Raven Holy Man – Considered a Tickster of Transforming/Changing Attributes

The Sioux tell the story of how a white raven used to warn buffalo of approaching hunting parties. The buffalo would then stampede, and the hunters would be left hungry. Eventually, an angry shaman threw the bird into the fire which turned it black. Often honored among medicine & holy men of tribes for its shape-shifting qualities, the Raven was called upon in ritual so that visions could be clarified. A Native holy men understood that what the physical eye sees, is not necessarily the truth, and he would call upon the Raven for clarity in these matters. Foremost, the Raven is the Native American bearer of magic, and a harbinger of messages from the cosmos. A Messages that are beyond space and time are nested in the midnight wings of the Raven and come to only those within the tribe who are worthy of the knowledge.

Who Was Pahokatawa?

When a star falls from the sky it leaves a fiery trail. It does not die. Its shade goes back to its own place to shine again. The Indians sometimes find the small stars where they have fallen in the grass. The Pawnee have a story about a person known as Pahokatawa , who was supposedly killed bu an enemy and eaten by animals, but then brought back to life by gods. He was said to have come to Earth as a meteor and told the people that when meteors were seen falling in great numbers it was not a sign that the world would end. When the Pawnee tribe witnessed the time” the stars fell upon the earth,” which was in 1833, there was a panic, but the leader of the tribe spoke up and said, “Remember the words of Pahokatawa” and the people were no longer afraid.