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A short set of Guide-lines for members.
No one is exempt from not posting, for if a member can not generate 2 (two) messages per month either in the form of a reply to another persons post or a new message standing on its own merit. It can not be a post just to make your two postings a month, for it has to have some relevance to the group topic of: "Dragons along with other Beasties of Mythology"
If the member has two successive months on no posts of non-topical posts that member will be removed from the group.
The posts and responses must have some relevance to the huge world of Mythology, even so-called living beasts like the Yeti or Abominable Snowman, Loch Ness Monster to name a couple are also fair game within the context of the group as well as any form of Mythology could include.
Even Folklore can be on topic as long as it stays within that realm of sometimes being a very tall tale; this can also include the Fairy-Tales that we learned about when we were young in years.
No 'Personal Attacks" upon any other members of the group. If you want to do something like that send it via private message, for that type of behavior will not be tolerated no matter how well you try to disguise it.
As you will learn soon enough that I have been online in one form or fashion since the mid-1980's and have watched some of the best do some of the nastiness that should never be allowed online. There will only be one warning, for the second time the member is removed from the group as well as banned.
Although I have expanded a little bit on each one of the very few rules of the road so to speak, it never hurts treating other adults as adults.
Other than that have fun with the group.
If the member has two successive months on no posts of non-topical posts that member will be removed from the group.
The posts and responses must have some relevance to the huge world of Mythology, even so-called living beasts like the Yeti or Abominable Snowman, Loch Ness Monster to name a couple are also fair game within the context of the group as well as any form of Mythology could include.
Even Folklore can be on topic as long as it stays within that realm of sometimes being a very tall tale; this can also include the Fairy-Tales that we learned about when we were young in years.
No 'Personal Attacks" upon any other members of the group. If you want to do something like that send it via private message, for that type of behavior will not be tolerated no matter how well you try to disguise it.
As you will learn soon enough that I have been online in one form or fashion since the mid-1980's and have watched some of the best do some of the nastiness that should never be allowed online. There will only be one warning, for the second time the member is removed from the group as well as banned.
Although I have expanded a little bit on each one of the very few rules of the road so to speak, it never hurts treating other adults as adults.
Other than that have fun with the group.
SAMHAIN
SAMHAIN, Halloween, & the Day of the dead
Author's Note
This season was the beginning of the New Year (and winter) in many rural areas of Europe. The actual time of transition, from sundown on Samhain to sundown the following day, was a "thin place" in the Celtic world, a place between-the-worlds where deep insights could pass more easily to those who were open to them. In addition to inspiration, through the portals could also pass beings of wisdom, fun, and play (and some of these played rough, requiring common sense and real caution on the part of mortals).
Christianity would declare that these creatures of "otherness" were evil, but that only reveals how clumsy is the relationship between the West's monotheism and much older, archetypal realms of the "imaginal." The creative impulse is inherent in life. In humans, only when it is repressed by too many narrow minds full of rigid "do's and don't's" does it rebel and re-direct its power into malice and violence. At its worst, monotheism impoverishes the creative juices within us, demonizing them, closing us off from multi-dimensional realms all around us. Then we wonder why children use guns in schools which have been starved of the imaginal by the forced withdrawal of the arts, theatre, and music.
In this season of Samhain, we are reminded of other wondrous worlds existing side by side with our own, and we are invited to play, laugh, don disguises, delight in small miracles of human friendship, use common sense, and free our hearts to explore who and what we truly are.
Warmly,
Kathleen
--------------------------
From the UK comes Sig Lonegren's fine essay on Samhain:
(Note: his fine essays for other Cross Quarter days will be found elsewhere on my site.)
...While all of these Cross Quarter Days are all Fire Festivals, I feel each of the Celtic Cross Quarter Days is also associated with one of the four elements for the purposes of scrying. At Imbolc one looks at a bowl of Water to scry the future. Beltane is the time to look in to the Fire and burning embers to ruminate about the past. Lughnasad/Lammas uses a bowl of Earth to look at the now. The element of Samhain is Air. The veil to the other side is so thin at this time that you can see the spirits in the Air. You don't need any scrying tools! Use the intuitive skills you already have inside. Be sure to use protection if you plan to scry at this time. You can do this by surrounding yourself with Love. Only Love may enter. All else will be turned away....
...So as this Samhain approaches, what is ending in you? What do you have inside that it is time to let go of? No healing is complete until you get beyond recovery. Use Samhain to take the thirteenth step: Transformation. In the Tarot, the thirteenth card of the Major Arcana is Death, and it is ruled by Scorpio. Samhain occurs in Scorpio. The card of Death doesn't necessarily mean physical death (though it can mean that), but more productively, it can be seen as an inevitable heavy change or transformation. Something old must be gotten rid of to make room for something new to be able to come in. Use the magic of this time to say good-bye to an old habit or addiction, an old relationship, or anything else it is time to leave behind.
At the same time, be ready to plant the seeds of the new. What would you like to become involved with? A new type of job? A more meaningful spiritual path? A better way of relating with your partner? While something old is gone, also use the energies of Samhain to plant the seeds of the new.
Lonegren looks at many other aspects of this season as well: its history, the role of the Crone Goddess, a special apple-bobbing divination practice, and much more.
view link [Link updated 9/7/06]
[Added 10/11/00]: This lovely page of Samhain's history and lore comes from author and ritualist, Mara Freeman (a frequent contributor to the journal, Parabola). She also includes several divinitory practices involving stones, apples, a mirror, and candles. In addition, she explains why apples are so intimately connected with this season:
...At the heart of the Celtic Otherworld grows an apple tree whose fruit has magical properties. Old sagas tell of heroes crossing the western sea to find this wondrous country, known in Ireland as Emhain Abhlach, (Evan Avlach) and in Britain, Avalon. At Samhain, the apple harvest is in, and old hearthside games, such as apple-bobbing, called apple-dookin’ in Scotland, reflect the journey across water to obtain the magic apple....
view link
[Link updated 10/23/02]
[Added 10/11/00]: This is "All Hallow's Eve," a warm, lively essay by Mike Nichols, who has been writing on pagan themes for more than a quarter of a century. About Samhain (Celtic New Year's Eve):
...Not that the holiday was Celtic only. In fact, it is startling how many ancient and unconnected cultures (the Egyptians and pre-Spanish Mexicans, for example) celebrated this as a festival of the dead. But the majority of our modern traditions can be traced to the British Isles....
...The ancient Celtic view of time...is cyclical. And in this framework, New Year's Eve represents a point outside of time, when the natural order of the universe dissolves back into primordial chaos, preparatory to re- establishing itself in a new order. Thus, Samhain is a night that exists outside of time and hence it may be used to view any other point in time. At no other holiday is a tarot card reading, crystal reading, or tea-leaf reading so likely to succeed....
Nichols explains why Christianity's concept of linear time has such a difficult time with oracles and divination; along the way, he offers several divinitory practices -- and also gives fascinating data on the possible origins of apple-bobbing and jack-o-lanterns. [Note: you'll need to hit "Close" or otherwise disable the Geocities pop-up ad. Don't worry -- it's obvious & easy to do this.]
28 September 2004: Nichols' page is sometimes overwhelmed with traffic September-October so here are two backup links for his essay:
view link view link
When Oracles Speak
[Added 10/15/00]: Appropriately, on Friday the 13th, October 2000, a wise and luminous book was launched by Quest Books: When Oracles Speak, by Dianne Skafte, Ph.D., an expert on the ancient history and lore of oracles. If you're intrigued by what Mike Nichols (see preceding link) and others on my page write about oracles in conjunction with Samhain / Halloween, and if you're interested in getting a richer background on the topic of oracles in general, don't miss this site with excerpts from her book (a link is provided to her book -- I've read it and highly recommend it: my review of it for amazon.com can be reached through the link). On the opening page, the author offers an excerpt from one of her childhood experiences with divination. An additional excerpt on practical oracular "exercises" is promised in the very near future. [Also see directly below...]
Oracles of Earth -- The Deep Below
[Added 10/15/00]: Again from Dianne Skafte comes this longer, Halloween-related, and fascinating excerpt on necromancy (the ancient practice of consulting one's dead ancestors). FYI: Dr. Skafte is a longtime friend and colleague of mine. She is a most engaging writer, a skilled psychotherapist, and an extraordinary woman who knows firsthand the mysterious realms of which she writes. She writes with grace, providing suitable warnings of potential pitfalls but, overall, creating a friendly, respectful atmosphere in which one feels safe to explore these deeply sacred realms.
view link [Link updated 10/23/02]
[Annotation completely revised 10/23/02]: Suzanne Barrett did the Ireland page for about.com for over four years before she and three hundred other wonderful about.com hosts were axed in late September 2001 by a shortsighted management. One of the lost pages from Suzanne's site was her illustrated essay on Samhain in Ireland --- my link to it went dead a year ago.
Suzanne, however, has now created her own website, Ireland for Visitors, and this month she's restored her original about.com essay on the Irish celebration of Sahmain. Here's a passage:
...Ancient lore explains Winter in the story of the old woman goddess, Cailleach, who struck the ground with her hammer, and made it hard until Imbolc. It is the time when Celts believed the gates to the otherworld were opened and they could communicate with the dead. Later, in the Christian era the festival has been reassigned to the Feast of All Saints, however, many of the customs surrounding it concern this understanding of the accessibility to the dead at this time....
This is an excellent, evocative overview, enriched by the author's photos and hypertext.
view link
This is another overview of Celtic lore and traditions regarding Samhain, this time from The Celtic Connection's Akasha. She includes data on Samhain's symbols, herbs, foods, incense, colors, and stones.
view link
[Added 10/24/02]
From the Library of Congress comes "Halloween: The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows," a fine 1982 essay by Jack Santino. Here are two excerpts:
...All Saints Day, otherwise known as All Hallows (hallowed means sanctified or holy), continued the ancient Celtic traditions. The evening prior to the day was the time of the most intense activity, both human and supernatural. People continued to celebrate All Hallows Eve as a time of the wandering dead, but the supernatural beings were now thought to be evil. The folk continued to propitiate those spirits (and their masked impersonators) by setting out gifts of food and drink. Subsequently, All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Hallowe'en--an ancient Celtic, pre-Christian New Year's Day in contemporary dress....
...Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite disguises. Halloween also retains some features that harken back to the original harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing for apples and carving vegetables, as well as the fruits, nuts, and spices cider associated with the day....
Moving Between the Worlds
[Source unknown]
view link
This is a deep and thoughtful ritual for one's dead and one's living. It has been skillfully adapted by Akasha Ap Emrys for the Celtic Connection (see above).
view link
From Wren Walker at The Witches' Voice comes "The Lore of the Door," a very different ritual for Samhain, this one focusing on the season as the "door," or threshold, between the realms. The exercises involve active imagination and are designed for solitaries, not groups (the author provides suitable disclaimers about safety).
view link [Updated 13 October 2004]
[Added 10/11/00 -- annotation expanded 10/13/04]: From Frances Donovan at about.com(see below) comes a lovely, simple, evocative guided meditation that you can do on your own for Halloween. Since the frame displaying it doesn't load on all browsers, I'm quoting it here -- but you should still visit Frances' page for her fine introduction to this meditation:
I want to leave you with a meditation that you can perform at home, in a quiet space. If you have a an altar, I suggest you do it there.
First, relax your body. Do this by first concentrating on your breath, and then on a line of relaxation that moves up your body and spills over, until you are completely relaxed.
Go back to your breath. Go inside your breathing. Inside, you will find a dark wood, with most of the leaves already fallen from the trees. It is a dark, moonless night. You can hardly see. It is cold, and you do not have a coat. You move through the trees shivering, frightened of the dark, until you come to a clearing.
In it is a cheery house, and a garden that has just been cleared of the last fruits of the summer. You knock on the door, and a woman answers. She is not ancient, but her face has begun to sag.
She brightens when she sees you, and invites you in.
She is the Crone, and she has something to tell you, something about the year that has passed and the year that is before you. Listen to her.
What does she say to you?
Russia's Crone-Goddess, Baba Yaga, with her magical mortar, pestle, & broom
(Russian lacquer box courtesy of the once wonderful but now-defunct Sunbirds website---
also see my Baba Yaga page)
view link dead link-----9/28/04: but see below for Wayback's archived page;
25 September 2006: I often can't get through to this link; sometimes you have to swipe your mouse over the entire page, "highlighting" it, in order for the text to be revealed -- just so you know! ]:
view link
[25 September 2006:Here's another Wayback link that usually works]:
view link
The handsome Salem Tarot offers this 1996 essay by Christina Aubin on the lore and meaning of
Samhain and the Celtic Feast of the Dead. The focus is on the fact that this is the ancient time of the
Crone Goddesses, with their promise of re-birth at the Winter Solstice (the focus on wise crones, of
course, shifted to witches in more recent times):
This is the time of the season which the Crone rules. She is one aspect of the triple Goddess, made up of Crone, Maiden, and Mother. It is She who opens the Western gate for those who have departed to travel into Summerland. She rules areas of death and regeneration, occult sciences, healing, and the wisdom of the ages. She comes in the form of Cerridwen, Hecate, Arianrhod, and Persephone, among many others. We use the Crone to assist us in transition from one life to the next, leaving one level of our existence and entering the next. This brings us into the Womb of the Mother to assist us in being reborn once again. For it is through Her Wisdom and guidance we learn lessons from experience past and begin life anew from the wisdom gained....
