The Sacred Pipe - Essay Example

Behold this and always love it? It is lelawakan [very sacred], and you must treat it as such. No impure man should ever be allowed to see it, for within this bundle there is a sacred pipe. With this you will, during the winters to come, send your voices to Wakan-Tanka, your Father and Grandfather (Brown 5) The sanctity by which the sacred pipe is held and honoured carries with it the necessity that it must not only be kept in immaculate state but to also regard it in a manner that prevents any person who is unworthy to take possession. This is extremely held to be indispensable that the pipe is not even meant to be seen by such person. This may sound to be something extreme and even consequently unreasonable but it is only upon an understanding of their culture that this principle is one founded on sensibility. In analogy, each one of us has at least one possession that is important to us not because it is valuable by reason of its price but mostly for the sentimental value that it holds. It may range from something as simple as a letter, a pen or even jewellery which is a family heirloom. These things may seem ordinary and mundane to others but it is what it represents that makes all the difference. The same consideration, at a different level of intensity, makes for the meaning that the sacred pipe holds. Another aspect to a sacred pipe is how it serves as a communication device that communes man not only to his nature but also to his ancestors. This is not an entirely alien concept as there are other religions that believe in the influence of people who have already passed as guardians present in daily life. The pipe is a means to communicate with ancestors who can be a source hope for these people. Anyone who has lost a loved one knows how it feels to want to be able to talk to them again and maybe to ask them for guidance during the most trying times. Winter represents a difficult time and it symbolizes hardships and despair. The knowledge that a sacred pipe could connect two worlds is nothing short of faith. The mother should sacrifice everything for her children, and must develop in herself and in her children a great love for Wakan-Tanka, for in time these children will become holy people and leaders of the nation and will have the power to make others wakan. At first we keep only the souls of a few of our great leaders, but later we kept the souls of almost all good people (Brown 11) This quote affirms that the Native Americans place the responsibility to mothers to be able to rear her children properly and to sacrifice her own desires and needs for their benefit. Regardless of this passage, I believe that a mother’s love is absolute and that even without any order or reminder remains the same notwithstanding what culture one belongs to. The same mother’s love is seen and manifest in a loving home in a way that a person’s success and virtue is most likely to be attributed to one’s mother and the patience with which he was brought up to. It is by this same notion that I suppose that my own character was shaped. My mother served as a role model and the primary person who has molded me from birth. Mothers would want nothing more than for their children to grow up to be good people. The respect you show to your parents is a good indication of a person’s upbringing. The same amount of respect is invaluable in the traits that make for a great leader. The concept of wakan provides for the perpetuation of memories of people who have imparted and indelible memory to the community. They are better than historical figures such as presidents for they remain in spirit with the people. They are not only subject of stories and anecdotes studied for memory but they are infinite beings that transcend time and lifetimes. This commune with a concept as intangible as the soul substantiates why being a holy wakan is something to achieve for. “The leader of the rite then says: ‘This is the fire that will help the generations to come, if they use it in a sacred manner. But if they do not use it well, the fire will have the power to do them great harm” (Brown 42). Culture is an important part of human existence. It is what separates us from other beings and what distinguishes between a civilized society and barbaric one. Technology has often desensitized us into doing something or dismissing things because we would rather prefer convenience over customs. But for some people, these practices are a matter of life and they are in no way less important. The fire described in this scene symbolizes the fortitude of the culture which has been passed down from generation to generation. Just as the flame endures with the conviction that it serves a purpose beyond the ritual, the culture is preserved through the creed that it presupposed. A prayer remains but a bunch of cohesive words because it is only upon keeping at heart that you are in a conversation with s being higher than this earth that it signifies something more. I remember someone saying that he is spiritual and not religious. This made me contemplate on the difference. Basically, one can be spiritual without being religious in the same way that one can be religious without being spiritual. Anybody can go to church every Sunday but this does not necessarily mean that he is spiritual. It is in grasping the sacredness of the activity of going to church and what it means intrinsically that sets it apart because otherwise it is nothing but a futile deed. In the evenings the Thunder-beings may come, and although they are very terrifying, they bring much good, and they test our strength and endurance. Then too they help us to realize how really very small and insignificant we are compared to the great powers of Wakan-Tanka (Brown 59) People say that experience is the best teacher and in the same vein that life works in reverse by first giving you the test before the lesson. This is in stark contrast to school and the process of studying where you are given the lesson first, the discussion, time to study and then the exam. But