Kasskara: Sunken Land of the Hopi Ancestors / Kachinas

Continued from: Part 1; Part 2:

Since their emergence in the First World, the Hopi and their ancestors have been in a close relationship with Kachinas, which White Bear defined as "initiated, highly ranked, esteemed beings". They were originally called Kyakyapichina, the plural form of the singular, Kyapchina, the term also incorporating the word chinakane, which means "growth" as the growth of a plant, although in this context it also indicates the spiritual growth Kachinas inspire. The language evolved over time, and now these entities are simply called Kachinas.

Kachinas can manifest visibly, or they can remain invisible, but White Bear made it clear that these beings come to Earth from locations vastly distant from our planet. "The Kachinas come from space. They do not come from our solar system but from very distant planets. It would require several generations for our astronauts to get there," White Bear said. "The Hopi name for these planets is Toonatakha, which means 'close to each other', not in a material sense but a spiritual one because all their inhabitants share the same responsibilities and work closely together. For this reason the Hopi translate Toonatakha as 'Confederation of Planets', and because we know there are twelve such worlds, we also refer to a 'Confederation of Twelve Planets'," he explained, adding, "Kachinas can move very quickly. While I pronounce this sentence" they can traverse long distances. Their vessels fly with magnetic force even when they circle the earth."

In 1978 White Bear accompanied my anthropology teacher Henry Denny and I to Inscription Canyon near Prescott, Arizona, an area noted for its ancient petroglyphs. He pointed out an equilateral cross on a rock slab that had a deeply etched outline suggesting an amniotic enclosure. The glyph predated the birth of Jesus, he told us, saying it anticipated this future divine incarnation. White Bear also showed us a petroglyph of the aforementioned "Confederation of Planets", indicating those inhabited worlds that communicate with each other in this part of the galaxy. In ancient times it was known among certain people that intelligent beings had come from space and helped mankind develop from its primitive state, but this knowledge was nearly lost when the earth suffered global and semi-global cataclysms. Some of this knowledge survived in the mythologies of aboriginal people, and even in the West some of this information remained concealed by various powerful institutions, often with contradictory interests, such as the Order of Freemasons and the Roman Catholic Church.

White Bear explained that Kachinas have varying ranks depending upon their capacities. While they're all called Kachinas, some are also called Wu'yas, which means "divinity" and describes an exceptionally wise person. "Comparing Kachinas and Wu'yas with Christian entities, we might say 'angels' for Kachinas and 'archangels' for Wu'yas. They're all angels, but the highest in rank you would call archangels. The divinities are positioned above the Kachinas, and above all there is the Creator," White Bear said. "Only Kachinas are in contact with human beings, not the divinities, who only give instructions to the Kachinas." To the young the Hopi refer only to Kachinas in their effort to familiarise children with the initiated beings. "It would be too difficult to explain the difference to them, and this is where the Kachina puppets serve their role; they accustom children to these beings' physical appearance so they do not fear seeing the dancers," White Bear explained, adding that even tourists who buy these puppets call them Kachinas. They are usually unaware of the deeper meaning, he said, but it does not really matter.

"We do the same thing with the San Francisco Mountains [Arizona]. When children see those high peaks, they understand when we tell them that this is where the Kachinas go when they leave us," White Bear said, saying it's easier for children to understand a high mountain than a distant planet. "Think about what you tell your children about Santa Claus and the child Jesus. But when the children are accepted among adults, the difference is explained. The Kachinas come from a very distant planet, and when they leave us, they return there. The men who carry out the dances represent these learned beings who came to us a long time ago," he said.

White Bear describes three kinds of Kachinas. The first involves survival and the continuity of life. In the Hopi dances these Kachinas appear mid-winter when in nature all life sleeps. "They offer the certainty to us that life will return and continue, and as reincarnation belongs to the continuity of life, it means that we will take birth again and have the possibility to improve," White Bear said. The second group consists of the teachers. "We learn from them who we are, where we are, what transformations we can undergo and what we must do," he said. The third group represents the guardians of the law. "They are the ones who warn us. They explain to us patiently what not to do," White Bear said, "but in time they stop informing us and start punishing us for any evil we do."

White Bear reports that children have been born following a "mystical relation" between Hopi women and Kachinas. "I will tell you later a legend that report s this fact. There was thus a physical proximity between our people and Kachinas. We could touch them. But even if that seems strange, they never had sexual relations. The children were conceived in a mystical way," he said, apparently referring to what Christian doctrine calls 'virgin birth'. "Such children, when grown, possessed great knowledge and wisdom and sometimes even supernatural capacities, which they had received from their spiritual father," White Bear explained. "They were always splendid, powerful men who were always ready to help but never to destroy."

White Bear made it clear that Kachinas have physical bodies. "That's why they need vessels to travel in our skies and return to their planets," he said, adding that there are spaceships of various sizes and names. "One name is Patoowa, 'the object which can fly above water'. Pahu means 'water' in our language and Toowata is an 'object with a curved surface.' Because of this form we also call it a 'flying shield'. I will tell you what it resembles; If one divides a calabash [a type of gourd] in two, one obtains a form with the aspect of a saucer. If one assembles two of these, one obtains the shape of the vessel which they used formerly to go to these planets. When one sits inside, one can move the craft in all the directions and one does not fall off regardless of speed. Because of this form we call it Inioma," he said.

I have been unable to locate a definition for "Inioma" beyond White Bear's description, which suggests that the spacecrafts' occupants were unaffected by the ship's velocity. It's also clear he believed the spaceships flew by somehow utilizing magnetism or magnetic fields. The Hopi know that some of their relatives have flown in these spaceships, which had also been used in other countries. In IIndia they were called vimanas. "People from Atlantis came to us in these vessels. Near Oraibi one can still see a petroglyph representing a woman in a flying shield. The arrow signifies high speed," he said. "You can see she carries the hair of a married woman."

Describing these spaceships, White Bear said the two halves are held together by a "support" which the pilot must actuate. When he turns a lever to the right, the ship goes up. When he turns it to the left, it goes down. "The vessel does not have an engine like aeroplanes and does not use fuel. It flies in a magnetic field. One must only know the adequate height. If one wants to move towards the east, one chooses a certain height. If one wants to go north, one chooses another height, etc. It is enough to go up to the height corresponding to the selected direction and the vessel flies in the desired direction. This way one can reach any place inside our atmosphere and one can also leave the earth," White Bear said. "It is very simple!"

(Article changed on February 6, 2016 at 03:13)