Note: this site also offers a free, on-line, 3-card tarot reading. If you click on this link,
have your question in heart and mind, thoughtfully, before you click on the reading's next
link; then "feel" for the right moment, because the web-technology will randomly, or as
C.G. Jung would say, "synchronistically," select a past, present, & future card the moment
you click on that next link.
view link
[Added 10/23/02]: Written post-9/11 in autumn 2001, this is a Samhain blessing by Christina Aubin for The Witches' Voice -- it's different from her above essay (dead link, but still available via Wayback Machine), but it's also a fine piece of work. She combines the Northern Hemisphere's Samhain with the Southern Hemisphere's Beltane and mines the deeper implications of this union-of-opposites:
...Yet while we begin our swift decline into the shadows of the year -- the southern hemisphere begins her rapid ascent into summer's grand illumination. Reminding us once again that through the shadows we must go -- to emerge once more in the luminous gaze of life. Life is a never-ending process, spiraling through life, into death, into life once more -- each spiral, the refinement of being, as individuals, as groups, as a collective. Even in death we find the seeds of life, in sorrow the seeds of joy, in pain the seeds of delight, in remembrance the seeds of knowledge.
Hand in hand life walks with death, as summer walks with winter, as the north journeys with the south, neither one separate and yet not unified, neither occurring without its counter. In hand with our northern Samhain is southern Beltane, which speaks to remind us that in the hand of death we will find life -- without one there cannot be the other....
view link
[Added 10/30/02]:.... As noted in the above link, in the Southern Hemisphere this season is the beginning of spring and Margaret RainbowWeb, a cyber-friend of mine in Australia, has created a sensitive, eloquent page that also applies to autumntide. I especially love what she does with the theme of roses, both in her writing and in her photography. Since her current page will disappear as the seasons again turn in a few weeks, I am taking the liberty of including her entire wonderful little essay here:
It is not easy this year to experience the joys of Spring. A waning Moon, unremitting drought, and constant news of fresh tragedies from all around the world, are more resonant of Samhain than late Spring and early Summer. Yet, in spite of the lack of rain, and many people's extravagance with, and lack of reverence for, our Sister Water, somehow the roses seem to have surpassed themselves this year. Roses are in fact amazingly tough, and and if not 'coddled' will put on a brave show with no artifical watering. Some of the loveliest specimens are derived from varieties found in the remote, and often arid places of the earth.
The approaching Dark Moon, on November 5th. encourages deep contemplation and mindfulness, from which, as from the roots of the wild rose, grow the tough thorny stems which enable endurance, so that in the fullness of time the fragrant beauty of the flowers can gladden our hearts. Whatever our personal tragedies, however searing our pain, it is a fact that that which we call 'Good' will always balance out that which we call 'Evil' - though it seldom seems that way, except in hindsight.
If we are willing to endure, and to continue to grow, then our spirits will eventually, like the roses, bloom with beauty and fragrance, bringing refreshment and healing to those travelling the remote and arid places of the soul.
[28 September 2004]: FYI -- this "Seasons" link changes 8 times a year -- usually only a few days before the approaching season. Thus, you may find that it's still about the September equinox until just before Samhain/Halloween. Keep checking back -- Margaret's essays are always worth waiting for.
view link
[Added 28 September 2004]: This is Margaret RainbowWeb's handsomely illustrated "Wheel of the Year" page for those living in the Southern Hemisphere (FYI: the Celtic-style "wheel" is available for sale).
view link [Updated 9/28/04 -- had been a dead link since 10/23/02.]
[Added an excerpt 9/28/04]: This brief, sensitive essay is by "Zyalia, the crone" -- it focuses more closely on the loneliness, death and chaos of this Samhain season -- but also on hope:
...The time between Samhain and Yule is the time of the Crone, the Dagda, Calleach, Morrigu, powerful, dark and wise... imposing and compelling at once. The cycle remains faithful to nature's laws: to all that lives, comes death. While some threads are long seeming and others cut short, in the end, we all enter the eternal cauldron. Just when the dark seems all powerful, the Goddess begins life anew at Yule, with the rebirth of our fledgling Sun, God of light and warmth....
view link view link [Link updated 10/23/02 & 10/27/07]
From Okana of Okana's Web in Canada comes this thoughtful, content-rich essay on Poland's "Zaduszki: The Day of the Dead." There is much here that resonates with other European Earth-based traditions, and much that is different (e.g., this season does not mark the beginning of the New Year as it does in so many other traditions -- instead, the New Year begins with Yule). I especially enjoyed what Okana wrote on beggars, animal-friends, beeswax, and dreams. Further, I was intrigued to learn that what we call "Indian Summer" (my favorite season) is called Babie lato, "Crone's Summer," in Poland:
... that short period of warmer weather after the first killing frost, has long since departed. Bright scarlet and orange speckles the trees, where even the slightest whisper of a breeze now sends them into flight.... Okana's writing is both strong and lyrical and her essay is well worth reading.
Baba Yaga, Russia's powerful Crone-Goddess, flying through the autumn skies (Russian lacquer box courtesy of the now-defunct Sunbirds -- also see my Baba Yaga page)
view link [Updated 10/30/08]
[Added 10/11/00]: "The Origin of Halloween Comes Out of the Sky" by Von Del Chamberlain, whose essays also appear frequently among my seasonal pages, takes a look at the astronomical origins of Halloween:
...So, let's focus on the cross-quarter date that we are approaching right now, the one between autumnal equinox and winter solstice. The Celts called it Samhain (pronounced sah-win), "summer's end." As the beginning of the cold part of the year, they thought of this as a dangerous time, a seam in the annual cycle when stitches might snap, ripping the fabric of reality to let in elements of chaos. This was the Celtic new-years eve, celebrated on the last day of October. They brought their cattle out of pastures into shelter, then celebrated with a great fire festival to encourage the dimming Sun not to vanish...
...At the root of all of this is the fact that Earth, gliding in its orbit, had reached the place where we notice the diminishing energy from the Sun onto our part of the world. Thus, the origin of this cross-quarter celebration comes down from the sky....
Along the way you'll encounter much history and lore, including jack-o-lanterns originally made from turnips.
Winter Came Early This Year
(Painting © Susanne Iles at DracoBlu -- used with her kind permission)
view link [URL updated 10/23/02]
[Added 10/16/99]: This is Waverly Fitzgerald's informative essay on Halloween and cross-cultural Days of the Dead. She includes history, lore, several wonderful rituals, divination, and much more. A list of her references is provided at the end -- a much appreciated scholarly touch.
She's one of my favorites and I have many links to her work in my seasonal pages. I love her eye for lore and strange pieces of data -- for example:
...There are some obvious reasons why this place on the Wheel of the Year is associated with death. The sun is approaching its nadir, the leaves are falling from trees, the death and decay in the natural world remind us of our own mortality. Martinmas, November 11th, was the traditional time for slaughtering the cattle, sheep and pigs which could not be maintained during the winter. The Welsh called November the month of Slaughter while the Saxons called it the Month of Blood....
Waverly then skillfully balances the death and blood with a delicious sense of life, the other face of death. As the ancients understood so well, each is the source of the other, which is the gentle focus of a ritual she offers from Starhawk. There are rich nuances here, and depth, and wonder.
view link [Updated 13 October 2004]
[Annotation updated 13 October 2004]: This is Frances Donovan's illustrated essay, "Samhain, the Pagan New Year" (as the always reliable, former pagan/wiccan guide at about.com, her pages appear often on my website -- see above for her Samhain guided meditation). Her site is, as usual, lively, intelligent, insightful. Here's an excerpt from her conclusion:
...At Samhain the God is journeying into the underworld (remember Persephone and Demeter?), a journey that ends when he is reborn at Yule, the Winter Solstice. The Goddess is in her in her crone phase at this time of year, which explains all the images of the "old hag" witch.
In years past, I've celebrated Samhain publicly, privately, with a coven, and as a solitary. There is no wrong way to celebrate this holiday -- except perhaps to let it go by without thinking of it at all.
view link [New link found 9 September 2006 with the help of the current About.com "Christianity" guide, Mary Fairchild, who put me in touch with Rev. Henderson]
view link [Added 10/24/02; dead link by c. 2005]
Following up on the preceding link, this is an interesting and intelligent debate between Presbyterian minister, Charles P. Henderson, and pagan, Kirsten Power, on the meanings of Halloween. It began with Henderson's essay, "Halloween: Holiday in Need of Renovation." Here are a few excerpts:
... We have lost the deeper meaning of this season! Halloween is neither childish, nor frivolous.... Halloween, in many countries, and in much of the church, has always involved good works, providing food for the poor was part of the earliest tradition. In Europe, special Halloween cakes, made of breaded dough, called "Soul food" were given to the children of the city, particularly the poor children. It was a feed the hungry program with a lot of extra fun and excitement thrown in. Collecting for UNICEF or what have you is right in line with the oldest traditions of Halloween....
...There is a need to honor those who have gone before us. In fact, anthropologists tell us that one of the very first things that distinguishes human life is this propensity for remembering the dead. At the most basic level of all, caring for the bones of the dead. Perhaps not so weird when you think about it. For the people who cared for their dead were equally concerned about the living, and the yet unborn. What shall be the fate of the next generation? How will the decisions we make now effect those who come after us? These are questions well worth pondering on Halloween, or any other night. And if this rather frivolous, and sometimes destructive holiday can become the occasion for pondering such question as these, then Halloween will have endured exactly the "house-cleaning" that it needs. And all of us will be the better for it.
In response, reacting to what she saw as inaccuracies in what Henderson had written about pagan celebrations of Samhain, Kirsten Power wrote "Misconceptions about Halloween" and Henderson, respecting her viewpoints, published it on his page (there is a link to it at the end of his own essay). I like much of her essay but I think she misunderstood Henderson's intent -- far from criticizing pagan beliefs, he was actually looking at more recent "mainstream" excesses connected with Halloween (e.g., frivolous vandalism) and re-framing contemporary, non-pagan attitudes along more positive lines. Nevertheless, Power's essay brings in some new themes and experiences that I found worthwhile. Here are a few excerpts:
...Samhain is an intensely personal and introspective holiday. For me, it symbolizes fortuity, an opportunity to give glory to those people close to me who have died in the last year or before. I speak directly to those people I love. I tell them how much I miss them, how much I will miss them and how much they brought to my life. Then I breathe, focus and let them go. Laurie Cabot says, "Samhain is a time for change and a time to look to the future."(p.13) It should be heartening, not frightening to see that people are using this time of year to let go and go on with life. I think that the phrase, "let be and let live" would be appropriate here....
...The ancient Celts were merely following their religious beliefs and dressing as the god or elemental spirit they felt was most appropriate to the ceremony. It is the Catholic church that supports alms and donations to their churches. That is to say, personally I have never entered a pagan gathering, feast or church and found myself standing in front of an offering box....
...I separate Halloween from Samhain. I loved Halloween when I was a child. I still do. But this commercialized attempt at mass marketing is not Samhain and never was. The pagan celebration I attend each year and the offering I make on my altar are completely separate....
Baba Yaga sweeping the autumn clouds & winds
as she rides in her own "spaceship": a mortar & pestle
(Russian lacquer box courtesy of the now-defunct Sunbirds --
also see my Baba Yaga page)
view link [Link updated 9/30/04]
[Added 10/16/99 and updated 9/30/04]: Program 343: Week of October 25, 1998: Ghosts: this page on GHOSTS comes from "Sound and Spirit," a weekly series of radio programs exploring the human spirit through ideas and music. Hosted by Ellen Kushner, it's produced by WGBH Radio Boston for PRI, Public Radio International. Each program is carefully researched, in part by using data from appropriate websites. Afterwards, these web sources are put on line for the general public.
The above link contains the websites used for GHOSTS. They include Halloween, Mexico's Day of the Dead, and Japan's Bon Festival. In the Halloween material, they attempt an interesting balance -- there's a Ben & Jerry's Halloween Page, several good pagan sites, academic ones, and also Pat Robertson's 700 Club's views on Halloween (the spookiness here isn't only in the subject matter).
[FYI -- if you click HERE and scroll down past many fascinating offerings to "Ghosts," you'll be able to listen to the entire program; you'll also find links to a Halloween bibliography, great recipes, etc -- transcripts are no longer available online but can be ordered.]
view link [Link updated 10/10/00]
[Site added 10/16/99]: From about.com's resourceful Ancient/Classical History guide, N. S. Gill, comes this fascinating page on "Ghost Stories" -- but with a difference -- her ghost stories come from ancient literature: the Epic of Gilgamesh, and excerpts from Homer, Vergil, Ovid, and Pliny; she also looks at Rome's ghostly Lares.
view link [Updated 10/27/07]
view link
[Added 10/23/02]: This is a site with fine links (briefly annotated) to a very large collection of ghost stories, ghost-hunting, & ghost towns. It's a good place to browse.
view link [9/30/04: Dead -- here's an alternate link that I'm told has some of what was on the original page. Unfortunately, about.com keeps crashing my Netscape 4.7 program, so I'm unable to grok the alternate link]:
view link view link [Updated 10/27/07 -- my Links Elf tells me this is a better link, even though Bill Biega is no longer mentioned]
[Added 10/29/00]: This is "Dracula -- the Real Story" from Bill Biega, the Eastern Europe guide at about.com. The illustrated site also provides links to maps, related sites, and even Bram Stoker's complete text. Here is how it opens:
Dracula is a fictional character created in 1897 by the British writer Bram Stoker. His book gave great popularity to the idea of blood drinking vampires. However, the principal character is based on an actual historical figure, a Romanian prince who lived in the second half of the 15th. century -- 50 years before Columbus discovered the New World....
[25 September, 2006: This archive page is a rough copy of the original text; not all its additional links work however]:
view link
[Here is yet another page on the "real Dracula" from a new about.com guide, Kerry Kubilius. Again, I can't explore it because all these about.com links crash my browser]: view link
Author's Note
This season was the beginning of the New Year (and winter) in many rural areas of Europe. The actual time of transition, from sundown on Samhain to sundown the following day, was a "thin place" in the Celtic world, a place between-the-worlds where deep insights could pass more easily to those who were open to them. In addition to inspiration, through the portals could also pass beings of wisdom, fun, and play (and some of these played rough, requiring common sense and real caution on the part of mortals).
