Odyssey of the 8th FIre

"I believe that water is like a mirror to our hearts. First of all, you have to think about what energy is. Energy is vibration. I think that water is something that transfers this energy or vibration...

"...If you look at the natural disasters that are happening on Earth right now, one could say that there is an imbalance of energy in the world and that this can be associated with imbalance in our consciousness. This is what water is telling me."

- Masaru Emoto

Day 73 - Sunday, September 3, 1995 - They felt called and so they went. Ten of the walkers returned to the sacred Cherokee site at Red Clay-Blue Hole.

At the sacred blue pool they prayed. They meditated. They rested.

After gazing for hours upon the soothing waters, and opening themselves to understanding, they became of one mind.

"The water is like the blood of the Earth Mother, and it is blue," Tom said, "just as the blood of all people—no matter the color of their skins—is blue when it is in their veins. This is an important teaching, a crucial understanding."

The walkers appreciate that the background of our walk, the telling of our tale, and the reality of our demographics all emphasize Red - the Native American element in the great circle of life. But they say they are are clear that our walk is not for or about native people, native rights, or native issues

Our walk is for all the people, and for the Sacred Hoop of life. All people of good heart are welcome to walk, to help, to participate. All are needed. The walk is guided by Native traditions, but as Grandfather Commanda has emphasized, it is not to be led, only guided. The people must find their own way.

Lorraine Spear of North Carolina, who has traveled with our walk on and off over the last month, put it this way in a recent letter to me: "My understanding from this experience is that in order to become the new people, all the five races will have to shed their skins. Religious, philosophical, cultural, gender, and linguistic differences all have to be set aside, at least in some measure. In this way the 8th Fire will be lit."

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Polly MacNichol has been on the Sunbow 5 walk since Day 1. She says she will stay with the group until the vision is fulfilled, and the walk reaches the Western Gate at the Pacific Ocean. Photo by Regula Vellacott.

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The walkers spent the night encamped at Dolphin Emporium in Chattanooga. They were treated to a meal of soup and sandwiches.

In the evening, the walkers were visited by a delegation from the Chikamauga Nation: Mark Red Owl Norman, Chief Harlan W. Draper, and elder Harlan J. Draper. They told the walkers the news from their part of Turtle Island, and especially shared their grief about the ongoing desecration of their ancient gravesites by people looking to make money from the bones and artifacts of their ancestors.

The Chikamauga people told the walkers that they are welcome to pass through their ancestral territory in parts of what is now called Tennessee, thereby extending formal spiritual permission for the pilgrims to proceed.

The elders invited them to stop and camp on their remaining sacred lands when the walk gets a little further west.

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Read Day 74 -- Odyssey of the 8th Fire