Kachina

Southwest On My Mind

Dance in the rain. - Anonymous

Sometimes when you realize you can’t go home anymore, you discover something even more important.

Wherever you go...

Wherever you land...

Wherever the journey takes you...

You can always bring a little bit of home with you along the way.

That's the reason that this kachina napkin holder tagged along when we moved to our home in the Midwest some ten years ago. This, and a few more knickknacks.

I love the kachina because of what it stands for.

A spirit being in the religious beliefs of pueblo Indians.

The bridge between the spiritual world and mortals.

A rainmaker who dances between raindrops, without umbrellas.

I can imagine the kachina with his elaborately painted headdress adorned with turquoise beads.

In a slightly forward-tilted posture, forward raising of the knee, and a flat-footed stomp, he starts a petition for rain.

His feet are painted yellow, a color that represents the eagle’s yellow feet to enable him to dance lightly throughout the day.

He continues to beckon the rain gods in their cloud homes in the north, west, south, and east. He gyrates, his torso flexing.

Looking up, the people sense the rain before it comes in raving clouds that are humming with charged energy. 

The rain begins almost immediately. Like the sky just opened up. Hard rain. A downpour. 

Rolling over them in thick, warm sheets.

(To be continued)