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Taino Spirituality Today
The Taino are the indigenous peoples first encountered by Columbus when he "discovered" the West Indies in 1492. Once decimated by the Spanish Conquest, Taino culture and spirituality today are experiencing a revival: "The Caney Indian Spiritual Circle is an organization devoted to the path of shamanic enlightenment as it was trailblazed by ancient mystics and wise elders of the Taino Native people in the Caribbean islands over four thousand years ago."
Date: 3/12/2009 4:04:01 PM ( 15 y ) ... viewed 5460 times The following are excerpts; to read in their entirety, go to the webpages cited:
"Our tradition is inspired by the combined prophesies of Aurasurey of Boriken and Guaricheanao of Kuba. It is based on the fact of global rebirth and enlightenment in the period of years between 1992 and 2012 and the far reaching consequences of these pivotal calendrical events. It is the hope of reconciliation that can last into the centuries to come. It is guided by the power and magic of the ancient Cemis of Taino culture ('Cemi' is the Taino word for 'spirit')." http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/
"The tradition of the Caney was established as early as 1977 as a path not only for people who identify themselves as Taino who needed to reconnect with the ancient ways of their ancestors, but also for any human who saw in this culture of love and reconciliation the answer to their search.
Taino spirituality is fundamentally shamanic...The Caney does not claim to be the only answer to the human yearning for spiritual nourishment...It is one of many valid and legitimate roads to the Cosmic Center...We accept as valid and legitimate all the contemporary spiritual paths and religions that are genuinely and sincerily adhered to by other humans. And we respect the interpretation of ancient Taino belief set forth by our fellow contemporary Tainos...We realize that we are all learning from the Great Spirit and from each other and we value humility.
We also recognize that such a valuable gift is to be shared and not to be jealously witheld from someone simply because that person is not a Taino...
We are all brothers and sisters, children of the same Cosmic Mother on the surface of the blessed planet, and under the eyes of Gua Turey YA YA we are all heirs to the Twentyfour Generation Prophecy no matter what our race or ethnicity." http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/caneyforall.html
TWENTYFOUR GENERATION PROPHECY:
"'The sound of the Guamo (sea shell horn) will again be heard over the mountains and the people shall awaken'
With these words heard, through a dream, the spirits aroused in Beike Bo Miguel Sobaoko Koromo the mission to establish the Caney Circle. They were words that prophetically foretold to him in 1974 that there was to be a great rebirth of Taino awareness among the descendants of the Caribbean's ancient peoples, people who had almost been destroyed by the Spanish conquest that began in 1492.
Later, in 1983 he would experience a spectacular shamanic event in his life. That event, recounted by him in his book CANOA* opened his eyes to the millenial oracle now known as THE TWENTYFOUR GENERATION PROPHESY.
The oracle takes its name from the twenty four stones that are commonly placed in a Caney circle between the four cardinal stones of the medicine wheel. It foretells not only the rebirth of the Taino nation but the fact that this rebirth is a sign of a future global renewal called THE GREAT EARTH CHANGES.
This event, which is due to occur in the year 2012 will close a 260-century great cycle in the on-going history of the Earth. That huge cycle is closely linked to the evolution of the human conciousness. At that time humans will be confronted with an epochal window of opportunity through which we shall be given the choice between a great flowering of our species on the earth or the gradual but inexorable destruction of everything that sustains and nourishes humankind.
The reason The Taino revival was so important to this prophesy is that it's beginning date, 1992, marks the end of a shorter 500-year cycle imbedded within that greater 260-century Great Cycle mentioned above. This 500-year cycle was the one that began on the date 1492 when Columbus arrived in the so-called "New World" putting an end to that era of Taino history, and ended in 1992 when the Tainos reawakwned. The Taino revival was a milestone on the millenial path which humanity was destined to walk, and a signpost of things to come.
The Taino revival served to provide the human species with a beautiful gift, TAINO SPIRITUALITY. This beautiful spiritual path was to provide a new and unique perspective on the universal scheme of things and a hopeful optimistic outlook on the future of the species. It was also a vehicle through which the human race could be provided with a cadre of powerful warriors who would act as a sacred spiritual suspension bridge over which the human race is destined to attempt the ultimate perilous crossing over the chasm of oblivion so as to pass through the millenial portal of the Earth Changes in 2012.
Hundreds of these warriors would be perceived as the mighty bridge-cables, the tough spiritual sinews of the spirit bridge, woven together in an unit that would provide the members of the human species with a secure foothold, conveying the whole human race across the deep gully of extinction. At either end of the spirit bridge stone masonry anchors the two extreme ends of the mystical span. These stone anchors, composed of twelve stones on each end of the bridge, provide the secure and rigid fixed foothold on either end so that the mighty cables can arch gracefully above the dizzying heights...."
http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/24generation.html
The Caney: The Way of the Cemi
"Caney spirituality is based on the shamanic belief in the power and sacredness of the spirits of Nature, and our relationship with the living soul of Mother Earth and all her creatures, animals and plants who are our brothers and sisters. We express that belief in our ceremony, legends and our Art. It is a spiritual tradition based on the ancient culture of the Taino Indians of the Caribbean as well as other sacred paths.
There are many spirits in our tradition but we believe that there are two major cosmic entities which encompass the reality of all of these spiritual beings. The name of these two major spirits are Yoka Hu and Ata Bei. Together these two spirits make up the Universal Consciousness. That unity of the archetypal Divine Male and the archetypal Divine Female manifests itself in the spiritual concept that we know as GUA-TUREY, The Great Spirit. Gua-Turey has also been identified by the name 'Yaya' in other interpretations of Taino spirituality.
Ata Bei is the Cosmic Matriarch. She is the All-Mother from whose womb (represented by the 'stone collar' coa hoop), all things originated. She is the creative force of the Earth and the Universe. She also represents all matter, that which is tangible and physical. At the beginning of time She gave birth to the divine twin sons Yoka Hu, the spirit of the Life Force, and Guakar, the spirit of Trials. Yoka Hu is the Lord of Life. He is the universal manifestation of all that lives, all that manifests itself in an organic and biological state. But Yoka Hu is also the Lord of Energy, for in Caney tradition Energy and Life are the same. Yokahu is the quickening force that causes living things to breathe and propagate. He is the radiant energy of the Sun that bathes the surface of the Earth Mother and brings to her the gift of solar vitality.
At the heart of our belief in the vitality of spiritual experience is the knowledge that Cosmic wisdom exists within the concept of the Sacred Circle. This concept is similar to the concept of the North american Indian belief in the 'Medicine Wheel' and Asian belief in the 'Mandala'". http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/intro.html
More about Taino Spirituality:
*Taino Legends: http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/legends.html
*Shamanism in Taino Tradition: http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/shamanism.html
*Taino Art: http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/caneyart.html
*Video: Taino Prayer http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1376301
For more links to Taino Spirituality as practiced by the
Caney Indian Spiritual Circle, go to: http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/intro.html
See also: "Columbus's Shame" http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1374043
for a brief history of the Taino and the Spanish Conquest
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