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ISBN: 0-9743603-0-9
Singing an Epic of Peace
COVER ART SYMBOLS
TOP:
From ancient Egypt: ATEN’S DISK
a Solar disk with extending rays (arms with hands.) The Sun is ‘born’ each day, nourishes the Earth, and shines on all.
LEFT:
This TURTLE is a composite of turtle-shapes chosen from various cultures that have some connection with the ‘symbolic colors or Races.’ The associations of direction and elements vary with
cultures and traditions.
The Black Race (African), associated with the direction West, element Water -- (shell-shape of an ancient Egyptian river turtle.)
The White Race (Anglo/European), associated with the North, element Fire -- (the text-book drawing of a turtle’s head.)
The Red Race (American Indian), associated with the East, element Earth --
(an Hawaiian sea turtle’s front arms, from petroglyphs.)
The (Yellow) or Gold Race (Asian), associated with the South, element Air -- (ancient Chinese pictograph of quartered shell-grid - Tortoise)
This Whole-Turtle portrays the Four colors of the ‘primary’ or ‘symbolic’ Races, as well as the natural progression of Alchemy -- Black to White to Red to Gold.
RIGHT:
Ancient Chinese pictograph:
Bird (above) + Mountain (below) = ISLAND
A “Bird” resting on a “Mountain” (or rock on the Ocean,) thus represents the word “Island.”
As souls we are able to fly anywhere, yet in human form, we make our home on Earth, or as American Indian lore and other world mythologies say: Turtle Island.
OVERVIEW and INTRODUCTORY NOTES
This introduction, although a bit lengthy, gives an overview of the entire poem. The aim in giving the reader such information beforehand is to enhance one’s understanding and enjoyment of the poem itself.
Although not an Epic by some standards, this long poem is to be read and considered as one whole poem. Many of the pieces and sections can be read as individual poems -- yet the whole, as they say, is greater than the sum of its parts.
TITLE and SUBTITLE
SINGING because song is an integral part of Life that helps to uplift our spirits and carries us through our days and nights. One of the three original Muses of ancient Greece is called Aeode or Aiode, for Song, Chant, or (from Greek-- aoide, oide )
Also...The Music of the Spheres, and Song is a Universal language.
Poetically, EPIC (from the Greek epikos from epos word, song) refers to a very lengthy poem that centers on a particular culture or nation, and the journey of a hero in order to preserve and improve upon certain elements of the culture. In this poem there is no ‘one’ hero like an Odysseus from Homer’s The Odyssey. Rather, the hero has many faces, as Joseph Campbell would say.
One of the ‘heroes’ is myself for having written the poem, as well as YOURSELF and the journey you engage by reading this poem. Also, the Hero, in the collective sense, is all those who participated in the historical events mentioned in the poem, as well as numerous individuals and teachers whose words and guidance helped germinate many poems. I humbly honor and give thanks to Teachers, Friends, Muses and Spirit for the guidance that I received while writing.
This Epic also combines both epic-storytelling and epic-cataloguing.
As with songs and the oral tradition from which much epic poetry was borne, the ‘sounds’ this poem makes are significant as well.
FIFTH WORLD refers to a term from Hopi and Navaho(Diné) prophecies, myths, and the tales told by the Elders from generation to generation, mostly (until recently,) only by word-of-mouth. (Also, Fifth World from the Toltec; and from the Aztec’s, Fifth Sun, and their Solar deity, Tonatiuh, “he who goes forth shining.” Minus the sacrificial rituals of the Aztec culture, an interesting connection.) There is also an Aztec Sixth Sun of Flowers.
The Hopi refer to various phases of planetary and cultural evolution as “worlds.” Some American Indian lore describes the passageway between these worlds as occurring up through a reed, and into a pool of water. Reeds are tall grasses with hollow stems, thus, one can see the symbolism and beauty of this image. One must journey upward, through a narrow reed with little visibility, while one’s whole purpose is centered on reaching the destination (ascending to a higher level) -- the next world. This lore could be compared with Noah’s journey, or even farther back to the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. Other Indian creation myths and lore describe the entrance-way between worlds as occurring through a hole in the sky (Navaho), or up a ladder or reed (Hopi and Navaho), or a tree (Zuni pueblo), and numerous others. These themes are typically categorized as “Emergence” creation myths. Creation myths and the Original-Stories, are often key guides for the ongoing evolution of peoples and their cultures.
My current understanding is that the planet Earth is now in the process of a journey from the ending of the Fourth World or Cycle (which requires ‘purification’) to the Fifth World, and that this Fifth World can be seeded by one’s consciousness and way of being. Many (like the Navaho) already live with this Fifth World consciousness, and each individual’s path determines where they are. Whether one calls that state of awareness Fifth World, (“Many Colored Earth” or “Changeable Earth,” other names from the Navaho,) or by another more personally and culturally appropriate name, is rather insignificant-- the true importance being progress on one’s evolutionary and spiritual pathway.
