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Ted Silverhand the Seer (Sight beyond Sight)
In this free E-Book, Tuscarora (6 Nations) seer Ted Silverhand shares his wisdom and memories from the Red Road. Ted has worked side-by-side with Rolling Thunder, Mad Bear Anderson, Twylah Nitsch, William Commanda, Sara Smith, Dennis Banks, Beeman Logan, Dan George, Semu Huaute and many others. Essential teachings on Native American Spirituality are archived in this free E-Book, preserved for posterity. Aho!
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PROPHECY KEEPERS: White Roots of Peace Council
THE COUNCIL
The “White Roots of Peace Council”, a different entity from the touring White Roots of Peace collective founded by Ernest Benedict & Tom Porter, was created by Mad Bear sometime in the 1960’s. The Council was set up to have meetings once a year in the 4 different areas of the continent. It is not a highly structured organization.
Will “Blueotter” Anderson (Cherokee) was designated by the Original Keetoowah Society's John "Red Hat" Duke as Council Speaker for the White Roots of Peace Council in 2000. Blueotter considers anyone who is interested in promoting Native prophecy as a member of it.
“Red Hat asked me to spearhead an effort to revive it until someone more senior appeared. I consider Mike Bastine and many others to be more senior. The verbiage White Roots of Peace ‘Council’ is my invention and an attempt to add some structure to it in the Internet era.”
The White Roots of Peace Council and similar Peace Councils were long prophesied by the Hopi to occur once the "House of Mica" was built. All the original White Roots of Peace Council elders have "walked West” (deceased), all forewarning before their deaths that the Purification Day of The Hopi Prophecy would closely follow their "walk West." Only a few well-mentored sons & daughters remain to speak in their behalf.
The mission of The White Roots of Peace Council is to fulfill the wishes of Hopi, Cherokee and Iroquois "White Roots of Peace" gatherings elders in sending their prophetic messages around the world. The council intends to establish peace through the worldwide realization of our ancient common global "relatedness”.
WILL “BLUEOTTER” ANDERSON
In 1985, Mad Bear appeared to Blueotter in a dream suggesting that he follow up on his Cherokee genealogy. This later led Blueotter to Zula Brinkerhoff, adopted daughter of David Monongye, Keeper of the Hopi Prophecy, who then introduced him to John "Rolling Thunder" Pope.
RADIO SHOW
Will “Blueotter” Anderson assisted John “Red Hat” Duke in framing the council's charitable arm, "Prophecykeepers Foundation". This foundation and the Prophecy Keepers radio show, on BlogTalkRadio.com, are both a ministry of the Oklevueha Native American Church of The White Roots of Peace, a 501(c) public foundation.
Blueotter hosts Prophecy Keepers radio, along with his co-host, “Mark the Badger”. Since 2004, Blueotter has interviewed over 250 Native American elders & Prophecy Keepers, including Russell Means (Oglala Lakota), Stanley Krippner, Ed “Eagleman” McGaa (Oglala Lakota), Chief Golden Light Eagle (Ihunktowan Dakota) Clifford Mahooty (Zuni), Hunbatz Men (Mayan) Grandmother Barbara Morning Star (Oglala Lakota) and Carl Calleman.
EARTH MOTHER CRYING
Mad Bear intended to write a book comparing prophecies from all over the world. His busy & never ending Spiritual Activism prevented him from writing his intended “Earth Mother Crying” book. Fortunately, Blueotter picked up the mantle by doing the necessary comparative research and writing an E-Book in 2003, using the same name.
Blueotter actually collected many cross-cultural prophecies for his newsletter in 1996. This was two years prior to learning about Mad Bear’s intention to write “Earth Mother Crying”.
Blueotter’s E-Book is an encyclopedia of Native people’s prophecies of Earth Changes that precede the coming age of “Universal Peace”. It compares biblical & indigenous prophecy worldwide and teaches us how to prepare for the coming “Purification”.
Other E-Books have been written by Blueotter to assist our preparation efforts and support the mission of the White Roots of Peace Council.
[Post by Mackboogaloo]
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Becoming an apprentice… learning traditional medicine
“I have consistently found that it is very important to listen, observe quietly and refrain from questions. Native people are very keen observers. They do not barrage their teachers and elders with questions. Instead, they watch and listen. It is a cultural learning modality born of experience and one worth noting.”
With all the years that Michael Bastine spent with Mad Bear (Medicine Man), he never once heard him say what anyone should or shouldn’t do. Mad Bear would give caution at times, but he respected free will. Mad Bear never tried to portray himself as an authority figure.
Due to this mutually respectful relationship, Michael and Mad Bear’s other apprentices had the opportunity to learn traditional medicine ways in an environment that was sacred and built on trust.
