EAGLE FROM THE LIGHT
By
-Daniel-
©
Though we be apart,
we are but a heartbeat away.
I have come to share a Truth
upon this blessed day.
The morning sky was dark and foreboding as the hunter
left the stillness of his lodge to seek out the
great buffalo herd.
The cold, gnawing pangs of hunger would no longer
be denied as he sought out his prey upon the
lonely, wind-swept plain.
And as he silently rode his horse across the prairie,
he came to hear the screeching whistle of an eagle
and looking above into the first slivers of light,
he greeted this hunter of the morning sky.
As the eagle circled overhead,
he called back to the hunter...
"Take heed, my brother, take heed;
for that which you do today shall become
the way of your life."
With his message delivered, the eagle vanished before
the eyes of the hunter and again his world returned
to the darkness of need.
Long did he search the vast emptiness for signs of the
buffalo, but it was as if the Great-Spirit-Above had
caused the Earth-Mother to swallow up all that lived
to be hunted.
But in the twilight of the day's end did the hunter
spy the lone White Buffalo Calf off in the distance;
and so he left his horse and by stealth afoot did he
come within striking range of this rare and elusive prey.
The arrow was strung, the bowstring arched against his
chin in deadly aim, when the eyes of the hunted and the hunter
locked in a final stare;
and there, for the first time, was hesitation in the
hunter's resolve as he recalled the eagle's warning.
And the hunter thought within himself...
'It is better that I go hungry for yet another day than to
rob this Sacred Being of its life for a meal.
It is better that I endure the winter cold with naked innocence
than to wrap my shame within this little one's white robe of purity.'
Thus the hunter relaxed his arrow of death,
laid his bow upon the ground before his feet and
spoke to the White Buffalo Calf...
"Forgive me little one;
the hunger of my needs clouded my heart
and sought your death that I might live another day.
Forgive me and go your way in peace."
The White Buffalo Calf did not go away but rather walked
towards the hunter and in a blinding flash of light turned
into a beautiful maiden dressed in white and walking not
with feet that touched the earth.
There was a great shining light held within her eyes
and the hunter fell to his knees in deep remorse for that
which he had almost done.
And the Sacred Being softly spoke words of encouragement
to the would-be hunter:
"The Great-Spirit-Above placed the buffalo upon the plains
that the People's needs might be fulfilled.
There is no shame in taking the life of the four-legged
that the People may live.
Only the wanton slaughter of an innocent creature is evil
and causes the Earth-Mother to weep in sorrow and in pain.
Few have found the White Buffalo Calf,
for it can only be seen with eyes that seek in a sacred manner.
From this day forth you are to be a Holy Man,
hunting not for meat to feed the emptiness of your belly
but hunting within for the wisdom that will fill the ever
expanding heart.
Visions and dreams shall become your hunting ground,
for the People's needs will change with the passing of
the great buffalo herd.
Yearnings yet unknown shall fall heavy upon their shoulders;
confusion and untold sorrow await those who endlessly search
the mist for the ways of old.
You must find the Light and show them the way."
When the Sacred Maiden had finished speaking
these holy words to the hunter,
she changed into a white-winged eagle
and though the earth lay in darkness,
she was bathed in a flood of Light.
And before she flew away from whence she came,
she called out to the hunter one final time...
"Hunka Brother,
I give to you this day a new name;
from now until all time has ceased,
you shall be known as...
...Eagle from the Light."