Christianity would declare that these creatures of "otherness" were evil, but that only reveals how clumsy is the relationship between the West's monotheism and much older, archetypal realms of the "imaginal." The creative impulse is inherent in life. In humans, only when it is repressed by too many narrow minds full of rigid "do's and don't's" does it rebel and re-direct its power into malice and violence. At its worst, monotheism impoverishes the creative juices within us, demonizing them, closing us off from multi-dimensional realms all around us. Then we wonder why children use guns in schools which have been starved of the imaginal by the forced withdrawal of the arts, theatre, and music.
In this season of Samhain, we are reminded of other wondrous worlds existing side by side with our own, and we are invited to play, laugh, don disguises, delight in small miracles of human friendship, use common sense, and free our hearts to explore who and what we truly are.
Warmly,
Kathleen
--------------------------
From the UK comes Sig Lonegren's fine essay on Samhain:
(Note: his fine essays for other Cross Quarter days will be found elsewhere on my site.)
...While all of these Cross Quarter Days are all Fire Festivals, I feel each of the Celtic Cross Quarter Days is also associated with one of the four elements for the purposes of scrying. At Imbolc one looks at a bowl of Water to scry the future. Beltane is the time to look in to the Fire and burning embers to ruminate about the past. Lughnasad/Lammas uses a bowl of Earth to look at the now. The element of Samhain is Air. The veil to the other side is so thin at this time that you can see the spirits in the Air. You don't need any scrying tools! Use the intuitive skills you already have inside. Be sure to use protection if you plan to scry at this time. You can do this by surrounding yourself with Love. Only Love may enter. All else will be turned away....
...So as this Samhain approaches, what is ending in you? What do you have inside that it is time to let go of? No healing is complete until you get beyond recovery. Use Samhain to take the thirteenth step: Transformation. In the Tarot, the thirteenth card of the Major Arcana is Death, and it is ruled by Scorpio. Samhain occurs in Scorpio. The card of Death doesn't necessarily mean physical death (though it can mean that), but more productively, it can be seen as an inevitable heavy change or transformation. Something old must be gotten rid of to make room for something new to be able to come in. Use the magic of this time to say good-bye to an old habit or addiction, an old relationship, or anything else it is time to leave behind.
At the same time, be ready to plant the seeds of the new. What would you like to become involved with? A new type of job? A more meaningful spiritual path? A better way of relating with your partner? While something old is gone, also use the energies of Samhain to plant the seeds of the new.
Lonegren looks at many other aspects of this season as well: its history, the role of the Crone Goddess, a special apple-bobbing divination practice, and much more.
view link [Link updated 9/7/06]
[Added 10/11/00]: This lovely page of Samhain's history and lore comes from author and ritualist, Mara Freeman (a frequent contributor to the journal, Parabola). She also includes several divinitory practices involving stones, apples, a mirror, and candles. In addition, she explains why apples are so intimately connected with this season:
...At the heart of the Celtic Otherworld grows an apple tree whose fruit has magical properties. Old sagas tell of heroes crossing the western sea to find this wondrous country, known in Ireland as Emhain Abhlach, (Evan Avlach) and in Britain, Avalon. At Samhain, the apple harvest is in, and old hearthside games, such as apple-bobbing, called apple-dookin’ in Scotland, reflect the journey across water to obtain the magic apple....
view link
[Link updated 10/23/02]
[Added 10/11/00]: This is "All Hallow's Eve," a warm, lively essay by Mike Nichols, who has been writing on pagan themes for more than a quarter of a century. About Samhain (Celtic New Year's Eve):
...Not that the holiday was Celtic only. In fact, it is startling how many ancient and unconnected cultures (the Egyptians and pre-Spanish Mexicans, for example) celebrated this as a festival of the dead. But the majority of our modern traditions can be traced to the British Isles....
...The ancient Celtic view of time...is cyclical. And in this framework, New Year's Eve represents a point outside of time, when the natural order of the universe dissolves back into primordial chaos, preparatory to re- establishing itself in a new order. Thus, Samhain is a night that exists outside of time and hence it may be used to view any other point in time. At no other holiday is a tarot card reading, crystal reading, or tea-leaf reading so likely to succeed....
Nichols explains why Christianity's concept of linear time has such a difficult time with oracles and divination; along the way, he offers several divinitory practices -- and also gives fascinating data on the possible origins of apple-bobbing and jack-o-lanterns. [Note: you'll need to hit "Close" or otherwise disable the Geocities pop-up ad. Don't worry -- it's obvious & easy to do this.]
28 September 2004: Nichols' page is sometimes overwhelmed with traffic September-October so here are two backup links for his essay:
view link view link
When Oracles Speak
[Added 10/15/00]: Appropriately, on Friday the 13th, October 2000, a wise and luminous book was launched by Quest Books: When Oracles Speak, by Dianne Skafte, Ph.D., an expert on the ancient history and lore of oracles. If you're intrigued by what Mike Nichols (see preceding link) and others on my page write about oracles in conjunction with Samhain / Halloween, and if you're interested in getting a richer background on the topic of oracles in general, don't miss this site with excerpts from her book (a link is provided to her book -- I've read it and highly recommend it: my review of it for amazon.com can be reached through the link). On the opening page, the author offers an excerpt from one of her childhood experiences with divination. An additional excerpt on practical oracular "exercises" is promised in the very near future. [Also see directly below...]
Oracles of Earth -- The Deep Below
[Added 10/15/00]: Again from Dianne Skafte comes this longer, Halloween-related, and fascinating excerpt on necromancy (the ancient practice of consulting one's dead ancestors). FYI: Dr. Skafte is a longtime friend and colleague of mine. She is a most engaging writer, a skilled psychotherapist, and an extraordinary woman who knows firsthand the mysterious realms of which she writes. She writes with grace, providing suitable warnings of potential pitfalls but, overall, creating a friendly, respectful atmosphere in which one feels safe to explore these deeply sacred realms.
view link [Link updated 10/23/02]
[Annotation completely revised 10/23/02]: Suzanne Barrett did the Ireland page for about.com for over four years before she and three hundred other wonderful about.com hosts were axed in late September 2001 by a shortsighted management. One of the lost pages from Suzanne's site was her illustrated essay on Samhain in Ireland --- my link to it went dead a year ago.
Suzanne, however, has now created her own website, Ireland for Visitors, and this month she's restored her original about.com essay on the Irish celebration of Sahmain. Here's a passage:
...Ancient lore explains Winter in the story of the old woman goddess, Cailleach, who struck the ground with her hammer, and made it hard until Imbolc. It is the time when Celts believed the gates to the otherworld were opened and they could communicate with the dead. Later, in the Christian era the festival has been reassigned to the Feast of All Saints, however, many of the customs surrounding it concern this understanding of the accessibility to the dead at this time....
This is an excellent, evocative overview, enriched by the author's photos and hypertext.
view link
This is another overview of Celtic lore and traditions regarding Samhain, this time from The Celtic Connection's Akasha. She includes data on Samhain's symbols, herbs, foods, incense, colors, and stones.
view link
[Added 10/24/02]
From the Library of Congress comes "Halloween: The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows," a fine 1982 essay by Jack Santino. Here are two excerpts:
...All Saints Day, otherwise known as All Hallows (hallowed means sanctified or holy), continued the ancient Celtic traditions. The evening prior to the day was the time of the most intense activity, both human and supernatural. People continued to celebrate All Hallows Eve as a time of the wandering dead, but the supernatural beings were now thought to be evil. The folk continued to propitiate those spirits (and their masked impersonators) by setting out gifts of food and drink. Subsequently, All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Hallowe'en--an ancient Celtic, pre-Christian New Year's Day in contemporary dress....
...Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite disguises. Halloween also retains some features that harken back to the original harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing for apples and carving vegetables, as well as the fruits, nuts, and spices cider associated with the day....
Moving Between the Worlds
[Source unknown]
view link
This is a deep and thoughtful ritual for one's dead and one's living. It has been skillfully adapted by Akasha Ap Emrys for the Celtic Connection (see above).
view link
From Wren Walker at The Witches' Voice comes "The Lore of the Door," a very different ritual for Samhain, this one focusing on the season as the "door," or threshold, between the realms. The exercises involve active imagination and are designed for solitaries, not groups (the author provides suitable disclaimers about safety).
view link [Updated 13 October 2004]
[Added 10/11/00 -- annotation expanded 10/13/04]: From Frances Donovan at about.com(see below) comes a lovely, simple, evocative guided meditation that you can do on your own for Halloween. Since the frame displaying it doesn't load on all browsers, I'm quoting it here -- but you should still visit Frances' page for her fine introduction to this meditation:
I want to leave you with a meditation that you can perform at home, in a quiet space. If you have a an altar, I suggest you do it there.
First, relax your body. Do this by first concentrating on your breath, and then on a line of relaxation that moves up your body and spills over, until you are completely relaxed.
Go back to your breath. Go inside your breathing. Inside, you will find a dark wood, with most of the leaves already fallen from the trees. It is a dark, moonless night. You can hardly see. It is cold, and you do not have a coat. You move through the trees shivering, frightened of the dark, until you come to a clearing.
In it is a cheery house, and a garden that has just been cleared of the last fruits of the summer. You knock on the door, and a woman answers. She is not ancient, but her face has begun to sag.
She brightens when she sees you, and invites you in.
She is the Crone, and she has something to tell you, something about the year that has passed and the year that is before you. Listen to her.
What does she say to you?
Russia's Crone-Goddess, Baba Yaga, with her magical mortar, pestle, & broom
(Russian lacquer box courtesy of the once wonderful but now-defunct Sunbirds website---
also see my Baba Yaga page)
view link dead link-----9/28/04: but see below for Wayback's archived page;
25 September 2006: I often can't get through to this link; sometimes you have to swipe your mouse over the entire page, "highlighting" it, in order for the text to be revealed -- just so you know! ]:
view link
[25 September 2006:Here's another Wayback link that usually works]:
view link
The handsome Salem Tarot offers this 1996 essay by Christina Aubin on the lore and meaning of
Samhain and the Celtic Feast of the Dead. The focus is on the fact that this is the ancient time of the
Crone Goddesses, with their promise of re-birth at the Winter Solstice (the focus on wise crones, of
course, shifted to witches in more recent times):
This is the time of the season which the Crone rules. She is one aspect of the triple Goddess, made up of Crone, Maiden, and Mother. It is She who opens the Western gate for those who have departed to travel into Summerland. She rules areas of death and regeneration, occult sciences, healing, and the wisdom of the ages. She comes in the form of Cerridwen, Hecate, Arianrhod, and Persephone, among many others. We use the Crone to assist us in transition from one life to the next, leaving one level of our existence and entering the next. This brings us into the Womb of the Mother to assist us in being reborn once again. For it is through Her Wisdom and guidance we learn lessons from experience past and begin life anew from the wisdom gained....
Note: this site also offers a free, on-line, 3-card tarot reading. If you click on this link,
have your question in heart and mind, thoughtfully, before you click on the reading's next
link; then "feel" for the right moment, because the web-technology will randomly, or as
C.G. Jung would say, "synchronistically," select a past, present, & future card the moment
you click on that next link.
view link
[Added 10/23/02]: Written post-9/11 in autumn 2001, this is a Samhain blessing by Christina Aubin for The Witches' Voice -- it's different from her above essay (dead link, but still available via Wayback Machine), but it's also a fine piece of work. She combines the Northern Hemisphere's Samhain with the Southern Hemisphere's Beltane and mines the deeper implications of this union-of-opposites:
...Yet while we begin our swift decline into the shadows of the year -- the southern hemisphere begins her rapid ascent into summer's grand illumination. Reminding us once again that through the shadows we must go -- to emerge once more in the luminous gaze of life. Life is a never-ending process, spiraling through life, into death, into life once more -- each spiral, the refinement of being, as individuals, as groups, as a collective. Even in death we find the seeds of life, in sorrow the seeds of joy, in pain the seeds of delight, in remembrance the seeds of knowledge.
Hand in hand life walks with death, as summer walks with winter, as the north journeys with the south, neither one separate and yet not unified, neither occurring without its counter. In hand with our northern Samhain is southern Beltane, which speaks to remind us that in the hand of death we will find life -- without one there cannot be the other....
view link
[Added 10/30/02]:.... As noted in the above link, in the Southern Hemisphere this season is the beginning of spring and Margaret RainbowWeb, a cyber-friend of mine in Australia, has created a sensitive, eloquent page that also applies to autumntide. I especially love what she does with the theme of roses, both in her writing and in her photography. Since her current page will disappear as the seasons again turn in a few weeks, I am taking the liberty of including her entire wonderful little essay here:
It is not easy this year to experience the joys of Spring. A waning Moon, unremitting drought, and constant news of fresh tragedies from all around the world, are more resonant of Samhain than late Spring and early Summer. Yet, in spite of the lack of rain, and many people's extravagance with, and lack of reverence for, our Sister Water, somehow the roses seem to have surpassed themselves this year. Roses are in fact amazingly tough, and and if not 'coddled' will put on a brave show with no artifical watering. Some of the loveliest specimens are derived from varieties found in the remote, and often arid places of the earth.
The approaching Dark Moon, on November 5th. encourages deep contemplation and mindfulness, from which, as from the roots of the wild rose, grow the tough thorny stems which enable endurance, so that in the fullness of time the fragrant beauty of the flowers can gladden our hearts. Whatever our personal tragedies, however searing our pain, it is a fact that that which we call 'Good' will always balance out that which we call 'Evil' - though it seldom seems that way, except in hindsight.
