PROPHECIES OF THE HOPI INDIANS

Dan Katchongva (1865-1972), Hopi Primary Source: Excerpts, The Hopi Story: Teachings, History, and Prophecies of the Hopi People: as told by Dan Katchongva, Sun Clan. Translated by Danagyumptewa

This talk was recorded on 1/29/70 and was published because Mr. Katchongva hoped that those causing this tragedy could not persist if they had an idea of the purpose behind Hopi resistance to foreign control. Dan agreed to the publication of this booklet on condition that it never be sold, insisting that to sell Hopi teachings would be like selling his own mother. In addition to the prophecies fulfilled during his lifetime, Dan was told by his father that he would live to see the beginning of the final event of this era, the Great Day of Purification. Dan Katchongva died in 1972.

Arrival of Another Race Foretold Time passed on, people passed on, and the prophecies of things to come were passed from mouth to mouth. The stone tablets and the rock writing of the life plan were often reviewed by the elders. Fearfully they waited as they retold the prophecy that one day another race of people would appear in their midst and claim our land as his own. He would try to change our pattern of life. He would have a sweet tongue or a forked tongue and many good things by which we would be tempted. He would use force in an attempt to trap us into using weapons, but we must not fall for this trick, for then we ourselves would be brought to our knees, from which we might not be able to rise. Nor must we ever raise our hand against any nation. We now call these people Bahanna.

The Forces of Purification We have teachings and prophecies informing us that we must be alert for the signs and omens which will come about to give us courage and strength to stand on our beliefs. Blood will flow. Our hair and our clothing will be scattered upon the earth. Nature will speak to us with its mighty breath of wind. There will be earthquakes and floods causing great disasters, changes in the seasons and in the weather, disappearance of wildlife, and famine in different forms. There will be gradual corruption and confusion among the leaders and the people all over the world, and wars will come about like powerful winds. All of this has been planned from the beginning of creation. We will have three people standing behind us, ready to fulfill our prophecies when we get into hopeless difficulties: the Moha Symbol (which refers to a plant that has a long root, milky sap, grows back when cut off, and has a flower shaped like a swastika, symbolizing the four great forces of nature in motion), the Sun Symbol, and the Red Symbol. Bahanna's intrusion into the Hopi way of life will set the Moha symbol in motion, so that the four great forces of nature (the four directions, the controlling forces, the original force) will rock the world into war. When this happens we will know that our prophecies are coming true. We will gather strength and stand firm. This great movement will fall, but because its subsistence is milk, and because it is controlled by the four forces of nature, it will rise again to put the world in motion, creating another war, in which both the Moha and the Sun Symbol will be at work. [My note: apparently referring to the swastika-like Moha (Germany) in conjunction with the Rising Sun (Japan)] Then it will rest in order to rise a third time. Our prophecy foretells that the third event will be the decisive one. Our road plan foretells the outcome. This sacred writing speaks the word of the Great Spirit. It could mean the mysterious life seed with two principles of tomorrow, indicating one, inside of which is two. The third and last, which will it bring forth, purification or destruction?

PROPHECIES OF THE HOPI INDIANS

The third event will depend upon the Red Symbol, which will take command, setting the four forces of nature (Moha) in motion for the benefit of the Sun. When he sets these forces in motion the whole world will shake and turn red and turn against the people who are hindering the Hopi cultural life. To all these people Purification Day will come. Humble people will run to him in search of a new world, and the equality that has been denied them. He will come unmercifully. His people will cover the Earth like red ants. We must not go outside to watch. We must stay in our houses. He will come and gather the wicked people who are hindering the red people who were here first. He will be looking for someone whom he will recognize by his way of life, or by his head (the special Hopi haircut) or by the shape of his village and his dwellings. He is the only one who will purify us. The Purifier, commanded by the Red Symbol, with the help of the Sun and the Moha, will weed out the wicked who have disturbed the way of life of the Hopi, the true way of life on Earth. The wicked will be beheaded and will speak no more. This will be the Purification for all righteous people, the Earth, and all living things on Earth. The ills of the earth will be cured. Mother Earth will bloom again and all people will unite into peace and harmony for a long time to come.

But if this does not materialize, the Hopi traditional identity will vanish due to pressure from Bahanna. Through the white man's influence, his religions, and the disappearance of our sacred land, the Hopi will be doomed. This is the Universal Plan, speaking through the Great Spirit since the dawn of time. The Hopi have been placed on this side of the Earth to take care of the land through their ceremonial duties, just as other races of people have been placed elsewhere around the Earth to take care of her in their own ways. Together, we hold the world in balance, revolving properly. If the Hopi nation vanishes, the motion of the Earth will become eccentric, the water will swallow the land, and the people will perish. Only a brother and a sister may be left to start a new life.

PROPHECIES OF THE HOPI INDIANS The Prophecy Rock.

The Hopi Indians have a prophetic tradition dating back thousands of years. One of their crucial prophecies was carved on a rock cliff in the Black Mesa of Arizona, some 2000 years ago. This petroglyph (as described by Sun Bear and others) depicts the great spirit pointing to two divergent historical paths across the era of our world (the fourth world).

[The above drawing is an interpretation of the carving on Prophecy Rock. Both the drawing and the explanation below come from Thomas Banyacya, Hopi Elder. There are other interpretations; most are similar to this one.]

Our Hopi history tells us that at the time of emergence we met the spirit who owns this world. He met us, and we asked him to be our leader. He refused, saying that we had our own mission to fulfill before he would consider becoming our leader. He set this life out for us. He gave us instructions. This is symbolized by his figure holding the line. Now the circle at the bottom of the drawing symbolizes the physical world and creation. We went forth into our journeys. We reached a certain point in time, who knows, maybe a thousand years. There we were met by Massau’u again. Here he gave us more instructions. To the Hopis he gave a path of life to follow. This is shown by the straight line that goes across. To the white brother he gave different instructions. The white brother went up, and the Hopis went another direction.

