Joan of Arc, Maiden of Orlѐans, Savior of France, Leads French to stunning defeat of England - Burnt at Stake May 30

Nearly 600 years ago a young girl who grew up playing with fairies and hearing voices led a fatigued and demoralized French army to a series of victories over the most powerful kingdom in the world, at the age of seventeen.

Louis Kossuth, a great Hungarian revolutionary hero and champion of liberty in the 19th century said this about Joan of Arc.

"Consider this unique and imposing distinction.  Since the writing of human history began, Joan of Arc is the only person, of either sex, who has ever held supreme command of the military forces of a nation at the age of seventeen."

Let me give you a brief overview of her life.

Most of us have heard the story of Joan of Arc, the French girl born January 6, 1412, who had visions and heard voices from St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch.  The voices started at age 13½, the summer of 1425.

By May 1428, she no longer doubted the source of the voices and their insistence she must help the king of France.  She was to lead the French army against the English and stop the English from conquering France.  When her voices told her to see the king's commander, she made the trip in June and faced disrespect by the rude and dissolute soldier.

On October 12, 1428, English troops surrounded the town of Orlѐans, and laid siege, a truly tragic turn of events.  As the ever more insistent voices demanded she see the king, she went again in January 1429 and got to the king on March 8.

Upon convincing the king of her sincerity and determination, Joan became supreme commander of the French army, and on April 30, Joan led the previously demoralized French army into Orlѐans.  By May 8, Joan had captured all the surrounding English forts and raised the siege.

On July 29, 1429, Charles VII, with Joan at his side, was crowned King in the city of Reims.

Joan continued her ferocious assault on the English and on May 24, 1430, an overwhelming Burgundian force, loyal to the English, captured Joan after the battle of Compiègne.

Sold to the English, Joan went to prison where her hands, feet, and neck where locked in chains, while being held for an Ecclesiastical court trial, where she was charged with witchcraft and heresy.

The trial started February 21, 1431, convicted Joan of being a heretic on May 29, 1431, and burnt her at the stake May 30, 1431.  She died at nineteen years of age.

Consider the brief career of one of the most beloved heroes in French history and successful military commanders in the history of warfare.  By age 13, Joan began hearing voices.  These voices convinced her to go to the king by age 17 with her plan to save France.

She spent one year, until age 18, leading her troops in driving the English from Northern provinces of France.  Once captured, she spent her final year as a prisoner of the English before her death at the stake, at just 19½ years old.

    

In the end, the king she installed and the country she saved had abandoned Joan, as had her beloved Roman Catholic Church.  Joan of Arc, God's warrior, and French martyr, disappeared and seemed forgotten.

So how did this convicted heretic become one of the most popular and least understood saints in the church?

That, my friends, is the rest of the story and what a story Joan has to tell.

To discover the truth about Joan of Arc we must journey through a story with all the elements of an Academy Award winning movie.  Her story was set against a backdrop of the previous millennium, when France earned recognition as "God's special country" for Roman Catholics, with her people dedicated to faith and the church.

Timeline - All Dates Anno Domini A.D. the year of our Lord

33        Death of Jesus

305      Death of Saint Catherine of Alexandria

306      Death of Saint Margaret of Antioch

324      Constantine calls the Council of Nicea

1291    Crusades end

1347    Black Death Plague hits Europe

1336    Hundred Years War between England, Scotland, and France begins

1412    Joan of Arc born in Domremy, Lorraine Province

1425    Joan first hears voices & saw visions

1428    June - Joan tries to reach French King

1428    October - English lay siege to Orlѐans

1429    March 8 - Joan finally meets French king

1429    April 30 - Joan, Supreme Commander of French army, enters Orlѐans

1429    May 8 - English abandon siege of Orlѐans

1429    July 29 - Charles VII, with Joan at his side, is crowned King in Reims

1430    May 24 - Joan is captured at Compiѐgne & sold to English

1431    February 21 - Joan's trial begins for witchcraft & heresy

1431    May 29 - Joan convicted of being heretic

1431    May 30 - Joan burnt at the stake

1455    King & Pope seek revision of her trial results

            Appellate Court reverses and annuls verdict

1776    Lorraine Province (Domremy) joins French Kingdom

1787    French Revolution begins

1793    Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette put to death

1803    Napoleon begins rehabilitating Joan's reputation 

1869    Bishop of Orlѐans requests investigation for beautification

1896    Mark Twain anomalously publishes Joan of Arc

1909    April 11 - Pope Pius X issues beatification decree

1920    Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan a Saint

            

Early in the millennium, Europe had just completed the crusades (1095 until 1291).

During the one hundred years before Joan lived, from 1347-1352 the Black Death plague killed 20 million Europeans, (forty to fifty percent of the entire European population), and up to one hundred million people would die worldwide before it was through.

