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These Lightning Dance Pathway Lessons were written by Choctaw Shaman Boe Many Knives Glasschild,
Illustrated by Wendy Slee, with an introduction by Celeste Allegrea Adams. Brought to you by Creatrix Studio.
This shamanic tradition has been available as an oral tradition, and has now been written down
for the first time, by Choctaw Shaman Boe Many Knives Glasschild - also known as Bvshpo Lawa.


CREATRIX STUDIO IS OFFERING ON-LINE LESSONS
IN THE SHAMANIC PATHWAY CALLED LIGHTNING DANCE


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Table of Contents
for On-Line Lessons
in Lightning Dance

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These lessons include:

INTRODUCTION by Celeste Allegrea Adams

LESSON 1 Achuffa o The Teaching Wheel

LESSON 2 Tuklo o The Four Worlds of Earth Mother

LESSON 3 Tuchinna o Earth Maker’s Wheel

LESSON 4 Ushta o Body Wheels

LESSON 5 Tathlapi o Physical Senses Wheel

Please Note: We regret that lessons 6 - 8 are no longer available. It is felt, by those who practice Lightning Dance, that these three lessons should be available only to advanced-level initiates.

LESSON 6 Hvnnali o Shields / Hoshonti (Part One)

LESSON 7 Untuklo o Swords / Bvshpo

LESSON 8 Untuchinna o Shields / Hoshonti (Part Two)

LESSON 9 Chakali o Laws of Creation

LESSON 10 Pokoli o Seven Bodies / Haknip Untuklo

LESSON 11 Awah Achuffa o Relationship Wheel

LESSON 12 Awah Tuklo o Belief Systems

LESSON 13 Awah Tuchinna o Medicine Bundles / Hobuna

LESSON 14 Awah Ushta o Approaches to Medicine

LESSON 15 Awah Tathlapi o Dreamtime

LESSON 16 Awah Hvnnali o Ten Worlds, Ten Powers, Ten Truths

LESSON 17 Awah Untuklo o Wheel of the Warrior & Healer

LESSON 18 Isht Ayyopi o The Last One • Flowering Tree Ceremony

READING INSERT - Interview with Boe Many Knives Glasschild,
by Celeste Allegrea Adams on Lightning Dance

LIGHTNING DANCE DICTIONARY

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES



Excerpts from the Lightning Dance Lessons




The goal for those that receive these teachings is to no longer endure reality, but to operate it.


The elders say the greatest journey is to go from the head to the heart.
When one returns from this journey, the enemies within are defeated,
filling the holhkunna with the ability to share Great Mystery.



words have energies like water...
soft words are like gentle rains,
angry words are like rushing rivers...
choose the words that are the true feelings within the heart,
our words represent our connection to the Great Mystery at that moment



when the intent is pure, the whispers between two like hearts
thunders throughout the Uni-verse,
for there is no power in the holhkunna unless
everything that has been learned in shared with others



the wind dances through the trees, filling the air with
sweetness and music...slow down and listen, for true
wisdom remains after the wind’s song is finished



When seeking Great Spirit, find yourself first and foremost, for Great Mystery lives within.
When the head bows down to the will of the heart, the strength of Great Spirit
will give you life and power. You will go from seeking to knowing and being.



You’ll learn the true nature of the human body

The human body is an electrical system. The body sorts out the energy in the
environment and redistributes this energy through the physical system.
Life force is the electro-magnetic energy, and these wheels (chakras)
control the aspects of our lives like fuses.



You’ll learn about the seven bodies and the seven sacred dancers

In Lightning Dance, the body of the holhkunna is viewed as a network of
facilities designed for expression in a certain area of operation. There are seven bodies,
the densest being the physical body, and the most ethereal being the spirit body.
There are seven sacred dancers, or energies, that operate each of the seven sacred bodies.



The Seven Bodies are divided into four lower bodies and three higher bodies.
Each spirit incarnation as a two-legged (human) gets seven new bodies.
The highest body — the Spirit body — oversees the other six bodies.
The six lower bodies work on auto-pilot when reacting to an event,
but on manual pilot when the holhkunna dances from an awakened space of being.



