Night of the Red Sky
The Prophetic Vision of 'Grandfather'
Printed in Nexus Magazine
In the 1920s, an Apache wise
man had a Vision of four prophecies that foretold death and
destruction for mankind, unless we incorporate Spirit in our daily
lives.
Two of these prophecies may already have come true.
A number of people can predict the
future, but few get the timing correct. "Grandfather" was an Apache
wise man and scout, named Stalking Wolf, who grew up outside white
man's influence. His many predictions not only came true in the
manner he predicted, but also when he predicted.
Tom Brown, Jr learned extensively from Grandfather for twenty
years, from their first meeting when Tom was seven years old.
Stalking Wolf was the real-life grandfather of Tom's best friend at
the time. The following excerpt from Tom's book, The Quest,
tells of Grandfather's predictions for all of mankind.
Looking back, I can clearly see that Grandfather's prophecies,
unlike anything else, had the greatest influence on my life. At the
time they had little more effect than to frighten me and cause me to
sit up and take notice. It wasn't until after his prophecies began
to come true that their haunting impact began to affect me in a very
profound way.
More than any other person-prophet, religious leader or psychic-I
have ever met, Grandfather's prophecies, on both a major and a minor
scale, came true exactly at the time he prophesied and exactly as he
prophesied. With that record, I could not help but feel the impact
of these prophecies on my life.
Grandfather could foretell the future with tremendous accuracy.
Not only could he precisely tell us what would happen in the next
moment, day, week or year, but with the same accuracy he could
predict the possible futures for ten years and more away. It was not
long before I began to keep detailed records of his predictions,
along with other notes I kept on survival skills, tracking, awareness
and things of the Spirit. I received from Grandfather hundreds of
personal, minor predictions, and well over half have since come true.
Along with the minor personal prophecies was a list of 103 major
predictions, of which, to date, over 65 have become absolutely true,
not only in time and place but also in the exact order in which they
were predicted to happen.
Grandfather said that there was not future, only possible futures.
The 'now' was like the palm of a hand, with each finger being the
possible future, and, as always, one of the futures was always the
most powerful, the way that the main course of events would surely
take us. Thus his predictions were of the possible future, which
meant that he always left a choice.
"If a man could make the right choices," he said, "then he could
significantly alter the course of the possible future. No man, then,
should feel insignificant, for it only takes one man to alter the
consciousness of mankind through the Spirit-that-moves-in-all-things.
In essence, one thought influences another, then another, until the
thought is made manifest throughout all of Creation. It is the same
thought, the same force, that causes an entire flock of birds to
change course, as the flock then has one mind."
Out of all the personal and major prophecies that Grandfather
foretold, there are four that stand out above all the rest. It is
these four that mark the destruction of man and life on Earth, as we
know it to exist now. Yet Grandfather said that we could still
change things, even after the first two prophecies came true, but
that there could be no turning back after the third.
Now that we have gone well past the second prophecy, danger and
destruction are very apparent, and our only recourse is to work
harder to change what has possibly become the inevitable. The
urgency that I feel-now, more than ever-is a direct result of the
second, impossible prophecy coming true. It is the reason that I
teach, sometimes with a certain desperation, and constantly with the
sense that we are quickly running out of time.
I should have worked harder and with that same desperation at a
much earlier date, but, like the rest of mankind, it took a strong
message to get me motivated. I should have known that these things
he prophesied would some day come true, because his personal, minor
predictions were coming true daily.
He so accurately foretold of Rick's death on a white horse, that I
would some day teach, that I would have a son-and that taking him
into the Pine Barrens for the first time would forever change my
life. He predicted the formation of my school, my books, my family,
and even the horrible mistakes I would make as I tried to live within
society.
Yet with all of this coming true on a daily basis, I simply would
not believe or accept that the major prophecy of man's destruction
would come true, and its reality hit me hard. It was then that the
urgency made itself known.
I remember so vividly the "night of the four prophecies"-as I have
become accustomed to calling that night when Grandfather first made
us aware of their possibility. We had been with Grandfather for five
years at the time and were accustomed to his prophecies and their
accuracy.