From 1336 to 1443, the Hundred Years War raged between France, England, and Scotland.  By the time Joan was born, France was nearly devastated, England was prepared to appoint the next king of France, the French had lost most of the populous Northern provinces, and the French army was a disgrace.

Such was the world as we enter the age of Joan in 1412.

How often do biographies of Saints talk about a childhood raised in an environment that finds a blending of ancient magic, mystery, and fairies with modern Christianity, at least modern in 1412?

Most people do not know that Joan, the patron saint of France, was not a native of France and did not live in France when told she must save France.

On several occasions, her voices shared prophecy with Joan, which she passed on to authorities at a time the Inquisition was suspicious of any metaphysical or mystical activities including seers and prophets.

The total disregard for law, morality, respect, and justice played out between the French, the English, the church, and Joan's accusers during the Ecclesiastical court trial and her death by burning at the stake, is among the most malicious, evil, and heinous acts in history.

During her one year as a prisoner of the English in Rouen, Joan received the most disgusting, degrading, humiliating, and demeaning treatment humanly possible from extreme mental to physical abuse.

No one of authority in the church or France made any effort to help Joan in her defense or attempt to ransom her.       

Why did it take the church 489 years, nearly one-half a century, to complete the canonization of St. Joan?

From the time Joan was born in 1412 until her canonization in 1920, there were 53 popes and 3 antipopes including two who ignored her direct appeal for help. 

Why did English writers and historians in the 17th century, and then Scottish writers in the 19th century become the first to champion her cause for sainthood?

Perhaps most unusual of all, why did beloved American storyteller Mark Twain write a most extraordinary and thoroughly documented biography about Joan of Arc, a book he considered his best work, which took Samuel Clemens 12 years to research and two more years to write?

Mark Twain's story, Joan of Arc, appeared in serial form in 1896 and book form in 1899, just a decade before Pope Pius X issued her beautification decree April 11, 1909, and two decades before her canonization in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.

  

As you can see, I have a lot to cover to do justice to the reputation and stature of one of my favorite saints.

As Mark Twain noted, the details of the life of Joan of Arc form a biography, which is unique among the world's biographies in one respect: It is the only story of a human life, which comes to us under oath, the only one that comes to us from the witness stand.

The official records of the Great Trial of 1431, and of the Process of Rehabilitation of a quarter of a century later, remain preserved in the National Archives of France, and they furnish with remarkable fullness the facts of her life.

Joan was born in the village of Domremy, in the east of France.  It was part of the independent Duchy of Bar, itself part of Lorraine, the last province to join the French kingdom in 1776.  Joan was not even a citizen of France although Domremy was loyal to the French King Charles VII.   

Just outside the village lay an ancient and magical forest, and for over 500 years, the Fairies of the forest watched over the village children.  To honor their protectors, on summer days the children gathered in the forest around a magnificent beech tree, to sing and dance for hours together.

Here they made wreathes of flowers and placed them on the tree and in the spring beside the tree, to please the fairies that lived there.  For hundreds of years, the kids of Domremy were the Children of the Tree.  Joan was one of these children according to the court transcripts.

When she was 13, Joan began hearing voices she identified as Saint Michael, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Saint Margaret of Antioch.  Catherine and Margaret were among the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of ancient Catholic martyrs and saints called upon to help Europe overcome the Black Death Plague just 50 years earlier.

Ironically, both Saints were beautiful, humble, strong, and defiant and died teenage virgins, killed because they refused to marry prominent Roman officials.  Saint Margaret was 15 years old when she died in 306 AD and Saint Catherine was 18 in 305 AD when she died.  They shared many attributes with Joan.

On several occasions, her voices told her prophecies to pass on to others, in order to overcome roadblocks.  For example, she was able to convince the French commander to help her see the king with the help of her voices.  The second time she saw the commander, in February, she told him the French suffered a great defeat in the Battle of Herring, which proved to be true.

When she finally met the king, she went straight to the disguised monarch and bowed, stunning the room full of the king's court and the king.  When she told the king his secret that no one else knew, it convinced the skeptical king to let her proceed.  Her voices guided her through all the traps

. 

Joan prepared to take command of the army, and her voices told her to create a standard, bearing the words Jesus and Maria, with a picture of God the Father, and kneeling angels presenting a fleur-de-lis.

"I had a banner, the field of which was sown with lilies. On it the world was represented [the image of God holding the world] and two angels at the sides. It was of linen or white boucassin. There was written upon it, as it seems to me, these words: Jesus Maria, and it was fringed with silk."

                        Joan of Arc's description of her banner at her trial in Rouen

Joan of Arc carried a special banner (battle standard) made by a Scottish painter (Hauves Poulvoir) while she was at Tours preparing to lead the army of France.  Joan testified at her trial that she created her Banner by the command of God.  Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret gave her instructions about the design and told her to take it and bear it boldly.

