Religion
Related: About this forumThe Ojibwa 7th Fire Prophecy
The Ojibwa Seventh-fire Prophecy states: "Look for an island shaped like a turtle that will be an instrument in the purification of the earth."
30 years ago such a prophecy might not have meant so much to us, but with the global warming crisis of today... doesn't it make you want to look? Now google maps Easter Island...
Why Easter Island? This answer to this question was confirmed to me when an Ojibwa woman shared with me the conviction of her Ojibwa Grandfather, that Easter Island is the turtle shaped island they were to look for and its stone monuments and undeciphered writing tablets can re-teach and motivate us to live in harmony with the earth again. For a link to a novel based on the first time decipherment of the Easter Island tablets, come and see:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/127636924/Finding-Turtle-Island
nebenaube
(3,496 posts)Seriously...
FirstLight
(13,852 posts)so I'll just let you know that anything people consider "woo-woo' has to be put in the forum for the New Age crazies...
Most folks don't take too kindly 'round here of those 'Alternative' ideas and such LOL
personally, I think this is VERY interesting...especially being of Native heritage myself!
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)Maslow developed his theory of Hierarchy of Human Needs by visiting the Blackfoot in the 1920s. He raised the idea that human beings need to fulfill certain needs in sequence in order to fulfill their personal identity. First a person needs food and shelter, social interaction, occupation and finally self-actualization.... Maslow realized that the Blackfoot people were 80-90% self-actualized and at a relatively young age, while the people from his Metropolitan America were only 5-10% self actualized.
Essentially, humanity needs certain passage rites to weave personal identity into the environment. The global warming crisis presents us with this fundamental crossroads to either continue on a path of instability with our ecosystems because of a false perception of what material wealth offers human identity. The alternative path leads to the philosophy we in the West have been trying to destroy over the past 500 years - that is the Indigenous World-view that survived in every continent for thousands of years, merely by regarding the human person as a living being and on this foundation our humanity will thrive...
FirstLight
(13,852 posts)most indigenous peoples are more self actualized. In my opinion, it's because they lived in harmony not just with the Earth, but with the 4 kingdoms, 4 elements and 4 directions...as well as had a definite relationship with ancestors and future progeny....they saw everything as connected, and it gave them a better idea of Self than ANYONE can get by thinking we are separate...
I downloaded this info, thanks for the link...looking forward to the read!
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)Have you sat at the foot of a First Nations Elder today?
FirstLight
(13,852 posts)I do belong to a Circle and we practice the way of the Medicine Wheel...and yes, our Elder is one who holds the wisdom and shares with us...
I myself am 7th Generation Cherokee descendant, and hope to help with the transformation this book speaks of
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)The Rainbow Warrior pledge underlines the resolve needed to turn our philosophy toward Mother Earth with a listening ear for First Nations Elders.
Who are the Warriors? Anyone who recognizes that the human identity is essentially defined by the fact that we are all Indigenous to Mother Earth...
FirstLight
(13,852 posts)this is actually a great read. I downloaded the PDF, it's a 300 pg story, I'm on chapter 3 and it is really intriguing.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)It appeals to me when I feel hopeless, since the main character is a child who appears on his own in certain hopeless situations, but uses ancient sacred tablets to inspire him...
TygrBright
(20,979 posts)As an environmental disaster, Easter Island objectifies humanity's stupidity. The increasing rapidity of deforestation, as the inhabitants destroyed the environment they depended on for life itself, shows the same kind of blindness and folly we are seeing now in the face of global climate change.
We've had the tools to understand the speed and scope of the disaster that the Easter Islanders sentenced themselves to for decades.
But we haven't learned.
I doubt we will.
I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt we will.
mordantly,
Bright
Ligyron
(7,835 posts)I was gonna say we need no translation of ancient tablets to get the lessons here. Whatever wisdom they might reveal obviously didn't work.
Meaning no disrespect to original inhabitants or their descendants.
edhopper
(34,600 posts)the environment to build useless statues to non-existing gods until the island is uninhabitable going to teach us how to live in harmony?
And prophecies are bullshit. They are impossible by their very definition.
Starboard Tack
(11,181 posts)For "prophecy" read "prediction".
