"I told him to stay there in the center of the hogan, telling him I was going to smudge him really well, and to not move... Joe, A BEING SHOWED UP, NOT VERY TALL!"
MoonJoey: "I hate doing this because I don't want to take you back to a memory embedded in you that would cause you any distress, but remember when you were on barge DLB-269 in the hurricane in the Gulf? (look up this incredible story of survival in a previous article of mine). You said at one point as the barge was sinking and you made your way to the highest point of a structure, thinking you would surely die, you did your death song and shouted out to...
Omolkhua: "Gà ’à hhà ." (MoonJoey note: one of the old, greater beings of the wind/elemental)
MoonJoey: "Yes. At that time, did you think of summoning... was your mother alive then?"
Omolkhua: "Yes."
MoonJoey: "Would it have been of any benefit to call on your grandmother for help then?"
Omolkhua: "I did. Every male will face death at one time or another. When the option is there, for example, as you hike and there is a mountain lion or bear, you have multiple choices to make. But when you challenge one of the oldest spirits that existed before mankind, Gà ’à hhà , the wind, it is a challenge that I made by myself. So, I did ask him for guidance, but I did challenge, and the chances of survival would have been almost nil or non-existent. But I believe that he helped, even when I didn't realize the help was being granted. As I was in the water for so long, the life vest that people put on, those things have a buoyancy but when you go deeper than the buoyancy (MoonJoey note: Omolkhua was being smashed under the surface by wave after monstrous wave), and instead of bringing you to the surface, you sink! Once they reach a certain level, they are squeezed by the pressure of the sea, and instead of being spongy and floatatious, they become compressed and solid and are an additional item that helps you sink below the surface."
MoonJoey: "Is there a price to pay for calling on Gà ’à hhà ?"
Omolkhua: "Yes... your life."
MoonJoey: "What do you mean by that?"
Omolkhua: "I could have easily died... you're tested! If you're tested and you survive... the traditional belief is this: I survived the wrath, the fight, a mortal being against the immortal, if you want to think of it in that manner. By surviving this and living to tell about it, I have been granted that medicine that I can call upon to help me when I would need it. I carry a medicine bag hung around my neck all the time. In it, it has a small item from back then. When a time comes when I need it, I will just draw it from my pouch and call the medicine forward... BUT ... it's a one-time deal."
MoonJoey: "You mean you can only use this particular medicine one time?"
Omolkhua: "Yes."
MoonJoey: "Have you?"
Omolkhua: "No. I came close (laughing). It is believed to be that powerful. It is believed to be as powerful as wielding the weather. If for example, there is a tornado heading in your direction... the tornado is the child of Gà ’à hhà . That medicine would stop it. I hadn't told this to anyone."
[[MoonJoey Note: Before writing this article, I requested permission from Omolkhua to reveal that which he hadn't told anyone before. His reply was: "many people would not understand, but it might give them a glimpse into a different view of the world. Please go right ahead."]]
MoonJoey: "I feel privileged to hear it. I've written before about some of the strange things that have happened to people where they've had a tornado bearing down on them (read my previous post concerning ethereal beings in the article about the Butterfly People of Joplin). They're directly in the path with nowhere to escape to, bracing themselves for the inevitable, yet for some reason the tornado jumps over them leaving them unharmed."
Omolkhua: "There's more to this world than we see. It is difficult to maintain both levels in harmony. For example, the traditional ways, the traditional medicine that I share, other people would just wave me along and wave forward the little van, padded inside with the jacket that goes around you, just to keep you safe... many natives do not share the medicine or the knowledge because of how it is mischaracterized. For example, one of the things that people feared the most when they started doing the Sun Dance, they thought that to allow the Sun Dance to move forward would allow the native to gain great strength and then a loss of control of them would emerge. A lot of the times when the Sun Dance was found they would just kill the natives. The Death Song is sung to the ancestors, introducing yourself in the lineage that you come from, and you sing it with such power. For example, as you hike up the mountain, you reach a point where you pause for a second to catch your breath, then you move forward. There's this little ooommff of energy that you're able to draw from that allows you to continue. The most difficult times, when it takes your entire will to maintain posture, a sense of control of your being... all that energy, that will power to control yourself to make something go forward is what I am referring to. You sing your song as if it is the last breath you will ever take. There's no fear going into this battle. This is the human side and the spiritual side that are being tested. I don't mean to talk in riddles, but this is the best way that I know how to describe and a lot of the time basically the same foundation to all that I say, to the medicine, the traditional, the songs, the prayers, who I am. The foundation to all of this is your spiritual being, not physical, not intellectual. Your spirit of a human being, the compassion, the love, empathy, sympathy... all of these words describe you as a human being, describe your soul as a spiritual person... they are all used in battle!
We had ceremonies last Saturday at the hogan. One gentleman, as he was closing up, the windows, lights, said he saw from the corner of his eye, a shadow the size of a person but moved like a cloud. As he managed to turn and look in its direction, he said it rumbled from inside and then just disappeared into the wall. The Saturday that just passed, I asked him in what direction had he seen the shadow. He pointed and said, "there." That same spot is where I feel something hovers and I push it into the rafters before the ceremony begins. I make sure that it doesn't bother us. A Navaho man, who looked in that same direction said, "right there behind that pole, that post, there's a door. I have seen them." A gentleman one time brought in a dog. The dog, looking to that same direction, sat down and whined and as soon as the door was opened, it made a bee line and exited the building. He said, "I don't understand it." I replied, "I do." The next time we met, I suggested something. In the center of the hogan, there were four or five of us, I said to turn the lights off. The gentleman exclaimed that he wouldn't be able to see. I told him that was the point. I'm standing next to the gentleman in the center of the hogan, the lights go out, its dark. I said to him, "stay here." He asked me where I was going. I told him, "I am going to where the "door" is. Stay there." So, there's a light on the outside, a streetlight, allowing a sort of a little of the silhouette of people to be seen. They couldn't see really well where I was. I said, "here is the medicine that you must learn, to control. Fear is one that you do not give strength. In the midst of its form, you stand fast. You do not flinch, and you do not move. You face, head on, for they have violated the natural law. And they have enjoyed it for some many eons, that they take pleasure in scaring people, torturing people. The medicine that I have will not allow it. Just know that." I was in the darkness area where he saw it disappear, where the dog looked, where the Navaho man had seen them. I stood in that spot and jabbed and pierced like with a sword, the surroundings like you would try to pierce the fog, not a direct jab forward but like cutting something down. I said, "there is nothing here this evening." As everyone was leaving, one of the gentlemen who had previously participated in an African ceremony I told you about was standing there. I told him to stay there in the center of the hogan, telling him I was going to smudge him really well, and to not move. I went around him three times. I kept my distance from him, maybe ten feet away. As he faced East, I faced South, not necessarily directly in front of him but off to what would be his left. Joe, A BEING SHOWED UP, NOT VERY TALL!
[[MoonJoey Note: The interview was paused at this point. Omolkhua is going back to the hogan soon to another ceremony. I will relate some more experiences he had there in another article. As info, the picture accompanying this article is not of the being referenced in this interview. It is, however, a photo capture taken of an unexplained anthropomorphic figure following my wife & I in Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona, U.S.A.]]
- MoonJoey