deeper into other ancient philosophies of other times and cultures. Certainly, the layers of meaning will depend on your own understanding and how much you resonate with it, contemplate, and embrace it into your current knowledge, beliefs, and truths.

Generally, we often compare the cycle of life to the seasons of nature. Spring – birth, Summer – youth, Autumn – older & wiser and Winter into elderly years and the inevitable – death! However, Black Elk described the philosophy of his time by the directions of North, South, East and West, correlating with the elements as based on life in the northern hemisphere, and, more importantly, how all life flows in a circle. His people held sacred the Nations Hoop (Sacred Hoop) which has more to it than is written here.

Everything an Oglala Indian does is in a circle.

“It is because the Power of the world always works in circles and everything tries to be round.”

“Everything in the world is in a circle… the earth is round, the sky (was perceived by them as) round. The stars are round. The wind in its greatest power whirls around. Birds make the nests in circles. The sun comes and goes in a circle as does the moon, and they are round [!] The seasons form great circles by going around [and repeating]”.

Black Elk and his people talked about the life of man as a circle from childhood to childhood.  They saw death as a new beginning, a new childhood.

Black Elk when speaking about things being circular, said, their Tepees were round and always set in a circle.

The directions were perceived in a circle and called the four quarters as follows: Black Elk said “East gives peace and light. South, warmth. West, rain. North, cold and mighty winds to give strength and endurance. This knowledge comes from the ‘outer world’ (spirit).

According to Black Elk, and I am paraphrasing here and no doubt there is more to this philosophy than is described, man enters life from the south, coming from light, the south is perceived as the source of life. Moving to the West, represents mans’ life advancing, it is also where the ‘Thunder Beings’ live to send rain. The cooler north is when the white hairs come, the north also represents great white cleansing winds. Then man arrives at the source of light and understanding which is the east, also representing “where light springs from & the morning star lives to give men wisdom.”

Then he returns to where he began (the south) and onto his second childhood, “there to give back his life to all life, and his flesh to the earth whence it came.” The south also representing the power to grow. Perhaps this can be symbolic that man continues as spirit, giving the power to continue to grow after the physical life.

When the people of the Oglala had to move away from their means and manner of life, they were moved to a smaller land space, they felt penned in, especially as they were without horses – going from nomadic to static and living with other people from further afield. On top of which they were put into squares (cabins) to live; none of this made sense to them. Everything about life for them follows the sacred hoop / circle of life as described above. This broke the Oglala peoples’ spirit, the people’s way of life, their being, their philosophy. For them, it broke the sacred hoop.

The more I think about the Oglala’s cycle of life and some of the spiritual meaning they associate with it, I feel a deeper level of spiritual understanding resonating in my soul. I still like the generic symbology of the seasonal philosophy mentioned earlier, Spring = birth. I’m certain more can be gained spiritually by looking at other cultures and/ or times gone by and perhaps by bringing it more into the present somehow, we will reconnect with nature and gain a deeper insight into our true spiritual being.

We cannot stop living in square houses and put up tepees, but perhaps we can embrace some of the teachings into our personal spirituality, soul and consciousness.  Ways of living are constantly changing, look at how we have all had to adapt during the pandemic and lock-down.  Life is evolving, nothing stays the same, so perhaps we should think of life as a spiral instead of a closed circle or hoop.  Many aspects in life go around but it also changes in the guise of progress.