After the coming of White Buffalo Calf Woman and before the Battle of Little Big Horn, a young boy received a powerful vision from the Spirit World. In this vision, Black Elk saw two men descend with flaming spears. Atop a cloud they took Black Elk to a great plain. There, a Bay horse met him, accompanied by galloping horses of different colors: Black, White, Red(sorrel), Yellow(buckskin). Later the colors of these horses would come to represent Tate Topa, or the four winds/four directions. Leaving the horses, Black Elk entered a rainbow colored lodge, the lodge of the 6 Grandfathers( the powers of the four directions, the universe, and Mother Earth and Father Sky).

The first Grandfather, the power of the West, gave Black Elk a cup of water, the power to sustain life. From the Black West, Wakinyan Tanka, the Thunder Beings, release the life giving rains. Then the Grandfather handed him a bow and told him he would also have the power to destroy.
The second Grandfather, the power of the North, gave him a white wing and the sacred herb sage. The wing, like the snows of the North, exemplified the power of cleansing, courage, and endurance. The herb provided truth and honesty, a strong, healing sustenance for our bodies, Mother Earth, and even world leadership.
The third Grandfather, the power of the Red Dawn rising in the East, gave him the sacred pipe, the power of peace and understanding. The Daybreak Star appeared, and he was told he would have the power to awaken others. Powerful knowledge would come to his land, and peace would come through knowledge and wisdom.
The fourth Grandfather, the power of the South, gave him a bright red stick sprouting leaves. The Grandfather said that a tree would grow in the center of the nation. A Yellow Hoop appeared, symbolizing in it's color, growth and physical healing, in it's circle, the unity of all things.
The fifth Grandfather, the Spirit of the Sky, became Wanbli(an eagle). He spoke, saying that all things of the sky - the winged, the winds, and the stars - would be as relatives and would come back to Black Elk and help him.
The sixth Grandfather was really Mother Earth, the Earth Spirit. The Earth Spirit took BLack Elk outside the lodge and told him the Earth POwer would be with him. In time, the two leggeds would desperately need the help of Mother Earth.

Black Elk was instructed to set the red stick in the center of the yellow hoop. There, the tree was to grow and around it the people would gather. In time the tree would bloom. Black Elk saw the Earth becoming very sick. The animals, the winged ones and the four legged ones became frightened. All living things became gaunt and poor. The air and waters were dirty and smelled foul. Below, Black Elk saw a Blue Man living in and empowering the sickness. The powers of the four directions, represented by the horses, charged the Blue Man, but were beaten back.

The Grandfathers called upon Black Elk. His bow, given to him by the powers of the West, changed into a spear and he swooped down on the Blue Man, killing him. When the Blue Man fell, all life came back to the Earth; all things became fresh and healthy once again.

Then Black Elk took the bright red stick and cast it into the center of the Earth. The stick became the tree of the Wiwanyag Wachipi (Sun dance Ceremony), a waga chun, or cottonwood tree. A Peace Pipe descended to the base of the tree, spreading deep peace, and the people sang with delight. The Daybreak Star rose.
Black Elk was told that the star would be a relative to the people; those who saw it would see much more because the star represented wisdom. Black Elk was then shown his people over a great span of time, beginning with the time his people all walked in a sacred manner, following the Good Red Road, camping in a sacred circle. A Holy Tree stood out within the encampments center. "Behold a good nation, walking in a sacred manner, in a good land" the people sang. In time, however, the people broke into little groups and denominations, each group following a different path, and all around them was fighting and war. The Sacred Tree withered. Black Elk saw the miserable faces of people who were sick and dying.

A red man appeared among the people. His transformation into a Buffalo indicated a time of plenty. A sacred herb became four flowers, four blossoms on a single stem. The four rayed herb - red, yellow, black and white - became the flowering tree. Black Elk then heard a song: " A good nation I will make live, this nation above has said, they have given me the power to make over."

Then Black Elk saw that the sacred hoop of his people was only one of many hoops, all joined together to make one great circle, the great hoop of all peoples. In the center of the great hoop, stood a sheltering, flowering tree, and under it gathered children of all nations. At the end of Black Elk's vision, two spirit men gave him the Daybreak herb of understanding. He dropped the herb down to the Earth below, and it flowered, spreading its power over the world. In time, he was promised, his people would be free and help spread this power of peace and understanding.