OBSERVATION
As Mad Bear allowed his apprentice Michael Bastine to observe his life and see with his own eyes what he was doing, Mad Bear really didn’t give a lot of answers. Michael learned by making the connections on his own. This is how he received the answers to his many questions. This is the only real way of learning the traditional way.When you make the connections on your own, you discover things by yourself, it is a lasting achievement. This is how Michael Bastine began to understand the inner workings and all the elements that were a part of Mad Bear’s medicine work. Mad Bear blended these elements and they all began working in unison. His medicine work was like an orchestra; so diverse and on so many levels.
Michael defines “medicine” as being the life force that exists in creation and the life force that exists in the person. The interwoven relationship between these two life forces develops over time. This is why the title of a “medicine man” is usually not given until the practitioner reaches the age of 70 years old. Even then, the practitioner will usually not refer to himself as being a “medicine man”.
Traditionally a student of native medicine does not make verbal requests to learn specific things; instead the teacher intuitively picks up on the requests, and when the time is right, and if deserving, the student is shown and his learning advances. This requires patience on the part of the student, genuine humbleness and reverence for all things sacred.
LEARNING TAKES TIME
It took a number of years for Michael Bastine to gain the trust of Mad Bear. He had to demonstrate to Mad Bear that he was trust worthy and his ego was in check. It was very important to Mad Bear that Michael would make use of his medicine teaching in the highest and most respectful way.
It also took years for Michael to absorb & process the information he picked up from Mad Bear along the way. Mad Bear was always on the run. Michael would often leave town with Mad Bear at a moment’s notice.
Michael learned from his apprenticeship with Mad Bear that taking in too much information too soon can overwhelm and impede our progress. He said that learning is a gradual process; we have to grow with it.
NATIVE AMERICAN TEACHINGS RUN PARALLEL
Michael Bastine is Algonquin. He was raised a Christian. His conversion towards Native American Spirituality was primarily influenced by Mad Bear and the Haudenosaunee people. Michael had a chance in 1990 to speak with William Commanda, a respected Algonquin Elder, spiritual leader and Band Chief of the Kitigan-zibi Anishinabeg First Nation in Quebec (near Maniwaki) about this possible contradiction.
William Commanda assured Michael, “You are learning things which are very similar to the teachings and the traditions of the Algonquin. There are a few differences, but that’s what they are ‘differences’. They still have the same understanding and the same premise of approach that parallels with all the Native American teachings.”
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Psychic Self-Defense
SELF PROTECTION
Psychic Self-Defense is a necessary part of taking care of one’s self. It does not have to be scary or creepy. It is a positive act of self responsibility. The more one becomes Conscious and open to greater levels of understanding, the more light they will shine on areas of darkness that were previously in the shadows. The negative elements that exist in Creation do not like to be exposed and will try, karma permitting, to harm those bearers of light that get in their way.
In this 3rd dimensional world, we live in a state of duality (Yin & Yang). We all hold elements of both the light and the dark, within our eternal beingness. We also have the ability to choose our own thoughts and we have been given free will by the Creator.
At times, we all have moments of vulnerability & weakness when our shields our down. That is OK! The important thing is to work on becoming better human beings, learn from our mistakes, bounce back and surround ourselves with good people, friends and family. This goes a long way towards combating the negative and avoiding physic attacks. We have the power if we have trust in ourselves and in the Great Spirit.
Medicine Men especially fall victim to psychic attacks if they are not careful or if their ego gets in their way. Men like Mad Bear & Rolling Thunder especially had their share of close calls, as a result of how far they were able to push the envelope, delve deep into the psychic realm and expose the dark forces of opposition.
Though experience, Medicine Men have learned how to deal with psychic attacks. Sometimes, they simply step out of the way.
PARADIGM & BELIEFS
Psychic attacks can happen to anyone; however, the appearance of witchcraft & dark magic are curiously mostly limited to regions of the country where the paradigm & belief system of “witchcraft” & “dark magic” exist, like in the Haudenosaunee territory or in the American Southwest.
According to Ed Mcgaa (Oglala Lakota), “You go into the Southwest. Those tribes down there have had more than 400 years of contact with the Spanish church. They have even picked up skin-walkers, a variety of Navajo witch, and evil spirits. We, the Sioux people, don’t have a devil and don’t have evil spirits. Our concept of the Creator is that the Creator doesn’t make such a thing (as evil spirits). We have never seen a devil. I don’t care if the White Man believes in it. That doesn’t mean that I have to believe in it. I believe in what I see.”
Ed continues, “Have I seen the Creator? I have never seen the Creator directly. I don’t expect to, but I see every day what the Creator makes. I can pick up a bouquet of flowers and know that the Creator is very kind & artistic. Bees come and sniff the honey and birds sing. Those are all beautiful expressions of the Creator. So the Great Spirit gave me my life. Why should I fear it? I don’t fear the Creator. I don’t fear evil spirits and yet, we (the Sioux) have contact deep within the spirit world.”
