The center of the universe is everywhere.
BLACK ELKAnd I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.
More Black Elk Quotes
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Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice.
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It’s in the darkness of men’s eyes that they get lost.
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Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were.
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Let every step you take upon the earth be as a prayer.
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And as he spoke of understanding, I looked up and saw the rainbow leap with flames of many colors over me.
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The Universe is circles within circles, and everything is one circle, and all the circles are connected to each other.
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I cured with the power that came through me. Of course, it was not I who cured,it was the power from the Outer World.
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I looked below and saw my people there, and all were well and happy except one, and he was lying like the dead – and that one was myself.
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It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds.
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But the Wasichus came, and they have made little islands for us and other little islands for the four-leggeds, and always these islands are becoming smaller, for around them surges the gnawing flood of the Wasichu; and it is dirty with lies and greed.
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The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
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As you walk upon the sacred earth, treat each step as a prayer.
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When I got back to my father and mother and was sitting up there in our tepee, my face was still all puffed and my legs and arms were badly swollen; but I felt good all over and wanted to get right up and run around.
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And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.
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He who is well prepared is he who knows that he is nothing compared with Wakan-Tanka, who is everything; then he knows that world which is real.
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It is in the darkness of their eyes that men lose their way.
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For instance, the coyote is sly, so is the Indian. The eagle is the same. That is why the Indian is always feathered up, he is a relative to the wings of the air.
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Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
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But I think I have done right to save the vision in this way, even though I may die sooner because I did it; for I know the meaning of the vision is wise and beautiful and good; and you can see that I am only a pitiful old man after all.
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The hawk swoops down on its prey, so does the Indian. In his lament he is like an animal.
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We should understand that the Great Spirit is also above all these things and peoples.
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You remember that my great vision came to me when I was only nine years old, and you have seen that I was not much good for anything until after I had performed the horse dance near the mouth of the Tongue River during my eighteenth summer.
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It is not enough to have a vision. In order to have its power, you must enact your vision on earth for all to see. Only then do you have the power.
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The song and the drumming were like this: Behold, a sacred voice is calling you; All over the sky a sacred voice is calling.
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If I thought that I was doing it myself, the hole would close up and no power could come through. Then everything I could do would be foolish.
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Once we were happy in our own country and we were seldom hungry, for then the two-leggeds and the four-leggeds lived together like relatives, and there was plenty for them and for us.
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