The long tale of the Great-Spirit
At the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit. And that center is really everywhere. It is within each of us. — Black Elk.
The telling of stories about the Creator or Great-Spirit may be as old as humanity itself.
I recently became curious about this ancient and universal phenomenon while watching a TV series, “Bones of Crows.” It is a heartbreaking tale about the horrific consequences of Canadian First Nations Cree children being taken from their families and placed into State-funded Christian schools.
At several points during the unfolding drama, the actors speaking in Cree, dialog directly with the Creator or Great-Spirit (Kisemanito). Cree myth stories have depth and weight. They get carried through the eons by the elders to each generation of children about the interaction of everything in the universe and the centrality of the heart and soul in this connectedness. Amongst North and South American native peoples, there are a wide variety of myth stories along the same lines.
So just how far back do these stories about the Creator or Great-Spirit go? No one knows exactly, but considering their centrality and endurance, it is likely that these stories got carried into America by the first hunter-gatherer people to enter North America over 20,000 years ago.
It is wondrous to ponder just how long Creator myth stories in their various contextual manifestations have been with us. Consider the Australian first peoples, for example, who have been in place for upwards of 60,000 years. They too have a central place in their dreaming myth stories for a Creator Spirit.
How much further back do Creator myth stories go? God alone knows. But if I had to guess, comrades, I’d say that they may well be amongst the oldest and greatest tales ever told. And in one form or another, their echo is likely present in the formation of the more modern Abrahamic version of the Creator God story, which has only been with us for the relatively short period of a four thousand years.
Making these connections is tremendously helpful in understanding the ongoing evolution of the human story. A story that is expressed spiritually through new and ancient myth storytelling.
The Great-Spirit does indeed help us connect to all that was, and will yet be, in the never-ending mystery of old meets new. It’s all about interconnecting with the heart and soul. The mystic life opens the door in our hearts, where myth meets wisdom and deep understanding.
Some stories linger long in our individual and collective DNA. They are the tall tales that connect us to the ancient wisdom of the past and breathe life into our very souls in the present.
There is a Cree proverb that says:
We human beings are on this earth for only a short time to gain wisdom, knowledge, respect, and understanding for all human beings, because we are all relatives.
Blessed be our ancient ancestors for preserving the stories that we desperately need for wisdom, understanding, and respect in the present. For out on the prairies with the Great-Spirit, we are indeed all relatives!
– Cormac Stagg, author of The Quest for a Humble Heart