The king offered her a sword to carry when leading the army but she begged to search for an ancient sword buried behind the alter in the chyapel of Ste-Catherine-de-Fierbois.

In the very spot her voices indicated, they found the sword.

Perhaps the most interesting fact connected with her voices at this early stage of her mission is a letter Sire de Rotslaer wrote from Lyons on April 22, 1429, delivered at Brussels and duly registered, as the manuscript to this day attests, before any of the events occurred.

The Maid, he reports, said

 "that she would save Orléans and would compel the English to raise the siege, that she herself in a battle before Orléans would be wounded by a shaft, but would not die of it, and that the King, in the course of the coming summer, would be crowned at Reims, together with other things which the King keeps secret." 

All came true.

The accuracy of the prophecies of Joan, her use of men's white armor to hide her beauty and protect her virginity, the strict discipline and morality she demanded of her army, and her fearless tendency to lead her troops into battle brandishing only her Banner, won over the king and the military.

Make no mistake, in a few short years our poor, illiterate village girl who knew nothing about commanding armies and could not even ride a horse, was Supreme Commander of the French army leading her worn out troops into battle on her magnificent stallion, against one of the world superpowers, England.

Calling upon faith stronger than most can ever imagine, she stopped a siege, drove the English into retreat, and brought to an inglorious end the Hundred Years War England fought against France and Scotland.  Her brilliant military strategy enabled France to beat the odds and in time drive the English out of France.   

When they captured Joan under mysterious circumstances, she already knew from her voices she would live for just one more year, and it would be the most difficult year of her life.  Her freedom was still possible through ransom or a prisoner exchange by the French or the church but no one tried, so her captures sold her to English supporters.

Politics, greed, deceit, fear, humiliation, all drove those in power to want her to go away, vanish from the history books.  There can be no doubt that the English feared their prisoner with a superstitious terror, and were ashamed of the dread which she inspired, so they were determined at all costs to take her life.

An Ecclesiastical court trial of Joan began in the English-held city of Rouen.  Her attitude was always fearless, and March 1 while being interrogated, Joan boldly announced that, "within seven years' space the English would have to forfeit a bigger prize than Orléans."  In fact,Paris was lost to Henry VI on November 12, 1437 — six years and eight months afterwards.

There is no time to explain the outrageous manipulation of the government, church, and rules of law as she was continually tortured, interrogated, and humiliated before the courts.  On March 17, 1431, Joan stood accused of 70 counts of witchcraft and being a heretic, the number of charges then reduced to 12.

Torture and techniques to break her spirit continued until May 9 when it was clear she would not break.  In the end, they dropped the witchcraft charges and convicted her of being a heretic, with the most prominent charge being she wore the clothes of a male.

Threatened and exhausted, at one point she signed a retraction witnesses said was just eight lines long, that took over a half hour to read, which included a provision if her life was spared she could never wear male clothes again.  The jailers and prosecutors then conspired to threaten to rape her and within a few days of her agreement, she returned to wearing male clothing to discourage rape.

On May 29, a court of thirty-seven judges decided unanimously that the Maid was a relapsed heretic, thus sentencing her to death at the stake, a sentence actually carried out the next day, May 30, 1431.

The morning of the execution Joan made her confession and received Communion.  Witnesses to her death said her demeanor at the stake was such as to move even her bitter enemies to tears.

She asked for a cross, which she embraced, and then held before her while she called continuously upon the name of Jesus, as the flames engulfed her.  After her death, soldiers took her heart, which failed to burn, and her ashes, and unceremoniously threw them into the Seine River to make sure no relics emerged.

Indeed, they almost succeeded in making her vanish for there was no protest, riots, or pilgrimages over Joan's conviction or burning at the stake.  The fact the English controlled

In yet another peculiar twist to the Joan story, her brothers embraced another young girl and for the next 20 years declared that Joan had escaped the fire and was alive.  As a result, her family continued to receive financial assistance from the province and the brothers made many appearances with the fake Joan receiving gifts and money.

About twenty-four years after her death, Charles VII, concerned that his monarchy was achieved thanks to a convicted heretic, and it might jeopardize hereditary claims to the throne in the future, sought a revision of her trial, the procès de réhabilitation.

This time the French monarchy and Pope were deeply involved as both wanted to correct a major failure to defend Joan during the first trial.  Now an appellate court constituted by the pope, after long inquiry and examination of witnesses, reversed and annulled the sentence pronounced by a local tribunal under Cauchon's presidency.

The illegality of the former proceedings was clear, and it speaks well for the sincerity of this new inquiry.  With the rejection of the original sentence, there was some degree of reproach upon both the King of France and the Church at large, seeing that so great an injustice existed for such a long time.

