Visions of America, 3780 BC

 

Visions of America

Down a winding canyon perched above the mighty Rio Grande lies record of an ancient American rite. A true vision of America…

Found in the Shumla Caves on the Texas side of the Rio Grande, amazing cave art dating back to at least 5000bc fully cover the curved cave walls. Amazing scenes of American history blur the line between art and reality…

While the art above the soil is a vision of yesterday, the soil below holds the true visions of early Americans…

view of the Shumla Cave Site on Texas side of Rio Grande River

On a dig in ‘Cave 5’ within the Shumla caves site a incredible find was made.  With psychedelic figures watching over the room from the walls above, some buttons were found in the soil.

These buttons were not gold or silver but a much more magical blend… The find of buttons was Peyote!

Cave Art at Panther cave site near peyote findings in cave 5. (Possible representation of peyote ceremony)

“Art thou a soothsayer? Dost thou foretell events by reading omens, interpreting dreams or by tracing circles and figures on water? Dost thou garnish with flower garlands the places where idols are kept? Dost thou suck to blood of others? Dost thou wander about at night, calling upon demons to help thee? Hast thou drunk Peyote or given it to others to drink, in order to discover secrets or to discover where stolen or lost articles were?”

– Priest Padre Nicolás de Leon, questions asked to ‘potential’ native converts- 1760’s

The find of peyote wasn’t totally unexpected, the carbon dating was…

The specimens of peyote found at the site dated to between 3780 and 3660 BC making this the earliest evidence of human use of Peyote.  Found on American soil, it can be said this is the first vision of America…

Comanche Native’s peyote ceremony – Great Plains, date unknown (pre1900)

“Close to the musician was seated the leader of the singing, whose business it was to mark time. Each had his assistants to take his place when he should become fatigued. Nearby was place a tray filled with Peyote, which is a diabolical root that is ground up and drunk by them so that they may not become weakened by the exhausting effects of so long a function, which they begin by forming as large a circle of men and women as could occupy the space that had been swept off for this purpose. One after the other, they went dancing in a ring or marking time with their feet, keeping in the middle the musician and choir-master whom they invited, and singing in the same unmusical tune that he set them. They would dance all night, from five o’clock in the evening to seven o’clock in the morning, without stopping nor leaving the circle. When the dance was ended, all stood who could hold themselves on their feet; for the majority, from the Peyote and wine which they drank, were unable to utilize their legs.”

-a Spanish missionary in Nayarit recorded a Peyote ritual of the Cora tribe in the seventeenth century

The ceremonies and use of peyote have endured long after Spanish conquerors first demonized the plant for its “satanic trickery”.

The peyote ceremony passed down from long ago was documented in 1930 by The North American Indian, vol. 19.

Although the words to the songs have long changed from heavy Christian indoctrination, little else has since the time of the Aztecs. The ceremony of American vision quests persist nearly the same to this day.

Group of Kiowa Indians during Peyote ceromony in tipi – Great Plains, 1892
 

The North American Indian, vol. 19 – 1930

 

As an illustration of the ritualistic form of the Peyote cult, the following is given. The informant was an Oto of fair education and a preacher in one of the churches on the Oto reservation. The ceremony was initiated on this reservation in 1891 by one of the headmen of the tribe who learned the ritual from the Tonkawa. At the outset, the ceremony was held only four times a year; it is now conducted every week, usually on Saturday night. It is necessary to enter the sweat-lodge by noon, before the ceremony takes place. The customary form of sweat-lodge songs and prayers is followed, that is, the sweat-lodge ceremony is a distinctive one of preparatory purification and is always the same regardless of the rite which follows.

The Peyote lodge is approximately sixteen feet in diameter, with the opening facing the east. The altar is an earthen embankment, six inches high, in the form of a crescent, the horns being approximately four inches apart. At the apex of the crescent altar is placed a selected specimen of dried peyote. The leader’s or teacher’s position is at the rear of the lodge, where, when seated, he faces the east. Just before him is the altar bearing its palladium, the sacred peyote.

