These Kachina dolls live at the Hopi Cultural Center on the Second Mesa of the Hopi Reservation outside of Winslow, Arizona. They represent the spiritual beings who visit the Hopi villages during the first few months of each year to bring gifts to the children and more important–rain for the coming growing season. The rest of the year these deities, that bring help from beyond, reside in the nearby San Francisco Peaks, held sacred by the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, Havasupai and Apache tribes.
For Hopis the Winter Solstice ceremonies set the pattern for the coming year. Today is the shortest day of the year and the sun will appear to rise and set at the same point in the sacred mountains—a portal through which the earth brushes up against the unseen world. The Kachinas will come down out of the mountains in February and take up residence in the villages until late July when they go home to their mountain peaks.
So, what is going on here? The Hopis are private people who live on an island of land surrounded by the Navajo Nation. They are presently in a drawn-out court battle to secure the water rights they need for sustenance and agriculture on the lands they consider to be the center of the universe. They predict that the Fourth World is soon to come to a cataclysmic close and if we survive the many earth changes, we will triumphantly break through to the Fifth World.
The Hopi are peace-makers and stewards of the land. They hear the Great Spirit telling them that it is time to prepare.
They say that the river of truth runs fast and those that are afraid, in their attempt to hold on to the shore, will perish. Swim, swim to the center. Keep your eyes open and your heads above water. Push to the middle and look around; your friends will be there treading water. It is time to reach out and celebrate the spiritual. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Be fluid or you will be left behind. Instead, gather together, stop struggling. Sacred actions will lead to great celebrations. I hear these words in the wind.
DEC
2018
About the Author:
Elaine Webster writes fiction, creative non-fiction, essays and poetry from her studio in Las Cruces, New Mexico—in the heart of the Land of Enchantment. “It’s easy to be creative surrounded by the beauty of Southern New Mexico. We have the best of everything—food, art, culture, music and sense of community.”