You see, all these prophecies are similar in certain respects to the Judaic prophecies of a Mashiach, the Buddhist prophecies of the Buddha Maitreya, the Hindu prophecies of the Kalki Avatar, the Zoastrian prophecies of the Saoshyant, the Christian prophecies of the Messiah-Son of Man, the Islamic prophecies of the Mahdi, and others as well. But, the fact is that they all speak of the same person because there is only one person chosen by God to reflect the Spirit of truth and bring judgment, guide you unto truth, and show you things to come. And, rather than exalt himself, he glorifies the Great Spirit-Parent-Creator-God in heaven, which is God by any other name. For just as there is one God called by many different names by many different peoples of the world, so is there one expected servant or representative of God, also called by different names.
By the way, since a sacred "tree" is a common theme in Native American cultures, I should mention that it is also referred to in Judeo-Christian scriptures. The Tree of Life is referred to in the books of Moses, David and Solomon, who wrote that "Wisdom is a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon Her, and happy is every one that retains Her." In John's Book of Revelation, the Tree of Life is described as "baring twelve manner of fruits, and yields her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22:2)
Of course, the sacred Tree of Life is not a literal tree, but a symbol for Wisdom and Truth. It is also depicted in the Kabbalistic or Qabalistic diagram called The Tree of Life. The twelve "fruits" John mentions refer to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and the leaves refer to the 32 healing paths of Wisdom in the diagram.
Today, unfortunately, as Jesus of Nazareth predicted, there are many false prophets and many false shepherds who do not understand real prophecy, but claim that they do. And they have divided, alienated and led their blind flocks astray, even into carnal warfare. Some claim to be Jews, some claim to be Christians, some claim to be Muslims, some claim to represent other religions, and some claim no religious affiliation. But, they all claim that they know what the future holds, and that there must be a "holy war" to conquer and vanquish their enemies to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy.
The truth, however, is that the "weapons" of God's true servant-messenger are not carnal or lethal, but they are mighty through God, because those "weapons" are words of truth, written by the "pen" that will ultimately prove mightier than the sword, gun and bomb.
As the prophet Daniel envisioned, the "stone" of truth will "shatter the image of the king of Babylon, and the stone shall become as a great mountain that shall fill the earth." For the "stone" is the Spirit of truth, and the real truth and Wisdom are far more powerful and superior than the lies and hate that spews from the mouth of false prophets and false shepherds.
Furthermore, "Babylon," which is the symbol of all that which is self-serving, greedy, imperialistic, and abuses financial and military power to get what it wants at the expense of others, will indeed "fall" and be replaced by that which is inclusive, generous, charitable, peaceful, kind, and good to all. And that will start to happen as soon as enough people get the message from the Spirit of truth delivered by the true modern prophet, the one who fulfills all genuine prophecies of the one to come.
Unfortunately, until then, false prophets still have sway over many people, and, since this article is about Native prophecies, I should say there are examples of false prophets among Native American Indians as well.
One, in my opinion, was a Paiute Indian named Wovoca, who founded the Ghost Dance religion in 1889. As legend has it, during an eclipse of the sun in January 1889, God "Himself" came to him and gave him great power and wisdom. However, there are more realistic reports of Wovoca saying that while suffering from a fever and being asleep during the day time, he had a dream in which he was taken up to heaven where he saw God.
Wovoca claimed that God, in the form of Jesus, told him of the world to come, which was being prepared for the Indian race and would arrive in the spring of 1891. Wovoca claimed God told him that the white people would be pushed back across the ocean by spiritual and metaphysical forces to where they came from in the first place. When the cataclysm subsided, the Indians would lower themselves from the sky, and they would find all Indians who had once lived on earth--friends, relatives, and ancestors. Together they would enjoy eternal life, unmarred by pain, sickness, discomfort, want or death. On every side, deer, antelope, and elk would roam in abundance, and herds of buffalo, such as only the old people could recall, would once more be in abundance on the prairies.
The good part of Wovoca's story is that he said God then commanded him to go back and tell his people that they must be good and love one another, have no quarreling and live in peace with the whites; that they must work, and not lie and steal; that they must put away the old practices of war. But, he blew it when he claimed he was told that if the Indians faithfully obeyed "God's instructions," they would prevail over the whites and God would get rid of them.
Wovoca also said he was then given the dance which he was commanded to bring back to his people and tell them that by performing this dance at intervals, for five successive days each time, they would secure this happiness to themselves and hasten the event.
Wovoca even told his people that "Jesus is now upon the Earth," either implying that he was the Messiah himself or had direct communication with Jesus. And some historians have found a contradiction in what Wovoca is quoted as saying, because he was reported to have said at times that he was Christ, and at times that he wasn't Christ.
The legend is that Wovoca then performed several "miracles" to prove that he was indeed a holy man and to either prove or imply that he was the Indian Messiah. But, we should understand that while there were and are some genuine medicine men who have demonstrated shamanic spiritual powers, they generally utilized certain "medicines" (plants, herbs and other substances) to produce desired effects, events or outcomes, and it becomes difficult to believe Wovoca was actually a medicine man or shaman when we consider facts of his life that are very revealing.
Wovoca's father, Tavibo, had taught Wovoca sleight-of-hand and other tricks of the magician's art practiced by many who were actually hucksters but claimed to be a medicine man or shaman. Also, when Wovoca's father died, he went to live with and was adopted by David Wilson, a white rancher who indoctrinated Wovoca (aka Jack Wilson) with evangelical Christian beliefs. Wovoca had also learned Mormon ideas and believed that Jesus as "God Himself" had appeared to and spoke to Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. Moreover, Wovoca was also influenced by the Shakers, who probably reinforced the ideas he got from his father about trances, dreams, visions of departed loved ones, and talking with God.
It should also be understood that Wovoca's father, Tavibo, had fancied himself as a prophet and preached the concept of a religious dance when Wovoka was just a child. Tavibo claimed that he had spoken with the Great Spirits, who told him the land would "open up and swallow the white man," leaving only the Native Indian peoples to inherit the Earth back. Most of the Paiute people did not believe this, though, so Tavibo then claimed he had a second revelation that all of the Native peoples who had died would be resurrected and all Native Americans would then reign in a new world without white men. Then, when that prophecy was also rejected, Tavibo came up with a third, warning that those who did not follow his religious dance and believe in his prophecy would be damned with the reign and complete takeover by white men.
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