If we are willing to endure, and to continue to grow, then our spirits will eventually, like the roses, bloom with beauty and fragrance, bringing refreshment and healing to those travelling the remote and arid places of the soul.
[28 September 2004]: FYI -- this "Seasons" link changes 8 times a year -- usually only a few days before the approaching season. Thus, you may find that it's still about the September equinox until just before Samhain/Halloween. Keep checking back -- Margaret's essays are always worth waiting for.
view link
[Added 28 September 2004]: This is Margaret RainbowWeb's handsomely illustrated "Wheel of the Year" page for those living in the Southern Hemisphere (FYI: the Celtic-style "wheel" is available for sale).
view link [Updated 9/28/04 -- had been a dead link since 10/23/02.]
[Added an excerpt 9/28/04]: This brief, sensitive essay is by "Zyalia, the crone" -- it focuses more closely on the loneliness, death and chaos of this Samhain season -- but also on hope:
...The time between Samhain and Yule is the time of the Crone, the Dagda, Calleach, Morrigu, powerful, dark and wise... imposing and compelling at once. The cycle remains faithful to nature's laws: to all that lives, comes death. While some threads are long seeming and others cut short, in the end, we all enter the eternal cauldron. Just when the dark seems all powerful, the Goddess begins life anew at Yule, with the rebirth of our fledgling Sun, God of light and warmth....
view link view link [Link updated 10/23/02 & 10/27/07]
From Okana of Okana's Web in Canada comes this thoughtful, content-rich essay on Poland's "Zaduszki: The Day of the Dead." There is much here that resonates with other European Earth-based traditions, and much that is different (e.g., this season does not mark the beginning of the New Year as it does in so many other traditions -- instead, the New Year begins with Yule). I especially enjoyed what Okana wrote on beggars, animal-friends, beeswax, and dreams. Further, I was intrigued to learn that what we call "Indian Summer" (my favorite season) is called Babie lato, "Crone's Summer," in Poland:
... that short period of warmer weather after the first killing frost, has long since departed. Bright scarlet and orange speckles the trees, where even the slightest whisper of a breeze now sends them into flight.... Okana's writing is both strong and lyrical and her essay is well worth reading.
Baba Yaga, Russia's powerful Crone-Goddess, flying through the autumn skies (Russian lacquer box courtesy of the now-defunct Sunbirds -- also see my Baba Yaga page)
view link [Updated 10/30/08]
[Added 10/11/00]: "The Origin of Halloween Comes Out of the Sky" by Von Del Chamberlain, whose essays also appear frequently among my seasonal pages, takes a look at the astronomical origins of Halloween:
...So, let's focus on the cross-quarter date that we are approaching right now, the one between autumnal equinox and winter solstice. The Celts called it Samhain (pronounced sah-win), "summer's end." As the beginning of the cold part of the year, they thought of this as a dangerous time, a seam in the annual cycle when stitches might snap, ripping the fabric of reality to let in elements of chaos. This was the Celtic new-years eve, celebrated on the last day of October. They brought their cattle out of pastures into shelter, then celebrated with a great fire festival to encourage the dimming Sun not to vanish...
...At the root of all of this is the fact that Earth, gliding in its orbit, had reached the place where we notice the diminishing energy from the Sun onto our part of the world. Thus, the origin of this cross-quarter celebration comes down from the sky....
Along the way you'll encounter much history and lore, including jack-o-lanterns originally made from turnips.
Winter Came Early This Year
(Painting © Susanne Iles at DracoBlu -- used with her kind permission)
view link [URL updated 10/23/02]
[Added 10/16/99]: This is Waverly Fitzgerald's informative essay on Halloween and cross-cultural Days of the Dead. She includes history, lore, several wonderful rituals, divination, and much more. A list of her references is provided at the end -- a much appreciated scholarly touch.
She's one of my favorites and I have many links to her work in my seasonal pages. I love her eye for lore and strange pieces of data -- for example:
...There are some obvious reasons why this place on the Wheel of the Year is associated with death. The sun is approaching its nadir, the leaves are falling from trees, the death and decay in the natural world remind us of our own mortality. Martinmas, November 11th, was the traditional time for slaughtering the cattle, sheep and pigs which could not be maintained during the winter. The Welsh called November the month of Slaughter while the Saxons called it the Month of Blood....
Waverly then skillfully balances the death and blood with a delicious sense of life, the other face of death. As the ancients understood so well, each is the source of the other, which is the gentle focus of a ritual she offers from Starhawk. There are rich nuances here, and depth, and wonder.
view link [Updated 13 October 2004]
[Annotation updated 13 October 2004]: This is Frances Donovan's illustrated essay, "Samhain, the Pagan New Year" (as the always reliable, former pagan/wiccan guide at about.com, her pages appear often on my website -- see above for her Samhain guided meditation). Her site is, as usual, lively, intelligent, insightful. Here's an excerpt from her conclusion:
...At Samhain the God is journeying into the underworld (remember Persephone and Demeter?), a journey that ends when he is reborn at Yule, the Winter Solstice. The Goddess is in her in her crone phase at this time of year, which explains all the images of the "old hag" witch.
In years past, I've celebrated Samhain publicly, privately, with a coven, and as a solitary. There is no wrong way to celebrate this holiday -- except perhaps to let it go by without thinking of it at all.
view link [New link found 9 September 2006 with the help of the current About.com "Christianity" guide, Mary Fairchild, who put me in touch with Rev. Henderson]
view link [Added 10/24/02; dead link by c. 2005]
Following up on the preceding link, this is an interesting and intelligent debate between Presbyterian minister, Charles P. Henderson, and pagan, Kirsten Power, on the meanings of Halloween. It began with Henderson's essay, "Halloween: Holiday in Need of Renovation." Here are a few excerpts:
... We have lost the deeper meaning of this season! Halloween is neither childish, nor frivolous.... Halloween, in many countries, and in much of the church, has always involved good works, providing food for the poor was part of the earliest tradition. In Europe, special Halloween cakes, made of breaded dough, called "Soul food" were given to the children of the city, particularly the poor children. It was a feed the hungry program with a lot of extra fun and excitement thrown in. Collecting for UNICEF or what have you is right in line with the oldest traditions of Halloween....
...There is a need to honor those who have gone before us. In fact, anthropologists tell us that one of the very first things that distinguishes human life is this propensity for remembering the dead. At the most basic level of all, caring for the bones of the dead. Perhaps not so weird when you think about it. For the people who cared for their dead were equally concerned about the living, and the yet unborn. What shall be the fate of the next generation? How will the decisions we make now effect those who come after us? These are questions well worth pondering on Halloween, or any other night. And if this rather frivolous, and sometimes destructive holiday can become the occasion for pondering such question as these, then Halloween will have endured exactly the "house-cleaning" that it needs. And all of us will be the better for it.
In response, reacting to what she saw as inaccuracies in what Henderson had written about pagan celebrations of Samhain, Kirsten Power wrote "Misconceptions about Halloween" and Henderson, respecting her viewpoints, published it on his page (there is a link to it at the end of his own essay). I like much of her essay but I think she misunderstood Henderson's intent -- far from criticizing pagan beliefs, he was actually looking at more recent "mainstream" excesses connected with Halloween (e.g., frivolous vandalism) and re-framing contemporary, non-pagan attitudes along more positive lines. Nevertheless, Power's essay brings in some new themes and experiences that I found worthwhile. Here are a few excerpts:
...Samhain is an intensely personal and introspective holiday. For me, it symbolizes fortuity, an opportunity to give glory to those people close to me who have died in the last year or before. I speak directly to those people I love. I tell them how much I miss them, how much I will miss them and how much they brought to my life. Then I breathe, focus and let them go. Laurie Cabot says, "Samhain is a time for change and a time to look to the future."(p.13) It should be heartening, not frightening to see that people are using this time of year to let go and go on with life. I think that the phrase, "let be and let live" would be appropriate here....
...The ancient Celts were merely following their religious beliefs and dressing as the god or elemental spirit they felt was most appropriate to the ceremony. It is the Catholic church that supports alms and donations to their churches. That is to say, personally I have never entered a pagan gathering, feast or church and found myself standing in front of an offering box....
...I separate Halloween from Samhain. I loved Halloween when I was a child. I still do. But this commercialized attempt at mass marketing is not Samhain and never was. The pagan celebration I attend each year and the offering I make on my altar are completely separate....
Baba Yaga sweeping the autumn clouds & winds
as she rides in her own "spaceship": a mortar & pestle
(Russian lacquer box courtesy of the now-defunct Sunbirds --
also see my Baba Yaga page)
view link [Link updated 9/30/04]
[Added 10/16/99 and updated 9/30/04]: Program 343: Week of October 25, 1998: Ghosts: this page on GHOSTS comes from "Sound and Spirit," a weekly series of radio programs exploring the human spirit through ideas and music. Hosted by Ellen Kushner, it's produced by WGBH Radio Boston for PRI, Public Radio International. Each program is carefully researched, in part by using data from appropriate websites. Afterwards, these web sources are put on line for the general public.
The above link contains the websites used for GHOSTS. They include Halloween, Mexico's Day of the Dead, and Japan's Bon Festival. In the Halloween material, they attempt an interesting balance -- there's a Ben & Jerry's Halloween Page, several good pagan sites, academic ones, and also Pat Robertson's 700 Club's views on Halloween (the spookiness here isn't only in the subject matter).
[FYI -- if you click HERE and scroll down past many fascinating offerings to "Ghosts," you'll be able to listen to the entire program; you'll also find links to a Halloween bibliography, great recipes, etc -- transcripts are no longer available online but can be ordered.]
view link [Link updated 10/10/00]
[Site added 10/16/99]: From about.com's resourceful Ancient/Classical History guide, N. S. Gill, comes this fascinating page on "Ghost Stories" -- but with a difference -- her ghost stories come from ancient literature: the Epic of Gilgamesh, and excerpts from Homer, Vergil, Ovid, and Pliny; she also looks at Rome's ghostly Lares.
view link [Updated 10/27/07]
view link
[Added 10/23/02]: This is a site with fine links (briefly annotated) to a very large collection of ghost stories, ghost-hunting, & ghost towns. It's a good place to browse.
view link [9/30/04: Dead -- here's an alternate link that I'm told has some of what was on the original page. Unfortunately, about.com keeps crashing my Netscape 4.7 program, so I'm unable to grok the alternate link]:
view link view link [Updated 10/27/07 -- my Links Elf tells me this is a better link, even though Bill Biega is no longer mentioned]
[Added 10/29/00]: This is "Dracula -- the Real Story" from Bill Biega, the Eastern Europe guide at about.com. The illustrated site also provides links to maps, related sites, and even Bram Stoker's complete text. Here is how it opens:
Dracula is a fictional character created in 1897 by the British writer Bram Stoker. His book gave great popularity to the idea of blood drinking vampires. However, the principal character is based on an actual historical figure, a Romanian prince who lived in the second half of the 15th. century -- 50 years before Columbus discovered the New World....
[25 September, 2006: This archive page is a rough copy of the original text; not all its additional links work however]:
view link
[Here is yet another page on the "real Dracula" from a new about.com guide, Kerry Kubilius. Again, I can't explore it because all these about.com links crash my browser]: view link
Just an average day...
First off most everyone knew that my wife had a double mastectomy last September, wanting to be the wonderful husband that I wanted to be I worked hard with her as much as I possibly could under the circumstances. What some folks do not know about is what else I have had to deal with as well personally.
We went in to have another injection in my back. That did not turn out well what so ever, so much so I am terrified over the idea of anyone outside of a very small circle of doctors ever looking at my back again, period. To say it did not turn out well is pretty much an understatement, because it nearly left me totally crippled from the waist down. Right now it is very hard for me to walk, and has not been fun over the last few weeks. I have this one more appointment to see what this one doctor can do, everything both the good and the bad that I have researched on him has been so overwhelming positive that it is scary. Halloween not withstanding.
Now to add salt into an already open wound it has been found that my cognitive abilities (mainly the executive functions) are borderline severely impaired. On the bright side, no worries about ever getting a traffic ticket again. The down side I may never have the ability to work at any type of level either. We are working hard to help ease any type of memory loss that has been going on but that may not be enough to function at levels I once had either.
So outside of my crappy week, how is everyone else doing?
We went in to have another injection in my back. That did not turn out well what so ever, so much so I am terrified over the idea of anyone outside of a very small circle of doctors ever looking at my back again, period. To say it did not turn out well is pretty much an understatement, because it nearly left me totally crippled from the waist down. Right now it is very hard for me to walk, and has not been fun over the last few weeks. I have this one more appointment to see what this one doctor can do, everything both the good and the bad that I have researched on him has been so overwhelming positive that it is scary. Halloween not withstanding.
Now to add salt into an already open wound it has been found that my cognitive abilities (mainly the executive functions) are borderline severely impaired. On the bright side, no worries about ever getting a traffic ticket again. The down side I may never have the ability to work at any type of level either. We are working hard to help ease any type of memory loss that has been going on but that may not be enough to function at levels I once had either.
So outside of my crappy week, how is everyone else doing?
A Question for those of us still around
Actually looking at the last time anyone has checked in really answers the question that I was going to ask about the group and to whether to keep it open any more.
i better say something
i thought i had better throw my two cents in before wolfie throws me out the proverbial window. Glad to have him back at the reins! Welcome back buddy.
About David
Hello,
I am David's brother and I guess you all know him more as Snow Wolf.
He wanted me to let every one know that his laptop died on him and that his longest stay at home so far has been 36 hours with out needing to go back in for something else that has given him a very nasty reaction.
There is no set day or time when time when he is back home but he did say to tell everyone Hello and missing a lot of things going on.