Still little came of the action in terms of Joan and her standing in the church and history books.  English writers beginning in the seventeenth century began writing favorably about the Maid and by the nineteenth century De Quincey, in particular, showed more respect for her than those in her own land.

As for France, the St. Joan of Arc Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico describes the political and secular issues in France during the ensuing years as follows.

The powers in charge during the French Revolution (1787 -1799) were very cruel to Joan of Arc's memory.  They canceled the May 8th procession that had been held at Orleans continuously since two years after Joan's death.  They also destroyed statues and crosses that were set up to honor Joan of Arc and they burned her relics, consisting of her hat that she gave to Charlotte, her standard and a sword that had belonged to her.

For the next ten years Joan's memory was relegated to the shadows of French life as on July 14, 1789, the Parisian crowd seized the Bastille, a symbol of royal tyranny.  On June 20–21, 1791, Louis XVI tried to flee the country, but was captured at Varennes, and brought back to Paris.

Believing they were betrayed by the king and the aristocrats, the Paris revolutionaries rose on August 10, 1792, occupied Tuileries Palace, where Louis XVI was living, and imprisoned the royal family in the Temple.  At the beginning of September, the Parisian crowd broke into the prisons and massacred the nobles and clergy held there.

Meanwhile, the National Convention was divided between the Girondins, who wanted to organize a bourgeois republic in France and to spread the Revolution over the whole of Europe, and the Montagnards (“Mountain Men”), who, with Robespierre, wanted to give the lower classes a greater share in political and economic power  

In spite of efforts by the Girondins to save him, judgment on Louis XVI was passed by the National Convention of revolutionaries, he was condemned to death for treason, and executed on January 21, 1793; the queen, Marie-Antoinette, was guillotined nine months later.

It was not until 1803, when Napoleon once more made it 'politically correct' to honor Joan of Arc, by giving his permission for the May 8th ceremonies at Orleans to be resumed.  Because Joan had fought the English, Napoleon made use of her to further his own campaign against them.  He made her an official symbol of French patriotism and a national heroine.

Therefore, her popularity among the people grew.  All during the first half of the nineteenth century France was struggling against England in one way or another and during this time many 'histories' were written about her.

It took Jules Quicherat, a French historian, five years from 1841-1845 to compile all the documents concerning Joan of Arc into five volumes.  Not only did he publish the complete texts of the trial of Condemnation and Nullification but he also gathered excerpts from chronicles, literary works, letters, public documents and the accounting ledgers from the city of Orleans into his scholarly work.

Single handedly Quicherat sparked a renaissance of interest in Joan of Arc among the scholars who in turn translated the Latin and Old French into modern French.  By doing this the general public could finally read for themselves Joan's own words and at last she became for them a real historical figure.

With this development, the whole spectrum of political ideologies began to claim her.  Joan became the champion for many causes from the atheistic anticlerical Freemasons, the Socialist Nationalists and Communists to the conservative Catholic Monarchists.  From the 1850's on France was shaken by a savage anticlerical movement.  Those who supported the Church decried the rapid spread of atheistic secular-humanism and the growing immorality of the nation and they used Joan of Arc as a symbol to reclaim these souls.

The Church was not blind to the upsurge in popularity that Joan of Arc had achieved and on May 8, 1869, Bishop Dupanloup of Orleans with the support of eleven other French Bishops petitioned Rome to begin the process of Canonization.  Bishop Dupanloup declared, "Not only Orleans and France but also the whole world venerate God's actions through Joan of Arc, the piety and enthusiasm of this young girl, her purity and selflessness with which she always carried out the will of God.

"We wish that Your Holiness would now honor and exalt her memory.  This would be a just tribute to Joan of Arc, who in freeing her country also saved it from the heresy which might have become a danger.  It would also constitute a title of honor to the French people."

  

Unfortunately, with the coming of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and France's ensuing defeat, Bishop Dupanloup's request was put on hold.  During this war, France lost the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to the Germans and the French politicians used Joan of Arc as a symbol for a crusade to regain these territories.

In 1893, the French people overwhelmingly elected a Socialist government into power.  Eight months later on January 27, 1894, Pope Leo XIII, in hopes of improving relations between the Vatican and the French government, extended an olive branch to them by officially beginning the process of Joan's Beatification.  In doing so he proclaimed the Maid to have been the venerable handmaiden of God.

As I mentioned earlier, Mark Twain's magnificent story, Joan of Arc, appeared in serial form in 1896 and book form in 1899, just a decade before Pope Pius X issued her beatification decree April 11, 1909, and two decades before her canonization in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.  Her sainthood was again delayed, this time by the outbreak of World War I.

Today it has been 603 years since the birth of this French heroine, but only 95 years since her canonization as a saint.  We are just beginning to understand the amazing story of faith Joan lived and her place in history as a military genius, a visionary and prophet, a sanctified virgin, and a soldier of God.