Our ability to understand the things of the Spirit world were as
sure as our ability to survive and track. Very little of what
society calls "the paranormal" shocked us any more, because miracles
were part of our everyday existence. Grandfather was a living
miracle, and so many of the things that he did on a daily basis,
sometimes unconsciously, would be considered miraculous by most. Yet
as savvy as we were spiritually, the night of the four prophecies
shocked us like nothing we had ever experienced before.
We had been hiking all day without much of a break, making our way
to a place where we were going to camp, atop a small hill that I now
call Prophecy Hill. It was a typical midsummer hike: hot, humid and
dusty, with no water available along our entire travel route. As
usual, we still took time to stop frequently or take side trips to
explore various areas along our route. The adventure and exploration
kept us fresh and eager, making the fatigue, heat and thirst hardly
factors.
Many times along the way, Grandfather would stop and teach us-not
physical lessons of survival, tracking or awareness, but lessons
dealing with the awareness of Spirit. Very often he would discuss
the future and, almost as frequently, the past-the distant past.
At one point we stopped along the deer trail we were travelling
and followed Grandfather through some heavy brush. The trees and
shrubs were far different than those throughout the rest of the Pine
Barrens, and I immediately knew this place as an old homestead or
town of some sort. Even though the buildings had long since rotted
away, the plants and trees still marked the spot where civilisation
had once stood. Passing through several very thick areas, we finally
entered a grove of very tall, old sycamore trees. From their
branches and up their trunks ran huge vines, the kind one might
imagine finding in a jungle. In fact, the whole place looked like a
jungle-so out of place from the pine, oak and blueberry that is
typical in the Pine Barrens. As we sat down, a deeper spiritual
sense of awareness came over me, and it was then that I noticed the
gravestones.
This was the place of a very old and probably long-forgotten
cemetery, possibly belonging to the town that had once been here.
The stones were old; some lay flat on the ground and others stood
upright, though none was straight. Plants and bushes had overrun
many of the stones, and I could barely make out the markings on the
stones. The weathering process had worn away many of the names and
dates, making them barely readable.
At once we were in awe, humbled and reverent in this place of
death; at the same time, we were amazed that Grandfather had found it
so easily. To my knowledge, none of us had been there before, nor
had Grandfather ever spoken of this graveyard. Yet for some reason
he seemed to be drawn to it, knowing that it was there on some unseen
spiritual level, at least unseen to us. I suspect now, as I look
back, that he knew that it would become a teaching lesson for us.
He walked over to a gravestone that was partially hidden by
foxgrape vines and gently pulled them away. After a long moment, he
motioned us to come over. We could barely make out the name on the
grave or the dates, but at the bottom was carved clearly: "12 years
old".
Grandfather then spoke. "Who are these people; who is this boy?
What did they work for and what were their hopes, dreams and visions?
Did they just work physically or did they work for the things beyond
the flesh, for a grander purpose? Certainly they affected the
Spirit-that-moves-in-all-things, but did they really work to the best
of their ability to make things better for the future of their
grandchildren, or did they do nothing other than to perpetuate the
myth of society? Were they happy, joyous and filled with spiritual
rapture, or did they just lead lives of labour and mediocrity? And
did this boy live close to the Earth and the Creator, or did he just
give up his youth, his sense of adventure, to toil, as did his
parents and their parents before them? This boy was exactly your
age, and I suspect he had hopes and dreams much like yours. But this
is his legacy, lying in a forgotten grave."
"But, Grandfather," I said, "isn't it enough just to be happy and
live your life fully?"
After a long moment of silence, Grandfather answered. "It is not
enough that man be just happy in the flesh, but he must also be happy
and joyous in spirit. For without spiritual happiness and rapture,
life is shallow. Without seeking the things of the Spirit, life is
half lived and empty. And by spiritual life I do not mean just
setting aside one hour of one day of one week for worship, but to
seek the things of the spirit every moment of every day. I ask you,
then: What did these people do to seek spiritual enlightenment and
rapture? Did they just give in to a life that was little more than
work? They were given a choice every day of their lives-as you will
be given a choice to seek the rapture of the Spirit or to resign
yourselves to a life of meaningless work. The end result is always
the same: forgotten graves and forgotten dreams of forgotten people.