He asked me to put this in the groups that he owns or manages and will let folks know about what he has learned about being a human pin cushion? I take it that you all would know what it means. That is about all I can say right now and hopes one of these years he will be back home.
I am David's brother and I guess you all know him more as Snow Wolf.
He wanted me to let every one know that his laptop died on him and that his longest stay at home so far has been 36 hours with out needing to go back in for something else that has given him a very nasty reaction.
There is no set day or time when time when he is back home but he did say to tell everyone Hello and missing a lot of things going on.
He asked me to put this in the groups that he owns or manages and will let folks know about what he has learned about being a human pin cushion? I take it that you all would know what it means. That is about all I can say right now and hopes one of these years he will be back home.
Sitting Bull
The Plains tribes didn’t keep track of time in the same way that we keep track of time.
The months weren’t called "January, February, March, etc." Months were marked by the phases of the moon and were described by things that happened in nature during that time. For example, one month was known as "The Moon of the Popping Trees" because that was the coldest month of winter. "The Moon of the Sore Eyes" was the month when the bright sun on the snow could cause snow blindness. In this same manner, the tribes or clans kept track the years by "Winter Counts." The tribal historian painted pictures on a buffalo hide, and these pictures described the an important or memorable event which took place every winter, so that time could be marked.
The people the white men called The Sioux were made up of several bands. When the bands got together, each band made their camp in a certain place within the larger tribe. One band camped by the entrance, and that is how their name described them. Hunkpapa means "those who camp by the entrance."
One Hunkpapa leader, Sitting Bull, wasn’t always called Sitting Bull. But this is his story.
It was the winter when Yellow-Eyes Played in the Snow (March 1831), at Many-Caches on the south bank of the Ree River (now called the Grand River) a few miles below present-day Bullhead, South Dakota. It was that winter, in the Moon of the Sore Eyes, that the Hunkpapa baby was born.
He was called Hunkesni "Slow" until he was fourteen winters old. When he was fourteen winters, he counted his first coup, which meant that he struck his enemy with a coup stick, rather than killing the enemy. This was considered a great show of courage.
The father of this boy was proud of his son’s great courage. He gave the boy his own name, the name Tatanka Iyotake, which means Sitting Bull.
How did the father get this name which he so generously gave to his son? This man, who was then known as "Returns Again" was sitting at a fire with other hunters, roasting the ribs from a buffalo which they had just killed. The meat smelled so good, and the fire felt so warm and comforting. The men were recalling details of their hunt, when they heard a sound. "What is that?" one hunter asked. "Who is speaking?" another asked. The men looked past the fire and saw a great buffalo bull approaching, his huge shaggy beard sweeping the ground as he spoke.
Returns Again had an affinity with his animal brothers, and he was in the right frame of mind and spirit to understand what the buffalo bull was saying.
Tatanka Iyotake, Tatanka Psica, Tatanka Winyuha Najin, Tatanka Wanjila
Sitting Bull, Jumping Bull, Bull-Standing-With-Cow, Lone Bull
The four names stood for the four stages of man-- Infancy, Youth, Maturity, and Old Age. The buffalo bull had given these names to the warrior Returns Again. Since this was a sacred and wonderful experience, Returns Again put aside his old name and took the name of Sitting Bull. And now, in his generosity, he gave this name to his only son and took the next name in the sequence, the name Jumping Bull.
The young Sitting Bull continued to make his father proud. He had killed his first buffalo when he was ten years old, and his hunting abilities finally earned him a place in the Strong Hearts, a group which did the tribal hunting. Soon he became a member of the Midnight Strong Hearts, the cream of the Strong Hearts. When he was leader of the Midnight Strong Hearts, he was in charge of the rations for his camp, 3600 tons of meat, which meant that his men had to kill about 30,000 buffalo each year. Part of his job was to defend hunting grounds wide enough to maintain his people, and so he was not only a great hunter, but a great warrior as well.
As pioneers began settling the west, things began to change for Sitting Bull’s people. Buffalo became harder to find. The railroad separated the herds and changed the hunting patterns of the Plains tribes.
By 1875, the central buffalo herds were almost gone, and the Indians on unceded land were ordered to come in to the agencies.
On June 14, 1876, Sitting Bull gave 100 pieces of flesh from his arms in a Sun Dance offering. He had a vision of soldiers falling into the Indian camp and heard a voice say, "I give you these because they have no ears."
Sitting Bull’s people beat "Three Stars" Crook at the Battle of Rosebud, but this was not the vision which Sitting Bull had seen. The people returned to Greasy Grass to find buffalo. Other tribes joined them, so that there were 2000 lodges in the camp, and approximately 2500 warriors among them.
June 25, 1876 was Custer’s last stand. Sitting Bull and the other warriors defeated Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Sitting Bull continued to hunt, because his people were hungry and it was a big job to feed them. His people followed the northern herds of buffalo to Canada and lived there, until July of 1881, when Sitting Bull came back from Canada and laid down his gun at Fort Buford, accepting reservation status. At this time, only 200 buffalo were found in all of the West.
When he surrendered at Fort Buford, Sitting Bull was arrested for killing Custer and was held at Fort Randall as a Prisoner of War, but after two years, in 1883, he was allowed to return to ancestral home in Grand River (Standing Rock Agency). That same year, he led the last Teton Sioux Buffalo Hunt.
In 1885, Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and was exhibited as Custer’s killer. He earned $ 50 per week, plus what he earned selling autographed pictures. Most of the money he earned was spent feeding orphan boys.
He once made this comment to Annie Oakley regarding the way orphans were treated. "The white man knows how to make everything, but he does not know how to distribute it."
1889-1890 were years of terrible drought. Several of Sitting Bull’s people starved to death. In 1889, during an eclipse of the sun, Wovoka (Pauite) received a vision of a dance which would bring back the buffalo. In his vision, long dead Indians came back to life and the white man disappeared. The dance became known as the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance came to Standing Rock in October 1890. The Pine Ridge Indian Agent, Royer, became very nervous about the dance and called for troops. October 19, 1890, army troops came into Pine Ridge and the Oglala fled to the Badlands.
In December, Short Bull requested Sitting Bull’s presence at Pine Ridge. Sitting Bull requested a pass to leave Standing Rock Reservation. His request was denied. The Ghost Dance was a pretext to arrest Sitting Bull, but the motives were more personal and intertribal.
On December 15, 1890, Sitting Bull’s arrest was ordered. He was pulled from his bed, and hurriedly dressed by his captors. His gray horse, which he had received from Buffalo Bill, was saddled. Sitting Bull’s people gathered around him. They did not like the way he was being treated by the Indian police. During their protest, Sitting Bull was killed. Legend says that when his gray horse heard the shots, he went into his Wild West Show routine, sitting on his haunches and pawing the air over Sitting Bull’s body. Many thought that the spirit of Sitting Bull entered his favorite gray horse.
From Link with no author listed: view link
The months weren’t called "January, February, March, etc." Months were marked by the phases of the moon and were described by things that happened in nature during that time. For example, one month was known as "The Moon of the Popping Trees" because that was the coldest month of winter. "The Moon of the Sore Eyes" was the month when the bright sun on the snow could cause snow blindness. In this same manner, the tribes or clans kept track the years by "Winter Counts." The tribal historian painted pictures on a buffalo hide, and these pictures described the an important or memorable event which took place every winter, so that time could be marked.
The people the white men called The Sioux were made up of several bands. When the bands got together, each band made their camp in a certain place within the larger tribe. One band camped by the entrance, and that is how their name described them. Hunkpapa means "those who camp by the entrance."
One Hunkpapa leader, Sitting Bull, wasn’t always called Sitting Bull. But this is his story.
It was the winter when Yellow-Eyes Played in the Snow (March 1831), at Many-Caches on the south bank of the Ree River (now called the Grand River) a few miles below present-day Bullhead, South Dakota. It was that winter, in the Moon of the Sore Eyes, that the Hunkpapa baby was born.
He was called Hunkesni "Slow" until he was fourteen winters old. When he was fourteen winters, he counted his first coup, which meant that he struck his enemy with a coup stick, rather than killing the enemy. This was considered a great show of courage.
The father of this boy was proud of his son’s great courage. He gave the boy his own name, the name Tatanka Iyotake, which means Sitting Bull.
How did the father get this name which he so generously gave to his son? This man, who was then known as "Returns Again" was sitting at a fire with other hunters, roasting the ribs from a buffalo which they had just killed. The meat smelled so good, and the fire felt so warm and comforting. The men were recalling details of their hunt, when they heard a sound. "What is that?" one hunter asked. "Who is speaking?" another asked. The men looked past the fire and saw a great buffalo bull approaching, his huge shaggy beard sweeping the ground as he spoke.
Returns Again had an affinity with his animal brothers, and he was in the right frame of mind and spirit to understand what the buffalo bull was saying.
Tatanka Iyotake, Tatanka Psica, Tatanka Winyuha Najin, Tatanka Wanjila
Sitting Bull, Jumping Bull, Bull-Standing-With-Cow, Lone Bull
The four names stood for the four stages of man-- Infancy, Youth, Maturity, and Old Age. The buffalo bull had given these names to the warrior Returns Again. Since this was a sacred and wonderful experience, Returns Again put aside his old name and took the name of Sitting Bull. And now, in his generosity, he gave this name to his only son and took the next name in the sequence, the name Jumping Bull.
The young Sitting Bull continued to make his father proud. He had killed his first buffalo when he was ten years old, and his hunting abilities finally earned him a place in the Strong Hearts, a group which did the tribal hunting. Soon he became a member of the Midnight Strong Hearts, the cream of the Strong Hearts. When he was leader of the Midnight Strong Hearts, he was in charge of the rations for his camp, 3600 tons of meat, which meant that his men had to kill about 30,000 buffalo each year. Part of his job was to defend hunting grounds wide enough to maintain his people, and so he was not only a great hunter, but a great warrior as well.
As pioneers began settling the west, things began to change for Sitting Bull’s people. Buffalo became harder to find. The railroad separated the herds and changed the hunting patterns of the Plains tribes.
By 1875, the central buffalo herds were almost gone, and the Indians on unceded land were ordered to come in to the agencies.
On June 14, 1876, Sitting Bull gave 100 pieces of flesh from his arms in a Sun Dance offering. He had a vision of soldiers falling into the Indian camp and heard a voice say, "I give you these because they have no ears."
Sitting Bull’s people beat "Three Stars" Crook at the Battle of Rosebud, but this was not the vision which Sitting Bull had seen. The people returned to Greasy Grass to find buffalo. Other tribes joined them, so that there were 2000 lodges in the camp, and approximately 2500 warriors among them.
June 25, 1876 was Custer’s last stand. Sitting Bull and the other warriors defeated Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Sitting Bull continued to hunt, because his people were hungry and it was a big job to feed them. His people followed the northern herds of buffalo to Canada and lived there, until July of 1881, when Sitting Bull came back from Canada and laid down his gun at Fort Buford, accepting reservation status. At this time, only 200 buffalo were found in all of the West.
When he surrendered at Fort Buford, Sitting Bull was arrested for killing Custer and was held at Fort Randall as a Prisoner of War, but after two years, in 1883, he was allowed to return to ancestral home in Grand River (Standing Rock Agency). That same year, he led the last Teton Sioux Buffalo Hunt.
In 1885, Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and was exhibited as Custer’s killer. He earned $ 50 per week, plus what he earned selling autographed pictures. Most of the money he earned was spent feeding orphan boys.
He once made this comment to Annie Oakley regarding the way orphans were treated. "The white man knows how to make everything, but he does not know how to distribute it."
1889-1890 were years of terrible drought. Several of Sitting Bull’s people starved to death. In 1889, during an eclipse of the sun, Wovoka (Pauite) received a vision of a dance which would bring back the buffalo. In his vision, long dead Indians came back to life and the white man disappeared. The dance became known as the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance came to Standing Rock in October 1890. The Pine Ridge Indian Agent, Royer, became very nervous about the dance and called for troops. October 19, 1890, army troops came into Pine Ridge and the Oglala fled to the Badlands.
In December, Short Bull requested Sitting Bull’s presence at Pine Ridge. Sitting Bull requested a pass to leave Standing Rock Reservation. His request was denied. The Ghost Dance was a pretext to arrest Sitting Bull, but the motives were more personal and intertribal.
On December 15, 1890, Sitting Bull’s arrest was ordered. He was pulled from his bed, and hurriedly dressed by his captors. His gray horse, which he had received from Buffalo Bill, was saddled. Sitting Bull’s people gathered around him. They did not like the way he was being treated by the Indian police. During their protest, Sitting Bull was killed. Legend says that when his gray horse heard the shots, he went into his Wild West Show routine, sitting on his haunches and pawing the air over Sitting Bull’s body. Many thought that the spirit of Sitting Bull entered his favorite gray horse.
From Link with no author listed: view link
The Legend of Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was born on the Republican River about 1845. He was killed at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in 1877, so that he lived barely thirty-three years. He was an uncommonly handsome man. While not the equal of Gall in magnificence and imposing stature, he was physically perfect, an Apollo in symmetry. Furthermore he was a true type of Indian refinement and grace. He was modest and courteous as Chief Joseph; the difference is that he was a born warrior, while Joseph was not. However, he was a gentle warrior, a true brave, who stood for the highest ideal of the Sioux. Notwithstanding all that biased historians have said of him, it is only fair to judge a man by the estimate of his own people rather than that of his enemies.
