Few Great Spirits were being born to the People, and in their absence shadows crept across the land. Old Ones took their Wisdom into death, for few there were, in those days, to receive it. Lodges stood empty of inspiration, while leaders lacking balance and integrity, and shaman wielding deception and hysteria, rose to move the Peoples’ whims.
It came to pass that the few who still held to the Old Ways gathered secretly to seek new vision. Through many days and nights they dreamed and smoked, prayed and fasted, sweat and chanted together, until their forms were lost and they became one Spirit, surrendered to the direness of their Need.
Then to their Circle came a Woman clothed in rainbows. Her eyes were blue like springtime sky and her body round and full of summer’s promise. But her face was drawn with winter, and blizzards howled behind her voice.
“Too long have you and your People lived in the fierce land of Power, into which your sun is setting,” she told them sternly. “Too long have your leaders vied and paraded, coveting and competing for what is the Birthright of all. Your lust and greed have made you old and impotent, incapable of playful Generosity, and now you blame your poverty on the Great Ones who forsake you.”
They bowed their heads in shame, for none were free of the taint she exposed.
“YOU are the Lights of your People!” she continued more gently. “You yourselves are the Children you seek in vain, lost and blind in a maze of your own creation. Lay down your Weapons and Knowledge now, for they cannot save you. Become again my Children, and place your trust in the strength of your joined hands as you go into the Darkness.
“Your eyes, nor the eyes of your children’s children’s children, shall see no Dawn, for the Night has just begun.”
They cried out, then, and begged her to relent and withdraw her terrible words. Her eyes caressed each face long and lovingly, and the colors swirled and flared around her.
“Fear not,” she said, “for you are born of my own Passion, and most Worthy of all your People. I speak thus not to punish but to honor you, for to you goes the mighty task of Redemption. Your bodies will fall away, but the Circle you make here will abide, and I will stand always at its Center, guiding and protecting you.
“You will see my Promise in the sky and behind your eyes, and hear my voice within the wind. And when the Darkness is at its deepest, I too shall take a body and walk the Earth with you. Together we shall work, saving what we can.
“Cling not to Hope, for there is no hope – and longing for what is not will only weaken you. Find instead the courage of steadfast Certainty. The Dawn WILL come. And you, my beloved Rainbow Warriors, will be there, in majesty you cannot now even imagine.
“The Medicine Wheel must take another turn. So forsake your pride, and woo not Power but the Source of Power. Purify yourselves. Become Impeccable in your diligence. Guard the Seed, and let all else fall away. Walk now the Path of Heart – therein waits the Dawn.”
Holding out her hands in Blessing, she withdrew from them, fading into wavering rainbows that vanished like a mirage in desert heat. They stirred as if awakened from a dream, her words already ebbing from their minds, but leaving them forever changed.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Much of Rainbow Woman’s message was familiar, for these people formed a small but formidable group amongst the leaders of the People, whose traditions had been handed down, mother to daughter, father to son, through countless generations. Their Teachings retained much ancient purity and wisdom, transmitted for the most part silently, from one open heart to another, and their life’s Purpose was to work in harmony with natural forces, revering and protecting the Earth that gave them Life.
Still, their love of the Land and of their People was fierce and possessive; for they were by blood and spirit Guardians, and it was not easy for them to hear Rainbow Woman’s prophesy of desolation. Their hearts raged and protested. Perhaps there was still Hope. Perhaps with greater efforts…. And so, with renewed dedication and attention they focused again on the problem that had originally brought them together.
Their children were few now, and a heaviness lay on the hearts of the Warriors, for in this they sensed an Adversary that their Power could neither bind nor vanquish. So they turned for comfort and guidance to their mothers and lovers, sisters and daughters, inviting the Medicine Women for the first time in memory not only to attend the Council, but to lead it.
“What can you tell us,” they asked, “you who carry and nourish our Seed, of what we may do to heal this wound that weakens us all?”
