The Sacred Pipe by Joseph Epes Brown - Research Paper Example

? The Sacred Pipe The Sacred Pipe Joseph Epes Brown the of the book Sacred Pipes managed to meet men who had excellent human and spiritual believes and cultures. Among these men were the Black Elk who had a unique form of power, kindliness, and mission. His birth was in 1862, and brought up in a community where people enjoyed the freedom of plain and hunting. During his youth age Whirlwind Chaser, Elk Head, instructed Black Elk about the sacred love of his community’s people and Black Road whereby he fully understood the history and meaning of the people’s spiritual believes, culture, and heritage. With the help of prayers, fasting, and deep understanding of his community’s people culture and heritage, he became a very famous wise man. He was able to realize visions and acquire special powers, which were good for the nation. Because of this, the book enables many people understand the truth behind the Indian traditions. Today, many Christians receive much talk about peace, yet this is not into many considerations and only remains to be just talk. However, through this book “sacred pipe” peace should come to those Christian who understand and have an understanding from their hearts. This depiction is in the preface of the book, “There is much talk of peace among Christians, yet this is just talk. Perhaps it may be, and this is my prayer, through the sacred pipe, and through this book in which I shall explain what our pipe is, peace may come to those people who can understand… (page, xx)” Through all this, people will understand that they have only one true God whom they should worship and pray continually. Reading this book enables people to understand the truth of the Indian traditions and help in bringing peace on earth. This chapter narrates a story of two hunters whom on their way met with a mysterious woman carrying a bundle on her back. This woman was so good looking that one of the Lakota hunter had bad intentions and told his friend who warned him that he should not have such poor thoughts since this woman was a wakan woman. The mysterious woman was now close to them and told the poor man to come closer. As he approached the woman, they were both covered by a cloud; soon the cloud was off, what the other man saw were only the mysterious woman and the remains of the man with evil intentions on her feet, and severe snakes eating the bones. Any man who considers senses and world thing are ignorant snakes consumes him, and this represents his passion. The mysterious woman takes the sacred pipe to the chief of the community and explains to him explained all it significances. During her departure, she says; “Behold this pipe, Always remember how sacred it is, and treat it as such, for it will take you to the end. Remember, in me, there are four ages… (Page 7)” These ages are similar to Indian tradition myth with which true spirituality lasts until the cycle ends with a catastrophe, after which there is the fulfillment of primitive spirituality, and the cycle starts once again. Some of concepts, which govern the wisdom of Indian people, are such as “The Earth is your Grandmother and Mother, and she is sacred… (Page 4)” This means that Indian people consider earth in two aspects, Grandmother, and mother. Earth is mother meaning that it is the producer of all the growing things on the earth and a grandmother meaning the grounds and substance for all growing things. The sacred pipe is a combination of wood, stones, and feathers meaning that it bounds all the earth creatures. Through the rite of keeping of the soul, the Indians receive purification from the souls of the late and this increases love for one another. The government illegalized and realized this rite in 1890 and that all souls, kept by the Sioux. “The four pure women who eat the sacred part of the buffalo… (Page 8)” The bison represents the universe and contains everything, but the only part, which represents humankind, is a certain flesh from the sacred part of the buffalo. Sioux regards this meat the same way as it is the Holy Communion by the Christian. Keeping soul according to the Indian tradition means that one is receiving purifications, and soul and spirit becomes one thing and can return to its birthplace. This is similar to the Christian concept that everybody should accept Christ as the savior so that during the last days he will be able to enjoy eternal life. When one of the great-great children’s child dies, they take their claims to sacred pipe keeper who after going to where the child lay he spoke, “This boy seems to be dead, yet he is not truly, for we shall keep his soul among our people… (Page 13)” This clearly shows that if somebody dies it is only the flesh, which dies but the soul remains a live and connected to us. The rite of purification, which is the sacred lodge, then follows the rite of keeping the soul. The sweat lodge, which is central to the Inipi, means that the prayers, which people offer during purification ceremony, draw powers from all parts of the universe. This includes earth, water, fire, and air. During the old days, this rite took place before any crucial undertaking to purify the body in order to gain strength and power. The Inipi was constructed using young willow trees laid in a circle. This was a representation of many things such as earth, womb, and universe. The door opening during purification rite faces east which is the direction of light and wisdom. This is similar to Christians since them pray lifting their hands up pointing to the direction of God and power. In the center, there is a round fireplace, which represents the universe, where the Wakan Tanka rests. This shows that Wakan Tanka stays in clean and holy place just like the almighty God in heaven. Prayers take place at every stage of the sweat lodge construction, and after completion, the leaders of the Inipi burns a coal and sweet grass in order to purify the lodge. The leader of the Inipi then smokes some sacred tobacco in the sacred pipe, takes it outside, and places it on earth. The purpose of this was to cleanse the place, which is a similar thing done by many catholic churches today. Other participants enter the lodge, sit in a circle, and the pipe brought in and smoked. The heated rocks are at the center fireplace, and the sacred pipe taken back to the earth mound then the leader closes the door. The leaders open the door four times to represent the four ages, which the Sacred White Calf Maiden mentioned. The last time all the present leaves the lodge coming from dark to light, which is a sign of freedom from the physical earth. All impure things remain in the lodge the dark place. This means that darkness associates with evil deeds while light associates with pure things. The Christians should associate themselves with Godly deeds to enable them become the light of the world. Furthermore, there is the ritual of “crying for a vision”, which was even in use before the sacred pipe. Crazy Horse gained power through “lamenting” or crying for a vision for key events such as wars. “But perhaps the most powerful reason for ‘lamenting’ is that, it helps us to realize the oneness with all things, to know that all things are our relatives… (Page 46)” The true God is the giver of all people’s belongings and; therefore, all good things come from heaven. Sun Dance was also another rite, which is a custom that has gone for long. The tribe saw as a sign of the Great Spirit. Performing Sun Dance was not only to honor the sun, but also a way of realizing the dancers’ vision. This Dance was traditionally an event of the young warriors. Among many people, Sun Dance performance involved many prayers, and ceremonial tree cutting, which undergone some painting and erected at the dancing ground. “I should to you here that in setting up the Sun Dance lodge, we are making the universe in the likeness…(Page 80)” Offering were to show respect to the Great Spirit and the whole universe. The Sun Dance was also a way of determining the vision of the warrior. Sun Dancers had a fabulous vision during the ceremony. After the celebrations, the dancers were to eat, bath, and smoke the sacred pipe to honor the Great Spirit’s manifestation. Moreover, making of relatives was also important. “Here we shall make relatives and peace; it is your will that this be done… (Page 103)” The rite was to realize new friends and relatives, which was to maintain peace in the community. Today, it is the duty of Christians to teach the nonbelievers the significance of accepting Christ as their redeemer. They should also live as good role model and make efforts of maintaining peace in the society. There was also the rite of preparing a girl to womanhood. This took place immediately after girls attends to her first period. Its main purpose was for “Preparing a Girl for Womanhood”. Women should be fully prepared before they enter their womanhood age. By doing this, they can understand their responsibilities in the society. Lastly, there was the rite of “Throwing of the ball” During this ceremony, there was a game of throwing the ball involving four teams, and four goals set up at the four quarters. This represented the four ages, which the Mysterious woman mentioned. Through these ceremonies, we understand how the Sioux have come to have a close relationship with God, nature, and their relatives. Work Cited Black, Elk, and Joseph E. Brown. The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. Print. Read More