You’ll learn how to manipulate your body equipment, including the five swords:

the five swords are weapons of light for illumination to produce results and
not create harm. The holhkunna’s swords can be wands of healing, disempowerment,
for discerning and gaining information, and for severing. When the holhkunna is experiencing the events of reality on auto-pilot (asleep) the swords and shields match, i.e. east sword with east shield. The awakened holhkunna can focus to use the swords and shields in any desired combination.Treat all swords with respect and honor.



You’ll learn how to use a "Wind Sword"

To use this sword the holhkunna must know the other’s belief system very well
so as not to shatter people with their own medicine or create acts of devastation.
This is known as "wind swording".



You’ll learn how to manipulate your shields (Hoshonti)

The four Hoshonti hold power, issues, freedom, and the keys to renaming the present reality being experienced. When the four Hoshonti become second nature, or at least within the grasp, the holhkunna manifests the grandparent shield of wisdom, the Hoshonti vt Homolaya or Rainbow shield.



You’ll learn new ways of seeing

Acuity - the mastery of the knowable. Mastery of Acuity is the ability to perceive the way one wishes to perceive and the ability to change the perception of knowable things. This perception is changed through naming, and as the holhkunna develops acuity s/he acquires perfect ‘seeing’ (seeing how one chooses to perceive). The holhkunna sees the best way to perceive at the moment, and is aware of how s/he has chosen to perceive.



You’ll learn how to liberate yourself from rigid belief systems,
to open yourself to the magic of the spirit realm

when the holhkunna is unable to perceive "what really is" the holhkunna looses the ability to experience the Spirit flowing. In this respect, the belief system makes the holhkunna dysfunctional in the spirit realm of things. To move beyond this, the holhkunna must begin to rely on the things that can be experienced and directly perceived.



You’ll learn how to view things from the perspective of your higher self

To perceive reality as it really is requires that the holhkunna view events from the space of Hokshedah, the higher self. In this space the ego suspends its judgmental nature and allows the event to "happen". This is accomplished when the holhkunna maintains the space of the neutral mind…



You’ll learn about consciousness and attention

The ability of a conscious being to focus the mind power is called the attention,
and where the attention goes, the energy flows.



You’ll learn how to develop Soft Attention

Soft attention is a refocusing of our perception by directing our equipment to gather the required knowledge using different wheels. To experience soft attention, we must use three wheels together. We focus from the Dream Wheel (this will show us the orende energy of the object), the Animal Wheel (this will show us if this event is good or bad for us), and the Plant Wheel (this wheel shows us the strength of the connection between the event, its energy, and ourselves).



You’ll learn personal mastery

the holhkunna finds security in knowing that there is no security



when we develop patterns, we become predictable and also a slave
to the patterns, loosing our freedom and sovereignty...
when one walks with the Great Mystery on behalf of the Great Mystery,
one becomes unidentifiable, thereby gaining access to All



You’ll learn that people with medicine are constantly developing

Their path has called out to them, and they are constantly upgrading their personal equipment. Their relationship with the Great Mystery evolves with their upgrading. This group of people has a lot of personal power, but very little freedom.



You’ll learn to move from auto-pilot to manual pilot

To access the manual pilot within, the holhkunna stops striving and allows the higher self to take over and move out of the consensus standards.



You’ll learn how to accelerate change in your life

The Tooth Mother fetish represents the times of changes in the holhkunna’s space. It is of such a sacred nature that Lightning Dancers never show this amulet to others, not even their mentors or lodge members.



You’ll learn the 10 Laws of Creation, including the Stellar Law

There is no death, only a change of worlds. Death is a portal to a new existence, a return to the Star Nation where the existence is carried on without the limitations of a physical body.



You’ll be guided through exercises to help you develop personal mastery

Upon awakening, lie in bed and try to pull in a feeling tone of whatever one wishes to experience, i.e. good times, prosperity, what have you. Remember how these things felt, and recall the effortless flow of these successes. Reclaim the feeling as it felt then, for this is still logged in the psychological tapes. Pull it in, and watch the world conform to this vibe throughout the day.



You’ll become aware of how you have acquired a particular belief system,
by working with the relationship wheel

The relationship wheel is a circle of eight points that share a different perspective on how the holhkunna acquires knowledge in life. As Tawepiki, it is understood that every person that one relates with is a sphere of learning, bringing a set of lessons into the personal space for growth. These lessons can be perceived in either good or bad ways, with each producing its own assumptions for engaging in the game of living.