LIVER IN THE TREE CURSE
Mad Bear’s efforts towards establishing inter-tribal unity consciousness were not limited to unifying the Red Men. He sought the unity of all people and all races. Not all of his native brethren were in agreement with Mad Bear’s pursuits. As mentioned earlier, the influence of the B.I.A. controlled tribal system caused reprehensible damage to Native American Spirituality, introducing the concept of race (skin color) into matters of the heart. Some native practitioners of medicine used their powers in negative ways to counter Mad Bear’s activities.
Mad Bear lived in a couple of different houses on the Tuscarora Reservation, where he practiced his medicine. His people would refer to his homes as “Fort Knox” because of the fortified reinforcements he built to secure the walls and points of entry. It was presumed that his houses were protected by medicine as well, not to mention, 2 False Faces were on guard.
Mad Bear took special ceremonial care for his place, in particular, the doorway and other small pathways where air could travel, like the keyhole and the bottom of window sills. This was to avoid spells, curses or supernatural influences directed against him.
Around 1978, when Michael Bastine was first getting to know Mad Bear, he heard an odd story from one of their mutual friends.
Outside of Mad Bear’s house at twilight, this mutual friend and Mad Bear looked up at tree in the yard and noticed an odd & terrifying organism hanging off of a tree branch. It looked like an internal organ, like a liver, and it was making a sound like it was trying to speak, even though it didn’t have a mouth.
Mad Bear said, “Uh-oh.. I know right away what I got to do.” Mad Bear quickly went back into his house and conducted a private ritual for 30 minutes, while the mutual friend stayed outside.
Mad Bear then came back outside and approached the tree. He talked to the liver-looking organism in Tuscarora. Words in a ghastly, hissing voice came back to Mad Bear from somewhere in the same language. When Mad Bear was finished with his inquisition, he dismissed the liver-looking organism with a backhanded, open-palmed gesture, like a karate slash. Mad Bear commanded, “Get out of here and go back to who sent you.”
The liver-looking organism began to float upward and a breeze caught it, sending it out towards and over a nearby hill.
Not long after that incident, maybe a week later or so, reports came back from Canada that a Mohawk was accusing Mad Bear of “witching him” due to a series of accidents & illnesses that were occurring to him and his family. They started to call & write to Mad Bear, pestering him to take his “medicine” off of them, even bribing him with money. Mad Bear replied back, “I can’t do anything about this. It’s what you sent me. I just turned it around. When you start things, you better be able to stop them.”
MICHAEL’S SPOOKY OVERNIGHT AT MAD BEAR’S HOUSE
Toward the beginning of Michael Bastine’s apprenticeship with Mad Bear, he and a few other of Mad Bear assistants were invited to stay overnight at Mad Bear’s house on the Tuscarora Reservation, in Lewiston, NY. All that Mad Bear had told them ahead of time was that he needed their help with a certain ceremony.
The assistants arrived at sunset. Mad Bear had coverings over the windows so no light would seep through. He told them, “If any of you have any plans before tomorrow morning, you better let me know right now. Once we’re in for the night, we are in.” Everyone agreed to the arrangement. Mad Bear then covered the front door keyhole & corners with duct tape.
At 9PM, Mad Bear served tea to everyone out of a teapot. In the cup it looked no different than the herbal brews one could get from a local health food shop. It looked & tasted a bit like green tea, but it didn't have any traces of leaf in it. It was probably made out of some fungus or mushroom, Michael figured.
Mad Bear said, “A couple of the elders have been having some trouble; medicine trouble of some sort. It’s real bad for some of them. Usually these folks can figure out what’s going on, but this situation’s different. I’ve been asked to take a look into it. It started right after that (U.N.) conference some of us went to in New York City, and I can’t help thinking there might be some connection.”
The conference Mad Bear referred to was the Fifth Spiritual Summit, an event commemorating world religious traditions sponsored by the United Nations in 1975. It had a special focus on the indigenous, the “Third World” and wisdom teachings that the elders could bestow upon the world’s political leaders. In attendance were representatives of many world traditions, including Mad Bear and a contingent of Native American elders from all over North America, like David Monongye (Hopi), Beeman Logan, Rolling Thunder, John Fire Lame Deer, Leonard Crow Dog, etc.
Mad Bear was not to sure that world’s politicians would give credence to the messages of the native Traditional Elders, but he thought it was a good thing that the U. N. made the gesture; and the conference with such an elevated title was outwardly a success. But Mad Bear explained that behind the scenes, there were some people in attendance who did not have the best intentions in mind.
A suspiciously short time after attending the spiritual summit, some of the western Native American elders started to suffer both physical & psychic difficulties. Most of them were decades older than Mad Bear, then in his forties. The fact that they could neither defuse this assault nor identify the source was not only troublesome, it was curious. While physically frail, these were some of the most illustrious elders in North America. Not all of them, though, were specialists in taking defensive measures to deal with psychic attacks (black magic).