Joan's story is far too vast to give justice to and far too meaningful to interpret in such a short presentation as this but I hope she understands, and I urge all of you to learn more about Jehanne la Pucelle, Joan the Maid, our beloved Jeanne d'Arc, Joan of Arc.

In his book, Mark Twain wrote the following closing paragraphs about Joan of Arc.  Since Mark is my favorite American author and humorist - satirist, and about the most unlikely person on Earth to write about a Saint, I take his observations very seriously.  This is what he said about Joan the Maid.

"We know what Joan of Arc was like, without asking -- merely by what she did.  The artist should paint her spirit -- then he could not fail to paint her body aright.  She would rise before us, then, a vision to win us, not repel: a lithe young slender figure, instinct with "the unbought grace of youth," dear and bonny and lovable, the face beautiful, and transfigured with the light of that lustrous intellect and the fires of that unquenchable spirit.

"Taking into account, as I have suggested before, all the circumstances -- her origin, youth, sex, illiteracy, early environment, and the obstructing conditions under which she exploited her high gifts and made her conquests in the field and before the courts that tried her for her life -- she is easily and by far the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced."

Thank you for sharing a few moments with me, thank Joan of Arc, and dieu vous bénisse.

Melchizedek says Hopi are like angels walking among us - The Hopi Nation and Prophecy - Children of God and Keepers of Peace - Part 4.

Hopi Prophecy as Recorded by Frank Waters

[Frank Waters, one of few people trusted by the Hopi to tell their true story and protect their spiritual secrets wrote the Book of the Hopi published in 1963. In it were the following excerpts concerning the Hopi Prophecy.]

The end of all Hopi ceremonialism will come when a "Kachina" removes his mask during a dance in the plaza before uninitiated children [the general public]. For a while there will be no more ceremonies, no more faith. Then Oraibi will be rejuvenated with its faith and ceremonies, marking the start of a new cycle of Hopi life.



World War III will be started by those peoples who first revealed the light (the divine wisdom or intelligence) in the other old countries (India, China, Islamic Nations, Africa.)

The United States will be destroyed, land and people, by atomic bombs and radioactivity. Only the Hopis and their homeland will be preserved as an oasis to which refugees will flee. Bomb shelters are a fallacy. "It is only materialistic people who seek to make shelters. Those who are at peace in their hearts already are in the great shelter of life. There is no shelter for evil. Those who take no part in the making of world division by ideology are ready to resume life in another world, be they Black, White, Red, or Yellow race. They are all one, brothers."

The war will be "a spiritual conflict with material matters. Material matters will be destroyed by spiritual beings who will remain to create one world and one nation under one power, that of the Creator."

That time is not far off. It will come when the Saquasohuh (Blue Star) Kachina dances in the plaza and removes his mask. He represents a blue star, far off and yet invisible, which will make its appearance soon. The time is foretold by a song sung during the Wuwuchim ceremony. It was sung in 1914 just before World War I, and again in 1940 before World War II, describing the disunity, corruption, and hatred contaminating Hopi rituals, which were followed by the same evils spreading over the world. This same song was sung in 1961 during the Wuwuchim ceremony.



The Emergence to the future Fifth World has begun. It is being made by the humble people of little nations, tribes, and racial minorities. "You can read this in the earth itself. Plant forms from previous worlds are beginning to spring up as seeds [as described in SW-II, Effects and Coming Events # 1]. This could start a new study of botany if people were wise enough to read them. The same kinds of seeds are being planted in the sky as stars. The same kinds of seeds are being planted in our hearts. All these are the same, depending how you look at them. That is what makes the Emergence to the next, Fifth World.

"These comprise the nine most important prophecies of the Hopis, connected with the creation of the nine worlds: the three previous worlds on which we lived, the present Fourth World, the three future worlds we have yet to experience, and the world of Taiowa, the Creator, and his nephew, Sotuknang."



The Hopi and others who were saved from the Great Flood made a sacred covenant with the Great Spirit never to turn away from him. He made a set of sacred stone tablets, called Tiponi, into which he breathed his teachings, prophecies, and warnings. Before the Great Spirit hid himself again, he placed before the leaders of the four different racial groups four different colors and sizes of corn; each was to choose which would be their food in this world. The Hopi waited until last and picked the smallest ear of corn. At this, the Great Spirit said:

"It is well done. You have obtained the real corn, for all the others are imitations in which are hidden seeds of different plants. You have shown me your intelligence; for this reason I will place in your hands these sacred stone tablets, Tiponi, symbol of power and authority over all land and life to guard, protect, and hold in trust for me until I shall return to you in a later day, for I am the First and I am the Last."



