Native American Divination

The Native American way of life is based upon a deep relationship to the natural world.

It is the recognition of the interrelatedness of all things and all
beings, and of their divine origin, which marks out the Native American
tradition and enables those who follow its way to utilize the signs and
languages of the natural world to divine their place in the scheme of
the Great Mystery.

There are clear echoes here of the old native spiritual traditions of
Europe and the Far North, just as there are powerful connections to the
traditions of Australia and New Zealand. All these cultural groups
share
a belief in the sacredness of all things and in the close observation
of
natural trends as a means of discovering the answers to ages old
questions of meaning and progress.

In the Mesoamerican astro-calendar we may see links with both Tarot and
astrology, as well as with the runic alphabets of the Celts and the
Norse. Similarly, in the methods of counting out beans or crystals, we
are reminded both of the bone oracles of Africa and of the techniques
of
geomancy.

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Native North-American Divination Systems
by: Jamie Sams

Native American people have looked to the Earth Mother and Nature for
signs, portents, omens and guidance. Our systems of divination have
always been more a way of life than a philosophy or religion. The Red
Race, which can be defined as the indigenous people of the Americans,
has been given the guardianship of Natural Law and the Medicines of
Earth, Medicines meaning the strengths, talents and healing ways of
being that humankind cold find in the natural world. These Medicines
would allow the Original People (human beings) to learn how to survive
and how to grow spiritually in physical bodies.

Native American divination covers the whole of North, Central and South
America. The North American continent alone has over 487 recognized
Tribes, and although each Tribe has its own separate Tradition, many
common practices link each Nation or Tribe with the others. The common
threads are found in every Tribe are the links to the Great Mystery
(the
Creator), the Earth Mother, Father Sky, Grandfather Sun, Grandmother
Moon and all of the Nature. Although some Tribes assign the Sun, Moon
and Sky to different indenties--early Cherokee teachings spoke of
Grandmother Sun and Grandfather Moon--the meaning is the same, and the
only thing that is different is the relationship with the human being.

Elders have taught me that we are here to walk the Earth in order to
bring our spiritual natures into alignment with our physical bodies. We
do this by manifesting the Great Mystery's Eternal Flame of Love
through
our thoughts and actions on the physical plane. This is Divine balance
and requires many lessons to be learned. How we learn those lessons
depends upon how we see and honor the Sacredness of all life. To
accomplish this goal of Sacredness in our lives we must follow a Sacred
Path, also called the Beauty Way.

In my Tradition, we believe that sometimes the Great Mystery can be a
Divine Trickster and that the joke is how we humans are tricked into
growing, learning and evolving. Since Divine and divination have the
same root word, it is easy to see how everything the Great Mystery
created can be a blueprint or map for humans beings to use for growth.
We believe that all humans have the same mission in their Earthwalks
(physical life). This mission is for each individual to discover his or
her gifts, talents and abilities, then to develop those gifts fully and
share with humanity in order to aid the whole of Creation. Our systems
of divination are based upon teaching human beings how to understand
those lessons of spiritual growth. Unlike many other systems of
divinations, which point the seeker to romance, success, fame or
impending doom, the Native American culture holds a Sacred Point of
View, using the signs and languages of Nature to point the way to
'right
relationships' with self, family, Nation, Clan, Tribe, Nature and the
Great Mystery. Everything else is merely an illusion.

The Dreamtime is the parallel reality or Spirit World where all the
tangible, breakable, physical things of life can be stripped away until
only the essence remains. We believe that this essence is the Eternal
Flame of Love. It is in the Dreamtime that we can see beyond the
illusions and into our essence, which is total connection to all
things,
bonded with the glue of Great Mystery's fire. To get to the Dreamtime
or
beyond physical illusion, we use the maps of Nature, the call of our
Ancestors' voices, the languages of the trees and stones, and the
lessons of the Creature-teachers. We believe that all things that have
ever existed in a location are still in that location. The only thing
that separates us from those realities is a thin membrane which is
composed of our illusory concept of time. In using the lessons of
Nature
and the guidance provided by those Allies (Allies being any force or
living thing in Nature which can teach us), we can come into spiritual
balance and bridge the abyss of illusion. When we move into the oneness
of all things, the eternal truths of the world of Spirit and the world
of physicality are blended and made known to us.

ANIMAL MEDICINE
Animals are our Creature-teachers and protective spirits. They carry
certain strengths which we call Medicines. These Medicines comprise the
talents, abilities and instincts that each Totem (Power Animal)
embodies. These gifts can assist humans in learning how to live in the
physical world. The Totems are a reflection of our animal nature or
physicalness, just as the Great Mystery is the Source of our spiritual
beings.

In the times of our Ancestors, Native people would walk through the
woodlands and observe the Creatures in order to gain the knowledge they
needed to survive. Signs found through dreams or unusual experiences,
were sure messages that the Creature in question was allying itself to
a
human being in order to teach or to protect that person during his or
her Earthwalk (lifetime).

Some examples of the Medicines of the Creature-teacher are:
Buffalo-Bringer of abundance; Lynx-Knower of Secrets; Rabbit-Ability to
confront fear, bringer or of fertility and teacher of how to listen;
Deer-Gentleness; and Raven-Teacher of how to use Magic. There are many
Totem Medicines as there  species of wildlife on our planet and in our
oceans.

THE BEAUTY WAY
The rituals, ceremonies, Traditions and teachings have been blamed by
our Native American Ancestors from centuries of living in harmony with
the Earth Mother. We use the symbols of Nature in order to enlighten
each individual so that each person makes their own decisions. Our
understanding is that the Spirit World and the Great Mystery work with
each person individually, using unique methods of applying spirit to
physical life.

All Our Relations, but also gives every person the right to return to
the Beauty Way. The Beauty Way is a way of being that never puts
anything outside the self. All Native American people see everything as
being alive and having spirit and consciousness.

THE MEDICINE WHEEL
All 487 Traditions and Tribes in North America have their own Medicine
Wheels and their own significances for the directions, but overall they
are very similar.

Each direction has a set of lessons and teaches something about
understanding truth more fully.

Every Tribe and Nation has its own system of divining or understanding
of The Creatures and other Relations of our Earth Mother.

The most Sacred of all our ceremonies is the Give-away. This rite
teaches us how to give from the heart with no strings attached.