Mad Bear continued his discussion with his assistants. “I just need a little help with this ceremony, which is why I got you guys along. I need to see what happens when we all take this potion and spend the night here. It helps me figure stuff out.” Michael never observed Mad Bear actually drinking the tea himself. Mad Bear just served the tea and watched. “Now we can all go to sleep, or talk, or anything we want,” said Mad Bear. “But we can’t go outside. Don’t even try to go out, not till the sun is up.”
Mad Bear then cautioned, “You might hear some things tonight that will scare you. You might hear some things that will try to get you to do something. Either way, it’s only going to be an illusion. Whatever you hear, don’t try to go outside. Don’t look out of the windows. If you hear a voice, even if it’s someone you love, even someone who’s dead, don’t even answer it. It’s only a test, but this is real serious. Don’t say one word back to it, no matter what you hear. Even if it gets really bad, just stay calm, and try to go back to sleep. Responding to it will make it get a lot worse. You don’t know how much worse.”
Michael Bastine didn’t notice any effect at all from the tea. It did make everyone tired though, so he and the other assistants went to bed early. They all woke up, several times in the night. Mad Bear stayed up and was awake all night, just watching & listening.
“That was the weirdest night I ever spent,” said Michael. “I heard pounding on the walls & windows. It sounded like there was a family picnic out there. I heard people I knew outside talking. Sometimes they were asking me things. A couple of times I heard something (footsteps) running across the roof. But when I’d describe it, other people (in the room) didn’t always hear the exact same thing. I’d hear horses’ hooves and they’d hear pounding. I’d hear somebody singing and one of them would think it was a lost cat.”
“But I don’t think that was the worst of it. It freaked out the other guys a lot worse than it did me. One guy was sure he heard his brother outside in the yard, and there was no way he could have gotten there that night. The other guy heard dead people in his family calling him. He thought his grandmother was talking to him just on the other side of a window, and she’d been dead for years. But it was real hard for them to sit still, as scared as they were. Everything was trying to get them to open up a door or window and go out or look out.”
“Every time I looked over at him, Mad Bear was up, listening to everything. A couple of times somebody tried to make a move, and he was always there to remind us to stay still. I don’t think he drank any of the tea. I don’t remember seeing him do it.”
“That was the weirdest night I ever spent. Anywhere! But I stayed with Mad Bear and the medicine ways. I figured it couldn’t get any worse than that. But the other guys sort of dropped out. You just didn’t see them over at Mad Bear’s anymore.”
“You know, that was Mad Bear,” Michael said in retrospect. “When he was doing something really extreme like that, he always liked to have people around. Even if the people he had with him didn’t know medicine, it helped him. It was like their energy could be combined with his and it made him a lot more powerful.”
Michael concluded, “It turns out that Mad Bear actually did figure out who was behind the situation that was affecting the elders who had attended that conference, and he also knew why they were at it. It surprised everybody when he finally told us the name of the person, though I don’t think he was that surprised. It turns out that the source of the bad medicine was this black lady who had appeared at the U. N. conference herself.”
“This lady had worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. before his death. She held a government job at the time of the conference, and she might have had some familiarity with the African American medicine traditions. Or else, she recruited somebody else who did know them. Nobody knew about that side of her, and I know Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. wouldn't have gone for that if he was alive. I think once they identified the source Mad Bear got it turned around. But for a while it was a real serious situation."
Years later, Michael met with his friend Ted Williams (Tuscarora) and happened to discuss the particular herb that Mad Bear put into his tea for the overnight sleepover. Ted recognized the herb from the way Michael described it. It was a plant herb, typically associated with witchcraft. Medicine men will rarely use it, but they have respect for this herb and keep an eye on it.
Mad Bear brilliantly & carefully used this herb to bring out into the open and identify the U.N. lady who was using her witchcraft to mess with the Traditional Elders. For Mad Bear’s protection, he brought in a support team of assistants. Their collective energy formed a defensive shield that allowed the source of the witchcraft to be identified, without harm being done to Mad Bear and his overnight guests.
STOLEN MEDICINE BAG
Mad Bear always carried with him a medicine bag, which he used for healing, divination, medicine and psychic protection. He had a total of 3 medicine bags. Each one had a specific purpose, depending on what kind of trip or assignment Mad Bear was undertaking.
At the 5th Spiritual Summit in New York City in 1975, a conference of world religious traditions, sponsored by the United Nations, Mad Bear’s medicine bag (case) was stolen. He had a young Native American assistant watch over it, who had suddenly fell sick due to a physic attack, and he was magically bamboozled as to how the medicine bag left his protection. Mad Bear doctored him up then left to go find the culprit.