You’ll learn how to make a prayer stick

Prayer sticks are another way for holhkunna to apply energy to the nexus of change and growth. These are talismen that are created and left out in nature to experience the elements on a twenty-four hour basis everyday, whereas hobuna are carried around and cared for by the holhkunna. To create a prayer stick, the holhkunna locates a stick that desires to be of assistance, this is accomplished by holding the sacred space within and searching wherever the holhkunna feels drawn to. Once located, the stick is "bought" by leaving something of personal value in its place when removed; holhkunna never take from nature blatantly without leaving something to balance the exchange. Then the stick is imprinted with the prayer or desire, and maybe colored or carved to express this desire . . . It may be either a straight or forked stick, this is at the discretion of the holhkunna. Usually one or more feathers are attached to catch the elemental Mahli (wind), and the prayer stick is stuck upright in Earth Mother at the spot that agrees to accept this talisman. When the wind moves the feathers, the prayer is seen as being in progress.

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The path of the Lightning Dancer is the path of walking through the maze of life on manual pilot. It is the decision to respond to life instead of reacting.

The purpose of Lightning Dance is to give the white eyes with split vision the keys to dancing in the center of the circle. Although the practitioners are referred to as shamans, traditional societies shun this word. In the Choctaw Nation, the word is Holhkunna, which means shaman or native curer, (pronounced hoth-koo-nuh). White Eyes is a term that describes people seeking the natural medicine as provided by Earth Mother.

Until the veil is lifted, anyone can be a white eyes, but after answering the call to Earth Maker, and walking the talk on this behalf, one is on the path to becoming a Lightning Dancer. This is one of many pathways for Spiritual evolution, and the destination is as individually unique as the journey.

When one begins to operate on
manual attention, the personal gifts we carry in this incarnation begin to manifest. We become totally aware of the moment and create our actions to be most appropriate for the moment, transcending issues of right versus wrong.

Life is a relative engagement, and our physical bodies are just space suits containing the equipment we chose to attend the theatres of this life.

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The Earth Maker has created the uni-verse as a circle, and the four worlds of the stone people, the plant people, the animal people, and the two-leggeds (humans) are physical manifestations within the circle. The circle is a never-ending flow of energy, all points being equal. Birds build their nests in circles, musk ox encircle their calves for protection, snakes coil into circles before striking, the list goes on. Planets move in a circular orbit around each other, and the visible planets appear circular (Father Sun, Grandmother Moon, Earth Mother). From this perspective we begin to exist.

To be living in harmony and balance is to be at
the center of ones personal circle, or wheel. When we are moved to the outside of our wheels, we tend to loose stability as we are no longer the center or hub but on the edge and being spun around. At this point we react to the energy striking us as we are not in a balanced place to respond.

"Reacting" is best understood as energy returned to a stimulus automatically. "Responding" is energy returned after being subjected to the process of choice. Reacting is automatic, responding is deliberate (manual). The choice to respond allows one to make decisions based on the highest good for all involved; this is creating harmony and balance in the world around us.


A PORTRAIT OF MANY KNIVES • by Celeste Allegrea Adams


Many Knives describes a profound experience at the age of ten, that opened his eyes to worlds beyond the one of consensus reality. He saw his Grandmother sitting in a car, beside his Grandfather, at the time that she was in the hospital dying. The incident confused him, until many years later when his Grandmother appeared in Dreamtime and told him that he had seen her spirit body the day she died.

Many Knives describes himself as a black Choctaw. His Indian name, Bvshpolawa means Many Knives, in Choctaw. He explains that a knife is a tool, and he has many tools. His father was Blackfoot, African and Cherokee, but his mother was Choctaw, and he is aligned with that tribe.

As a Lightning Dancer, you see the body as a piece of equipment that gives you experiences. The practice of the Lightning Dancer includes working with the shields (or defenses), swords, body wheels, seven bodies, ten eyes, and five ears. As a Lightning Dancer, Many Knives knows how to reconfigure and recalibrate this equipment to rewrite ones personal histories. It involves modulating your will and changing your intention. You learn to move in the moment and respond to life instead of reacting. Once you learn to manipulate your equipment, you can go out of body.



