All Comments on 'Seducing Jennifer Pt. 25'

Good story, well written, but what happened to Mom?!?!?!

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to write, and for sharing it with us all. :-)

Christi

I was wondering about the use of the term "souls". Could you explain what I assume is the Cherokee belief?

As for Mrs. C., she's gone but not 4got10, for the moment at least. She might be in the Cayman Islands, tending to her bank accounts...but I'm quite sure she'll be back when she's most needed.

Regarding "souls," you have brought up a very complicated question, and one that I'm not sure I could explain using the English language, nor that it would be a good idea to do so even if I could. It's not at all an exact parallel to the Anglo word, but relates more to a common aboriginal concept of a requirement for balance in all things. Destructive male nature must be balanced by creative female nature, for example. Humans, unlike the animal and plant people, who have essences untroubled by moral concerns, have two souls which are often in opposition, one related to the Darkening Land in the west, and one to the Land of the Sun in the east. These natures must achieve a balance or the individual, and perhaps the world itself, will suffer. Much native medicine is related to this concept.

I thought I had enough material submitted to make sure a segment would be posted every day while I was in Tahlequah and afterwards. Unfortunately I miscalculated, and there is nothing new today. But there are 3 new segments in the pipeline awaiting approval, so don't give up. The next part should come out tomorrow, I think.

It is like the duality concept of the Chinese, Celts, and many other pre-Christian cultures. Light and dark, right and wrong, male and female, everything has an opposite opposing force or concept. Some might call it the cosmic balance. I think it is part of the Navaho concept of "beauty".

Pre-colonial Cherokees and other Eastern Woodland tribes did not have the concepts of "good" and "evil," at least not in the modern sense. Sure, they knew they liked some things and disliked others, but they understood that both were necessary to maintain balance. There is a story that goes into this, and it's too long to tell properly, but to summarize, the people decided day was good and night was bad, so they persuaded the Creator to get rid of night altogether. It didn't work out well. Then they tried making it night all the time, and that didn't work out well either. Finally they got things put back the way it was before and everything was as good as it was going to get. A whole lot of the Ancient Ones died during this period of experimentation, and as a blessing and a source of knowledge to the living the Creator locked their souls into the sacred Eastern Cedar tree, which contains red and white striped wood, symbolizing a perfect state of balance. This is one of the reasons why the cedar is sacred.

As a Caucasian, born & raised in Hawaii and very interested in Hawaiian History, there is much in common with the Cherokee vision of Creation. We, the Hawaiians have a Creation chant, the "Kumulipo". Another commonality is that the Hawaiian Nation was "over thrown" by America & American interests (descendants of the first missionaries and businessmen).

There is a song by Israel Kamakawiwoole, Hawaiian Superman. It is about the God "Maui". Check it out.

Wado