Mad Bear was later seen with his medicine bag back in his hand. He said he had to use some medicine to find it. No other explanation was given.
TINY MEDICINE SACK TO BE WORN AT ALL TIMES
Mad Bear always wore a tiny sack (medicine bag) on a cord around his neck, sometime hanging outside of his shirt, other times on the inside. This was his immediate line of personal defense. He never let anyone else touch this sack and he never took it off in public. The one time he did, was when he was washing up, splashing water on his face after doing a lot of work around the house. He then sat down on a picnic bench to eat a sandwich, forgetting to put his medicine sack back on around his neck, and then suddenly he was bit by a strange-looking insect.
Mad Bear was admitted to the hospital with a high fever, kidney failure and other serious complications. He was seriously weakened for a while after he returned home. It turns out that the ant that bit him was a particular ant that can kill cattle with its bite. This type of ant has never been seen up north before. Someone with malice towards Mad Bear must have transplanted that ant onto his property in hopes that the ant would attack and kill him.
EXPLODING MEDICINE SACK & NECKLACE
Previous to the ant bite, Mad Bear gifted Joel Friedman, from Wisconsin, a medicine sack (bag) to be worn around his neck. During the time of the ant bite attack, Joel’s medicine sack exploded into pieces. Joel immediately wondered if Mad Bear was in trouble. While Mad Bear was out of reach, due to his hospitalization, Joel sought out a psychic to get a better understanding of why his medicine sack blew apart. The psychic told him, “There must have been an urgent need. The man (Mad Bear) called upon all possible available resources (for healing), and this force was torn free and drawn back.” Thus, the medicine sack exploded.
Not long after Mad Bear recovered from his ant bite a Cross-Cultural Conference was being organized to unite spiritual leaders from all the 4 directions. A gifted healer by the name of Ethel Lombardi was invited by Doug Boyd to attend and she volunteered to do a special healing for Mad Bear, while at the gathering.
During the Cross-Cultural Conference in September of 1978, Mad Bear’s assistant, Marty, fell victim to a psychic attack. Forces opposed to inter-tribal unity conscious were targeting the Traditional Elders. Their spiritual power was too strong, so the psychic attack fell upon the weakest link, who happened to be Mad Bear’s assistant, Marty. Michael Bastine was Mad Bear’s driver during this time. His apprenticeship with his mentor, Mad Bear, was just beginning.
Ethel Lombardi decided to skip the Cross-Cultural Conference, sensing that Mad Bear was going to face a challenge there and it would be better for her to do her healing from a distance. While the conference was underway, she began her healing session, directing her attention on Mad Bear. Immediately, her squash-blossom necklace blew apart. Again, Mad Bear must have called upon “all possible available resources” to assist his medicine work and this force torn free Ethel’s necklace in an attempt to draw the medicine from the necklace back to the conference where he was working on finding a solution to the psychic interference.
ATTACKS ON MAD BEAR NEUTRALIZED
Over the years, Mad Bear gotten himself a reputation as somebody no one should mess with. It was as if a sense of fate or karma worked on those who tried to attack him.
An assassination attempt was made on his life, back on the Tuscarora reservation. Bullets were shot at his house by a drive-by gunman. Mad Bear’s house was fortified not only for physic attacks but also physical encroachments as well. Mad Bear wasn’t hit, but the gunman drove into a ditch nearby and was badly hurt in the process.
Mad Bear’s style of personal defense was advanced, very Zen-like. He seemed to defuse aggression. He doesn’t put out any aggression towards anyone, so he doesn’t receive it back, in most cases. Once, however, he was in council and an enraged Native American came at Mad Bear with knife. It was drawn so fast and the attacker was charging so fast, no one else could intercede. Mad Bear opened his arms wide as if welcoming a long-lost friend. The would-be-assassin walked right into Mad Bear’s warm & loving embrace. The knife’s edge slapped absently along Mad Bear’s back and the attacker returned to his seat, blinking & dumbfounded.
Mad Bear told his friends, out the side of his mouth, “Don’t try that on your own. It took me years to work that one out.”
TEAMWORK TO COMBAT ATTACKS BY AN UNSEEN ENEMY
In late March of 1972, Rolling Thunder left the Grateful Dead’s ranch house in Novato and walked into the woods. He was weak and his hair begun to gray rapidly. During the past several weeks, he was too busy to defend himself against the efforts that were being made to destroy him. He was hoping to remain aloof from the destructive unseen force that was on his trail. R.T. passed out.
The forces opposed to inter-tribal unity consciousness, in this case, a small Indian faction, not more than few individuals, were out to sabotage the efforts of a group of inter-tribal Traditional Elders, including Rolling Thunder & Semu Huaute (Chumash), to establish a foundation to preserve the traditional culture & teachings of Native Americans. The Grateful Dead threw a benefit concert on March 5th at the Winterland Ballroom, in San Francisco, to donate funds to the foundation.
