Are you listening?

A Navajo says: These sacred mountains were placed here for us. We think of them as our home, as the foundation of our Hogan and our life. There is life inside these mountains and there is life on them. This is how the sacred mountains sit for us and we adorn ourselves just as they do, with white shell, turquoise, abalone shell, black jet and other precious jewels. Our sacred mountains have always blessed us with values of good things of life. This is how they regulated our lives from the beginning. These mountains keep us healthy and strong. Because of them we grow and we have prospered. They gave us water to drink and food to eat. They gave us a home, shelter, and they dress us. This is our belief and understanding as a Diné. According to our Forefathers, understanding and beliefs, the sacred mountains were planted by the Holy People using the sacred soil that First Man brought up from the lower worlds.

The twelve Holy People formed our sacred mountains in the Fourth World. When the sacred mountains were first formed, prayers and songs were sung for positive thinking and understanding by the twelve Holy People. Talking God and Second Talking God are the spirits that are within these sacred mountains. It is said that these two Holy People went to these mountains to see to our blessings and our needs and wants. Talking God and Second Talking God were also made to stand on top of our sacred mountains to be the guides for our lives. This is how these two Holy People and our sacred mountains were made to carry out our feelings, thoughts, plans, values, good fortune, hopes, faith and love in our every day walks of life. When the sacred mountain songs were first sung and when the sacred mountain prayers were first used, it was for positive self awareness of understanding. Mountains songs and prayers were made to go clockwise from East to North and back to the East.

This final sentence served as an important confirmation for me. My itinerary for the six week journey was always tentative, although I felt to move from Mancos West into Arizona, then travel through New Mexico and end in Sedona for a conference. This counterclockwise circle felt the most opened. Once I arrived and realized the accessibility the four sacred mountains were by car, and stepped foot on the Northern mountain, I felt a commitment solidified to honor all four corners. At this point it mist be done properly. It says here to go clockwise from “East to North and back to the East.” I actually passed in view the Eastern Mountain, Blanca Peak, on my way to Mancos through Colorado. I have visited the North Mountain, and upon my return to Iowa, I plan to stop and acknowledge again the Eastern Mountain. To complete the instruction I have been forced to travel clockwise. Both of my most concrete plants will not be possible until later in the month. James Nez, a Navajo man in Kayenta, AZ, whom I was supposed to visit on the 10th, came down with a cold. And my contact in Flagstaff, who welcomed me to stay “anytime”, may need to fly out of town on the 10th due to family emergency. My contacts in Taos and Santa Fe immediately welcomed me last minute and actually prefer my visit now, as they will be busy or out of town in the next couple weeks. This will force me to visit the Sacred Mountain of the South, then West and complete with the East. The order and guidance of nature is humbling and relieving. I’m off to Taos tomorrow!!