It is not important that anyone notice or remember, but that you
work to touch God and affect in a positive way the consciousness of
the Spirit-that-moves-in-all-things, thus bringing the consciousness
of man closer to the Creator."
We left the graveyard without a word and headed up to the campsite
on the hill. By the time we reached the camp, it had cooled off and
the Sun had long since set. As we built shelters and a fire and
gathered food, time seemed to fly by unnoticed, as my mind was
thoroughly engrossed in thoughts of the lessons in the graveyard. I
wondered how much I might be like that nameless dead boy in that
forgotten grave. Was I just seeking the flesh and not working hard
enough in the things of the Spirit?
It was then that I realised the deeper lessons of what Grandfather
was trying to teach me. I realised then that I should live life as
if I were to die tomorrow, for that is what happened to that young
boy. No one can be assured of another day, but we must live each day
fully, in flesh and most of all in Spirit. It isn't important that
anyone remember who we were, but that we made a positive change in
the consciousness of the Spirit-that-moves-in-all-things, the life
force of the Earth, and, in doing so, find spiritual rapture and
touch the Creator.
I sat by the fire after the work was done, relaxing, still deep in
thought about the boy in the graveyard. Grandfather sat at the far
end of the fire, his eyes closed, but I suspected that he was not
sleeping. In the firelight, his features appeared more that of a
spirit than of flesh. Quietly he leaned forward and answered the
many questions I had on my mind. At times, his ability to know what
was on my mind was unnerving, sometimes making me angry to think that
he could know my thoughts.
"Did you ever watch a flock of sandpipers on the beach, how they
ebb and flow with the tides, becoming at times not a gathering of
individual animals but one organism, moving as a unit together along
the surf? When they burst into flight, their cohesiveness is even
more startling and wondrous. At once they all will be flying in a
certain direction, and then in an instant the entire flock will turn
simultaneously and take a new direction.
"Studied closely, there is no one bird that makes the decision to
turn, but it seems to be a Spirit, a collective consciousness, that
runs through the flock instantly. When viewed from afar, the flock
appears to be one animal, one organism, one consciousness, governed
by the collective force and spirit of all the individuals. It is
this same consciousness that runs through man, Nature and the
Earth-that which we call the 'Spirit-that-moves-in-all-things', or
the 'life force'.
"I suspect," he continued, "that it is but one bird that creates
the thought that turns the flock, and the one thought becomes
immediately manifested in all the others. The individual then
transcends self and becomes one with the whole. Thus, at once, the
bird moves within the flock and the flock moves within the bird. So,
then, do not ask what you can do to affect the life force in a
positive way, for the same Spirit that moves within the birds also
moves within you. One person, one idea, one thought can turn the
flock of society away from the destructive path of modern times. It
is not a question as to whether we make a difference, for we all make
a difference, each of us in our own way. It is the difference we
make that is important."
"So if we live a life that is close to the Spirit, seek the
spiritual rapture of oneness, that will affect the outcome of life,"
I said. My statement was more a question than a declaration.
"It is not enough," Grandfather said, "just to seek the things of
the Spirit on a personal level. To do so is selfish, and those who
just seek the spiritual realms for themselves are not working to
change the Spirit that moves through the consciousness of man.
Instead they are running away, hiding from their responsibility and
using their wisdom for their own glorification. Spiritual man must
then work for a principle, a cause, a Quest far greater than the
glorification of self, in order to affect the spirit that can change
the course of man's destruction."
I sat for a long time in the quietude of the night, trying
desperately to understand what Grandfather had told me. In essence,
it was not enough to work for spiritual enlightenment for self, but
to work for the spiritual enlightenment of all of mankind. To work
only for self, to cloister oneself in the seeking of spiritual
rapture, is to run from this responsibility. What Grandfather was
saying is that a spiritual person must take the wisdom and philosophy
of the Earth and bring it back into modern society.