The money raised ended up going into the wrong hands, into the possession of the saboteurs. It was an inside job by an Indian chairperson and her lawyer of the newly created inter-tribal traditional foundation. This faction began calling Rolling Thunder at Grateful Dead’s office threatening to burn the place down and warned that R.T.’s life was in danger. They also threatened to burn down Grateful Dead’s office.
Rolling Thunder began to feel that the opposition had a “sorcerer” amongst their midst and they were using black magic to weaken & disorganize him and others in his circle. Things progressively got worse and R.T. ended up unconscious in the woods. A dog from the ranch house fortunately bit into Rolling Thunder’s fan and delivered it over to Spotted Fawn, his wife. R.T. was found.
It didn’t take long after Rolling Thunder recovered from the psychic attack, for him to call in reinforcement. Mad Bear to the rescue!
Mad Bear drove up with Semu Huaute from Los Angeles to Rolling Thunder’s aide in Berkeley. Richard Oakes arrived separately. R.T. ended up having a full house of medicine people from many tribes. The moon phase was not right for the first night to perform ceremony. Mad Bear suggested that a morning sunrise ritual would be more appropriate.
The sunrise ceremony was performed and a non-acceptance of bad medicine was its focus. There was no need to conjure up a counterforce, or to destroy the sorcerer or his powers. The evil would return from where it came.
Mad Bear suggested that they take the ashes from the fireplace where the sunrise ceremony took place and bring them into the courtroom where the money for the foundation would be contested. Mad Bear strategized with the group on how to place the ashes from the ceremonial fire under the seat of the chairperson who stole the foundation’s money. She and her lawyer will both be attending the trial.
The hearing took place at the Alameda County courthouse. Mad Bear sat besides the chairwomen and smiled at her so dramatically that it became necessary for her to smile in return. He held his hand out and introduced himself to her, even though they already knew each other. Mad Bear warmly shook her hand, even though she was not entirely receptive.
Mad Bear, after greeting the chairwoman, then pushed his chair back against the wall and sat with his arms folded upon his large stomach, smiling widely at everyone who looked his way. He retained that smile through the entire proceeding. Even when many people were arguing at once and the air became tense. Mad Bear’s expression remained unchanged. He was obviously working his medicine, unbeknownst to the others in the courtroom who were pre-occupied with the course of events.
During the middle of the hearing, 3 young Indians, who were friends with the chairperson, entered the courtroom. One of them was shorter than the other two. Mad Bear fixed his gaze upon the shorter man and he, in response, tried to duck and avoid Mad Bear’s concentrated gaze. The dodging looked like a ridiculous game. Mad Bear suddenly thrust out his hand and pointed. As if mesmerized, the young man came right up to Mad Bear’s finger. Mad Bear shook his hand in a friendly manner. As Mad Bear made contact with the man, this shorter man jerked his hand away from Mad Bear as though his hand had been burned by fire.
This shorter man stared curiously at this hand then retreated back to where his other 2 friends were standing and he nervously kept rubbing his hand on his Levis pants & jacket.
This young man was actually a “sorcerer” who had come to make medicine against Rolling Thunder. But Mad Bear with his beaming face and laser ray gaze had caught him, stopping the sorcerer in his tracks.
Mad Bear had actually put the ashes from the ceremonial fire into his pocket and wiped his hand over them before shaking the hands of the chairperson and the young sorcerer. The beef these two had with Rolling Thunder was due to his association & sharing of indigenous teachings with Whites. Their bad medicine that was put on Rolling Thunder was now ineffective thanks Mad Bear’s ingenuity and his team of medicine men that came to R.T.’s aid.
The hearing ended that day with the lawyers agreeing that the settlement should be concluded by the lawyers.
Mad Bear later revealed to Doug Boyd that he had previous dealings with the young sorcerer (the shorter man), the aspiring witch doctor, who showed up at the courtroom. They encountered each other on the island of Alcatraz.
During the Indian occupation of Alcatraz, on November 20, 1969, Richard Oakes’ little step-daughter, Yvonne, died from an accident. She fell to the ground from a high stairway. Mad Bear later went to Alcatraz to reconstruct what had happened there, and the meaning behind the circumstances leading up to the little girl’s death.
Mad Bear prepared a ceremony on the island one night and everyone involved in the event was supposed to be at the fireside. That was a part of the ceremony. The entire episode was to be reenacted that night.
As the ceremony proceeded, Mad Bear began to see more of the people involved and their various purposes. Among the protestors were some who had come to Alcatraz to represent different causes, and Richard Oakes was their opponent. His daughter had met a tragic death that had been intended for her father, Richard.
Mad Bear could see the entire episode unravel as though it were happening again, but there was one important character missing at that particular fireside reenactment.
