Message From Hopi Elders

This message from the Hopi elders was received in December 1999. The Hopis have an ancient petroglyph called Prophecy Rock which outlines the fate of humanity. They believe that humanity is now almost at the point of the Great Purification that will mark the end of the fourth world. Just before the purification there will be many natural catastrophes like the tsunami, earthquakes, global warming, trees dying, land sinking and rising. According to the Hopi, the world, meaning the world of humans, has ended four times already. Many believe that the last time was by water, the great flood recorded in so many traditions worldwide, from the Old Testament to the myth of Atlantis. After the Hopi message is a permaculture poem called "The Problem Is The Solution" which looks at the ending of this phase of human existence as a positive thing.

TO MY FELLOW SWIMMERS:

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. We must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history we are to take nothing personal, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do our spiritual growth comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over--gather yourselves!

Banish the word "struggle" from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

The following poem was constructed from phrases and words I culled off the top of my head. The form is an adaptation of a Kato creation myth. The Kato is a northern California tribe. No research was done to write this poem. I'm sure there are many things you could add to it. Feel free, but remember the function these problems can serve when see them as a solution. The italicized lines are from the Book of Revelation.

The Problem Is The Solution

The witches must burn, they say Off with their heads!
Strap them to the rack, they say Thumbscrews, they say
Gouge out her eyes Cut off her breasts, they say
Bread and water, they say Don’t let him sleep, they say
Shove a burning rod up his ass He’s a faggot, they say
They say make him squeal Rape his wife, they say
Rape his daughters Fucking cunts, they say
Sodomize his mother, they say The witches must burn, they say
Cut off his tongue He’s a thief, they say
It’s deportation or the gallows, they say Let him hang
Put his head on a spike at The Tower, they say Drag his dead body through the streets
Lower her into boiling water, they say Stun guns, they say
Brainwash them, they say Your friends betrayed you, they say
We killed your family Cut off one finger at a time till he talks, they say
No blacks allowed, they say Whip her till she bleeds
Eventually you’ll say anything Lynch the niggers
Bomb the gooks Fuck off Mom, I hate you, they say
They say electrocute They say lethal injection
They say line up Fire
Videotape the beheading, they say We’ll send the tape to your wife, they say
This way to the gas, ladies and gentleman, they say You can choose one to save
Strip We want the gold in your teeth, they say
Your skin will make a lovely lampshade Fling her over the battlements, they say
The Inquisition, they say Auto da fe
Auchswitz, they say Incinerate
Hang, draw, and quarter her, they say Crucify
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the Throne a book written within
and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Chronus was the first god, they say Zeus killed his father Chronos, they say
They say Odysseus, Hector, Aeneas Agamemnon, Thor, Hercules, they say
Mars and Aries, they say Indra and Ku, they say
Arthur, Lugh, Bran, they say The Vikings are coming! Run, they say!
Beowulf, they say, Cuchulainn Roland, El Cid, Sir Gawain, they say
Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, they say Enki, Osiris, Seth, Jahweh
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow;
and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
The Trojan War, they say They say, The Holy Crusades
The Hundred Years’ War, they say The War of the Roses
We need an Empire, they say King Philip’s War against the Mohawks
They say The French and Indian War They say no taxation without representation
The Revolutionary War, they say Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, they say
Newport, Rhode Island was the largest slave market in the colonies, they say
The largest plantation in the colonies was in Narragansett, they say
They say there were slaves on Block Island They’re not human, they say
War is a necessary evil, they say They call it Civil
They call it The War Between the States Then it’s Spanish-American
Then it’s The Great War, they say World War I, they say
The War To End All Wars WWII, The Big One, they say
Remember The Alamo, they say Little Bighorn, Wounded Knee, they say
The Long March, they say Eminent domain
Here’s your reservation, they say The Ghost Dance is forbidden, they say
We’re taking your children, they say Re-education, they say
Communists, they say Korea, The Conflict in Vietnam, they say
The Cold War, they say The Soviets are going to nuke us, they say
We have to save Kuwait Desert Storm, The Gulf War, they say
We don’t understand why they hate us, they say Jihad, they say
Babylon must fall, they say Every American must die, they say
Go home United States! Bomb Afghanistan, they say
You’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists, they say Ayatollah Khomeini
Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein Eradicate Al Qaeda, they say
The Iraqis will welcome us as liberators Weapons of mass destruction, they say
Islam is a religion of peace An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, they say
The Golden Rule, they say Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
We will hunt them down and kill them, they say Orange alert today
The War in Iraq, they say The War at Home, we say
And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat there
to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Peron, they say Adolph Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, Pinochet
They say Charlemagne They say Alexander the Great
They say Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, Nero, they say I am a god, they say
Song Jong Kim, they say The Axis of Evil is preparing to strike
Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, Omar Qadafi Franco, Stalin, Ceacescu, they say
Rwanda, they say Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, they say
Fundamentalists, they say Terrorist cells, they say
Cortes, Custer, Napoleon, Henry VIII Richard the Lionhearted, they say
They say Papa Doc, Noriega, Fidel Castro Christopher Columbus, we say
Himmler, Eichmann, Goering, they say Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Cheney
Condoleeza Rice, we say George W. Bush and every President of The United States of America who has dropped a bomb in my name Homeland Security, they say
And I beheld, and lo a black horse: and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Justice will be served, they say All men are created equal, they say
No to the ERA Innocent until proven guilty, they say
No child left behind A thousand points of light, they say
Give me your tired, your poor, they say Genital mutilation isn’t grounds for asylum, they say
He had a gun, the police say They say we made a mistake
Mumia killed one of ours, they say Leonard Pelletier killed an agent, they say
Repent, they say Karla Faye Tucker must die, they say
It’s a hard knock life Rest in peace
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death,
and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,
to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
By axe, sword, spear, and mace, they say Smallpox, syphilis, influenza, ebola, AIDS
Catapult, crossbow, cannon, they say Crack, crystal meth, heroin, they say
Longbow, rifle, shotgun, bayonet, they say Strip mine, clear cut, drill, they say
Rape is an effective weapon, they say Slip her ruffies, she’ll pass out, they say
Revolver, machine gun, pistol, they say Napalm, Agent Orange, Round-up, Drano
Automatic weapon, they say Genetically engineered foods are perfectly safe
Grenades, mines, shells, they say They say no civilians were killed
B-52, rocket propelled, hummer, they say We’re cutting funding for the EPA, they say
Suicide bombers, they say We’ve trained dolphins to blow up ships for us, they say
Fighting machine, they say Cancer, famine, acid rain
We break them down in boot camp, they say Prozac, Xanax, Budweiser, Jack Daniel’s
The Atom bomb, they say Chernobyl, we say
Smart weapons, they say We say, there’s no such thing.
The end of this world is nigh, they say Hallelujah, we say!