sometimes it is in going through something difficult and in overcoming a problem you never thought you could that you realize how strong you are and capable of overcoming adversity. Often, we are afraid of the things we do not know and those we do not understand because they take us out of our comfort zones and there are moments when life throws you a curb ball and its either you run from it or you face it with as much courage as you can muster in yourself. Everything happens for a reason and I am an ardent believer that there is a reason for things that transpire by some cosmic design. You may fall down the stairs for no certain reason but this may just be the one thing that saves your life for otherwise a stray bullet may have hit you. The Wakan-Tanka is again illustrated as that elusive power that inculcates humility to the people by reminding that there is something far bigger and mightier than man in the conduct of his life. This reminds of the Buddhist concept of Karma and how every action will have future effects which may either be good or bad. “In every sun dance we wear wreaths of sage upon our heads for it is a sign that our minds and hearts are close to Wakan-Tanka and His Powers, for the wreath represents the things of the heavens- the stars and planets, which are very mysterious and wakan” (Brown 92). The wreath does not necessarily make much sense except for the fact that they serve as among those practices which may have originated way back and their significance could no longer be traced with great certainty. Though the dance is very much a common tribal practice which is not exclusive to Indians, the wreath and why it has to be sage is something I do not fully fathom. The image of a wreath conjures in me many other notions which I have to admit is mostly of Christmas and of ancient Greek and Roman men with olive branches on their ears. Circle as a shape constantly reappears in many practices perhaps mostly because it is an unbreakableform whichindicatesendlessness. This is among those practices which are associated with a backward practice. I would doubt I know any person who performs a sun dance or who would wear a sage wreath or any wreath for that matter. Again, the author points out to the total submission to a power which can only be appropriately described as mysterious. These practices are all designed to form a bond and to call upon the intercession of a supreme being to grant the petitions of the people. This is very fatalistic and understandably an attribute to a particular way of life. I wish to mention here, that through these rites a three-fold peace was established. The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its Powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us .This is real Peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men (Brown 115) This for me is the best thing about the sacred pipe. It is a symbol of peace more than anything else. It makes one think of peace and what this abstract thought actually means. By way of a negative definition, what is peace but the absence of war but I think that peace could mean so many other things. Peace could also be satisfaction and this could be equated to contentment. In terms of peace as described in the quote in relation to forging amity among nations this could indicate the formulation of a compromise where both ends benefit. The book confronts us with that almost too unoriginal idea of inner peace. But though it may sound cliché, it does not take away from the fact that it is something men desire. …you will now go forth among your people in a holy manner, and you will be an example to them. You will cherish those things which are most sacred in the universe; you will be as Mother Earth- humble and fruitful. May your steps, and those of your children, be firm and sacred! As Wakan-Tanka has been merciful to you, so you, too, must be merciful to others, especially to those children who are without parents. If such a child should ever come to your lodge, and if you should have but one piece of meat which you have already placed in your mouth, you should take it out and give it to her. You should be as generous as this! (Brown 126) This passage from chapter 7 summarizes for us the virtues which are honoured in the society and it makes us realize how universal these qualities. The tribe values humility, productivity, stability, compassion and generosity over conceptions of grandeur. There is again the importance given to children and the care that should be extended to them especially those without parents who must be shown charity far beyond one’s limit. These teachings must essentially be intergenerational to ensure not only that the culture survives time but because these are humane things to do. There is not much difference to the most prevailing teachings of mainstream religions that insist on kindness and virtually the same moralities as an indication of goodness. At this sad time today among our people, we are scrambling for the ball, and some are not even trying to catch it, which makes me cry when I think of it…It is my prayer that this be so, and it is in order to aid in this “recovery of the ball”, that I have wished to make this book (Brown 138) The dying culture revolving around the sacred pipe is another offshoot of modernity where the new generation have no interest in upholding the cherished practices of their heritage. As mentioned by the author himself this is the purpose of the book, to revive a dying ethnicity in the hopes that there will be those who care enough to take on the responsibility of continuing the tradition. Without the able hands of people who are willing to do so, the significance of sacred pipes will die along with the practices and the culture which ones treasured it. They will be nothing more than a once flourishing ritual which was an integral part of a society and their identity. Work Cited Brown, Joseph, ed. The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux Norman, Ok: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. Print. Read More