The Great Chieftain of the Bow Clan led the faithful ones to this new land, but he fell into evil ways. His two sons scolded him for his mistake, and after he died they assumed the responsibilities of leadership. Each brother was given a set of Tiponi, and both were instructed to carry them to a place to which the Great Spirit directed them. The elder brother [of the shining light] was told to go immediately to the east, toward the rising sun, and upon reaching his destination to start back immediately to look for his younger brother, who remained on Turtle Island [the Continental United States of America]. His mission was to help his younger brother to bring about the Purification Day, at which time all evildoers would be punished or destroyed, after which real peace, brotherhood, and everlasting life would be established. The elder brother would restore all land to his younger brother, from whom the Evil one among the white men had taken it. The elder brother [of the shining light] also would come to look for the Tiponi tablets and fulfill the mission given him by the Great Spirit.



The younger brother was instructed to travel throughout the land and mark his footsteps as he went about. Both brothers were told that a great white star would appear in the sky; when that happened, all people would know that the elder brother had reached his destination. Thereupon all people were to settle wherever they happened to be at that time, there to remain until the elder brother returned.



The Hopi settled in the area now known as Four Corners, where the state lines of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet. They lived in humble simplicity and the land produced abundant crops. This area is the "heart" of Turtle Island [the U.S.] and of Mother Earth, and it is the microcosmic image of the macrocosm of the entire planet. Each Hopi clan perpetuates a unique ceremony, and the ceremonies together maintain the balance of natural forces of sunlight, rain and winds, and reaffirm the Hopi respect for all life and trust in the Great Spirit.

The Hopi were told that after a time White Men would come and take their land and try to lead the Hopi into evil ways. But in spite of all the pressures against them, the Hopi were told they must hold to their ancient religion and their land, though always without violence. If they succeeded, they were promised that their people and their land would be a center from which the True Spirit would be reawakened.

It is said that after many years the elder brother might change the color of his skin, but his hair will remain black. He will have the ability to write, and he will be the only person able to read the Tiponi. When he returns to find his younger brother, the Tiponi will be placed side by side to show all the world that they are true brothers. Then great judgment will take place, for the elder will help the younger brother to obtain real justice for all Indian brothers who have been cruelly mistreated by the white man since he came to Turtle Island.



The transformed elder brother, the True White Brother, will wear a red cloak or a red cap, similar to the pattern on the back of a horned toad. He will bring no religion but his own, and will bring with him the Tiponi tablets. He will be all-powerful; none will be able to stand against him. He will come swiftly, and in one day gain control of this entire continent. It is said, "If he comes from the East, the destruction will not be so bad. But if he comes from the West, do not get up on your housetops to see because he will have no mercy."



The True White Brother will bring with him two great, intelligent and powerful helpers, one of whom will have a sign of a swastika (a masculine symbol of purity), and the sign of the sun. The second great helper will have the sign of a Celtic cross with red lines (representing female life blood) between the arms of the cross.

When the Great Purification is near, these helpers will shake the earth first for a short time in preparation. After they shake the earth two times more, they will be joined by the True White Brother, who will become one with them and bring the Purification Day to the world. All three will help the "younger brother" (the Hopi and other pure-hearted people) to make a better world. In the prophecies, the two helpers are designated by the Hopi word for "population," as if they were large groups of people.

The Hopi were warned that if these three great beings failed, terrible evil would befall the world and great numbers of people would be killed. However, it was said that they would succeed if enough Hopi remained true to the ancient spirit of their people. The True White Brother and his helpers will show the people of earth a great new life plan that will lead to everlasting life. The earth will become new and beautiful again, with an abundance of life and food. Those who are saved will share everything equally. All races will intermarry and speak one tongue and be a family.



Hopi prophecy states that World War III will be started by the people who first received the Light -- China, Palestine, India and Africa. When the war comes, the United States will be destroyed by "gourds of ashes" which will fall to the ground, boiling the rivers and burning the earth, where no grass will grow for many years, and causing a disease that no medicine can cure. This can only mean nuclear or atomic bombs; no other weapon causes such effects. Bomb shelters will be useless, for "Those who are at peace in their hearts already are in the Great Shelter of Life. There is no shelter for evil. When the Saquahuh (blue Star) Kachina dances in the plaza and removes his mask, the time of the great trial will be here." The Hopi believe that only they will be saved.