In talking to Many Knives, I was interested in how someone learning shamanic powers can avoid misusing their knowledge—since all too often, ‘power corrupts.’ Many Knives explained that "the way to prevent that, is to remind people of the windigo, the shadow self. It grows as the shedah, the physical body grows. The hokshedah is the higher self, (the awakened shedah, or physical body). The Great Mystery speaks to us through our hokshedah. We all have one, as we are all part of Creator's stuff. The hokshedah is that cosmic thread in our belief system. The windigo is the shadow self, the ego that grows proportional to the hokshedah. As the light body grows, the Ego grows too."

Many Knives describes how the ego grows more cunning and is more difficult to detect in decision-making, as an individual grows, since enlightenment is not one-sided. Although the ego is necessary for structuring our mindset and assumptions, it can’t be in total control, or we’ll become unbalanced.

Our realities are held together by agreements, he explains, and if we all agree that that four legs and a flat top constitute a table, then those that buy into this agreement will all see a table. "I have worked with quite a few autistic individuals, and it was revealed to me that they do not buy into the consensus agreement for realities, but they are perfectly healthy in their own world of agreements. They are not the unhealthy minded individuals modern medicine wants to label them as, they just have a different mindset as their agreements are not the norm, since there is no norm per sec."



I also wanted to know Many Knives’ view on the correct use of shamanic power, when someone asks for a healing. He said, "There are two ways to approach this. The more passive medicine person will make prayers and let Spirit run its course, feeling that if it wills the healing, it will be, if not, so be it too. The shaman, on the other hand, sees the request as an invitation to enter the person's space and redesign the energy—but only for the highest good. One can not go into another's "wheel" (personal space) and play god for selfish gains—this is bad medicine, or black art. This is because everything we do affects everything else on many levels. Sometimes people need to suffer to get their lessons. They call in their spirit's evolution in this manner and correcting this imbalance would be the worst choice. Sometimes to manipulate another's space is enlightenment on their behalf, as we get out of balance to move to higher levels of awakening. It’s so relative.

One could manipulate another's wheel for whatever reasons, but this is spiritual abuse with heavy repercussions—this is what we call energy vampires. On a grand scale, our lives are rituals with everything we exchange energy with, so every action should be with the intent to elevate the world around us."

Although Many Knives has had many spirit teachers, the greatest was a blind wolf that had no ears. "I asked him, ‘Why do you have no ears?’ He said, ‘Because one day, society will lose their ears.’ I did not understand that. I asked, ‘Why do you have no eyes.’ He said, ‘Because one day, society will have no eyes. We will exist by feeling and feeling tone and communicating.’ Then as that vision grew, I understood that one day, we will not have our ears, which is the telephone. One day we will not have our eyes, which are our TVs and computers. We’ll live in a more natural state again."



Many Knives lives away from cities, and communes daily with the animals that live on his land. For him, "Cities are only appearances of power, nature represents true power. In the city, power is proportional to one's status—it can be purchased and bartered for. In nature lies the true power.

The elements hold down the four directions. These being air, water, fire, and earth, and the axle is Spirit, the great mystery they revolve around. Regardless of one's stature in the city, in nature All men exist equally. So, to a great extent, I find it most beneficial for me to go directly to the source instead of the by-product."

His visions occur first in the great Dreamtime, the unconscious time when one is at rest. In his forthcoming book, The Shore Within, he writes: "The Dreamtime is the space where we dance as close to Spirit as when we birthed, for here the self stays consistent in being "it," and the changes are the manifestations of the theatre around it. It is the waking, conscious world that we loose our personal powers, for here we do the shifting to accommodate and appease the consensus.

The Dreamtime is that sacred space where all events happen first, then move through the realms to our physical world…though society would have us see things differently." To live in an awakened state, he explains, "is simply a matter of transferring the vision of the Great Dreamtime to the dream, or waking state. This is honoring the vision and doing the work of great Spirit."


CREATRIX STUDIO




CELESTE ALLEGREA ADAMS • Author & Founder of Creatrix Studio

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Copyright © 2005 • All rights reserved. No part of this lesson may be reproduced, transmitted,
or translated in any form whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission
from Creatrix Studio, except in the case of brief quotations referenced in critical articles.

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