I spent four years as an apprentice in the Native American Indian Church. On many occasions over that period, I heard the Chief say that on that particular night they were going to ‘bring rain’ [our worship services lasted from sunset to sunrise]. Never once, after stating such intent, did they fail. One year all the Native American Indian Churches decided that the drought was so severe, that they were going to collectively bring a deep-soaking snow to the whole of Arizona – in mid-March! Snow in the desert at that time of year is unheard of. By morning, when we walked out the tipi, the ground was a carpet of white. That day I drove eight hours to attend another church ceremony in the northern part of the State – and there was snow on the side of the road all the way.
I once asked my teacher, the late Cheyenne Elder, Colin Kingfisher {pictured above}, how they managed to communicate so successfully with The Great Spirit – which is their chosen name for God. “Very simple,” he replied with that humorous glint in his eye. “First you have to learn to speak in the language of The Great Spirit – which is not with all these fancy words you use. You modern people have so many words you have to be lying a lot of the time,” he chuckled. “And anyway, when it comes to prayer, many of you modern people have forgotten what role words and rituals play in praying. You now use these things to try and communicate ‘meaning’ – whereas we use them to communicate feeling. Even though it looks like we are communicating to The Great Spirit with our tongues and deeds, we are not - we are always communicating directly with the emotional energy that we hold within our heart. The heart is our tool of direct communication with our Creator – not the mouth.”
He then went on to explain that Native American Holy men and women do not pray for rain – they literally pray rain. “You will not hear us asking for rain – but you will hear us speaking words that celebrate the many wonderful feelings of receiving rain. We do not come to The Great Spirit from a place of fear and lack, but from a place of gratitude and abundance.” He explained that ‘communicating the wonderful feeling of receiving rain’ is always the sole intent of their prayer. He said that to intentionally bring rain, they go to their holy place - be it in a tipi or upon a piece of open ground they consider sacred - or even in their back yard - and there they bring the awareness of the feeling of receiving rain into the heart.
“When we pray for rain, we do not use our words to ask for it by explaining to The Great Spirit that we are having a drought. Instead, we use our words and rituals to bring into our heart the feeling of rain falling from the sky, the feeling of the wet mud, cold and squelchy between our toes, the feeling of our rain-soaked garments clinging cold to our skin, and the feeling of the sight of children playing joyfully in the puddles. We don’t ask for – we celebrate the receiving of. This is the essential difference between our way, and yours. We do not come to The Great Spirit with a heavy, burdened, fearful heart, but with joyful gratitude for the abundance of receiving. This is the way we are in all our praying.”
“To accomplish these feelings,” he continued, “we remember the last time it rained and how wonderful it felt to smell that first aroma of rain in the desert air. We remember the sound of raindrops dancing upon our rooftops and the crashing laughter of The Lightening and Thunder Beings as they deliver us this wonderful blessing. Listen,” he said. “This is the great secret of all rain-making…I will tell you.” He then paused momentarily, the way he would when seeking to gain my full attention. “Go to a place that is sacred to you and hold the feeling of receiving rain in your heart for as long as possible, joyfully and abundantly. Bring no other negative feelings of lack with you, no feelings of sadness or fear into this felt-prayer – otherwise what you receive from The Great Spirit are events that bring about such negative feelings. Remember, the real rain dance always takes place in the human heart – nowhere else.”
Sometimes we have to go thirsty before we are prepared to drink in a new point of view. I wonder what would happen if everyone reading this letter sipped deeply upon the wisdom of Cheyenne Elder Colin Kingfisher? What would happen if we spent a few moments a few times a day holding within our heart-space the feeling of receiving an abundance of rain throughout our Karoo region? How does it feel to drive along the roads between our Karoo towns and see all the dams full and the vegetation glistening green from the moisture of an abundantly replenishing rainfall?
We all know how good it feels when it rains in The Karoo – how wonderful it smells and how happy our heart is to wake up in the morning hear and the sound of raindrops dancing upon our rooftops. It takes nothing from us to spend a few moments emptying our heart each day of our drought-full fears, and instead consciously filling it with the gratitude and joy of the feeling of receiving replenishing rain.
I once asked my teacher, the late Cheyenne Elder, Colin Kingfisher {pictured above}, how they managed to communicate so successfully with The Great Spirit – which is their chosen name for God. “Very simple,” he replied with that humorous glint in his eye. “First you have to learn to speak in the language of The Great Spirit – which is not with all these fancy words you use. You modern people have so many words you have to be lying a lot of the time,” he chuckled. “And anyway, when it comes to prayer, many of you modern people have forgotten what role words and rituals play in praying. You now use these things to try and communicate ‘meaning’ – whereas we use them to communicate feeling. Even though it looks like we are communicating to The Great Spirit with our tongues and deeds, we are not - we are always communicating directly with the emotional energy that we hold within our heart. The heart is our tool of direct communication with our Creator – not the mouth.”
He then went on to explain that Native American Holy men and women do not pray for rain – they literally pray rain. “You will not hear us asking for rain – but you will hear us speaking words that celebrate the many wonderful feelings of receiving rain. We do not come to The Great Spirit from a place of fear and lack, but from a place of gratitude and abundance.” He explained that ‘communicating the wonderful feeling of receiving rain’ is always the sole intent of their prayer. He said that to intentionally bring rain, they go to their holy place - be it in a tipi or upon a piece of open ground they consider sacred - or even in their back yard - and there they bring the awareness of the feeling of receiving rain into the heart.
“When we pray for rain, we do not use our words to ask for it by explaining to The Great Spirit that we are having a drought. Instead, we use our words and rituals to bring into our heart the feeling of rain falling from the sky, the feeling of the wet mud, cold and squelchy between our toes, the feeling of our rain-soaked garments clinging cold to our skin, and the feeling of the sight of children playing joyfully in the puddles. We don’t ask for – we celebrate the receiving of. This is the essential difference between our way, and yours. We do not come to The Great Spirit with a heavy, burdened, fearful heart, but with joyful gratitude for the abundance of receiving. This is the way we are in all our praying.”
“To accomplish these feelings,” he continued, “we remember the last time it rained and how wonderful it felt to smell that first aroma of rain in the desert air. We remember the sound of raindrops dancing upon our rooftops and the crashing laughter of The Lightening and Thunder Beings as they deliver us this wonderful blessing. Listen,” he said. “This is the great secret of all rain-making…I will tell you.” He then paused momentarily, the way he would when seeking to gain my full attention. “Go to a place that is sacred to you and hold the feeling of receiving rain in your heart for as long as possible, joyfully and abundantly. Bring no other negative feelings of lack with you, no feelings of sadness or fear into this felt-prayer – otherwise what you receive from The Great Spirit are events that bring about such negative feelings. Remember, the real rain dance always takes place in the human heart – nowhere else.”
Sometimes we have to go thirsty before we are prepared to drink in a new point of view. I wonder what would happen if everyone reading this letter sipped deeply upon the wisdom of Cheyenne Elder Colin Kingfisher? What would happen if we spent a few moments a few times a day holding within our heart-space the feeling of receiving an abundance of rain throughout our Karoo region? How does it feel to drive along the roads between our Karoo towns and see all the dams full and the vegetation glistening green from the moisture of an abundantly replenishing rainfall?
We all know how good it feels when it rains in The Karoo – how wonderful it smells and how happy our heart is to wake up in the morning hear and the sound of raindrops dancing upon our rooftops. It takes nothing from us to spend a few moments emptying our heart each day of our drought-full fears, and instead consciously filling it with the gratitude and joy of the feeling of receiving replenishing rain.
Article By: Michael Brown