At the left of the leader is the position of the incense priest; at his right the position of the drummer. The firekeeper’s station is at the right side of the entrance. Participants sit at the north and south sides of the lodge, and most continue in the ceremony during the entire

 

 

 

night. None but reasons of the utmost importance would cause the leader to excuse them.

The place of the sacred fire is within the crescent altar and near its apex. It is the duty of the firekeeper to keep the fire burning during the entire ceremony. The first act in the rite is the kindling of the altar fire. Following this, the firekeeper announces that all is ready. Then, led by the leader, all march around the lodge in clockwise movement. At the entrance, the leader offers a prayer in which he asks the favor of Wako’da, the supreme power, to look with favor upon those present and to bless the lodge. He then enters, marches to his position, again in a clockwise direction, while others file in to take their places.

Now the leader in prayerlike recital tells the story of peyote. “We are assembled in a sacred lodge for the worship of the Divine Ones; we know that Wako’da created all things, animal and plant. We know that He Himself created Peyote. Believing this, we know that He created it for out use, for our good. We know that we should not look upon Peyote as a medicine, nor worship it as an idol, but rather regard it as a symbol of Wako’da, our Creator. We know the ceremony was given to us by the Divine Ones. We know that our minds, our thoughts, should be upon spiritual things while worshipping in this lodge.”

The leader then takes up the altar peyote, holds it toward the sky, and prays to Wako’da that the symbol be sanctified, the ceremony blessed. Following this, he passes four peyote buttons to each member present, who in turn rises, goes to the crescent which is lined with sage, takes up some of the sage and rubs it over his head, body, and limbs. The purpose of the sage is that of purification, since sage, or the colore of it, symbolizes purity. While this act of purification is in progress, the incense priest burns cedar on the fire, the odor permeating the lodge. Cedar has the function of driving away evil spirits as well as of being symbolic of immortality, and is always burned before prayers are offered.

The members now chew tips of the cedar in order that its pleasant taste will counteract the bitterness of the peyote. Then, at the command of the leader, all eat their allotted portion. After this is finished, the leader once more addresses the members in words of admonition: “Remember the sacred nature of the meeting. Remember that we are worshipping Wako’da as instructed by him.”

The leader, accompanied by the drummer, next chants the four sacred songs, meanwhile holding a staff and a wisp of sage in his left

 

 

 

hand, and, in his right hand, a rattle with which he accompanies the chant.

 

The music of the Peyote songs is similar in all tribes in which the cult is practised. The words are vocables, differing slightly in their diffusion from the original among the Comanche, since they are taught by aural method only. Hence they are sung or pronounced as the singer has received them from his teacher, although song leaders invariably render them according to their own conception of how they should be sung. In this instance the words, or vocables, are taken from the Oto, while the music is from the Cheyenne; hence the seeming inconsistency.

 

Midnight Song

 

 

At the close of the Water song, the leader steps out of the lodge and blows his eagle-bone whistle to the east, the south, the west, and the north to ward off evil spirits. A water-bearer is appointed, or perhaps a chief’s wife or daughter will act in this capacity. The water-jar is placed between the points of the crescent. The incense priest places cedar on the fire for the purification of the water-bearer, who extends his arms above the incense and draws the smoke to his body four times. Then he stretches his arms above the water, praying that Wako’da will bless the water and sanctify it for worship.

With the closing words of the prayer he sprinkles water upon the earth, “Our Mother”. He then passes the vessel to the first man opposite the firekeeper, from whom it passes clockwise around the circle, each participant drinking a large quantity.

When all have finished drinking, the water-bearer walks around the altar, takes up the jar, and carries it outside. Now the leader passes around the circle, handing out the peyote. Each participant takes as many buttons as he desires. There is no limit at this time.