For "Easter Island" read "Planet Earth"
edhopper
(34,600 posts)post hoc - ad hoc top me.
okasha
(11,573 posts)You wouldn't understand.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)But of course...it's "complex".
And btw, saying "you wouldn't understand" doesn't validate anything...it's just a dodge to cover woo-woo thinking.
edhopper
(34,600 posts)facitious.
As in "It's a guy thing, you wouldn't understand".
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)We all think from two foundations - heart and head, everyone leans a little (or a lot) toward one or the other.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)The woo is strong in this one.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)Skepticscott come over to the prophetic side!
okasha
(11,573 posts)has long been "Turtle Island." It comes from one of the creation stories in which either Water Spider or Muskrat brings up earth from the bottom of the primordial ocean and gradually builds up land masses on the back of a giant turtle. (What's under the turtle? "Turtles all the way down." )
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)There are hundreds of Turtle Island myths and locations not only among First Nations of North American, but also in China, India and around the world.
The power of stories turns us back to our child-like center. From my Blackfoot mentors I have come to understand that when our personal story begins to lead toward disaster, we can still pull away in Sun Dance, or any passage rite performed devoutly in prayer to the Creator. Once we stop we can dream - the dream gives us a new story that can help us redesign our turbulent life toward peace.
Essentially all of humanity stands at this crossroads of crisis vs paradise.
It is time to dream of this new paradise again. It is time to be lead by the spirit of a child. All the earth groans for a new springtime of human existence.
Why to are so many First Nations peoples called "Real People" in their own language? They have learned to dream their stories into existence. From the dream, comes hope; from hope, motivation; from motivation, creativity; from creativity, a restoration toward a new paradise of the Earth; in paradise comes complete contentment.
It is interesting that many First Nations languages also have no word for time and often no sense of time in terms of minutes and hours. This is the exact characteristic of what you would expect from one who has come to live in paradise, that time does not exist....
Phillip McCleod
(1,837 posts)..that the jews called themselves 'the chosen people'. most tribes think the world revolves around them. sadly this mentality seems to persist even when we form states.
i don't find anything useful about putting native american elders on pedastals, either. they are people not objects to be revered.
okasha
(11,573 posts)States represent nothing but a promotion up the food chain and access to a wider range of prey.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)It is a time for conciliators, helpers and guiding lights...
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)that indigenous people have idolized their leaders? Should we be totally and utterly done with that and wish it never happened in the first place?
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)Look at Hitler. But Hope in a mentor we can relate with - like a grandfather, this is what I have experience with my Blackfoot mentors.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)Why do you find it necessary to change the subject from the idolization of Native leaders to "hope" in "mentors"? Is that kind of intellectual dishonesty and disingenuousness also part of the "Indigenous WorldView"?
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)We hope for the good and if our culture becomes known for its poor leaders, its time for revolution...
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)but thanks for playing...
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)The whole point is the time has come for the revolution of restoring the earth. The 7th Fire Prophecy is Fulfilled, the Seventh Generation is here (with the boxer Ali beating the drum in the background)
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)There are loads of creation myths of indigenous peoples that don't include a turtle. The Urth isn't centered on those that do.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)We all have a 'native land'. The argument of First Nation's culture is that Western World-view has yet to realize it. There is a hope that the mythical land of Turtle Island will become a reality. This is why Indigenous world-view always speaks of an end of the old world and a beginning of a new world. The dreams of the elders and children start to kindle the fires of ancient prophecies and visions. The dream is meant to be a blueprint of a better world when our current reality is falling apart. The dream is the beginning of a new reality we hope for...
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)The "Western World-view" has realized it. They just have an understanding of it that goes beyond woo. It is the First Nations that deny their true nativity and seek to cherry pick another.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)For the past 500 years the Western (Colonial) World has been relentlessly engaging in Genocide against First Nations people. In fact, our errors have infected the entire globe. What remains are a people generally marginalized and in poverty. Perhaps you refer to their attempts at survival. By definition, Genocide is not only the murder of a people until their nation no longer has a population (ie. the Beothuk of New Foundland, Labrador), it also includes the suppression of a culture, its practices and views....