There are Nine Worlds according to the Hopi tradition/lore, and perhaps Seven according to the Navaho.
This epic is FIFTH WORLD because it honors the traditions of many of the indigenous peoples of North America. The poem is centered geographically and historically on, what many now call, the United States of America.
This is also called a Fifth World Story-Poem because any specific culture or nation is really only a starting point for ONE WORLD CONSCIOUSNESS and eventual WORLD PEACE.
The aim of blending various traditions and pathways is: to transcend apparent divisions and thus experience Unity. This blending also enables one to seed various wisdoms from cultures around the world into one’s own personal ‘field’ or ‘garden.’
This poem reflects a blending of what Fifth World is to me; your experience may be similar, or rather different, or to be discovered. There are also other basic aspects of what Fifth World means, and those you’ll discover as you read the introduction and poem.
This is a STORY-POEM because the overall flow and information of the poem has a specific pathway that unfolds much like a story (though in poetic form.) This poem is also a kind of Poetic Peace Manual.
INNER and OUTER WORLDS because many of the topics, images, ideas and experiences mentioned in the poem can occur within oneself, as well as ‘outside.’ PEACE truly begins as an INNER state of being, and this ever-expanding state of consciousness makes for a more peaceful world. Whether with oneself, a small circle of friends and/or family, or with communities, or the entire world . . . whatever PEACE one makes, makes the world more PEACEFUL.
“Even one being at Peace puts the heart of God at rest. And God needs rest.”
Om Shanti Om - Peace.
* * * * *
A SELECTION OF POEMS...
Awhile back, you believed you had it made, had figured out the proper obeisance to the distant god until the spindly, green sprout shot up from the seedy ground on a day when your mind was forlorn on past loves, and broken promises, and unanswered prayers. Then, and just then, your head turned ‘just so,’ your heart opened ‘just so,’ your feet tickled ‘just so’ on the
dew-drenched grass . . . and that wobbly, little green sprout,
barely of motion shouted silently and broke the facade of
knowing too much, too little, sending you into reels of
amazement, and a different kind of knowledge only gleaned from sheer experience, from simply knowing that the force from the ground is within you as well, leaving you to wonder . . .
why am I here?
where shall I sprout my once-bunched tendrils?
when shall I send forth for my little love affair?
how shall my green stem help to awaken another?
and though my feet remain planted to the firm,
yet flaky ground—
who pushes my spirit air-born further and further
from the sacred dirt?
what becomes of me now that I no longer hurt?
Now that the Spring of Radiant Illumination shines,
Now that the benevolent cleansing rain has purified,
Now that our song of peace has begun
* * * * *
PRE-AMBLE, or, THOSE WHO WALKED BEFORE
Isn’it odd that we call North ‘America’
when there’s a Central, a South, and a North,
and those southerly parts were inhabited long before
the revolutionaries headed forth.
1507 for Amerigo Vespucci
for the ‘new’ world;
however-- Amaru, a Peruvian god,
and their land-- Amaruca, from whence the U.S.-flag-name unfurled. (9)
Like the Mayan’s Quetzacoatl of Central America,
Amaru “the plumed serpent,”
befitting of the Ohio valley Great Serpent Mound and the Mississippian
temple-mound-builders and Cahokia culture where traders from Canada
to the Gulf of Mexico made a dent. (10)
Serpent mounds and carved stones of snakes
still exist on indigenous lands,
where serpent-fearing Church-goers once landed
to convert a culture they didn’t understand . . ..
And, the names of the United States
come more from Constitutional grace
and persons of historical repute
and honoring of Indian place,
than policy would lead you know--
of patriots and independence,
and freedom from a ghastly king,
or being the supposed original tenants.
I do not scoff at revolutionaries,
nor framers of the freedom papers;
but the neglect -- of our TRUE ancestries,
and those who are Earth’s natural shapers.
The land was known -- before Columbus came --
by waters and by nature’s herbs
by those who honored earth, and sky, and in between --
long before the advent of suburbs.
A name serves well to honor those
who lend us light from roads they’ve traveled,
but blemishes on a face are made
when people from their path are unraveled.
And the names and the people
live on with grace,
first named from what
they saw or lived nearby,
of Earth
and of the flowing Waters
upon which
the people steered by.
The American Indians now live mostly on sacred, parceled lands
meted out by genocidal, warmonger generals,
who in their quest to rule the Earth
refused to distinguish -- annuals from perennials!
And some tribes now are sovereign nations,
‘free states’ on the same kind of land, blessed;
though some confined to reservations,
proving: freedom within a police state . . . is freedom nonetheless.
