II
Now Talking God
With your feet I walk.
I walk with your limbs
I carry forth your body
For me your mind thinks
Your voice speaks for me
Beauty is before me
And beauty is behind me
Above and below me hovers the beautiful
I am surrounded by it
I am immersed in it
In my youth I am aware of it
And in old age I shall walk quietly
The beautiful trail.
The mountains, I become part of it . . .
The herbs, the fir tree, I become part of it.
The morning mists, the clouds, the gathering waters,
I become part of it.
The wilderness, the dew drops, the pollen . . .
I become part of it.
May it be delightful my house;
From my head may it be delightful;
To my feet may it be delightful;
Where I lie may it be delightful;
All above me may it be delightful;
All around me may it be delightful.
'Sa'ah naaghéi, Bik'eh hózhó
III
From the base of the east.
From the base of the Pelado Peak.
From the house made of mirage,
From the story made of mirage,
From the doorway of rainbow,
The path out of which is the rainbow,
The rainbow passed out with me,
The rainbow rose up with me.
Through the middle of broad fields,
The rainbow returned with me.
To where my house is visible,
The rainbow returned with me.
To the roof of my house,
The rainbow returned with me.
To the entrance of my house,
The rainbow returned with me.
To just within my house,
The rainbow returned with me.
To my fireside,
The rainbow returned with me.
To the center of my house,
The rainbow returned with me.
At the fore part of my house with the dawn,
The Talking God sits with me.
The House God sits with me.
Pollen Boy sits with me.
Grasshopper Girl sits with me.
In beauty my Mother, for her I return.
Beautifully my fire to me is restored.
Beautifully my possessions are to me restored.
Beautifully my soft goods to me are restored.
Beautifully my hard goods to me are restored.
Beautifully my horses to me are restored.
Beautifully my sheep to me are restored.
Beautifully my old men to me are restored.
Beautifully my old women to me are restored.
Beautifully my young men to me are restored.
Beautifully my women to me are restored.
Beautifully my children to me are restored.
Beautifully my wife to me are restored.
Beautifully my chiefs to me are restored.
Beautifully my country to me are restored.
Beautifully my fields to me are restored.
Beautifully my house to me are restored.
Talking God sits with me.
House God sits with me.
Pollen Boy sits with me.
Grasshopper Girl sits with me.
Beautifully white corn to me is restored.
Beautifully yellow corn to me is restored.
Beautifully blue corn to me is restored.
Beautifully corn of all kinds to me is restored.
In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.
On the trailed marked with pollen may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
With dew about my feet may I walk.
With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
'Sa'ah naaghéi, Bik'eh hózhó
IV
In the house made of dawn,
In the house made of evening twilight,
In the house made of dark cloud,
In the house made of rain and mist, of pollen, of grasshoppers,
Where the dark mist curtains the doorway,
The path to which is on the rainbow,
Where the zig-zag lightning stands high on top,
Where the he-rain stands high on top, Oh, Father God!
With your moccasins of dark cloud, come to us,
With your mind enveloped in dark cloud, come to us,
With the dark thunder above you, come to us soaring,
With the shapen cloud at your feet, come to us soaring.
With the far darkness made of the dark cloud over your head, come to us soaring,
With the far darkness made of the rain and the mist over your head, come to us soaring,
With the far darkness made of the rain and the mist over your head, come to us soaring.
With the zig-zag lightning flung out high over your head,
With the rainbow hanging high over your head, come to us soaring.
With the far darkness made of the dark cloud on the ends of your wings,
With the far darkness made of the rain and the mist on the ends of your wings, come to us
soaring,
With the zig-zag lightning, with the rainbow hanging high on the ends of your wings, come to us
soaring.
With the near darkness made of dark cloud of the rain and the mist, come to us,
With the darkness on the earth, come to us.
With these I wish the foam floating on the flowing water over the roots of the great corn,
I have made your sacrifice,
I have prepared a smoke for you,
My feet restore for me.
My limbs restore, my body restore,
my mind restore,
my voice restore for me.
Today, take out your spell for me,
Today, take away your spell for me.
Away from me you have taken it,
Far off from me it is taken,
Far off you have done it.
Happily I recover,
Happily I become cool,
My eyes regain their power,
my head cools,
my limbs regain their strength,
I hear again.
Happily for me the spell is taken off,
Happily I walk; impervious to pain,
I walk; light within, I walk; joyous,
I walk.
Abundant dark clouds I desire,
An abundance of vegetation I desire,
An abundance of pollen, abundant dew, I desire.
Happily may fair white corn, to the ends of the earth, come with you,
Happily may fair yellow corn, fair blue corn, fair corn of all kinds,
plants of all kinds, goods of all kinds, jewels of all kinds, to the ends of
the earth, come with you.
With these before you, happily may they come with you,
With these behind, below, above, around you, happily may they come with you,
Thus you accomplish your tasks.
Happily the old men will regard you,
Happily the old women will regard you,
The young men and the young women will regard you,
The children will regard you,
The chiefs will regard you,
Happily, as they scatter in different directions, they will regard you,
Happily, as they approach their homes, they will regard you.
May their roads home be on the trail of peace,
Happily may they all return,
In beauty I walk.