And the women – shy, hesitant, ready at the first indication of opposition to retreat to the Silence of their Sisterhood – began to speak their Truth.
“Our hearts, too, are oppressed,” they acknowledged, “and the name of the poison is Loneliness. For though you say you seek to prove your love for us by the greatness of your Deeds, while you fight your battles and count your coup and win your Glory, it is we who guard the lodges and care for the young, weak, injured and old. It is we who sleep alone and weep alone, consoled by the skins of animals long dead and cold.
“It is we who feel the pain and deprivation when you in your indulgence are maimed or killed. It is we who sorrow at the birth of each daughter, knowing the sorrow you shall give her, and despair at the birth of each son, knowing that too soon you will tear him from our arms and make him a Man!
“Such is the nature of the Love you give us. It is a cold and fiery thing, and our hearts and wombs are scarred with the bite of its passing, and our spirits are twisted with mistrust and vengefulness. In our pain and loneliness we have become sick cells in the body of the Mother, and can no longer reflect her Love purely.
“So, if you wish to heal the wounds in the Spirit of our People, then seek your women and heal the wounds in our hearts and wombs, that we may again become vessels worthy to bear the Noble. Take us in hand and show us by the dignity and grace of your own example the kind of Warriors you wish us to call into Form. Lavish on us the care you give to your weapons and war horses, and the time and devotion you give to your pursuit of Power.
“Know us for what we are – garlands on the Breast of the Great Mother, sweet Nector of her Body. Drink of us. Eat of us. Let our Love be the Food that grows you strong, straight and free!
The Warriors were troubled by these words, which filled their hearts with strange terror and longing. They withdrew from the lodge to ponder and counsel with one another. Rainbow Woman, and now their own women, had challenged their world, and they were grieved, angry, bewildered.
The women remained silently within the lodge and met one another’s naked eyes. The fear, rage and loneliness that they had for the first time dared to express openly filled the space and pressed them down. The night grew darker. The fire died to embers, and the embers grew cold.
Still they waited. One woman took another’s hand, and the fingers twined and held. Slowly the movement spread around the Circle, and backs long held straight began to bend. The light of the stars traced shimmering tracks on upturned cheeks. A voice began to chant, softly at first and then with increasing strength and fervor.
O Great Mother, let them come
our fathers, our brothers
our sons and our lovers
Help us to be all the Love that they lack –
our fathers, our brothers
our sons and our lovers
Grant us the courage to show them our Need –
our fathers, our brothers
our sons and our lovers
And if there be arrows, be willing to bleed –
our fathers, our brothers
our sons and our lovers
Other voices picked up the rhythm, and bodies swayed together like willows in the wind. Finally, one by one they fell forward and rested, foreheads on Earth, hands clasped. Light began to glow in the East, and still they waited.
A tall shadow entered the lodge and surveyed the quiet Circle. Another joined him, and another, until again the lodge was full, and a Warrior knelt at the back of each woman.
“Rise, Women,” spoke their leader, “and see before you your Warriors. To Rainbow Woman in each of you we surrender our Love. Teach us, and we will serve your Vision.
“In return you must give us our Freedom, for only a man who truly lives as a Warrior can serve the Rainbow well. All else is slavery, inevitably coupled with selfish willfulness.
“Though we die in waste, we die Free!
“So if we taste of your juices, seek not to instill them with the power of addiction. Let us drink deep and come and go freely – for the Waters that quench Thirst are not indulgence but necessity. Dam them not with jealousy and possessiveness, and they will make the Earth soft and fertile once again.
“In that Earth we shall sow our Seed as our Elder Brothers sow their Corn. Reverently will we prepare the ground and patiently await the proper time of planting. And when all is Attuned, and the Life Force flows unimpeded, we will forego the Mindless Ecstasy and plant ourselves with care and prayer, in warmth and stillness.”
A strange shimmering Light danced above the embers of the fire pit, illuminating faces weary but at Peace.
