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    Meditations with the Lakota: Prayers, Songs, and Stories of Healing and Harmony
    Meditations with the Lakota: Prayers, Songs, and Stories of Healing and Harmony
    Meditations with the Lakota: Prayers, Songs, and Stories of Healing and Harmony
    Ebook122 pages1 hour

    Meditations with the Lakota: Prayers, Songs, and Stories of Healing and Harmony

    By Paul Steinmetz

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    About this ebook

    • Native American meditations that help the reader find spirit in everyday life.

    • Intimate meditations offer insight into the symbology of the Lakota religious experience.

    • Lakota elders present the ancient prayers that weave together psyche and spirit.

    • New Edition of Meditations with Native Americans.

    The Lakota, people of the sacred buttes of the Black Hills, hold a rich tradition that connects the world of visible creation to the world of spirit. A century after the battle at Wounded Knee, Lakota elders are beginning to speak their belief that this spirituality is indigenous to every man and woman. By inviting all nations to recognize their interdependence with one another and with the earth, Native Americans can help modern man and woman find a personal relationship with nature and a willingness to view creation as sacred. Many feel that this spirituality is not a luxury but a necessity.

    From impressions and teachings gathered over decades of living with the Oglala Sioux and participating in their ceremonies, author Paul Steinmetz has compiled a book of provocative meditations centered on creation spirituality. Lakota elders join the author in evoking the essence of the sweat lodge ceremony, the vision quest, yuwipi meetings, and the teachings of Buffalo Calf Woman and the sacred pipe, offering the reader a focus for prayerful intention in finding spirit in everyday life. This insider's view reveals the Lakotas' profound interconnectedness with all matter, a weaving of psyche and spirit that is the call to consciousness so crucial at this time.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInner Traditions/Bear & Company
    Release dateApr 1, 2001
    ISBN9781591438236
    Meditations with the Lakota: Prayers, Songs, and Stories of Healing and Harmony
    Author

    Paul Steinmetz

    Paul Steinmetz, S.J., Ph.D. (1928-2021), served as a missionary among the Oglala Sioux for several decades. His innovations in ritual theology earned him the respect of the Oglala, who entrusted him with sacred knowledge. Steinmetz's recognition of the unity of religions has assisted the Lakota in imagining Lakota/Christian spirituality, fulfilling the Ghost Dance Messiah vision received by Black Elk in 1890.

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      Book preview

      Meditations with the Lakota - Paul Steinmetz

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      I am indebted to many Lakota, both living and dead, for the privilege of sharing these meditations with you. John Iron Rope, a Catholic medicine man, gave his approval when I prayed with the Sacred Pipe at the funeral of Red Long Visitor. This was the beginning of many beautiful friendships.

      Frank Fools Crow, the leader of the tribal Sun Dance for many years, was delighted that a Catholic priest prayed with the Sacred Pipe. George Plenty Wolf was a medicine man who brought his Lakota and Christian beliefs together. Pete Catches Sr., formally a Catholic catechist, was my spiritual director on my Vision Quest. I formed friendships with Charles Kills Rhee, Dawson No Horse, and Richard Moves Camp, all medicine men. Selo Black Crow is a Lakota spiritual leader who conducts his own Sun Dance on the reservation. Edgar Red Cloud was the great-grandson of Chief Red Cloud and head Sun Dance singer for many years. Lucy Looks Twice was a living link to the famous Black Elk about whom John Neihardt and Joseph Epes Brown wrote. Lawrence Hunter introduced me to Stanley Looking Horse, who helps his son, Orval, as keeper of the Sacred Calf Pipe.

      Beatrice Weasel Bear, daughter of Rex Long Visitor, introduced me into the Native American Church. Her husband, John, was a road man, one who conducts Peyote meetings. She considers me a member of the family. She gave me valuable insights on bringing together the Sacred Pipe and the Peyote traditions. She also sponsored a Peyote meeting for me on my journey to Europe and again on my return.

      Emerson Spider, as State High Priest for the Native American Church in South Dakota, speaks with authority. Bernard Ice was blind and most delighted that his spiritual vision was being recorded for the benefit of others. Bernard Red Cloud, also a descendant of the Chief, and his wife Christine are important members of the church. Lawrence Hunter told me about the early days of Peyote on the Pine Ridge Reservation from his own personal experience.

      These and other Lakota shared their spirituality with me and enriched my life.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Cover Image

      Title Page

      Acknowledgments

      Foreword by Dr. Åke Hultkrantz

      Author’s Preface

      Introduction

      The Lakota Indians

      Traditional Lakota Spirituality

      The Native American Church

      Christian Influences

      Chapter 1. Traditional Lakota Spirituality: The Sacred Calf Pipe

      Chapter 2. Traditional Lakota Spirituality: Relation to the Earth and the Spirit World

      Chapter 3. Traditional Lakota Spirituality: Spiritual Food

      Chapter 4. Traditional Lakota Spirituality: The Sweat Lodge Ceremony

      Chapter 5. Traditional Lakota Spirituality: The Vision Quest

      Chapter 6. Traditional Lakota Spirituality: The Sun Dance

      Chapter 7. Traditional Lakota Spirituality: Yuwipi Meetings

      Chapter 8. The Native American Church: The Altar

      Chapter 9. The Native American Church: The Water Drum

      Chapter 10. The Native American Church: The Morning Water Woman

      Chapter 11. The Native American Church: Peyote Visions

      Chapter 12. The Native American Church: Eschatological Reflections

      Chapter 13. The Christian Influence

      Footnotes

      About the Author

      About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company

      Books of Related Interest

      Copyright & Permissions

      FOREWORD

      The author of this book of meditations is a remarkable man, out of the ordinary, and occupies a unique position in American Indian religious studies.

      For a couple of decades Father Paul Steinmetz, S.J., served as a dedicated missionary among the Oglala Lakota in South Dakota. It was during this time that he launched the startling Christian reinterpretation of Lakota religion based upon the inspiration that the Sacred Pipe, the most holy of Lakota religious sacramentals, could be transformed into a symbol of Christ. Not un-expectedly this innovation in ritual theology created mostly favorable reactions among the Indians concerned, served as a model of missionary adaptation, and provoked an engaging debate among anthropologists. It was also during this time that Paul Steinmetz himself took on the role of the anthropologist and conducted field research among the Oglala—with great reward, for the Oglala evidently put much trust in him. So Father Paul finally turned out as both a missionary and a scholar in the anthropology of religion, a subject in which he finally earned his Ph.D. As a man of high intellectual ability and deep human kindness, he has managed to make weighty achievements in both these activities.

      His connections with American Indian religion are two-dimensional. I know of no other person in modern times who, to the same extent, has been

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