Grandfather spoke again. "Trying to live a spiritual life in
modern society is the most difficult path one can walk. It is a path
of pain, of isolation and of shaken faith, but that is the only way
that our Vision can become reality. Thus the true Quest in life is
to live the philosophy of the Earth within the confines of man.
There is no church or temple we need to seek peace, for ours are the
temples of the wilderness. There are no spiritual leaders, for our
hearts and the Creator are our only leaders. Our numbers are
scattered; few speak our language or understand the things that we
live. Thus we walk this path alone, for each Vision, each Quest, is
unique unto the individual. But we must walk within society or our
Vision dies, for a man not living his Vision is living death."
For a long time there was no other conversation. I retired into
my own thoughts and doubts. I did not want to live within society,
for the wilderness was my home, my love, my life and my spiritual
rapture. I could not see why a man could not live his Vision in the
purity of wilderness, away from the distractions of society. I could
feel no urgency or see any reason why I should take what I have
learned back to society.
Grandfather's voice shattered my thoughts. "The Earth is dying.
The destruction of man is close, so very close, and we must all work
to change that path of destruction. We must pay for the sins of our
grandfathers and grandmothers, for we have long been a society that
kills its grandchildren to feed its children. There can be no rest,
and we cannot run away; far too many in the past have run away. It
is very easy to live a spiritual life away from man, but the truth of
Vision in spiritual life can only be tested and become a reality when
lived near society."
"How do I know that we are so close to that destruction?" I asked.
"I had a Vision," Grandfather said. "It was a Vision of the
destruction of man. But man was given four warnings to that
destruction, two of which gave man a chance to change his ways and
two of which would give the children of the Earth time to escape the
Creator's wrath."
"How will I know these warnings, these signs?" I asked.
Grandfather continued. "They will be obvious to you and those who
have learned to listen to the Spirit of the Earth; but to those who
live within the flesh and know only flesh, there is no knowing or
understanding. When these signs, these warnings and prophecies, are
made manifest, then you will understand the urgency of what I speak.
Then you will understand why people must not just work for their own
spiritual rapture but to bring that rapture to the consciousness of
modern man."
The Four Signs
Grandfather had been wandering for several years and was well into
his forties when the Vision of the four signs was given to him. He
had just finished his third Vision Quest at the Eternal Cave when the
Vision made itself known. He had been seated at the mouth of the
cave, awaiting the rising Sun, when the spirit of the warrior
appeared to him. He felt as if he were in a state somewhere between
dream and reality, sleep and wakefulness, until the spirit finally
spoke and he knew that it was not his imagination. The spirit called
Grandfather's name and beckoned him to follow.
As Grandfather stood, he was suddenly transported to another
world. Again, he thought that he was dreaming, but his flesh could
feel the reality of this place; his senses knew that this was a state
of abject reality, but in another time and place.
The spirit warrior spoke to Grandfather. "These are the things
yet to come that will mark the destruction of man. These things you
may never see, but you must work to stop them and pass these warnings
on to your grandchildren. They are the possible futures of what will
come if man does not come back to the Earth and begin to obey the
laws of Creation and the Creator. There are four signs, four
warnings, that only the children of the Earth will understand. Each
warning marks the beginning of a possible future, and as each warning
becomes reality, so too does the future it marks."
With that, the spirit warrior was gone and Grandfather was left
alone in this strange, new world.
The First Sign
The world he was in was like nothing he had ever known. It was a
dry place with little vegetation. In the distance he saw a village,
yet it was made out of tents and cloth rather than from the materials
of the Earth. As he drew closer to the village, the stench of death
overwhelmed him and he grew sick. He could hear children crying, the
moaning of elders and the sounds of sickness and despair. Piles of
bodies lay in open pits awaiting burial, their contorted faces and
frail frames telling of death from starvation. The bodies appeared
more like skeletons than flesh, and children, adults and elders all
looked the same, their once dark-brown complexions now ash-grey. As
Grandfather entered the village, the horror of living starvation
struck him deeper. Children could barely walk, elders lay dying, and
everywhere were the cries of pain and fear. The stench of death and
the sense of hopelessness overwhelmed Grandfather, threatening to
drive him from the village.
