 |
SPIRIT
LODGE
LIBRARY
Myth
& Lore
Page
9
|
(Main
Links of the site are right at the bottom of the page)
Some of the 86 pages in this Myth & Lore section are below.
The rest will be found HERE
Coyote & Firefly,
How Firefly Got His Blinking Light.
By CinnamonMoon
*NOTE: I do not know the tribal nation
from which this story comes, it was shared with me a long time
ago and I just wanted to share with you. It's
a great tale for little ones!
He was a star and his name was Forgets
to Twinkle. This little brother was a part of the Great Star
Nation and lived with his Seven Sister Stars, who are still
shining brightly there in the sky. They are inside the constellation
of the Great Buffalo, showing the children where to look. The
Seven Sister Stars held the Seven Sacred Directions teaching
us to honor the abundance that the Great Buffalo brings to us
from every direction. Forgets to Twinkle was always sad because
his sisters had the missions of holding the Seven Sacred Directions
for the Great Buffalo and he wasn't sure what his mission was.
He was so very sad that sometimes he let his light fade away
and that is how he earned his name Forgets To Twinkle.
One Sleep, when Grandmother Moon
was showing her Full face, Forgets To Twinkle traveled through
the Sky Nation until he was hanging in the clouds above Sacred
Mountain. His heart was very happy because he could see all
of the Little Sisters and Brothers of the Creature Tribe playing
in the moonlight. He shouted down to Brother Coyote and asked
if he could join in the play. Coyote was known by all of the
other animals as the Trickster, but little Forgets To Twinkle
did not know anything about any of the Children of the Earth
because he had never been anywhere but the Sky Nation. Trickster
Coyote shouted back that he would be delighted if this Little
Star Brother wanted to play with him, but Coyote thought Forgets
To Twinkle was too far away.
Forgets To Twinkle thought a moment
and then decided to come closer, dancing in the sky while Coyote
danced with him on the Earth. Coyote started talking to the
Little Star Brother very softly, making Forgets To Twinkle come
closer to hear what the Trickster was saying. Softer and softer
words of friendship brought the Little Star out of the sky until
he was floating just over Coyote's head. Then that mean old
Trickster grabbed Forgets To Twinkle and gobbled him up!
Forgets to Twinkle was terrified
when he found himself inside of the Trickster's belly. He was
so upset, he forgot to twinkle and did not know how in the world
he was going to get out safely. Around the same moment that
Coyote gobbled up the Little Star Brother, Grandmother Moon
looked down and noticed that Forgets To Twinkle was nowhere
in sight. She looked and looked but could not see her Little
Brother anywhere. Because she was concerned, she sent the Stars-With-Tails,
who were her scouts, out to look for Little Brother. In those
ancient times, the Comet People were messengers who could come
and go from the Great Star Nation. These Stars-With-Tails searched
high and low for Little Brother without any luck in finding
him.
Inside the Trickster's belly, the
Little Star Brother was frightened, but he knew that he had
better start remembering all the wisdom his Seven Sisters had
taught him or he would never see them again. After a long while,
he finally remembered why he was called Forgets To Twinkle.
He had always been afraid that his light was not as pretty as
his sister's and so he would only blink a little light here
and there. Now that he was trapped inside Coyote's belly, he
decided he had better trust his ability to shine brightly. He
huffed and puffed and sent all of his light into his little
star body, lighting himself and shining as brightly as he could.
The Trickster suddenly found that the trick was on him when
his whole furry body lit up like Grandfather Sun. Coyote ran
and ran, trying to hide from the Comet scouts that Grandmother
Moon had sent to find Little Brother. The Trickster had seen
the Stars-With-Tails circling the prairies, looking for Forgets
To Twinkle. Old Coyote had thought he could trick the Star Scouts
as easily as he had tricked Little Brother. Now the slippery
Trickster was so bright that there was no place he could run
or hide without the Star Scouts finding him. In a panic, the
Trickster opened his mouth and spit Little Brother out and then
ran away.
The Stars-With-Tails spread the news
to the Cloud People, who told the Thunderers, who told the Fire
Sticks that the mean old Trickster needed a taste of his own
Medicine. The Sky Nation was filled with the Little Star Brother's
angry Relations who gathered the storms, filling the Cloud People
with Raindrop People and Ice-Beings who could wet and punch
Coyote with their water and ice bodies. Hinoh, the Thunder Chief,
belched his rolling roar, and the Thunderbird flapped his giant
wings, bringing such enormous sounds that the Trickster stood
quaking in fear.
Meanwhile, Little Star Brother was
trapped in the Earth Mother's magnetism. He could not move from
the ground to go home. He was still shining brightly so that
his Sky Relations could see where he was, but no one could rescue
him because they would be caught in the Planetary Mother's magnetism
as well. He called out to the Earth Mother and asked her to
release him and waited for her reply.
The storm was moving across the land,
giving the Trickster a chance to run as he finally found his
paws and started to dodge the pellets of ice and freezing rain.
Lightning bolts crashed around him and one Fire Stick hit him,
finally catching his tail on fire. Coyote ran and ran, trying
to think how he could trick the Sky Relations and make them
leave him alone.
Little Star Brother finally heard
the Earth Mother speak amid the sounds of the Thunderers. Her
voice traveled on the raging winds that accompanied the storm
his Relations had made. "Forgets To Twinkle, you are going
to have to live with the Children of Earth now. If I release
my magnetism, you will be able to go home, but all of my children
will fall off the earth and go flying into the sky. You are
responsible for forgetting to pay attention to Grandmother Moon's
advice and warning. There is no way that I can help you without
hurting my other children. You must stay here with us and decide
what kind of creature you would like to become."
Forgets To Twinkle was sad but he
knew that the Earth Mother was right. He had not paid attention
and had been tricked into ignoring Grandmother Moon's warning.
He wanted to be a part of the Sky Nation and to see the world
from above as he had always done when he lived with his Seven
Sisters. He knew that he would never again forget to shine his
light brightly, because he wanted his Sky Relations to know
where he was and that he remembered his family. He decided to
tell the Earth Mother that he wanted to be a flying creature
who could shine like a star. The Earth Mother agreed and changed
him into a flying Creepy-crawler of the Insect Tribe. She put
a tiny star in his tail so that he could twinkle at his Sky
Relations, reminding all other Little Brothers and Sisters in
the Great Star Nation what could happen to them if they did
not pay attention to the wisdom of the Elders.
Even now, if Coyote hears thunder
or sees Firefly, he will run away in fear. The Trickster remembers
that the Fire Sticks caught his tail on fire and that he had
to jump into a pond to put it out. Some people say that the
Fire Sticks and Thunder Beings counted coup on Coyote, bringing
victory and honor to Little Star Brother. That is how Forgets
To Twinkle earned the name Lightning Bug. His Firefly tail lights
up to remind Coyote of the only Relations that ever out-tricked
the Trickster by catching his tail on fire. When Firefly's tail
lights up, we Two-Leggeds are reminded to let our Medicine shine
and to keep a twinkle in our eyes so the Trickster cannot fool
us into following the crooked trail.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Libraries
are on this row
|
|
|
INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
|
|
INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
©
Copyright: Cinnamon Moon & River WildFire Moon (Founders.)
2000-date
All rights reserved.
Site
constructed by Dragonfly
Dezignz 1998-date
|
|
