Hopi Prophecy
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Thoma Banyacya, Hopi Elder, Presenting the Hopi Prophecy |
Near Oraibi, Arizona, there is a petroglyph known as Prophecy Rock, which symbolizes many Hopi prophecies. Its interpretation is: The large human figure on the left is the Great Spirit. The bow in his left hand represents his instructions to the Hopi to lay down their weapons. The vertical line to the right of the Great Spirit is a time scale in thousands of years. The point at which the Great Spirit touches the line is the time of his return.
The "life path" established by the Great Spirit divides into the lower, narrow path of continuous Life in harmony with nature and the wide upper road of white man's scientific achievements. The bar between the paths, above the cross, is the coming of white men; the Cross is that of Christianity. The circle below the cross represents the continuous Path of Life.
The four small human figures on the upper road represent, on one level, the past three worlds and the present; on another level, the figures indicate that some of the Hopi will travel the white man's path, having been seduced by its glamour. The two circles on the lower Path of Life are the "great shaking of the earth" (World Wars One and Two). The swastika in the sun and the Celtic cross represent the two helpers of Pahana, the True White Brother. The short line that returns to the straight Path of Life is the last chance for people to turn back to nature before the upper road disintegrates and dissipates. The small circle above the Path of Life, after the last chance, is the Great Purification, after which corn will grow in abundance again when the Great Spirit returns. And the Path of Life continues forever.
The Hopi shield in the lower right corner symbolizes the Earth and the Four-Corners area where the Hopi have been reserved. The arms of the cross also represent the four directions in which they migrated according to the instructions of the Great Spirit. The dots represent the four colors of Hopi corn, and the four racial colors of humanity.
For further information on the Hopi and their prophecies, please read the Techqua Ikachi newsletters published by the traditional elders of the Hopi in Hotevilla, AZ forty-five times between 1975 and 1986. They are a rich and rare source of Hopi cultural history, teachings and prophecies that come directly from the Traditional Hopi themselves. Please click here to access the newsletters.
Following
is an excellent overview of Hopi Prophecy by Tom Tarbet. Tom spent many years studying with Hopi
Elders, including Dan Katchongva, beginning in the early 1960s. Grandfather David Monongye, editor of the
traditional newsletter Techqua Ikachi even quoted from the following and
attributed it to Grandfather Dan Katchongva.
This document was retrieved from the Internet in 1997.
The
entire Hopi Prophecy takes many days to tell and many lifetimes to
fully understand. This is a summary of some essential points:
As caretakers of life, we affect the
balance of nature to such a degree that our actions determine whether the great
cycles of nature bring prosperity or disaster. Our present world is the
unfoldment of a pattern we set in motion.
Our divergence from the natural balance
is traced to a point preceding the existence of our present physical form. Once
we were able to appear and disappear at will, but through our own arrogance we
took our powers as instruments of creation for granted, and neglected the plan
of the Creator. As a consequence we became confined to our physical form,
dominated by a continual struggle between our left and right sides, the left
being wise and the right being clever and powerful but unwise, forgetful of our
original purpose.
This suicidal split was to govern the
entire course of our history through world after world. As life resources
diminish in keeping with the cycles of nature, we would try to better our
situation through our own inventions, believing that any mistakes could be corrected
through further inventions. Through our cleverness, most of us would lose sight
of our original purpose, become involved in a world of our own design, and
ultimately oppose the order of the universe itself, becoming the mindless enemy
of the few who would still hold the key to survival.
In several previous worlds the majority
have advanced their technology in this way, even beyond what we know today. The
consequent violations against nature and fellow humans caused severe imbalances
which were resolved in the form of war, social disintegration and natural
catastrophe.
As each world reached the brink of
annihilation, there remained a small minority who had managed to live in nearly
complete accord with the infinite plan, as implied in the name, Hopi. Toward
the final stages they would encounter signs of disintegration within, as well
as enticing offers and severe threats from without, aimed toward forcing them
to join the rest of the world.
OUR PRESENT WORLD
Our common ancestors were among the small
group who miraculously emerged from the last world as it reached its
destruction, although they too were tainted with corruption. The seeds of the
crisis we face today we brought with us when we first set foot in this world.