This beauteous place --
the Red Race call Turtle Island
and the lesson remains—you can steal,
but you cannot own land!
Distinguishing the Revolutionary Spirit of America
from the ‘American Dream’
is waking up to the shackles of oppression
then finding the illusion and cracking the seam.
The fiery spirit of true revolutionaries
not restricted to any governmental name,
but flowing through the earth and waters,
wind and wood to all the same.
A lineage of individuals spreading wide
their freedoms to groups and clans,
and through each pure heart embodying
the Spirit of Master Plans,
not restricted to the limits
of bureaucratic torpidity,
only limitless conduit for the clear channels
of Radiant Illuminations’ lucidity.
Distinguishing the true revolutionaries... from the colonists...
from those just renaming the imperial bent:
is waking up to the patterns of behavior
then identifying those that are heaven-sent.
This beauteous place
so many call Turtle Island,
and the lesson remains -- you can take over,
but you cannot own land!
The blending of European arts and sciences
with the American Indian natural way,
with the revolutionary spirit of accepting others
is more of the true American way.
Experiencing the living example
of the Indians daily way of being,
helped Benjamin Franklin (a Freemason and Rosicrucian), and others,
shape the wording and philosophy of some peoples’ freeing.
The Age of Enlightenment of 18th century Europe
a wave of philosophy assisting French and American revolutions,
affecting such men as Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine;
Also James Madison, called the ‘Father’ of the Constitution . . .
though even that valuable document was skewed (11)
:securing their rights,” while the working-classes
were tag-lined along with freedoms on loaners.
A long-standing feud
between feudal lord
and those who steward
instead of horde
called vassal or servant
under lords protection,
though abused by taxes and other fees--
what of One World connection?
“To cultivate,” as in farmer,
is the root of ‘colony’
on land to perpetuate
though colonialism’s wrought with irony.
Though much has been twisted
and many enslaved,
their inspiring assembly
is forever engraved
on paper,
and electronic medium,
and in the minds and hearts
of non-violent presidium.
And the names and the people
live on with grace,
first named from what
they saw or lived nearby,
of Earth
and of the flowing Waters
upon which
the people steered by.
This beauteous place—
the Red Race call Turtle Island.
And the lesson remains—you can relocate
but you must caretake land!
footnotes:
9 - Amaruca articles:
"The Great God Pan is Not Dead"
(article no longer at link where it was researched)
“Luis Valdez Discusses Cultural Inclusiveness and Indian Roots in the United States”
(article no longer at link where it was researched)
"North American Snake Worship"
http://www.stargods.org/NorthAmericanSnake.htm (3 June 2003)
10 - Judith Nies, Native American History (NY: Ballantine Books, 1996), pp.42-44.
11 - Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States (NY: Perennial Classics, HarperCollins Publishers, 1980, 2001), pp.96-102.
* * * * *
Mostly from the “Declaration of Independence”
(no need for copyright or permission
because these are my words,
these are your words,
these are our words!):
“We hold these TRUTHS to be SELF-evident”
“WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SACRED
AND UNDENIABLE” -- the original draft (116))
“hat all Men are created equal”
(“THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL AND INDEPENDENT” -- original)
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood” (and sisterhood,) from Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, Article 1
“that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights”
(“FROM THAT EQUAL CREATION, THEY DERIVE RIGHTS
INHERENT AND INALIENABLE” -- original)
“that among these are LIFE, LIBERTY,
and the PURSUIT of HAPPINESS”
freedom to “pursue” so you gotta find it on your own...
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3
and, “uncontrolled enjoyment,” that is,
uncontrolled by others, thank you, William Penn!
“that to secure these Rights,
governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their Powers
from the consent of the Governed.”
“When in the course of human events . . .
the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them”
(this revealing the Benevolence of Nature)
Singing an Epic of Peace:
That all human beings “... are created equal and independent”
though some born more spiritually advanced,
that all human beings “... .are created equal and independent”
though some born more mentally acute,
that all human beings “... are created equal and independent”
though some born more physically adept,
that all human beings “... are created equal and independent”
though some born poor or rich,
Yet born equal and independent.
Equal creation inherent
(thus, already within; thus, no such thing as original sin)
with Declarations of Inter-Dependence,
Declarations of Human Rights.
To this equal creation,
to this sameness with their Creator,
to this SAMENESS
this EQUAL CREATION
This SPARK of sameness
This SPARK of equal creation
This spark of sameness of equal creation of all men and women,
all birds and animals and fish and crawling ones,
all sentient beings
footnote:
116 - “Declaration of Independence” handwritten 'original' draft.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/decp1.jpg (12 Feb. 2003)
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/uc004215.jpg (12 Feb. 2003)
* * * * *
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© 2003 - 2012 Walter E. Harris III