Now at this second meeting with Massau’u, he told us that within the life of this current world, there would be three phases of life where the whole world would be shaken up. Three nations would rise up and shake the world. This we interpret to mean world wars. Now up at the left side we see a symbol. This is what is painted on the Hopi ceremonial rattles that are given to children. The rattle symbolizes the world. The painting on the rattle shows the symbols of the countries that would shake the world three times. I think that the swastika in the middle symbolizes the German people, who had that for a symbol. They brought the United States into the First and Second World Wars. The sun symbol signifies the Japanese people who brought the United States into the Second World War. Pasivaya, an old religious leader from Shipaulovi, told me that the third nation to rise up would have its national symbols in red. The people would wear red caps or red robes. The world has been shaken up twice already. There is one more war left.

So after the second meeting with Massau’u the white brother went on his way, and we went on our way, according to instructions. But it was told that we would meet again some day, that this white brother would come back to purify us so that we would become one people again. So on the top, the line means this -- it shows the journey of this white brother. In the life of the white peoples, they would show themselves to be clever and gifted. They would invent many scientific things.

PROPHECIES OF THE HOPI INDIANS The Prophecy Rock.

So the first three figures shown on the top line symbolize the stages of the white people, their scientific advancement, from the carriage to the automobile to the airplane. The circles right underneath the figures prophesy the three gourds of ashes that would fall on earth. The first and second circles are interpreted to mean the bombs that fell on Japan in WWII. The four headless figures on top show our Hopis who have become like the white people. These are Hopis who have forsaken their Life Plan and who have become like the Pahana [whites]. They have fallen for the white way of life -- the easy life, the modern conveniences -- and do not care for Hopi life anymore. These Hopis will say to other Hopis to follow their ways. Now if all Hopis fall for this trap, then life will be like the jagged line going up, toward the upper right corner. It will be up and down, turmoil, earthquakes, floods, drought. The old people say we are at this stage of life now.

But it is prophesied that a phase of life will come when those Hopis who have become like the white people will realize their wrongdoings and attempt to join again the Hopis who are holding on. This is symbolized by the line going down, back to the Life Plan of the Hopis. Now if this happens, then there will be times of unity, of all Hopis working together. We would have then come back to this Life Plan set out by the Great Spirit for us. This is symbolized by the circle and the corn. Now it is foretold that we would meet up with Massau’u one more time as symbolized by the figure on the right. He will judge us and, if we are deserving to go with him, he will accept to be the leader of the Hopis. And thereafter we will have a happy life.

Like the Maya, Aztec, and other Native American tribal wisdom traditions, the Hopi tell of a series of 'worlds' which have existed. Each may be thought of as a cycle of civilisation. A common aspect is that we are currently in the 4th world. The Hopi describe the demise of the other worlds as follows:

1st world: ended when all of the volcanoes of the world erupted and an all consuming fire engulfed and destroyed the first world.

2nd world: ended when the poles shifted and the earth was covered in ice. Mountains fell into oceans and seas.

3rd world: "The third world was very corrupt and this time it would be destroyed through water. Taiowa sent Spider Woman to talk to the people who still carried the Creator's song in their hearts. She taught them how to build large boats out of reeds.This, they did, and when their boats were sealed, the waters began to flood the world. The noise of the rushing waters was incredible. Large continents sunk and broke apart into small islands. Incredible rains fell. Then it stopped, and there was silence. The reed boats drifted the people over the silent waters for a long time. When their boats finally stopped on a new coastline, the people walked onto the dry lands for the first time. They had emerged into the fourth world. This is the world we are all living in today."

PROPHECIES OF THE HOPI INDIANS

The Hopi account of the end of the previous 3rd world by a 'cleansing' by way of great flood fits in well with Cayce and others. In fact, similar traditions of a worldwide catastrophe exist among peoples of all continents including Scandinavians, Greeks, Egyptians, Hebrews, Sumerians, Babylonians, Persians, Hindus, Fiji Islanders, Eskimos, native North and South Americans and many other sources.

The Hopis mark the end of the 4th world as a purge by fire (cf. Edgar Cayce above). The end of the fourth world (called Tuwaqachi by the Hopi) is described thus (see Book Of The Hopi, by Frank Waters). Eventually a gourd full of ashes would be invented, which if dropped from the sky would boil the oceans and burn the land causing nothing to grow for many years (atomic bomb). This would be the sign for a certain Hopi to bring out his teachings in order to warn the world that the third and final event would happen soon. That it could bring an end to all life unless people correct themselves and their leaders in time.

The final stage, called "The great day of Purification", has been described as a "Mystery Egg" in which the forces of the swastika and the Sun plus a third force symbolized by the color "red" culminate either in total rebirth or total annihilation, we don't know which. But the choice is yours, war and natural catastrophe may be involved. The degree of violence will be determined by the degree of inequity caused among the peoples of the world and in the balance of nature. In this crisis rich and poor will be forced to struggle as equals in order to survive.

Some markers and signs: Before the time of the great Purification, they will make metal roads for iron horses and hang metal ropes in the air. (pre-Colombian Hopi prophecy) First they will bring back pieces of the Moon which will upset the balance and unleash disastrous forces. (ibidem) Near the day of the Great Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky through which 'people will walk' . (ibidem) The Purification will begin shortly after humans build a great house in the sky (MIR and/ or new European/US space station?). By then there will be fires everywhere and greedy, selfish, power-mad leaders, internal wars. (ibidem)

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