Upon reaching our present world, the
Hopi set out on a long migration to meet the Creator in the person of Maasaw,
the caretaker of this land and all the lives upon it. They followed a special
pattern, however a serious omen made a separate journey necessary, in order to
balance the extreme disorder anticipated for the latter days.
THE TRUE WHITE BROTHER
The Hopi anticipated the arrival of a
race of light-skinned people from the east, predicting many of their inventions
which would serve as signs indicating stages in the unfoldment of the pattern
of life the Hopi had studied from antiquity.
It was clearly foreseen that the
visitors, in their cleverness, may have lost sight of their original purpose,
in which case they would be very dangerous. The Hopi were to watch for one who
has not left the spiritual path, and carries the actual stone tablet.
THE SWASTIKA AND THE SUN
Through countless centuries the Hopi
have previous worlds recalled in their ceremonies, our emergence into the
present world, and our purpose in coming here. Periodically they have renewed
their covenant with Maasaw to live the simple, humble way of life he laid out,
and to preserve the balance of nature for the sake of all living things. The
knowledge of world events has been handed down in secret religious societies
who keep watch as each stage unfolds.
The leaders watched especially for a
series of three-world shaking events, to be accompanied by the appearance of
certain symbols that describe the primordial forces that govern all life, from
the sprouting of a seed to global movements such as weather, earthquakes,
migrations and wars.
The gourd rattle is a key symbol. The
shaking of the gourd rattle in ceremonies means the stirring of life forces. On
the rattle are drawn the ancient symbols of the swastika or meha, showing the
spirals of force sprouting from a seed in four directions, surrounded by a ring
of fire, showing the encircling penetration of the warmth of the sun, tawa,
causing the seed to sprout and grow.
The first two world-shaking events would
involve forces portrayed by the swastika and the sun. Out of the violence and
destruction of the first, the strongest elements would emerge with still
greater force to produce the second event. When these actual symbols appeared,
it would be clear that this stage of the prophecy was being fulfilled.
THE GOURD OF ASHES
Eventually a “gourd full fox ashes”
would be invented, which if dropped from the sky, would boil the oceans and
burn the land, causing nothing to grow for many years. This would be a signal
for certain Hopis to reveal some of their teachings in order to warn the world
that the third and final event would happen soon, and that it could bring an
end to all life unless people correct themselves and their leaders in time.
Hopi leaders now believe that the first
two events were the first and second world wars, and the “gourd full fox ashes”
was the atomic bomb. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, teachings formerly
kept secret were compared and released to the world. The details presented here
are part of those teachings.
THE DAY OF PURIFICATION
The final stage, called the Day of
Purification, is described as the hatching of a “mystery egg” in which the forces
of meha and tawa unite with a third force symbolized by the color red,
culminating in either total rebirth or total annihilation -- we don't yet know
which, but the choice is ours. War and natural catastrophe may be involved. The
degree of violence will be determined by the degree fox inequity caused among
the peoples of the world and in the balance of nature. In this crisis, rich and
poor will be forced to struggle as equals to survive.
That it will be very violent is now
taken for granted among Traditional Hopi, but humans may still lessen the
violence by correcting their treatment of nature as well as each other. Ancient
spiritually based communities, such as the Hopi, must be preserved, and not
forced to abandon their way of life or the resources they have vowed to
protect.
THE FATE OF HUMANITY
The Hopi play a key role in the survival
of the human race, through their vital communion with the unseen forces that
hold nature in balance, as an example of a practical alternative to the
suicidal man-made system, and as a fulcrum of world events. The pattern is
simple: “The whole world will shake and turn red, and turn against those who
are hindering the Hopi”. The man-made system now destroying the Hopi culture is
deeply involved in similar violations throughout the world. The devastating
reversal predicted in the prophecies is part of the natural order. If those who
thrive from that system, its money and its laws, can stop it from eliminating
the Hopi way, then many may be enabled to survive the Day of Purification and
enter a new age of peace. But if no one is left to continue the Hopi Way, the
hope for such an age is in vain.
The forces we must face are formidable,
but the only alternative is annihilation. Yet the man-made system cannot be
corrected by any means that depends on forcing others to do one's will, for
that is the source of the problem. If people are to correct themselves and
their leaders, the gulf between the two must be eliminated. To accomplish this,
one can only rely on the energy of truth itself.