Mad Bear knew he would eventually have to appear, and eventually he did. This character had been in the building at the time of the ceremony, conducting his own ritual upstairs in order to avoid Mad Bear below. His ritual failed and he was defeated. He staggered to the stairway, choking & gasping, and doubled over the railing in pain, begging to be released as he was pulled down the stairs toward the ceremonial fire.
After sharing this Alcatraz story with Doug Boyd, Mad Bear assured Doug that the bad medicine the chairperson and this young sorcerer were throwing towards Rolling Thunder was now finished. Mad Bear said that this was not because he and his medicine people did anything to them. Instead, he said all they did was to ensure that Rolling Thunder would not receive the results of their work, and it naturally went back to them instead. This is the principle of cause & effect at work.
Mad Bear shared, “The purpose of good medicine is to make it simple. There’s no need to create an opposing destructive force; that only makes more negative energy and more results and more problems. If you have a sense of opposition, that is, if you feel contempt for others, you’re in perfect position to receive their contempt.”
“The idea is not to be a receiver. You people have such anger & fear and contempt for your so-called criminals that your crime rate goes up & up. Your society has a high crime rate because it is in a perfect position to receive crime. You should be working with these people, not in opposition to them. The idea is to have contempt for crime, not for people.”
“It’s a mistake to think of any group or person as an opponent, because when you do, that’s what the group or person will become. It’s more useful to think of every other person as another you; to think of every individual as a representation of the universe.”
Mad Bear concluded, “Every person is plugged into the whole works. Nobody is outside it or affects it any less than anyone else. Every person is a model of life, so the true nature of a person is the nature of life. I don’t care how low you fall or how high you climb economically or academically or anything else, you still represent the whole thing. Even the worst criminals in life imprisonment sitting in his cell; the center of him is the same seed, the seed of the whole creation.”
Note: It has now become well documented that the 1960’s Hippie Movement was a socially-engineered operation by the C.I.A. and other secretive agencies for the purpose of conducting psychological warfare, subversion and control over Western Societies. Attempts were made by these agencies to co-opt Native Spirituality.
Mad Bear, Rolling Thunder and other elders, who were involved in inter-tribal unity efforts, were targeted to some degree by subversive agents. Fortunately, these elders, for the most part, were not detoured from their spiritual path, and the prophecies they carried were successfully passed on to the next generation of traditional elders. In addition, many “Hippies” who were introduced to Native Spirituality, took great interest in the Prophecies and helped keep these prophecies alive to this very day.
[Post by Mackboogaloo]
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Recommended books on Native American Spirituality
“You were chosen to be a Medicine man long before you came into this body on this Earth. You have a duty and a responsibility to follow the calling. If not you will hurt your family, your people, and the spiritual function and design of the Universe. Sure, it’s a tough life. Your own Indian people will make fun of you, they will talk bad about you; they will probably even call you a phony or something. But the Great Creator Knows, The Mother Earth knows, your relations in Nature knows, the numerous people from all walks of life you will help, heal and teach will know; and you will know. That is all that really matters. And when things get tough in life you will just have to grin and bear it. That is one of the ways for a true Medicine Man. You take on the suffering, the fear, the hate, the anger, the pain, the confusion, and the sickness of the people. That is why you are different. And you can’t run and hide from it. You were put here on the Earth to do a job for the Great Creator. Like it or not, you’ve got to be strong and just do it.”
Today the image of the Native American medicine man or women is a media icon, often romanticized by Hollywood, with idolized characteristics of being respected, impressive, patient, transcendent & nearly omniscient. This can be the case, but these people are still human and they have flaws like all humans do. Author Doug Boyd, who wrote books on Mad Bear (1994) and his west coast medicine companion, Rolling Thunder (1974), made a life study devoted to long-range investigations of traditional & esoteric ideologies. He knew very well what differentiated the iconic medicine man from the real McCoy.
Doug Boyd (1935-2006) was a close friend to both Mad Bear & Rolling Thunder (R.T.). He traveled all over the world and was a student & friend of adepts & healers of many traditions & cultures. Doug possessed incisive wit and was a master storyteller. He could share personal tales of telepathic experiences & communication, rainmaking & psychic healing from his many years of experience working with and learning from culturally diverse yogis (like Swami Rama), monks, psychic healers, and medicine people. He was a student of some, a mentor to many, and a friend to more.
A good place to start, to grasp the role of a medicine person and the road he or she must travel, is Doug Boyd’s combined books on Mad Bear & Rolling Thunder. These classic biographies paint a definitive picture, in short and in brief. Of course, it would take many books & years of study & sacrifice to learn the intangible secret art behind the medicine craft.
Rolling Thunder’s medicine in many ways was complimentary to Mad Bear’s and they were very close friends & allies to the end. They sometimes traveled together, giving lectures & doctoring others. Mad Bear & R.T. even went to Australia together to speak at a conference.
