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SPIRITUALITY &
RELIGION
Just as the Judeo-Christian
culture has its creation story,
all of the Southwest clans and tribes have stories of their origins
and their reasons for existence. These spiritual belief systems are not written, but are
passed down orally by elders from generation to generation. The Southwestern natives all
believe in a version of a common creation story. All are spiritual or religious people and
all have faith in the Creator. One shared spiritual belief is that all forms of life are
imbued with soul or spirit and are part of the Great Spirit. They respect the power of
prayer -- something that even modern science is coming to appreciate.
Apparently, the early Anasazi believed in an orderly universe in which people and things
are not simply good or bad. They saw evil as an imbalance in the relationship between
humans and the universe and good as a combination of positive beliefs and actions which
help to maintain harmony. Present-day Hopis and other Anasazi descendants continue to live
by the centuries-old wisdom that humankind's primary responsibility is to honor the Earth.
Each clan has religious and spiritual responsibilities. If all those responsibilities are
met, there is harmony in their society.
The spiritual lives of the Ancient Ones depended on their relationships with the natural
world, of which they saw themselves a part. Religious practices were established in the
context of survival, and revolved around food and water. Rituals and ceremonies focused on
things like hunting,
plant fertility, planting and harvest. In the arid Southwest, it
is not surprising that a major spiritual figure in their lives was Avanyu or Palulukon, a
horned or plumed water snake associated with water and believed to live in the bosom of
the Earth.
According to the Pueblo creation story, we live in the
Fourth World, "World Complete." The previous three were destroyed by the
Creator. The Pueblos believe that, if humanity does not live up to its sacred commitment
to protect the Earth and respect other living things, Mother Earth may bring the world we
know to a violent end. Though the reasons may appear to be different, the outcome would
seem to be the same as predicted in Book of Revelation in the Bible. Some Native American elders
are already warning that we are inviting apocalypse.
When the ancient ancestors came into this Fourth World,
they were told to go in the four directions and claim the
Earth for Great Spirit. Then, each clan was to return and
find its true home or "Center Place." This helps to explain
the extensive migrations of clans and may help us
understand why many ancient sites were occupied for only
a few generations, seemingly abandoned, then reoccupied,
often by different clans.
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