The boyhood of Crazy Horse was passed in the days when the western Sioux saw a white man but seldom, and then it was usually a trader or a soldier. He was carefully brought up according to the tribal customs. At that period the Sioux prided themselves on the training and development of their sons and daughters, and not a step in that development was overlooked as an excuse to bring the child before the public by giving a feast in its honor. At such times the parents often gave so generously to the needy that they almost impoverished themselves, thus setting an example to the child of self-denial for the general good. His first step alone, the first word spoken, first game killed, the attainment of manhood or womanhood, each was the occasion of a feast and dance in his honor, at which the poor always benefited to the full extent of the parents' ability. Big-heartedness, generosity, courage, and self-denial are the qualifications of a public servant, and the average Indian was keen to follow this ideal. As every one knows, these characteristic traits become a weakness when he enters a life founded upon commerce and gain. Under such conditions the life of Crazy Horse began. His mother, like other mothers, tender and watchful of her boy, would never once place an obstacle in the way of his father's severe physical training. They laid the spiritual and patriotic foundations of his education in such a way that he early became conscious of the demands of public service. He was perhaps four or five years old when the band was snowed in one severe winter. They were very short of food, but his father was a tireless hunter. The buffalo, their main dependence, were not to be found, but he was out in the storm and cold every day and finally brought in two antelopes. The little boy got on his pet pony and rode through the camp, telling the old folks to come to his mother's teepee for meat. It turned out that neither his father nor mother had authorized him to do this. Before they knew it, old men and women were lined up before the teepee home, ready to receive the meat, in answer to his invitation. As a result, the mother had to distribute nearly all of it, keeping only enough for two meals.
On the following day the child asked for food. His mother told him that the old folks had taken it all, and added: "Remember, my son, they went home singing praises in your name, not my name or your father's. You must be brave. You must live up to your reputation." Crazy Horse loved horses, and his father gave him a pony of his own when he was very young. He became a fine horseman and accompanied his father on buffalo hunts, holding the pack horses while the men chased the buffalo and thus gradually learning the art. In those days the Sioux had but few guns, and the hunting was mostly done with bow and arrows.
Another story told of his boyhood is that when he was about twelve he went to look for the ponies with his little brother, whom he loved much, and took a great deal of pains to teach what he had already learned. They came to some wild cherry trees full of ripe fruit, and while they were enjoying it, the brothers were startled by the growl and sudden rush of a bear. Young Crazy Horse pushed his brother up into the nearest tree and himself sprang upon the back of one of the horses, which was frightened and ran some distance before he could control him. As soon as he could, however, he turned him about and came back, yelling and swinging his lariat over his head. The bear at first showed fight but finally turned and ran. The old man who told me this story added that young as he was, he had some power, so that even a grizzly did not care to tackle him. I believe it is a fact that a silver-tip will dare anything except a bell or a lasso line, so that accidentally the boy had hit upon the very thing which would drive him off. It was usual for Sioux boys of his day to wait in the field after a buffalo hunt until sundown, when the young calves would come out in the open, hungrily seeking their mothers. Then these wild children would enjoy a mimic hunt, and lasso the calves or drive them into camp. Crazy Horse was found to be a determined little fellow, and it was settled one day among the larger boys that they would "stump" him to ride a good- sized bull calf. He rode the calf, and stayed on its back while it ran bawling over the hills, followed by the other boys on their ponies, until his strange mount stood trembling and exhausted.
At the age of sixteen he joined a war party against the Gros Ventres. He was well in the front of the charge, and at once established his bravery by following closely one of the foremost Sioux warriors, by the name of Hump, drawing the enemy's fire and circling around their advance guard. Suddenly Hump's horse was shot from under him, and there was a rush of warriors to kill or capture him while down. But amidst a shower of arrows the youth leaped from his pony, helped his friend into his own saddle, sprang up behind him, and carried him off in safety, although they were hotly pursued by the enemy. Thus he associated himself in his maiden battle with the wizard of Indian warfare, and Hump, who was then at the height of his own career, pronounced Crazy Horse the coming warrior of the Teton Sioux.
At this period of his life, as was customary with the best young men, he spent much time in prayer and solitude. Just what happened in these days of his fasting in the wilderness and upon the crown of bald buttes, no one will ever know; for these things may only be known when one has lived through the battles of life to an honored old age. He was much sought after by his youthful associates, but was noticeably reserved and modest; yet in the moment of danger he at once rose above them all -- a natural leader! Crazy Horse was a typical Sioux brave, and from the point of view of our race an ideal hero, living at the height of the epical progress of the American Indian and maintaining in his own character all that was most subtle and ennobling of their spiritual life, and that has since been lost in the contact with a material civilization. He loved Hump, that peerless warrior, and the two became close
friends, in spite of the difference in age. Men called them "the grizzly and his cub." Again and again the pair saved the day for the Sioux in a skirmish with some neighboring tribe. But one day they undertook a losing battle against the Snakes. The Sioux were in full retreat and were fast being overwhelmed by superior numbers. The old warrior fell in a last desperate charge; but Crazy Horse and his younger brother, though dismounted, killed two of the enemy and thus made good their retreat.
It was observed of him that when he pursued the enemy into their stronghold, as he was wont to do, he often refrained from killing, and simply struck them with a switch, showing that he did not fear their weapons nor care to waste his upon them. In attempting this very feat, he lost this only brother of his, who emulated him closely. A party of young warriors, led by Crazy Horse, had dashed upon a frontier post, killed one of the sentinels, stampeded the horses, and pursued the herder to the very gate of the stockade, thus drawing upon themselves the fire of the garrison. The leader escaped without a scratch, but his young brother was brought down from his horse and killed. While he was still under twenty, there was a great winter buffalo hunt, and he came back with ten buffaloes' tongues which he sent to the council lodge for the councilors' feast. He had in one winter day killed ten buffalo cows with his bow and arrows, and the unsuccessful hunters or those who had no swift ponies were made happy by his generosity. When the hunters returned, these came chanting songs of thanks. He knew that his father was an expert hunter and had a good horse, so he took no meat home, putting in practice the spirit of his early teaching. He attained his majority at the crisis of the difficulties between the United States and the Sioux. Even before that time, Crazy Horse had already proved his worth to his people in Indian warfare. He had risked his life again and again, and in some instances it was considered almost a miracle that he had saved others as well as himself. He was no orator nor was he the son of a chief. His success and influence was purely a matter of personality. He had never fought the whites up to this time, and indeed no "coup" was counted for killing or scalping a white man.
Young Crazy Horse was twenty-one years old when all the Teton Sioux chiefs (the western or plains dwellers) met in council to determine upon their future policy toward the invader. Their former agreements had been by individual bands, each for itself, and every one was friendly. They reasoned that the country was wide, and that the white traders should be made welcome. Up to this time they had anticipated no conflict. They had permitted the Oregon Trail, but now to their astonishment forts were built and garrisoned in their territory. Most of the chiefs advocated a strong resistance. There were a few influential men who desired still to live in peace, and who were willing to make another treaty. Among these were White Bull, Two Kettle,
Four Bears, and Swift Bear. Even Spotted Tail, afterward the great peace chief, was at this time with the majority, who decided in the year 1866 to defend their rights and territory by force. Attacks were to be made upon the forts within their country and on every trespasser on the same. Crazy Horse took no part in the discussion, but he and all the young warriors were in accord with the decision of the council. Although so young, he was already a leader among them. Other prominent young braves were Sword (brother of the man of that name who was long captain of police at Pine Ridge), the younger Hump, Charging Bear, Spotted Elk, Crow King, No Water, Big Road, He Dog, the nephew of Red Cloud, and Touch-the-Cloud, intimate friend of Crazy Horse.
The attack on Fort Phil Kearny was the first fruits of the new policy, and here Crazy Horse was chosen to lead the attack on the woodchoppers, resigned to draw the soldiers out of the fort, while an army of six hundred lay in wait for them. The success of this stratagem was further enhanced by his masterful handling of his men. From this time on a general war was inaugurated; Sitting Bull looked to him as a principal war leader, and even the Cheyenne chiefs, allies of the Sioux, practically acknowledged his leadership. Yet during the following ten years of defensive war he was never known to make a speech, though his teepee was the rendezvous of the young men. He was depended upon to put into action the decisions of the council, and was frequently consulted by the older chiefs. Like Osceola, he rose suddenly; like Tecumseh he was always impatient for battle; like Pontiac, he fought on while his allies were suing for peace, and like Grant, the silent soldier, he was a man of deeds and not of words. He won from Custer and Fetterman and Crook. He won every battle that he undertook, with the exception of one or two occasions when he was surprised in the midst of his women and children, and even then he managed to extricate himself in safety from a difficult position.
Early in the year 1876, his runners brought word from Sitting Bull that all the roving bands would converge upon the upper Tongue River in Montana for summer feasts and conferences. There was conflicting news from the reservation. It was rumored that the army would fight the Sioux to a finish; again, it was said that another commission would be sent out to treat with them. The Indians came together early in June, and formed a series of encampments stretching out from three to four miles, each band keeping separate camp. On June 17, scouts came in and reported the advance of a large body of troops under General Crook. The council sent Crazy Horse with seven hundred men to meet and attack him. These were nearly all young men, many of them under twenty, the flower of the hostile Sioux. They set out at night so as to steal a march upon the enemy, but within three or four miles of his camp they came unexpectedly upon some of his Crow scouts. There was a hurried exchange of shots; the Crows fled back to Crook's camp, pursued by the
Sioux. The soldiers had their warning, and it was impossible to enter the well-protected camp. Again and again Crazy Horse charged with his bravest men, in the attempt to bring the troops into the open, but he succeeded only in drawing their fire. Toward afternoon he withdrew, and returned to camp disappointed. His scouts remained to watch Crook's movements, and later brought word that he had retreated to Goose Creek and seemed to have no further disposition to disturb the Sioux. It is well known to us that it is Crook rather than Reno who is to be blamed for cowardice in connection with Custer's fate. The latter had no chance to do anything, he was lucky to save himself; but if Crook had kept on his way, as ordered, to meet Terry, with his one thousand regulars and two hundred Crow and Shoshone scouts, he would inevitably have intercepted Custer in his advance and saved the day for him, and war with the Sioux would have ended right there. Instead of this, he fell back upon Fort Meade, eating his horses on the way, in a country swarming with game, for fear of Crazy Horse and his braves! The Indians now crossed the divide between the Tongue and the Little Big Horn, where they felt safe from immediate pursuit. Here, with all their precautions, they were caught unawares by General Custer, in the midst of their midday games and festivities, while many were out upon the daily hunt.
On this twenty-fifth of June, 1876, the great camp was scattered for three miles or more along the level river bottom, back of the thin line of cottonwoods -- five circular rows of teepees, ranging from half a mile to a mile and a half in circumference. Here and there stood out a large, white, solitary teepee; these were the lodges or "clubs" of the young men. Crazy Horse was a member of the "Strong Hearts" and the "Tokala" or Fox lodge. He was watching a game of ring-toss when the warning came from the southern end of the camp of the approach of troops. The Sioux and the Cheyennes were "minute men", and although taken by surprise, they instantly responded. Meanwhile, the women and children were thrown into confusion. Dogs were howling, ponies running hither and thither, pursued by their owners, while many of the old men were singing their lodge songs to encourage the warriors, or praising the "strong heart" of Crazy Horse. That leader had quickly saddled his favorite war pony and was starting with his young men for the south end of the camp, when a fresh alarm came from the opposite direction, and looking up, he saw Custer's force upon the top of the bluff directly across the river. As quick as a flash, he took in the situation -- the enemy had planned to attack the camp at both ends at once; and knowing that Custer could not ford the river at that point, he instantly led his men northward to the ford to cut him off. The Cheyennes followed closely. Custer must have seen that wonderful dash up the sage-bush plain, and one wonders whether he realized its meaning. In a very few minutes, this wild general of the plains had outwitted one of the most brilliant leaders of the Civil War and ended at once his military career and his life. In this dashing charge, Crazy Horse snatched his most famous victory out of what seemed frightful peril, for the Sioux could not know how many were behind Custer. He was caught in his own trap. To the soldiers it must have seemed as if the Indians rose up from the earth to overwhelm them. They closed in from three sides and fought until not a white man was left alive. Then they went down to Reno's stand and found him so well intrenched in a deep gully that it was impossible to dislodge him. Gall and his men held him there until the approach of General Terry compelled the Sioux to break camp and scatter in
different directions. While Sitting Bull was pursued into Canada, Crazy Horse and the Cheyennes wandered about, comparatively undisturbed, during the rest of that year, until in the winter the army surprised the Cheyennes, but did not do them much harm, possibly because they knew that Crazy Horse was not far off. His name was held in wholesome respect. From time to time, delegations of friendly Indians were sent to him, to urge him to come in to the reservation, promising a full hearing and fair treatment. For some time he held out, but the rapid disappearance of the buffalo, their only means of support, probably weighed with him more than any other influence. In July, 1877, he was finally prevailed upon to come in to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, with several thousand Indians, most of them Ogallala and Minneconwoju Sioux, on the distinct understanding that the government would hear and adjust their grievances.