The Hopi also have prophesied that "Turtle Island could turn over two or three times and the oceans could join hands and meet the sky." This seems to be a prophecy of a "pole shift" -- a flipping, of the planet on its axis. The Hopi call this imminent condition -- and that of society today -- "Koyaanisqatsi", which means "world out of balance...a state of life that calls for another way. "

The following extraordinary Hopi prophecy was first published in a mimeographed manuscript that circulated among several Methodist and Presbyterian churches in 1959. Some of the prophecies were published in 1963 by Frank Waters in The Book of the Hopi. The account begins by describing how, while driving along a desert highway one hot day in the summer of 1958, a minister named David Young stopped to offer a ride to an Indian elder, who accepted with a nod. After riding in silence for several minutes, the Indian said:

"I am White Feather, a Hopi of the ancient Bear Clan. In my long life I have traveled through this land, seeking out my brothers, and learning from them many things full of wisdom. I have followed the sacred paths of my people, who inhabit the forests and many lakes in the east, the land of ice and long nights in the north, and the places of holy altars of stone built many years ago by my brothers' fathers in the south. From all these I have heard the stories of the past, and the prophecies of the future. Today, many of the prophecies have turned to stories, and few are left -- the past grows longer, and the future grows shorter.

"And now White Feather is dying. His sons have all joined his ancestors, and soon he too shall be with them. But there is no one left, no one to recite and pass on the ancient wisdom. My people have tired of the old ways -- the great ceremonies that tell of our origins, of our emergence into the Fourth World, are almost all abandoned, forgotten, yet even this has been foretold. The time grows short.

"My people await Pahana, the lost White Brother, [from the stars] as do all our brothers in the land. He will not be like the white men we know now, who are cruel and greedy. we were told of their coming long ago. But still we await Pahana.

"He will bring with him the symbols, and the missing piece of that sacred tablet now kept by the elders, given to him when he left, that shall identify him as our True White Brother.

"The Fourth World shall end soon, and the Fifth World will begin. This the elders everywhere know. The Signs over many years have been fulfilled, and so few are left.

"This is the First Sign: We are told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana men who took the land that was not theirs. And men who struck their enemies with thunder.

"This is the Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices. In his youth, my father saw this prophecy come true with his eyes -- the white men bringing their families in wagons across the prairies."

"This is the Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns, will overrun the land in large numbers. These White Feather saw with his eyes -- the coming of the white men's cattle."

"This is the Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron."

"This is the Fifth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed by a giant spider's web."

"This is the Sixth sign: The land shall be criss-crossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun."

"This is the Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it."

"This is the Eight Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like my people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn their ways and wisdom.

"And this is the Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease.

"These are the Signs that great destruction is coming. The world shall rock to and fro. The white man will battle against other people in other lands -- with those who possessed the first light of wisdom. There will be many columns of smoke and fire such as White Feather has seen the white man make in the deserts not far from here. Only those which come will cause disease and a great dying. Many of my people, understanding the prophecies, shall be safe. Those who stay and live in the places of my people also shall be safe. Then there will be much to rebuild. And soon -- very soon afterward -- Pahana will return. He shall bring with him the dawn of the Fifth World. He shall plant the seeds of his wisdom in their hearts. Even now the seeds are being planted. These shall smooth the way to the Emergence into the Fifth World.



"But White Feather shall not see it. I am old and dying. You -- perhaps will see it. In time, in time..."

The old Indian fell silent. They had arrived at his destination, and Reverend David Young stopped to let him out of the car. They never met again. Reverend Young died in 1976, so he did not live to see the further fulfillment of this remarkable prophecy.

The signs are interpreted as follows: The First Sign is of guns. The Second Sign is of the pioneers' covered wagons. The Third Sign is of longhorn cattle. The Fourth Sign describes the railroad tracks. The Fifth Sign is a clear image of our electric power and telephone lines. The Sixth Sign describes concrete highways and their mirage-producing effects. The Seventh Sign foretells of oil spills in the ocean. The Eighth Sign clearly indicates the "Hippy Movement" of the 1960s. The Ninth Sign was the U.S. Space Station Skylab, which fell to Earth in 1979. According to Australian eye-witnesses, it appeared to be burning blue.

Another Hopi prophecy warns that nothing should be brought back from the Moon -- obviously anticipating the Apollo 11 mission that returned with samples of lunar basalt. If this was done, the Hopi warned, the balance of natural and universal laws and forces would be disturbed, resulting in earthquakes, severe changes in weather patterns, and social unrest. All these things are happening today, though of course not necessarily because of Moon rocks.

The Hopi also predicted that when the "heart" of the Hopi land trust is dug up, great disturbances will develop in the balance of nature, for the Hopi holy land is the microcosmic image of the entire planet; any violations of nature in the Four Corners region will be reflected and amplified all over the Earth.

In 1959, a six-man delegation of traditional Hopi leaders led by the late spiritual leader, Dan Katchongva, traveled to the United Nations Building in New York to fulfill a sacred mission in accordance with ancient Hopi instructions. Because of their prophetic knowledge, the Hopi leaders felt it was time to go east to the edge of their motherland, where "a house of mica" [The United Nations building] would stand at this time, where Great Leaders from many lands would be gathered to help any people who are in trouble."

