The Rainbow Warrior
By Ethan Indigo Smith
… “We will be known
forever by the tracks we leave.” ~ Dakota proverb
If you are supportive of institutions over individuals, then
you better not read this. If you disregard The Native American Rule of Seven
Generations, then maybe this article is not for you. If the phrase “fuck war”
irritates you because of its ‘foul’ language and not because humanity is still
struggling with the devastation of institutional conflict, then I suggest you
look for other reading material more appropriate to your refined sensibilities.
If you support war as a political means, if you support the idea that peace can
only be achieved by force, if you support the profitable status quo upheld by
the Demoncats and the Republicons (or whatever leftwing/rightwing paradigm you
currently are under) then move on. If you oppose the notion of real change, of
social revolution (just as you’ve been taught to) then you might as well stop
right here. If, on the other hand, this sentiment inspires you, if the foulness
of war makes such expletives as “fuck war” seem a reasonable use of language,
then I hope you’ll read on.
The Wendigo War World
The Native Americans saw the European newcomers as being
spiritually afflicted. There were probably many descriptions for this craze,
but one that survived is Wendigo. Roughly translated, the word ‘Wendigo’ means
‘the evil spirit that devours mankind’. Native Americans believe that when a
person consumes the flesh of another human being, he or she is overcome by evil
spirits and transformed into a Wendigo, a creature with glowing eyes, long
yellowed fangs, long tongues and penetrating claws. A human infected with the
Wendigo devours the proverbial or actual flesh/life force of other people,
places and things with an insatiable hunger. Cumulatively, a human race
infected with the Wendigo poses a far greater problem…
“If we dig precious things from the land we
will perish.” ~
Hopi Prophecy
Whether taken literally or figuratively, the story of the
Wendigo holds many lessons for our society today. We live in a Wendigo
war-world, a place where force dominates and an insatiable appetite for income
and stuff is considered a quality – and indeed, a necessary – characteristic. Wendigos
want. Always hungry, they are never satisfied, and never have enough. It leads
one to destroy its own home. You cannot fight a Wendigo, for it is made up of
colorless evil, and fighting it only feeds it. Endlessly digging, the ravenous
Wendigo can only be confronted with open hands and open heart. Only by sharing
can it be defeated.
Two-Heartedness
The Hopi People of Arizona eloquently described this
predicament when they encountered institutionalized individuals for the first
time. They referred to the institutionalized Europeans who arrived on their
shores as ‘two hearted’, as they recognized that those who succumb to greed and
ego, who lose the conscious connection that can only exist in the moment, had a
second ‘heart’ to feed – one that could never be satisfied. We can see this
two-heartedness in every aspect of our society today: literally devouring
everything before it, our culture constantly seeks but seldom finds
fulfillment.
“When a man moves away from nature, his
heart becomes hard.” ~ Lakota proverb
We live today in a sea of pollution and systemic corruption.
We have created a culture of separation based only on ‘masculine’ ideals,
forsaking and even undermining the ‘feminine’ virtues of sustainability,
individuality, co-operation, community and nurturing. Now women join the
perverted masculine military, as long as they get equal pay… We celebrate
battles, victories and war heroes, instead of healers, peacemakers, pacifists
and progressive thinkers, artists and poets. We yield our power to institutions
that blatantly value competition, conformity, war, profit and power over
equality, peace, diversity, advancement and solution — and we allow them to
determine for us the options and directions available in our lives without ever
holding them accountable to that abuse of power. And by this two-heartedness,
we have collectively lost our way.
The Heart of the Rainbow Warrior
The rainbow is the opposite of colorless evil. A rainbow is
made from clarity and also is a reflection of every color. A rainbow is
symbolic for omnipotent grace in its clarity and its ability to equally reflect
all seven colors. A rainbow represents no thing and all things at the same
time. Diamonds share this quality of clarity and ability to reflect. A Rainbow
Warrior is like a diamond rainbow, clear but reflecting all colors, opposite of
unclear evil and colorlessness.
In order to be a Rainbow Warrior, one sheds two-heartedness
and stops feeding the Wendigo. One stops choosing colors, sides, nations,
flags, and all manner of institutional reflections. When one resides in one’s
own heart, without impulses to speak for, act on behalf of or feed a second
institutional heart, one clears oneself of the institutional mediation of the
Wendigo world. Free of institutional allegiance, Rainbow Warriors represent all
colors, all individuals, all beings. They celebrate – and when required, defend
– the sanctity of all life and creation. But instead of a wielding a sword, the
Rainbow Warrior has a clear heart, a sharp mind, and open hands, creating
change through peaceful procedure. Rainbow Warriors have their hearts in the
right place, as well as having their hearts placed right to cause thoughtful
and peaceful change.
“When I was
ten years of age I looked at the land and the rivers, the sky above, and the
animals around me and could not fail to realize that they were made by some
great power. I was so anxious to understand this power that I questioned the
trees and the bushes. It seemed as though the flowers were staring at me, and I
wanted to ask them “Who made you?” I
looked at the moss-covered stones; some of them seemed to have the features of
a man, but they could not answer me. Then I had a dream, and in my dream one of
these small round stones appeared to me and told me that the maker of all was
Wakan Tanka, and that in order to honor Him, I must honor His works in nature.
The stone said that by my search I had shown myself worthy of supernatural
help. It said that if I were curing a sick person I might ask its assistance,
and that all the forces of nature would help me work a cure.” ~
Tatanka-ohitika, Brave Buffalo
Individuation Without Institution
The American Indians lived in harmony with their environment
for millennia, however there was occasional disharmony among the peoples of
Turtle Island. Tribes battled each other at times, but never on the mass scale
of European wars. Their culture remained grounded in the masculine and feminine
in equal measure, undistorted by the hyper-masculine colonialism of the
Europeans, and so disputes between tribes were actually settled. In fact, the
term ‘bury the hatchet’ comes from the Iroquois legend that celebrated the
peacemaker who brought together the five nations under the pine tree of peace:
During a time when people became unthankful, there was war
in every village. A vicious cycle of war and revenge spun out of control to the
point that no one really knew what the fight was about anymore. A child was
born to a virgin, and when he grew up he traveled to all the nations to
convince them to unite in peace. After a time, he was able to bring the people
together and convinced them to literally bury their weapons under a white pine
tree and symbolically bury their hatred and vengefulness. He also tied together
arrows from each tribe to represent their unity as one. Today our world is very
much in a state where we have forgotten what we’re fighting about. We live
vengefully, fearfully, hard-heartedly, continuing on a downward spiral of
oligarchical collectivism and war that began long before any of us were born.
To most of us, the very idea of tying our figurative arrows together in unity
with foreigner individuals and institutions seems laughable — the dream of
idealists. And yet whether it is prejudice of individual of nation, as who does
that sentiment benefit, and who does it cost. We do have the power to make
peace…
A Little Green Revolution
True social revolution begins at the bottom, not the top. It
is up to Rainbow Warriors to make peace, be peace and spread peace. It is time
to demand an end to war! It is time we began to heal Earth Mother and her
inhabitants from generations of separation, conflict and destruction. We are
everywhere, and we are more common than we have been led to believe. And there
is no time to spare: without a groundswell of forgiveness, compassion and
unity, there will be no healing, and without healing, there will be no
revolution, and without revolution there will be no peace.
“When the earth is ravaged and the animals
are dying, a new tribe of people shall come unto the earth from many colors,
classes, creeds and who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green
again. They will be known as the warriors of the rainbow.” ~ Native American
Prophecy
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