It was then that an elder appeared to Grandfather, at first
speaking in a language that he could not understand. Grandfather
realised, as the elder spoke, that he was the spirit of a man-a man
no longer of flesh, but a man who had once walked a spiritual path,
possibly a shaman of this tribe. It was then that he understood what
the old one was trying to tell him.
The elder spoke softly. "Welcome to what will be called the 'land
of starvation'. The world will one day look upon all of this with
horror and will blame the famine on the weather and the Earth. This
will be the first warning to the world that man cannot live beyond
the laws of Creation, nor can he fight Nature. If the world sees
that it is to blame for this famine, this senseless starvation, then
a great lesson will be learned. But I am afraid that the world will
not blame itself, but that the blame will be placed on Nature. The
world will not see that it created this place of death by forcing
these people to have larger families. When the natural laws of the
land were broken, the people starved, as Nature starves the deer in
winter when their numbers are too many for the land to bear."
The old one continued. "These people should have been left alone.
They once understood how to live with the Earth, and their wealth
was measured in happiness, love and peace. But all of that was taken
from them when the world saw theirs as a primitive society. It was
then that the world showed them how to farm and live in a less
primitive way. It was the world that forced them to live outside the
laws of Creation and, as a result, is now forcing them to die."
The old man slowly began to walk away, back to the death and
despair. He turned one last time to Grandfather, and said: "This
will be the first sign. There will come starvation before and after
this starvation, but none will capture the attention of the world
with such impact as does this one. The children of the Earth will
know the lessons that are held in all of this pain and death, but the
world will only see it as drought and famine, blaming Nature instead
of itself."
With that, the old one disappeared, and Grandfather found himself
back at the mouth of the Eternal Cave.
[Author's note: This is the great African famine that inspired
the Bob Geldof "We are the World" Live Aid relief effort.]
Grandfather lay back on the ground, thinking about what he had
witnessed. He knew that it had been a Vision of the possible future
and that the spirit of the warrior had brought him to it to teach him
what could happen. Grandfather knew that people all over the Earth
were now starving-but why was this starvation so critical, so much
more important than all the rest, even more important than the
starvation that was taking place now?
It was then that Grandfather recalled that the tribal elder had
said that the entire world would take notice, but that the world
would not learn the lessons of what the death and famine were trying
to teach. The children would die in vain.
Grandfather looked out across the barren land that surrounded the
Eternal Cave to try to re-establish the reality of his 'now'. He
said that it was still hard to discern between waking reality and the
world of Vision, but he felt that he was back into his time and
place.
He told me that the Eternal Cave was always a place to find
Visions of the possible and probable futures, and it was not uncommon
for the searcher to have a Vision at the mouth of the cave, not just
inside.
In a state of physical and emotional exhaustion, Grandfather fell
into a deep sleep, but it was in this sleep that the warrior spirit
appeared to him again and brought the remainder of the first sign to
completion.
In his dream, the spirit spoke to Grandfather. "It is during the
years of the famine, the first sign, that man will be plagued by a
disease, a disease that will sweep the land and terrorise the masses.
The white coats [doctors/scientists] will have no answers for the
people, and a great cry will arise across the land. The disease will
be born of monkeys, drugs and sex. It will destroy man from inside,
making common sickness a killing disease. Mankind will bring this
disease upon himself as a result of his life, his worship of sex and
drugs, and a life away from Nature. This, too, is a part of the
first warning; but, again, man will not heed this warning and he will
continue to worship the false gods of sex and the unconscious spirit
of drugs." [Author's note: This is presumably a reference to AIDS.]