They were to go when the motherland of the Hopi and other Indian brothers were about to be taken away from them and their way of life was in danger of being completely destroyed by evil ones among the White Men and by some other Indian brothers who were influenced by the White Race. This is a clear and present danger: the betrayal of Indian-U.S.A. treaties, land sales, and coal and uranium mining are destroying the Hopi land and its people -- and all other peoples and lands, in eventual effect...

According to prophecy, at least one, two or three leaders or nations would hear and understand the Hopi warnings, as "It is told that they too should know these ancient instructions". Upon hearing the message of the Hopi, they would act immediately to correct many wrongs being done to the chosen race -- the Red Man who was granted permission to hold in trust all land and life for the Great Spirit. This prophecy would seem to have failed. Hopi prophecy also declares that the doors of the "Glass House" would be closed to them. This was the case at first, though they have delivered their message to the United Nations Assembly since then:

"When the Great Leaders in the Glass House refuse to open the door to you when you stand before it that day, [Repeated, again in 1993] do not be discouraged or turn about on the path you walk, but take courage, determination, and be of great rejoicing in your hearts, for on that day the White Race who are on your land with you have cut themselves from you and thereon lead themselves to the Greatest Punishment at the Day of Purification. Many shall be destroyed for their sins and evil ways. The Great Spirit has decreed it and no one can stop it, change it, or add anything to it. It shall be fulfilled!"

On August 7, 1970, a spectacular UFO sighting was witnessed by dozens of people and photographed by Chuck Roberts of the Prescott (Arizona)"Courier". This sighting occurred after a "UFO calling" by Paul Solem and several Hopi Indians. This sighting was interpreted by some Hopis as being a partial fulfillment of a certain Hopi prophecy given by the Great Spirit Maasau and inscribed on Second Mesa, warning of the coming of Purification Day, when the true Hopi will be flown to other planets in "ships without wings."

Hopi prophecy also tells us that there will be a mass migration of Indians northward from Mexico and Central and South America. The migration will be led by a 130-year old Indian named Etchata Etchana. The movement will come after the huge fire and explosion that will herald the advent of the True White Brother.

According to Hopi belief, the survivors of the Great Deluge thousands of years ago split up into four groups that moved north, south, east and west. Only one group completed their journey -- to the North Pole and back -- under the guidance of a brilliant "star" in which the Great Spirit Maasau traveled. When he landed, he drew a petroglyph on Second Mesa, showing a maiden (with the traditional "butterfly" hair arrangement) riding in a wingless, dome-shaped craft. The petroglyph signified the coming Day of Purification when the true Hopi will fly to other planets in "ships without wings."



The prophecy also warns that there will be three divisions among the Hopi The first division was in 1906 between the Traditionalists and the Modernists. The Traditionalists were forced to leave Oraibi and move to Hotevilla. The second division took place in the wake of the spectacular appearance of UFOs in August, 1970.



PROPHECY ROCK

Near Oraibi, Arizona, there is a petroglyph known as Prophecy Rock which symbolizes many Hopi prophecies. Its interpretation is:

The large human figure on the left is the Great Spirit. The bow in his left hand represents his instructions to the Hopi to lay down their weapons. The vertical line to the right of the Great Spirit is a time scale in thousands of years. The point at which the great Spirit touches the line is the time of his return.

The "life path" established by the Great Spirit divides into the lower, narrow path of continuous Life in harmony with nature and the wide upper road of white man's scientific achievements. The bar between the paths, above the cross, is the coming of white men; the Cross is that of Christianity. The circle below the cross represents the continuous Path of Life.

The four small human figures on the upper road represent, on one level, the past three worlds and the present; on another level, the figures indicate that some of the Hopi will travel the white man's path, having been seduced by its glamour.

The two circles on the lower Path of Life are the "great shaking of the earth" (World Wars One and Two). The swastika in the sun and the Celtic cross represent the two helpers of Pahana, the True White Brother.

The short line that returns to the straight Path of Life is the last chance for people to turn back to nature before the upper road disintegrates and dissipates. The small circle above the Path of Life, after the last chance, is the Great Purification, after which corn will grow in abundance again when the Great Spirit returns. And the Path of Life continues forever...

The Hopi shield in the lower right corner symbolizes the Earth and the Four-Corners area where the Hopi have been reserved. The arms of the cross also represent the four directions in which they migrated according to the instructions of the Great Spirit.

The dots represent the four colors of Hopi corn, and the four racial colors of humanity.

Source: Book of The Hopi

By: Frank Waters

Source Material by: Oswald White Bear Fredericks

Copyright 1963, by Frank Waters

ISBN 345-01717-X-125

Library of Congress Catalog No. 63-19606

Published by: Ballantine Books, Inc.
101 Fifth Ave, New York, N.Y. 10003 Paperback Edition: Page 408