Claim OwnershipAll Is Beautiful: The Navajo Creation Story
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© Some rights reserved, 2004-2005. Jabez L. Van Cleef
Description
Since the beginning of time, human beings have told the story of their own beginning, and of the origins of the four directions, the heavens,the God-People, the earth, and all its creatures. The Navajo People tell a story of great psychological power and depth.First recorded by 19th century ethnographers, the Navajo Creation story is here interpreted as an epic-length poem.Jabez L. Van Cleef has written poetic versions of spiritual texts from all of the world's great religious traditions. His voice in dramatic readings explores the fine distinctions between metered prose and music, by creating a spoken word sound environment that lulls the listener into a state of profound receptivity.
16 Episodes
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-In this episode: In the first chapter, the Air Spirit people - dragonflies, bats, locusts, and others - search the surface of the First World, and find the names of the chiefs in four directions: "One Who Grabs Things in the Water," "Blue Heron,"
-In this episode: In the second chapter, the air spirit people wear out their welcome in the first world (by having sex with the wives of the people there), and are driven away into the sky by the approach of a great flood of waters.
-In this episode: In the third chapter, the air spirit people come into the second world, a world of blue. They live in peace for a while with the swallow-people; but then they betray them, and they are driven back into the sky.
-In this episode: In the fourth chapter, the air spirit people come into the third world, a world of yellow. They live in peace for a while with the locust-people; but then there is another betrayal, and they are driven back into the sky.
-In this episode: In the fifth chapter, the air spirit people come into the fourth world, which is a mixture of black and white. They find people there who know how to grow things and cultivate the soil. They resolve to settle down and behave themselves, in order to
-In this episode: Holy Men, Spirit Gods, come to the fourth world, where they create First Man and First Woman in a Dancing Ceremony. Look in the skin of your fingertips, to see how the wind blew 'round them! Poetry written and voiced by Jabez L. Van Cleef.
-In this episode: First Man and First Woman have children. With the help of the Gods, the people plant, they grow, they make useful things, and they learn to hunt. In time, they intermarry with the Mirage People. Poetry written and voiced by Jabez L. Van Cleef.
-In this episode: First Woman fashions a penis from turquoise and a vagina from shell. She enlivens these with a medicine cloud and gives them to all the men and women to strengthen the bond between themselves. Coyote and Badger are born from the union of earth and
-In this episode: The people prosper and give names to the four directions. Then, after a time, First Man and First Woman have a big argument. First Man recruits all the men to join him and cross the river. The men and the women decide to live separately. Poetry w
-In this episode: How the men and women lived separately; how the men tried to please themselves with deer liver, and the women with long smooth stones; and how they finally came back together again. Poetry written and voiced by Jabez L. Van Cleef.
-In this episode: How Big Water Creature kidnaps two girls, and the Gods help their parents to rescue them; and how Coyote the Trickster sneaks in, and takes Big Water Creature's children away. Poetry written and voiced by Jabez L. Van Cleef.
-In this episode: The peaceful world becomes suddenly chaotic, as all the animals flee in terror, and the people hear of great floods approaching them from all directions. The people gather at the top of a hill to escape the water. They plant different kinds of trees,
-In this episode: An Old Man, a Young Man, and a Locust spread seven bags of sacred soil on the hilltop. Then they plant a cluster of reeds, which grow together. The people climb inside the reeds, and are lifted away from the rising waters. Badger helps dig a burrow
-In this episode: Badger helps dig a burrow through the sky, so that the people can crawl through to the fifth world. They emerge on an island in the middle of a lake. Poetry written and voiced by Jabez L. Van Cleef.
-In this episode: The people leave the island. When they are on the far shore, Coyote teaches them that it is probably better if they don't live forever, and that someday each one dies. Poetry written and voiced by Jabez L. Van Cleef.
-In this episode: The people discover that Coyote has hidden Big Water Creature's children in his robe. This was what caused the flood. After the babies are returned, one of the boy/girl twins dies. The people see the afterlife, through the hole to the fourth world
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