In
Search of the White Buffalo Calf Woman
7/7/7
You might say this story is
“off the charts” in the Outer Limits Zone.
So grab a glass of your favorite iced tea and a comfortable chair to sit
while I tell you my story. To begin
with, let’s make something perfectly clear—I wasn’t searching for the White
Buffalo Calf Woman. On the contrary—I
believe she was searching for me! So let’s go back to the very beginning when I
first encountered “The Legend of the White Buffalo Calf Woman” and go on from
there.
It was in the spring of 1985
when my husband, Kurt, and our four young children, Aubrey, Jared, Deserae and
Ariel moved to Montana from Salt Lake City, Utah to investigate a Mormon
Fundamentalist group near Hamilton, Montana.
(Now that’s another story altogether.)
Shortly thereafter I met a mountain man who handcrafted willow furniture
which I was genuinely interested in learning to make and I soon became his
apprentice. As we became good friends,
he soon began sharing with me some of the Native American folklore that
seasoned this rugged Montana environment.
He loaned me a book called Mother
Earth Spirituality by Ed McGaa, “Eagle Man,” which described many of the
legends and Native American paths to healing which he’d embraced over the
years.
I was captivated by the first
chapter, “Buffalo Calf Woman: The Coming of the Sacred Pipe,” as I read about
the ancient legend of a mysterious, mystical woman appearing to two Sioux
Braves as they were out on a buffalo hunt. As the story goes, when the
beautiful leather-clad woman approached the two Braves, one of them had evil
intentions towards her and was ultimately destroyed, while the other Brave had
good intentions and was told to prepare his people for her coming. She then instructed them in the seven sacred
ceremonies, which included The Keeping of the Soul, The Sweat Lodge Ceremony,
Vision Quest, The Sun Dance Ceremony, The Give-away Ceremony and also the
well-known Peace Pipe Ceremony in which she unveiled her sacred Peace
Pipe. After her ceremony instructions to
the various tribes, she transformed herself into a white buffalo calf and
walked away leaving the Peace Pipe as a sacred artifact—a reminder to all the
tribes of her actual visitation to them.
The Peace Pipe continues to reside with an honored group of Pipekeepers
at Green Grass, South Dakota. It is
believed that this legend took place over 2,000 years ago—about the same time
as the Jesus legends occurred on the other side of the world. The author Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, concludes
that:
Indian people feel that it is very poor
manners to refer to the Buffalo Calf Woman’s appearance as a myth or
superstition. Indians do not scoff at
the story of the Israelites fleeing Egypt when the Red Sea was parted by the
Great Spirit in order for the Jewish people to escape the pharaoh’s pursuing
army. We have been told over and over by
Christian missionaries that a man, born of a virgin, died, rose again three
days after his death, pushed a big stone back from his tomb, and then ascended
into the spirit world. An Indian would
consider it poor manners to make fun of this spiritual story, especially if it
is a part of a people’s spiritual history.
Similarly, the Jewish people would be offended if the story of Moses’
vision questing on the mountain were called a myth, especially the part where
the Great Sprit appeared to Moses and gave him special instructions, or
commandments, on living and conduct.
Perhaps it is because our spirit guide
happens to be a woman that the male-oriented missionaries find it difficult to
grasp. That is very sad. It is their loss. Is it not obvious that women are the peaceful
ones? Does not the animal world exhibit
this observation? The males fight far
more than the females do. Since the dawn
of recorded history, it is the men, not the women, who have plunged into
war. Womankind is half of the human
world, but most importantly, women are the peaceful ones, and in this new era,
it is the most peaceful ones who will bring ultimate harmony.
The Great Spirit does many things in
balance. The Buffalo Calf Woman is a
strong balance to other spirit guides and brings forth needed harmony. We can hope that communication and knowledge
will change the old ways of narrow-mindedness among religions. We can hope that spiritual leadership roles
will be equally represented among all ways.
Reaching such goals presents a strong challenge for spiritual women,
both Indian and non-Indian.
I was deeply moved by the story of the White Buffalo
Calf Woman and the author’s comments, even though I was a “Mormon Christian” at
the time. I became intrigued and even a
bit ambitious about how I might become a “pipe carrier” and carry the message
of peace to the world. The book
contained detailed instructions on how to make my own peace pipe, but I didn’t
feel creative enough to craft one myself.
So I sent out a silent prayer to the universe to bring me my own pipe
made out of red catlinite from the sacred pipestone quarries in Minnesota.
A short time later my clear intention was rewarded
when my husband, Kurt, presented me with a peace pipe for my birthday. It was no ordinary pipe by any means. Kurt told me that the pipe had actually
spoken to him in spirit, telling him to buy it for me for my birthday. He had no idea of my prior request to the
universe, but he was definitely impressed by the power of the message. As I unwrapped the gift, I was amazed by the
accuracy of this spiritual manifestation—it was a beautiful catlinite pipe
complete with an embossed white buffalo on the leather surrounding the
stem. It was an extraordinary gift, and
Kurt and I celebrated by smoking the peace pipe together. We felt a sense of power and purpose each
time we shared in this ceremony and we began to witness miracles in our
lives. One miracle was the meeting of a
Native American Shaman or “Spirit Caller” named Speaking Wind after I’d called
out to the universe for a Shaman to facilitate other Native American ceremonies
on our land.