A Commentary on this Vision

A Brief Interpretation of Black Elk's Vision: Black Elk lived many years. During his lifetime he witnessed the injustice of his free spirited people becoming the tethered eagles in the Washichu's* zoo. He and his people became the prisioners of the reservation. Before he passed over, the elderly Black Elk stood atop Paha Wakinyan Tanka or Thunder Being Mountain* in the Black Hills(Paha Sapa) of South Dakota only to lament to Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit. He believed that his once powerful vision had failed, for there was no Sun Dance Tree, no greening leaves, and the flowering herb had failed to bloom as promised. He pleaded, crying piteously for one last bud, a springing leaf, a glowing ember, to signify the return of the people's spirit, somehow, someway.

There was a time of trials and despair, as the Grandfathers had predicted. But history has also proved that Black Elk's vision was correct, although the Holy Man did not live to see the return of the Sundance, symbolizing the return of the People's Spirit, just a few years after his death. The red stick with the green leaves now has risen in the center of the Lakota Nation. The Sun Dance Ceremony, Wiwanyag Wachipi, is currently being performed annually. The People's Spirit lives, the Lakota have reclaimed their old ways. The Native People had first to regain their Spirit, and their ceremonies, before the flowering tree and herb of understanding could bloom for the whole world.

The Blue Man of the vision is a symbol of those who have harmed and continue to harm Mother Earth ( Can you say Fortune 500 companies) and all her creatures. The Blue Man is the personification of greed, corruption, dishonesty, and selfishness (can you say Republican.....ouch!). The Blue Man is the Great Violater who rapes our precious, life-giving Mother.

The Mother Earth, represented by the 4 directions, has fought back against the Blue Man. She has tremendous healing and restorative powers, but without the help of her children, she cannot set herself right. A reversal of World values, a concept of the Earth as Spirit Created and sacred is in order before we two-leggeds can be environmentally effective on a global basis. The Blue Man will meet his demise when this comes about. The bright red stick with the green leaves symbolizes that the people had to regain their Earth-based spirituality. Old ceremonies have been revived, and those who would inhibit this spiritual rebirth often meet with outright resistance.

The stick planted in the center of the Nation is a symbol of the Sun Dance Tree. Before the Sun Dance begins, a cottonwood tree is selected and cut down, then carried and erected in the center of the Sun Dance circle. The people gather in tents, trailers and tipis, creating a surrounding encampment. The people watch the Sun Dancers and pray together as a tribe when the dancers are pierced on the last day.

The sacred herb, the daybreak star, is symbolic of the powerful knowledge and serenity that flow from konwing and applying the values that only a Earth-Based value system can provide. Those who become close to the Mother, and are respectful of her,discover these sacred truths. The red man is symbolic of a time of plenty, which we all have experienced in recent times.

The red man is not the red people, but a symbol of the abundance that flows from this North American land. The herb of understanding was imparted to humanity at the end of the vision. The great opening of modern communication leaves no question that we are at the threshold of this time. Today, the flowering tree is blooming before many. The bright rainbow, symbolic of the flowering tree, is now present among the environmental and spiritual gatherings of enlightened people that have began to flourish throughout this land. The rainbow covered lodge of the 6 Grandfathers is a powerful symbol of Black Elk's prediction that, someday, the flowering tree would bloom. The blooming has begun and will continue........ * Washichu - literally translated from Lakota, this means "taker of the fat" or "one who takes the fat". This term is used in reference to the White Man or any greedy S.O.B. Even when the Lakota refer to the English language, they use the term Washichu. And who would blame them? * Thunder Being Mountain - The Invaders of their Land have consistently taken the Holy names of Lakota sacred ground and perverted them to their liking. This holy mountain was renamed Harney Peak, after Col. William Harney. Harney was responsible for the slaughter of several hundred Lakota people, many of them women and children. Bear Lodge, a sacred structure in north east Wyoming, is another example of how the Invaders have bastardized the Lakota Holy Names. What do they call this structure now? Why, they call it Devil's Tower, of course....how appropriate.