Rolling Thunder was about 10 years older, so he was a mentor to Mad Bear, although in many ways they were equals on the medicine path.
Rolling Thunder’s grandfather was a traditional Cherokee chief. R.T. early on learned medicine from Amoneeta Sequoyah, the last grandfather herbalist of the Eastern Band of Cherokees.
Later on in Nevada, he learned more medicine from 2 renowned teachers in Nevada, Silver Wolf & Phillip Grey Horse. Even later, he received additional teachings from Frank Fools Crow (Oglala Lakota), Amoneeta Sequoyah (Aminitus Sepuoia) and David Monongye (Hopi). Once Rolling Thunder married Spotted Fawn (Shoshone), his 2nd wife, he began to learn the medicine ways of the Shoshone as well.
Around 1966, Rolling Thunder, Semu Huaute (Chumash), Craig Carpenter (Mohawk) and occasionally, Thomas Banyacya (Hopi) & Mad Bear, in recognition of the Whirling Rainbow Prophecy, reached out to the hippie counterculture emerging in San Francisco & Los Angeles. This also attracted the support of the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and other cultural icons of the late 60’s.
It was Doug Boyd’s book on “Rolling Thunder” and the appeal of his native (Algonquin) Catholic parents that persuaded Michael Bastine, in 1976, to skip out on his attempted conversion to Pentecostalism, and become an apprentice for Mad Bear so he could learn the traditional Indian ways.
There are additional books written on Rolling Thunder’s incredible journey that expand upon Doug’s work and indirectly provide greater insight on the discipline that Mad Bear must have followed in order to obtain the high degree of proficiency that he was able to display with indigenous medicine.
Dr. Stanley Krippner & Sidian Morning Star Jones (R.T.’s grandson) wrote “The Voice of Rolling Thunder”. R.T. himself, along with his last wife, Carmen Sun Rising Pope, wrote, “Rolling Thunder Speaks”. In this book, R.T., in his own words, referred to Mad Bear as being “one of his greater teachers”. This was quite a compliment!
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Learning Indian Medicine from ROLLING THUNDER (Cherokee)
This free E-Book represents a youth's guide (teaching manual) to Native American spirituality via a dialog (interview) between an elder & youth. Based upon interview transcripts & write-ups on the traditional elder... Rolling Thunder (Cherokee)
Now available in print or on Kindle via Amazon.com.
Rolling Thunder aka RT was a Native American Indian medicine man, spiritual leader, philosopher, and acknowledged spokesman and inter-tribal shaman for the Cherokee and Shoshone tribes.
RT served as a consultant to the popular films Billy Jack (1971), and its sequel, Billy Jack II (1972).
RT’s way of life as a powerful healer, teacher, and activist gave him widespread fame following the films. Internationally known, Rolling Thunder's spiritual counsel and tribal skills were sought on a regular basis by many in the entertainment industry. Rolling Thunder was among the first ever to be studied by mainstream institutions and undergo many laboratory tests to determine the authenticity of his shamanic skills.
It had been said that RT’s powers over the elements of nature surpassed any seen in recent times. Reports of Rolling Thunder's ability to "make rain" on a clear day, to heal disease and wounds, to transport or teleport objects through the air, and his telepathic skills were legendary until he agreed to submit himself to testing. His abilities have been investigated and documented by such organizations as the Menninger Foundation.
Rolling Thunder was an advocate for Native American rights, as well as for ecological harmony. RT traveled widely and was in great demand worldwide for his insight and teachings. He himself joked that he had to make it rain and thunder "in order to clean the polluted air" before he spoke in a new city.
Speaking before spiritual, ecological, psychological, and healing gatherings, Rolling Thunder participated in conferences sponsored by the Association for Research and Enlightenment (Edgar Cayce's Foundation), the Menninger Foundation, the East West Academy of the Healing Arts, the Stockholm United Nations Conference on the Environment, the World Conference of Spiritual Leaders of the United Nations, and the World Humanity Conference in Vancouver, B.C., among others.
Often controversial, and regarded even militant at times, Rolling Thunder was known for being outspoken and "telling it like it is." "The Great Spirit guides me to tell people what they need to know, not what they want to know," he often said. Never making claims for his special powers, he reminded those who called him a medicine man, or who spoke of his healing abilities, that "All power belongs to the Great Spirit." Then he would add, "You call him God."
In response to the charges of RT being militant, Rolling Thunder said, "Yes, I'm a militant. So was your great healer they call Jesus Christ."
[Post by Mackboogaloo]
This E-Book documents an extraordinary personal story about a daughter (ShaHaWin Lightfoot) discovering who her real father is…. Rolling Thunder (Cherokee medicine healer, teacher, activist). A true testament to the power of Native American spirituality.
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