Speaking Wind was from the Pueblo Tribe with an
Anasazi ancestral background. He spoke
of his powerful Anasazi tradition as teaching the ability to “walk into the
fifth world with robes still on.” In my
Christian background this process was interpreted to mean the power of
“translation.” Speaking Wind taught me
many things including several of the White Buffalo Calf Woman’s
ceremonies. But the most amazing thing
which Speaking Wind taught me was “spiritual oneness” or the “walking between
two worlds.” This process is so sacred
that it is the unspoken truth of oneness in all ascetic religions. It is
what is real! Before Speaking Wind or Patrick (as I had come to know him)
departed from this earthly plane, he called out to the spirit world concerning
which ceremony he could perform at my home in Montana called “Higher
Ground.” He was surprised, even shocked,
by the spirit world’s response to our joint request. He was given permission to perform the most
sacred of all ceremonies in human history—“The Seven Sacred Steps to Returning
to Oneness.” The last time it was
performed was when the Anasazi Indians “walked into the fifth world with their
robes still on.”
Unfortunately this ceremony was never performed as the
emotional energies between certain male/female relationships were not in
balance. Also many of the Native
American tribes had not been contacted regarding this event and had not been
prepared. And last, but not least, I had
not received my sacred Indian name and an awareness of my purpose in all of
it. Patrick had informed me that he
couldn’t reveal these precious truths to me but that I needed to go on my own
Vision Quest to find out for myself.
And so in the summer of 1997 I did just that. I went on my own personal Vision Quest on a
sacred peak at Higher Ground. It was
profound! I won’t go into any of the
details here but to summarize: I was told that I would create a sacred circle
in which to gather the “children of Isreal” or the children of God who see
“what is real.” That this was my divine
purpose in life and that I would possess the power and integrity to do so. I also received my new Native American name
of “Dancing Butterfly” but that I was actually an incarnation, an archetype so
to speak, of the White Buffalo Woman.
The prophecies had proclaimed that she would return again in “the time
of the long shadow in skins of white.”
That she would gather in all of the tribes into one and create a rainbow
vortex that would eventually connect heaven with earth. This was her/my destiny.
When I came down off of the mountain after my Vision
Quest I was dumbfounded. I could hardly
comprehend what I’d received. I desired
other signs to validate this overwhelming sense of prophecy. And sure enough they came. As I was finishing a pair of moccasin boots
for my neighbor, Andie McDowell, I noticed the skin tag on my left foot as if
for the first time. As I compared it to
the buffalo head nickel I had fashioned into a button, the image was strikingly
similar. All my life I had walked around
with the image of a white buffalo on my foot!
It was extraordinary! Then in the
next week or so I received several cards from people out of nowhere which
contained buffalo, pipe-carriers and other Native American symbols which
continued to validate who I was. Still,
I had a long way to go before I could claim the power of my divine inheritance.
That powerful vision ten years ago has sent me on a
most amazing spiritual journey. I have
documented each step of the way in two different manuscripts—Heartsong and Heart Wide Open. They are
waiting their time to be published—when the world is ready. But the signs of the time are fast
approaching as another white buffalo calf has been born just recently—the sign
of White Buffalo Woman’s appearance.
It’s name—Miracle’s Second Chance
born August 25, 2006 on the Heider family farm in Janesville, Wisconsin in a
lightning storm—the second white buffalo born on their ranch. The first one, Miracle, recently died at 10 years
old. It is a powerful sign.
And then this past Christmas my mother received two
special gifts from the American Indian Services which my grandfather’s
foundation has donated thousands of dollars to each year. They were an Indian blanket with a distinct
picture of the White Buffalo Woman on it and also a key chain with the same
symbol. Two more signs from the spirit
world that it is time for the White Buffalo Woman to reveal herself to
mankind. I keep them both with me always
along with my other artifacts.
Tomorrow is 7/7/7.
The number 7 is a powerful number meaning completion or
transformation. Perhaps the time is
right to send a powerful message to the world for peace, love and balance. We have plunged ourselves into the futility
of war one more time and have raped and pillaged our sacred Mother Earth for
her resources in order to create more and more separation between the tribal
nations here on earth. Perhaps it is
time now to send a strong message to everyone living here on planet earth—men,
women and children—that we are all one—and
what we do to our fellowman is what we do to ourselves. Perhaps it is time now to send a message of
hope along the media airwaves that if we choose love instead of hate, peace
instead of war, faith instead of fear, oneness instead of separation, that we
can heal ourselves of our sins (separations within) and walk the path of beauty
and holiness on our precious Earth Mother.
This is my prayer and my blessing and I say it in the name of all that
is holy—Father God, Mother Earth, and Their Holy Children—You and Me which
includes Jesus Christ and The White Buffalo Woman. Aho and Amen.
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