At this juncture General Crook proclaimed Spotted Tail, who had rendered much valuable service to the army, head chief of the Sioux, which was resented by many. The attention paid Crazy Horse was offensive to Spotted Tail and the Indian scouts, who planned a conspiracy against him. They reported to General Crook that the young chief would murder him at the next council, and stampede the Sioux into another war. He was urged not to attend the council and did not, but sent another officer to represent him. Meanwhile the friends of Crazy Horse discovered the plot and told him of it. His reply was, "Only cowards are murderers." His wife was critically ill at the time, and he decided to take her to her parents at Spotted Tail agency, whereupon his enemies circulated the story that he had fled, and a party of scouts was sent after him. They overtook him riding with his wife and one other but did not undertake to arrest him, and after he had left the sick woman with her people he went to call on Captain Lea, the agent for the Brules, accompanied by all the warriors of the Minneconwoju band. This volunteer escort made an imposing appearance on horseback, shouting and singing, and in the words of Captain Lea himself and the missionary, the Reverend Mr. Cleveland, the situation was extremely critical. Indeed, the scouts who
had followed Crazy Horse from Red Cloud agency were advised not to show themselves, as some of the warriors had urged that they be taken out and horsewhipped publicly. Under these circumstances Crazy Horse again showed his masterful spirit by holding these young men in check. He said to them in his quiet way: "It is well to be brave in the field of battle; it is cowardly to display bravery against one's own tribesmen. These scouts have been compelled to do what they did; they are no better than servants of the white officers. I came here on a peaceful errand." The captain urged him to report at army headquarters to explain himself and correct false rumors, and on his giving consent, furnished him with a wagon and escort. It has been said that he went back under arrest, but this is untrue. Indians have boasted that they had a hand in bringing him in, but their stories are without foundation. He went of his own accord, either suspecting no treachery or determined to defy it. When he reached the military camp, Little Big Man walked arm-in-arm with him, and his cousin and friend, Touch-the-Cloud, was just in advance. After they passed the sentinel, an officer approached them and walked on his other side. He was unarmed but for the knife which is carried for ordinary uses by women as well as men. Unsuspectingly he walked toward the guardhouse, when Touch-the-Cloud suddenly turned back exclaiming: "Cousin, they will put you in prison!" "Another white man's trick! Let me go! Let me die fighting!" cried Crazy Horse. He stopped and tried to free himself and draw his knife, but both arms were held fast by Little Big Man and the officer. While he struggled thus, a soldier thrust him through with his bayonet from behind. The wound was mortal, and he died in the course of that night, his old father singing the death song over him and afterward carrying away the body, which they said must not be further polluted by the touch of a white man. They hid it somewhere in the Bad Lands, his resting place to this day. Thus died one of the ablest and truest American Indians. His life was
ideal; his record clean. He was never involved in any of the numerous massacres on the trail, but was a leader in practically every open fight. Such characters as those of Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph are not easily found among so-called civilized people. The reputation of great men is apt to be shadowed by questionable motives and policies, but here are two pure patriots, as worthy of honor as any who ever breathed God's air in the wide spaces of a new world.
Note: I copied and pasted this article and photo. Could not find any author listed but the link is: view link
The boyhood of Crazy Horse was passed in the days when the western Sioux saw a white man but seldom, and then it was usually a trader or a soldier. He was carefully brought up according to the tribal customs. At that period the Sioux prided themselves on the training and development of their sons and daughters, and not a step in that development was overlooked as an excuse to bring the child before the public by giving a feast in its honor. At such times the parents often gave so generously to the needy that they almost impoverished themselves, thus setting an example to the child of self-denial for the general good. His first step alone, the first word spoken, first game killed, the attainment of manhood or womanhood, each was the occasion of a feast and dance in his honor, at which the poor always benefited to the full extent of the parents' ability. Big-heartedness, generosity, courage, and self-denial are the qualifications of a public servant, and the average Indian was keen to follow this ideal. As every one knows, these characteristic traits become a weakness when he enters a life founded upon commerce and gain. Under such conditions the life of Crazy Horse began. His mother, like other mothers, tender and watchful of her boy, would never once place an obstacle in the way of his father's severe physical training. They laid the spiritual and patriotic foundations of his education in such a way that he early became conscious of the demands of public service. He was perhaps four or five years old when the band was snowed in one severe winter. They were very short of food, but his father was a tireless hunter. The buffalo, their main dependence, were not to be found, but he was out in the storm and cold every day and finally brought in two antelopes. The little boy got on his pet pony and rode through the camp, telling the old folks to come to his mother's teepee for meat. It turned out that neither his father nor mother had authorized him to do this. Before they knew it, old men and women were lined up before the teepee home, ready to receive the meat, in answer to his invitation. As a result, the mother had to distribute nearly all of it, keeping only enough for two meals.
On the following day the child asked for food. His mother told him that the old folks had taken it all, and added: "Remember, my son, they went home singing praises in your name, not my name or your father's. You must be brave. You must live up to your reputation." Crazy Horse loved horses, and his father gave him a pony of his own when he was very young. He became a fine horseman and accompanied his father on buffalo hunts, holding the pack horses while the men chased the buffalo and thus gradually learning the art. In those days the Sioux had but few guns, and the hunting was mostly done with bow and arrows.
Another story told of his boyhood is that when he was about twelve he went to look for the ponies with his little brother, whom he loved much, and took a great deal of pains to teach what he had already learned. They came to some wild cherry trees full of ripe fruit, and while they were enjoying it, the brothers were startled by the growl and sudden rush of a bear. Young Crazy Horse pushed his brother up into the nearest tree and himself sprang upon the back of one of the horses, which was frightened and ran some distance before he could control him. As soon as he could, however, he turned him about and came back, yelling and swinging his lariat over his head. The bear at first showed fight but finally turned and ran. The old man who told me this story added that young as he was, he had some power, so that even a grizzly did not care to tackle him. I believe it is a fact that a silver-tip will dare anything except a bell or a lasso line, so that accidentally the boy had hit upon the very thing which would drive him off. It was usual for Sioux boys of his day to wait in the field after a buffalo hunt until sundown, when the young calves would come out in the open, hungrily seeking their mothers. Then these wild children would enjoy a mimic hunt, and lasso the calves or drive them into camp. Crazy Horse was found to be a determined little fellow, and it was settled one day among the larger boys that they would "stump" him to ride a good- sized bull calf. He rode the calf, and stayed on its back while it ran bawling over the hills, followed by the other boys on their ponies, until his strange mount stood trembling and exhausted.
At the age of sixteen he joined a war party against the Gros Ventres. He was well in the front of the charge, and at once established his bravery by following closely one of the foremost Sioux warriors, by the name of Hump, drawing the enemy's fire and circling around their advance guard. Suddenly Hump's horse was shot from under him, and there was a rush of warriors to kill or capture him while down. But amidst a shower of arrows the youth leaped from his pony, helped his friend into his own saddle, sprang up behind him, and carried him off in safety, although they were hotly pursued by the enemy. Thus he associated himself in his maiden battle with the wizard of Indian warfare, and Hump, who was then at the height of his own career, pronounced Crazy Horse the coming warrior of the Teton Sioux.
At this period of his life, as was customary with the best young men, he spent much time in prayer and solitude. Just what happened in these days of his fasting in the wilderness and upon the crown of bald buttes, no one will ever know; for these things may only be known when one has lived through the battles of life to an honored old age. He was much sought after by his youthful associates, but was noticeably reserved and modest; yet in the moment of danger he at once rose above them all -- a natural leader! Crazy Horse was a typical Sioux brave, and from the point of view of our race an ideal hero, living at the height of the epical progress of the American Indian and maintaining in his own character all that was most subtle and ennobling of their spiritual life, and that has since been lost in the contact with a material civilization. He loved Hump, that peerless warrior, and the two became close
friends, in spite of the difference in age. Men called them "the grizzly and his cub." Again and again the pair saved the day for the Sioux in a skirmish with some neighboring tribe. But one day they undertook a losing battle against the Snakes. The Sioux were in full retreat and were fast being overwhelmed by superior numbers. The old warrior fell in a last desperate charge; but Crazy Horse and his younger brother, though dismounted, killed two of the enemy and thus made good their retreat.
It was observed of him that when he pursued the enemy into their stronghold, as he was wont to do, he often refrained from killing, and simply struck them with a switch, showing that he did not fear their weapons nor care to waste his upon them. In attempting this very feat, he lost this only brother of his, who emulated him closely. A party of young warriors, led by Crazy Horse, had dashed upon a frontier post, killed one of the sentinels, stampeded the horses, and pursued the herder to the very gate of the stockade, thus drawing upon themselves the fire of the garrison. The leader escaped without a scratch, but his young brother was brought down from his horse and killed. While he was still under twenty, there was a great winter buffalo hunt, and he came back with ten buffaloes' tongues which he sent to the council lodge for the councilors' feast. He had in one winter day killed ten buffalo cows with his bow and arrows, and the unsuccessful hunters or those who had no swift ponies were made happy by his generosity. When the hunters returned, these came chanting songs of thanks. He knew that his father was an expert hunter and had a good horse, so he took no meat home, putting in practice the spirit of his early teaching. He attained his majority at the crisis of the difficulties between the United States and the Sioux. Even before that time, Crazy Horse had already proved his worth to his people in Indian warfare. He had risked his life again and again, and in some instances it was considered almost a miracle that he had saved others as well as himself. He was no orator nor was he the son of a chief. His success and influence was purely a matter of personality. He had never fought the whites up to this time, and indeed no "coup" was counted for killing or scalping a white man.
Young Crazy Horse was twenty-one years old when all the Teton Sioux chiefs (the western or plains dwellers) met in council to determine upon their future policy toward the invader. Their former agreements had been by individual bands, each for itself, and every one was friendly. They reasoned that the country was wide, and that the white traders should be made welcome. Up to this time they had anticipated no conflict. They had permitted the Oregon Trail, but now to their astonishment forts were built and garrisoned in their territory. Most of the chiefs advocated a strong resistance. There were a few influential men who desired still to live in peace, and who were willing to make another treaty. Among these were White Bull, Two Kettle,
Four Bears, and Swift Bear. Even Spotted Tail, afterward the great peace chief, was at this time with the majority, who decided in the year 1866 to defend their rights and territory by force. Attacks were to be made upon the forts within their country and on every trespasser on the same. Crazy Horse took no part in the discussion, but he and all the young warriors were in accord with the decision of the council. Although so young, he was already a leader among them. Other prominent young braves were Sword (brother of the man of that name who was long captain of police at Pine Ridge), the younger Hump, Charging Bear, Spotted Elk, Crow King, No Water, Big Road, He Dog, the nephew of Red Cloud, and Touch-the-Cloud, intimate friend of Crazy Horse.
The attack on Fort Phil Kearny was the first fruits of the new policy, and here Crazy Horse was chosen to lead the attack on the woodchoppers, resigned to draw the soldiers out of the fort, while an army of six hundred lay in wait for them. The success of this stratagem was further enhanced by his masterful handling of his men. From this time on a general war was inaugurated; Sitting Bull looked to him as a principal war leader, and even the Cheyenne chiefs, allies of the Sioux, practically acknowledged his leadership. Yet during the following ten years of defensive war he was never known to make a speech, though his teepee was the rendezvous of the young men. He was depended upon to put into action the decisions of the council, and was frequently consulted by the older chiefs. Like Osceola, he rose suddenly; like Tecumseh he was always impatient for battle; like Pontiac, he fought on while his allies were suing for peace, and like Grant, the silent soldier, he was a man of deeds and not of words. He won from Custer and Fetterman and Crook. He won every battle that he undertook, with the exception of one or two occasions when he was surprised in the midst of his women and children, and even then he managed to extricate himself in safety from a difficult position.
Early in the year 1876, his runners brought word from Sitting Bull that all the roving bands would converge upon the upper Tongue River in Montana for summer feasts and conferences. There was conflicting news from the reservation. It was rumored that the army would fight the Sioux to a finish; again, it was said that another commission would be sent out to treat with them. The Indians came together early in June, and formed a series of encampments stretching out from three to four miles, each band keeping separate camp. On June 17, scouts came in and reported the advance of a large body of troops under General Crook. The council sent Crazy Horse with seven hundred men to meet and attack him. These were nearly all young men, many of them under twenty, the flower of the hostile Sioux. They set out at night so as to steal a march upon the enemy, but within three or four miles of his camp they came unexpectedly upon some of his Crow scouts. There was a hurried exchange of shots; the Crows fled back to Crook's camp, pursued by the
Sioux. The soldiers had their warning, and it was impossible to enter the well-protected camp. Again and again Crazy Horse charged with his bravest men, in the attempt to bring the troops into the open, but he succeeded only in drawing their fire. Toward afternoon he withdrew, and returned to camp disappointed. His scouts remained to watch Crook's movements, and later brought word that he had retreated to Goose Creek and seemed to have no further disposition to disturb the Sioux. It is well known to us that it is Crook rather than Reno who is to be blamed for cowardice in connection with Custer's fate. The latter had no chance to do anything, he was lucky to save himself; but if Crook had kept on his way, as ordered, to meet Terry, with his one thousand regulars and two hundred Crow and Shoshone scouts, he would inevitably have intercepted Custer in his advance and saved the day for him, and war with the Sioux would have ended right there. Instead of this, he fell back upon Fort Meade, eating his horses on the way, in a country swarming with game, for fear of Crazy Horse and his braves! The Indians now crossed the divide between the Tongue and the Little Big Horn, where they felt safe from immediate pursuit. Here, with all their precautions, they were caught unawares by General Custer, in the midst of their midday games and festivities, while many were out upon the daily hunt.
