Читать онлайн "Seeing the White Buffalo" - Pickering Robert B. - RuLit

In some cases, seeing Miracle has changed people's lives. Dave remembers a Catholic priest who renounced his priesthood at the gate to the pasture. He wondered how a buffalo could have such a profound effect. Would the priest have renounced his vows anyway? Was he looking for an appropriate place that was spiritual yet not necessarily Christian? Or does Miracle hold some special power that is felt by the people of many religions?

To me, one of the most important parts of this story is the personal journey experienced by each person who sees Miracle. I think of them as the seekers and the believers. The seekers are searching for something, although they may not know exactly what. They may be looking for a sign that will change their lives, an aura, or a communication of some sort from Miracle that signifies her sacredness. They may leave with a feeling of inner peace, or they may leave feeling nothing at all. Some seekers leave disappointed. What they see is not what they are looking for. No longer white, Miracle is now harder to pick out among the other buffalo. If she is not white, they think, then perhaps she is not sacred either. They walk away, still seeking.

The believers are a different matter. For them the changes in Miracle's color validate the story of the White Buffalo Woman and the prophecy it tells. At the end of the story, the White Buffalo Woman changed color four times, from black to brown to red to white. For those who come to the farm believing in the prophecy, this confirms that Miracle is special, that she is truly a sacred being, for she too changed to four colors from white to black to red to yellow. The believers usually stay to pray or to leave offerings.

Although Dave and Val have made the decision not to ask people about the nature of their beliefs, the anthropologist in me wishes that they wouldor that I could. As an anthropologist, I strive to put small events into larger contexts. I try to see patterns and compare different versions of the same story to learn what is at its core. When it comes to spirituality, however, an analytical perspective is difficult to apply. Each person has his or her own view of the world, and scientific logic doesn't always factor in. Perhaps it is as Joseph Campbell says: "Each religion is true, in its own time and context."

I have often thought that places of spiritual power are mirrors in which we see reflections of ourselves. Whether at the cathedral at Chartres, a small church with wood-plank floors in northern Mexico, or the Heiders' farm, we come to look in the mirror to see who is looking back. The attitude the openness that we bring determines whether the mirror is obscured in smoke or the reflection gives us new insight into ourselves and the surrounding world.

I asked Dave where he and Val stood in relation to the believers and the seekers. Has Miracle changed their spiritual views? Dave became quiet for a moment. Clearly, this is something he had thought about. He replied that they are still in the middle, that they have not formed any conclusions. He is often asked if he can feel the power of the calf. He claims that he can't. Dave knows something happens to many of the people who come to see Miracle, but it hasn't happened to him or Val.

Arval Looking Horse, keeper of the sacred buffalo pipe and perhaps the most important spiritual leader among the Lakota, has come to the farm on several occasions. During one of these visits, he and Dave stood at the fence looking at the calf. Dave asked him, "Is that the real thing?" Arval Looking Horse responded with a question of his own: "What do you see?" Dave didn't have an answer.

My reaction is very much the same. Much of what has happened I simply do not understand. I do not know how Floyd Hand could have predicted the things that have come to pass. I do not know how or why so many people, both Indian and non-Indian, are deeply affected by the spiritual significance of the white buffalo. The skeptic in me remembers too many other events that were supposed to bring peace and harmony. I recall the Age of Aquarius and the Harmonic Convergence. At a lecture almost twenty years ago, I heard a Mexican woman say that the discovery of the great Coyolxauhqui Stone, depicting the Aztec goddess of the moon, during subway excavations in Mexico City would usher in a time of enlightenment and brotherhood among all people. If it did, I missed it.

Nevertheless, there are certain patterns and trends that have coincided with the birth of the white buffalo. The buffalo herds are returning to the Great Plains. Social and economic changes are reshaping the region, now redefined as the New West. There is a resurgence of American Indian culture and spirituality. And perhaps on another level, the birth of the white buffalo signifies an awakening of spirituality in all peoples, a collective need to reconnect to the earth and to seek deeper meaning in an increasingly technological world. For some people, Miracle is the cause; for others, she is the effect.

One more time I stand at the Heiders' fence and look across the pasture at Miracle. She has changed much since I first saw her as a small white calf two years ago. The fact that she is no longer white doesn't bother me. I know she is special. I think back to the question Dave Heider asked Arval Looking Horse: "Is that the real thing?" There are many ways of seeing the white buffalo. I know what I see. What you see is up to you.