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Beware of false prophets. How do you know which prophets are false? Easy. They're all false. Anyone who claims to know the future is an idiot or a fraud.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)Hebrew scholars have identified that Biblical prophets are more about making predictions based on past experience. When the future turns out to be just as the prophet foretold many turn to him as some sort of magician, yet fortunetelling was forbidden by the law of Moses. However, on occasion, the Hebrew prophet was given a word from the Creator that could have come from no one else.... One example of a genuine prophecy is the foretelling of the restoration of the Temple of Jerusalem by a person named Cyrus (a Syrian king). To expect prophecies around every corner is called presumption. To accept a prophecy when it is fulfilled is called hope.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)Can you cite any of their work that demonstrates this? And can you provide any proof that any Hebrew prophet ever got a word that could ONLY have come from the "Creator" and no one else? Or just wishful thinking woo? And how do you distinguish between a prediction that was correct because of luck or wisdom and one that was correct because of actual foreknowledge of the future?
Oh, right...you can't.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)My initial post is to suggest that the Ojibwa 7th Fire Prophecy is fulfilled in the novel, Finding Turtle Island, which is a child's journey to weave his personal identity into his new found island.
The purpose for prophecy in the Hebrew sense is not for fortunetelling, but rather to give the wise elder an opportunity to predict future events based on current behavior of the tribe (in this case Judah or the Northern tribes of Israel). These predictions are based on whether or not certain values are upheld from the teachings of Moses. If they are upheld there will be a future of hope, if not a certain crisis. On rare occation, the Creator touches the earth with a prophecy beyond the wisdom of the wise and a shoke to the folly of the fortuneteller.
Today we are already in the middle of an crisis of epic proportions. The Indigenous world-view is looking to their histories, their elders and their dreams for signs of hope. The Creator has left a few prophecies - the prophecy of the Rainbow Warriors, the Seventh Fire Prophecy and the Hopi Tablet Prophecies of the coming of Puhana. They give the dreamer hope and motivation in order to join those in the sciences use their gifts to help restore the earth.
Perhaps to further guide you toward the prophecies of the Hebrews (for example) fulfilled in their return from exile from Babylon. Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great_in_the_Bible
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)You have no coherent answers to any of the questions, and your last post was pretty much just made up nonsense.
Thanks for the confirmation.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)I'll humor you: Hebrew scholars tend to want to uphold the Tanak, the Law of Moses in the Pentateuch. It says there not to participate in fortunetelling. Therefore, leaning toward Prophets as wise predictors of future events based on whether or not a nation upholds the law of Moses, is the preference of any Hebrew scholar for the definition of a Prophet, verses a fortuneteller. Pick one....
M Kitt
(208 posts)Last edited Sat Apr 13, 2013, 10:18 PM - Edit history (1)
Thanks Anonymouse
Personally, don't think we Sectarians (agnostic, myself) should ascribe this issue as being any less credible than other faiths.
And this particular "Prophesy" is shared by many religions, the eventual "Cleansing" of the planet because of errant human behavior is common.
Since as social creatures we're prone to worrying about catastrophic events (Millenium, Mayan Calendar, Armageddon, etc.) this is as valid a topic of discussion as any.
This Easter Island tablet decription and related (somewhat subdued) interest does serve some specific cultural needs in current society, by the way, drawing attention to Global Awareness issues, particularly "Carbon Footprint" impact.
If we don't stay aware of our impact on the environment (IE global weather changes, pollution in general) we're giving up control of the issue, handing it over to the Corporate Petrochemical thugs.
Generally speaking, tho, I'm not a participant in the Religious Circus, wouldn't encourage it either
http://nationbuilders.thenation.com/profiles/blogs/evangelicals-experts-by-their-own-declaration-especially?xg_source=activity
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)I guess you could say, the book wraps a respect for Indigenous philosophy from ancient Hebrew through Polynesia and North America, where the author has researched...
moobu2
(4,822 posts)the spaceship picks us up and takes us to the next level to be recycled and wiped clean? Cant remember.
Anonymousecoview
(225 posts)Indigenous world-view holds out the hope that it will not take a spaceship, that humanity has the potential...