On this twenty-fifth of June, 1876, the great camp was scattered for three miles or more along the level river bottom, back of the thin line of cottonwoods -- five circular rows of teepees, ranging from half a mile to a mile and a half in circumference. Here and there stood out a large, white, solitary teepee; these were the lodges or "clubs" of the young men. Crazy Horse was a member of the "Strong Hearts" and the "Tokala" or Fox lodge. He was watching a game of ring-toss when the warning came from the southern end of the camp of the approach of troops. The Sioux and the Cheyennes were "minute men", and although taken by surprise, they instantly responded. Meanwhile, the women and children were thrown into confusion. Dogs were howling, ponies running hither and thither, pursued by their owners, while many of the old men were singing their lodge songs to encourage the warriors, or praising the "strong heart" of Crazy Horse. That leader had quickly saddled his favorite war pony and was starting with his young men for the south end of the camp, when a fresh alarm came from the opposite direction, and looking up, he saw Custer's force upon the top of the bluff directly across the river. As quick as a flash, he took in the situation -- the enemy had planned to attack the camp at both ends at once; and knowing that Custer could not ford the river at that point, he instantly led his men northward to the ford to cut him off. The Cheyennes followed closely. Custer must have seen that wonderful dash up the sage-bush plain, and one wonders whether he realized its meaning. In a very few minutes, this wild general of the plains had outwitted one of the most brilliant leaders of the Civil War and ended at once his military career and his life. In this dashing charge, Crazy Horse snatched his most famous victory out of what seemed frightful peril, for the Sioux could not know how many were behind Custer. He was caught in his own trap. To the soldiers it must have seemed as if the Indians rose up from the earth to overwhelm them. They closed in from three sides and fought until not a white man was left alive. Then they went down to Reno's stand and found him so well intrenched in a deep gully that it was impossible to dislodge him. Gall and his men held him there until the approach of General Terry compelled the Sioux to break camp and scatter in
different directions. While Sitting Bull was pursued into Canada, Crazy Horse and the Cheyennes wandered about, comparatively undisturbed, during the rest of that year, until in the winter the army surprised the Cheyennes, but did not do them much harm, possibly because they knew that Crazy Horse was not far off. His name was held in wholesome respect. From time to time, delegations of friendly Indians were sent to him, to urge him to come in to the reservation, promising a full hearing and fair treatment. For some time he held out, but the rapid disappearance of the buffalo, their only means of support, probably weighed with him more than any other influence. In July, 1877, he was finally prevailed upon to come in to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, with several thousand Indians, most of them Ogallala and Minneconwoju Sioux, on the distinct understanding that the government would hear and adjust their grievances.
At this juncture General Crook proclaimed Spotted Tail, who had rendered much valuable service to the army, head chief of the Sioux, which was resented by many. The attention paid Crazy Horse was offensive to Spotted Tail and the Indian scouts, who planned a conspiracy against him. They reported to General Crook that the young chief would murder him at the next council, and stampede the Sioux into another war. He was urged not to attend the council and did not, but sent another officer to represent him. Meanwhile the friends of Crazy Horse discovered the plot and told him of it. His reply was, "Only cowards are murderers." His wife was critically ill at the time, and he decided to take her to her parents at Spotted Tail agency, whereupon his enemies circulated the story that he had fled, and a party of scouts was sent after him. They overtook him riding with his wife and one other but did not undertake to arrest him, and after he had left the sick woman with her people he went to call on Captain Lea, the agent for the Brules, accompanied by all the warriors of the Minneconwoju band. This volunteer escort made an imposing appearance on horseback, shouting and singing, and in the words of Captain Lea himself and the missionary, the Reverend Mr. Cleveland, the situation was extremely critical. Indeed, the scouts who
had followed Crazy Horse from Red Cloud agency were advised not to show themselves, as some of the warriors had urged that they be taken out and horsewhipped publicly. Under these circumstances Crazy Horse again showed his masterful spirit by holding these young men in check. He said to them in his quiet way: "It is well to be brave in the field of battle; it is cowardly to display bravery against one's own tribesmen. These scouts have been compelled to do what they did; they are no better than servants of the white officers. I came here on a peaceful errand." The captain urged him to report at army headquarters to explain himself and correct false rumors, and on his giving consent, furnished him with a wagon and escort. It has been said that he went back under arrest, but this is untrue. Indians have boasted that they had a hand in bringing him in, but their stories are without foundation. He went of his own accord, either suspecting no treachery or determined to defy it. When he reached the military camp, Little Big Man walked arm-in-arm with him, and his cousin and friend, Touch-the-Cloud, was just in advance. After they passed the sentinel, an officer approached them and walked on his other side. He was unarmed but for the knife which is carried for ordinary uses by women as well as men. Unsuspectingly he walked toward the guardhouse, when Touch-the-Cloud suddenly turned back exclaiming: "Cousin, they will put you in prison!" "Another white man's trick! Let me go! Let me die fighting!" cried Crazy Horse. He stopped and tried to free himself and draw his knife, but both arms were held fast by Little Big Man and the officer. While he struggled thus, a soldier thrust him through with his bayonet from behind. The wound was mortal, and he died in the course of that night, his old father singing the death song over him and afterward carrying away the body, which they said must not be further polluted by the touch of a white man. They hid it somewhere in the Bad Lands, his resting place to this day. Thus died one of the ablest and truest American Indians. His life was
ideal; his record clean. He was never involved in any of the numerous massacres on the trail, but was a leader in practically every open fight. Such characters as those of Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph are not easily found among so-called civilized people. The reputation of great men is apt to be shadowed by questionable motives and policies, but here are two pure patriots, as worthy of honor as any who ever breathed God's air in the wide spaces of a new world.
Note: I copied and pasted this article and photo. Could not find any author listed but the link is: view link
Geronimo (Goyathlay "one who yawns")
eronimo {jur-ahn'-i-moh}, or Goyathlay ("one who yawns"), was born in 1829 in what is today western New Mexico, but was then still Mexican territory. He was a Bedonkohe Apache (grandson of Mahko) by birth and a Net'na during his youth and early manhood. His wife, Juh, Geronimo's cousin Ishton, and Asa Daklugie were members of the Nednhi band of the Chiricahua Apache.
He was reportedly given the name Geronimo by Mexican soldiers, although few agree as to why. As leader of the Apaches at Arispe in Sonora, he performed such daring feats that the Mexicans singled him out with the sobriquet Geronimo (Spanish for "Jerome"). Some attributed his numerous raiding successes to powers conferred by supernatural beings, including a reputed invulnerability to bullets.
Geronimo's war career was linked with that of his brother-in-law, Juh, a Chiricahua chief. Although he was not a hereditary leader, Geronimo appeared so to outsiders because he often acted as spokesman for Juh, who had a speech impediment.
Geronimo was the leader of the last American Indian fighting force formally to capitulate to the United States. Because he fought against such daunting odds and held out the longest, he became the most famous Apache of all. To the pioneers and settlers of Arizona and New Mexico, he was a bloody-handed murderer and this image endured until the second half of this century.
To the Apaches, Geronimo embodied the very essence of the Apache values, aggressiveness, courage in the face of difficulty. These qualities inspired fear in the settlers of Arizona and New Mexico. The Chiricahuas were mostly migratory following the seasons, hunting and farming. When food was scarce, it was the custom to raid neighboring tribes. Raids and vengeance were an honorable way of life among the tribes of this region.
By the time American settlers began arriving in the area, the Spanish had become entrenched in the area. They were always looking for Indian slaves and Christian converts. One of the most pivotal moments in Geronimo's life was in 1858 when he returned home from a trading excursion into Mexico. He found his wife, his mother and his three young children murdered by Spanish troops from Mexico. This reportedly caused him to have such a hatred of the whites that he vowed to kill as many as he could. From that day on he took every opportunity he could to terrorize Mexican settlements and soon after this incident he received his power, which came to him in visions. Geronimo was never a chief, but a medicine man, a seer and a spiritual and intellectual leader both in and out of battle. The Apache chiefs depended on his wisdom.
When the Chiricahua were forcibly removed (1876) to arid land at San Carlos, in eastern Arizona, Geronimo fled with a band of followers into Mexico. He was soon arrested and returned to the new reservation. For the remainder of the 1870s, he and Juh led a quiet life on the reservation, but with the slaying of an Apache prophet in 1881, they returned to full-time activities from a secret camp in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
In 1875 all Apaches west of the Rio Grande were ordered to the San Carlos Reservation. Geronimo escaped from the reservation three times and although he surrendered, he always managed to avoid capture. In 1876, the U.S. Army tried to move the Chiricahuas onto a reservation, but Geronimo fled to Mexico eluding the troops for over a decade. Sensationalized press reports exaggerated Geronimo's activities, making him the most feared and infamous Apache. The last few months of the campaign required over 5,000 soldiers, one-quarter of the entire Army, and 500 scouts, and perhaps up to 3,000 Mexican soldiers to track down Geronimo and his band.
In May 1882, Apache scouts working for the U.S. army surprised Geronimo in his mountain sanctuary, and he agreed to return with his people to the reservation. After a year of farming, the sudden arrest and imprisonment of the Apache warrior Ka-ya-ten-nae, together with rumors of impending trials and hangings, prompted Geronimo to flee on May 17, 1885, with 35 warriors and 109 women, children and youths. In January 1886, Apache scouts penetrated Juh's seemingly impregnable hideout. This action induced Geronimo to surrender (Mar. 25, 1886) to Gen. George CROOK. Geronimo later fled but finally surrendered to Gen. Nelson MILES on Sept. 4, 1886. The government breached its agreement and transported Geronimo and nearly 450 Apache men, women, and children to Florida for confinement in Forts Marion and Pickens. In 1894 they were removed to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. Geronimo became a rancher, appeared (1904) at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, sold Geronimo souvenirs, and rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inaugural parade.
Geronimo's final surrender in 1886 was the last significant Indian guerrilla action in the United States. At the end, his group consisted of only 16 warriors, 12 women, and 6 children. Upon their surrender, Geronimo and over 300 of his fellow Chiricahuas were shipped to Fort Marion, Florida. One year later many of them were relocated to the Mt. Vernon barracks in Alabama, where about one quarter died from tuberculosis and other diseases. Geronimo died on Feb. 17, 1909, a prisoner of war, unable to return to his homeland. He was buried in the Apache cemetery at:
Fort Sill, Oklahoma
437 Quanah Road
Fort Sill, OK (73503-5000)
found article at: view link
no author listed
He was reportedly given the name Geronimo by Mexican soldiers, although few agree as to why. As leader of the Apaches at Arispe in Sonora, he performed such daring feats that the Mexicans singled him out with the sobriquet Geronimo (Spanish for "Jerome"). Some attributed his numerous raiding successes to powers conferred by supernatural beings, including a reputed invulnerability to bullets.
Geronimo's war career was linked with that of his brother-in-law, Juh, a Chiricahua chief. Although he was not a hereditary leader, Geronimo appeared so to outsiders because he often acted as spokesman for Juh, who had a speech impediment.
Geronimo was the leader of the last American Indian fighting force formally to capitulate to the United States. Because he fought against such daunting odds and held out the longest, he became the most famous Apache of all. To the pioneers and settlers of Arizona and New Mexico, he was a bloody-handed murderer and this image endured until the second half of this century.
To the Apaches, Geronimo embodied the very essence of the Apache values, aggressiveness, courage in the face of difficulty. These qualities inspired fear in the settlers of Arizona and New Mexico. The Chiricahuas were mostly migratory following the seasons, hunting and farming. When food was scarce, it was the custom to raid neighboring tribes. Raids and vengeance were an honorable way of life among the tribes of this region.
By the time American settlers began arriving in the area, the Spanish had become entrenched in the area. They were always looking for Indian slaves and Christian converts. One of the most pivotal moments in Geronimo's life was in 1858 when he returned home from a trading excursion into Mexico. He found his wife, his mother and his three young children murdered by Spanish troops from Mexico. This reportedly caused him to have such a hatred of the whites that he vowed to kill as many as he could. From that day on he took every opportunity he could to terrorize Mexican settlements and soon after this incident he received his power, which came to him in visions. Geronimo was never a chief, but a medicine man, a seer and a spiritual and intellectual leader both in and out of battle. The Apache chiefs depended on his wisdom.
When the Chiricahua were forcibly removed (1876) to arid land at San Carlos, in eastern Arizona, Geronimo fled with a band of followers into Mexico. He was soon arrested and returned to the new reservation. For the remainder of the 1870s, he and Juh led a quiet life on the reservation, but with the slaying of an Apache prophet in 1881, they returned to full-time activities from a secret camp in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
In 1875 all Apaches west of the Rio Grande were ordered to the San Carlos Reservation. Geronimo escaped from the reservation three times and although he surrendered, he always managed to avoid capture. In 1876, the U.S. Army tried to move the Chiricahuas onto a reservation, but Geronimo fled to Mexico eluding the troops for over a decade. Sensationalized press reports exaggerated Geronimo's activities, making him the most feared and infamous Apache. The last few months of the campaign required over 5,000 soldiers, one-quarter of the entire Army, and 500 scouts, and perhaps up to 3,000 Mexican soldiers to track down Geronimo and his band.
In May 1882, Apache scouts working for the U.S. army surprised Geronimo in his mountain sanctuary, and he agreed to return with his people to the reservation. After a year of farming, the sudden arrest and imprisonment of the Apache warrior Ka-ya-ten-nae, together with rumors of impending trials and hangings, prompted Geronimo to flee on May 17, 1885, with 35 warriors and 109 women, children and youths. In January 1886, Apache scouts penetrated Juh's seemingly impregnable hideout. This action induced Geronimo to surrender (Mar. 25, 1886) to Gen. George CROOK. Geronimo later fled but finally surrendered to Gen. Nelson MILES on Sept. 4, 1886. The government breached its agreement and transported Geronimo and nearly 450 Apache men, women, and children to Florida for confinement in Forts Marion and Pickens. In 1894 they were removed to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. Geronimo became a rancher, appeared (1904) at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, sold Geronimo souvenirs, and rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inaugural parade.
Geronimo's final surrender in 1886 was the last significant Indian guerrilla action in the United States. At the end, his group consisted of only 16 warriors, 12 women, and 6 children. Upon their surrender, Geronimo and over 300 of his fellow Chiricahuas were shipped to Fort Marion, Florida. One year later many of them were relocated to the Mt. Vernon barracks in Alabama, where about one quarter died from tuberculosis and other diseases. Geronimo died on Feb. 17, 1909, a prisoner of war, unable to return to his homeland. He was buried in the Apache cemetery at:
Fort Sill, Oklahoma
437 Quanah Road
Fort Sill, OK (73503-5000)
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