With beauty before me, I walk.
With beauty behind me, I walk.
With beauty above and about me, I walk.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
'Sa'ah naaghéi, Bik'eh hózhó
@unkp. Thank you for this beautiful tribute! I want to read it again and again.
@unkp Is there a translation for
'Sa'ah naaghéi, Bik'eh hózhó?
Reading the prayer feels like a powerful reconnection with the earth. I love "with your moccasins of dark cloud, Come to us soaring."
I'm never going to see dark clouds the same again.
@jeanne-mayell Googul Translate doesn't do any Native American languages, so i will have to keep searching for a translation. I first heard this poem on Radio Pacifica's People of Earth program, and i had to stop the car so that i could really listen! I am so happy that you liked it. I was thinking of you, and the work you have done to make Indigenous Peoples day a reality, when i heard Joe Biden announce it. Thank You!
@lovendures glad that you enjoyed it also. You bring so much beauty to this forum every day! ps- Love that avatar!
here is a recording of the (shorter version) Navajo Night Chant, if you would like to hear it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GAGBno5jec
@unk-p This is so beautiful! And powerful. It reminded me of long chants/poetic readings that we would do in the Byzantine rite during Easter weekend. Not exact in content, but the power of repetition.
I also was puzzled by the Navajo line at the end and tried to find some reference for translation. I found a Navajo to English dictionary here, but only found some possible words...thought I would share here in case someone wanted to dig further:
The phrase from the chant: 'Sa'ah naaghéi, Bik'eh hózhó?
https://digscholarship.unco.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=navajo
naaghiogi, wherever he is.
naghhi, that one.
bik'eh, according to it, him; in accord with
it, him.
hozho, very; extremely; well; very much.
"Doo hozho yalti da." He does not talk
much; he does not talk well.
hozho, bit, he is happy.
I can see how you find a connection with this Navajo prayer and Byzantine Rite chat which is very close to Eastern Orthodox Church chant. Every word has purpose, each sentence poetic, each stanza great spiritual beauty. So much layering. I am very familiar with Greek Orthodox chant.
The newest song by Dimash Kudaibergen. It's in English, but also has subtitles in case you can't get through his accent. ;-) I love the lyrics on this one, and of course...it's Dimash. ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFsB5HVnmSA
On my way out to my car, I'll often grab a CD off the shelf randomly on the theory that whatever I need to hear that day, I'll be guided to pick. Just after Thanksgiving I randomly selected Michael Hedges' "Torched", which I hadn't listened to in several years. I was reminded of how profound it is, and then I realized that it was nearly the anniversary of Hedges' untimely death on December 2, 1997. "Torched" was released posthumously. To Hedges, the word "Torched" represented a a state of heightened spritual awareness, or being "on fire" with creative life energy.
I've been feeling drawn to share the title song with you. Here 'tis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q28Zx3wfYZY
PS, the entire album is brilliant, and the man played all the instruments himself.
I wanted to pass this along too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZimv-KYr8M
This is one guy, with one guitar (featuring a smoking incense stick in the headstock...)
@ana, Thank you for sharing "Torched" with us. I really needed to hear it tonight. It is a fabulous song, lyrics and music. The harmonies sound a bit like Crosby Stills & Nash.
Also really enjoyed "Aerial Boundaries," and I listened as well to "All Along the Watchtower." What a phenomenal talent.
My husband recently asked me about stocking stuffers for the holidays. I can now tell him, a Michael Hedges’ CD!
Recently I had a message from a lovely woman who has passed. She told me that the sun will rise again. Then she sent me the song from Annie, The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow. This song is meaningful to me personally in several different ways.
I have been singing this song lately and it is uplifting to me. It helps remind me that things can change and one day I will wake up to more hopeful happenings in my own life, in my country, and in our world.
I am grateful for the psychic ability I possess that allowed me to receive this message. Even now as I write this, I feel this woman's love shining down on me and comforting me.
@ana I really needed something good tonight to help me feel in a flow. I had never heard Michael Hedges before you linked to him playing. So beautiful. Just so beautiful. Thank you. I will also ask for a Michael Hedges CD.
Jimmie Spheeris' "Isle of View" has gotten me through many rocky times. And lovely times, as well.
@billy-mike, I was in college in the early 70's. How could I have not heard Spheeris' music? It's fabulous! Thank you for sharing. Another stocking stuffer gift!
Just wanted to add: I grew up on vinyl records, and the one thing I really miss was the outstanding album cover art.
@deetoo Harder to find, but on YouTube, is another overlooked artist I love from the same time, Rita Jean Bodine. Andrew Gold was well-known, but now sort of obscure, as is Kate Taylor; two fine singers.
I have just discovered the Scottish band The Chvrches for the first time. I often forget how talented and diverse the musicians are from all around the UK.
It's great when bands are in their growing phase before they become really big because you have opportunities to see them up close performing in pubs and clubs - which I believe is also what Bono's son is doing with his band now called Inhaler - which is how U2 used to perform when they were less known in the early 80s.
Here's a song from Inhaler for those who are curious:
Sorry but this made me laugh.
(Contains naughty words)
https://twitter.com/obbsie/status/1465987568609239042?s=20