The spirit continued. "The drugs will produce wars in the cities
of man, and the nations will arise against those wars, arise against
that killing disease. But the nations will fight in the wrong way,
lashing out at the effect rather than the cause. It will never win
these wars until the nation, until society, changes its values and
stops chasing the gods of sex and drugs. It is then, in the years of
the first sign, that man can change the course of the probable
future. It is then that he may understand the greater lessons of the
famine and the disease. It is then that there can still be hope.
But once the second sign of destruction appears, the Earth can no
longer be healed on a physical level. Only a spiritual healing can
then change the course of the probable futures of mankind."
With that, the warrior spirit let Grandfather fall into a deep and
dreamless sleep, allowing him to rest fully before any more Vision
was wrought upon him.
The Second Sign
Grandfather awoke at the entrance of the cave once again, the
memory of the warrior spirit still vivid in his mind, the spirit's
words becoming part of his soul.
When Grandfather looked out across the landscape, all had changed.
The landscape appeared drier; there was no vegetation to be seen,
and animals lay dying. A great stench of death arose from the land,
and the dust was thick and choking, the intense heat oppressive.
Looking skyward, the Sun seemed to be larger and more intense; no
birds or clouds could be seen, and the air seemed thicker still. It
was then that the sky seemed to surge and huge holes began to appear.
The holes tore with a resounding, thunderous sound, and the very
Earth, rocks and soil shook.
The skin of the sky seemed to be torn open like a series of gaping
wounds, and through these wounds seeped a liquid that seemed like the
oozing of an infection, a great sea of floating garbage, oil and dead
fish. It was through one of these wounds that Grandfather saw the
floating bodies of dolphins, accompanied by tremendous upheavals of
the Earth and violent storms. As he held fast to the trembling
Earth, his eyes fell from the sky, and all about him, all at once,
was disaster. Piles of garbage reached to the skies, forests lay cut
and dying, coastlines were flooded and storms grew more violent and
thunderous. With each passing moment, the Earth shook with greater
intensity, threatening to tear apart and swallow Grandfather.
Suddenly the Earth stopped shaking and the sky cleared. Out of
the dusty air walked the warrior spirit, who stopped a short distance
from Grandfather. As Grandfather looked into the face of the spirit,
he could see that there were great tears flowing from his eyes, and
each tear fell to the Earth with a searing sound.
The spirit looked at Grandfather for a long moment, then finally
spoke. "Holes in the sky."
Grandfather thought for a moment, then, in a questioning,
disbelieving manner, said, "Holes in the sky?"
And the spirit answered. "They will become the second sign of the
destruction of man. The holes in the sky and all that you have seen
could become man's reality. It is here, at the beginning of this
second sign, that man can no longer heal the Earth with physical
action. It is here that man must heed the warning and work harder to
change the future at hand. But man must not only work physically, he
must also work spiritually, through prayer, for only through prayer
can man now hope to heal the Earth and himself."
There was a long pause as Grandfather thought about the
impossibility of holes in the sky. Surely Grandfather knew that
there could be a spiritual hole, but a hole that the societies of the
Earth could notice would hardly seem likely.
The spirit drew closer and spoke again, almost in a whisper.
"These holes are a direct result of man's life, his travel, and of
the sins of his grandfathers and grandmothers. These holes, the
second sign, will mark the killing of his grandchildren and will
become a legacy to man's life away from Nature. It is the time of
these holes that will mark a great transition in mankind's thinking.
They will then be faced with a choice-a choice to continue following
the path of destruction, or a choice to move back to the philosophy
of the Earth and a simpler existence. It is here that the decision
must be made, or all will be lost."
Without another word, the spirit turned and walked back into the
dust.
The Third Sign
Grandfather spent the next four days at the cave entrance, though
for those four days nothing spoke to him, not even the Earth. He
said that it was a time of great sorrow, of aloneness, and a time to
digest all that had taken place.
He knew that these things would not appear in his lifetime, but
they had to be passed down to the people of the future with the same
urgency and power with which they had been delivered to him. But he
did not know how he would explain these unlikely events to anyone.
Surely the elders and shamans of the tribes would understand, but not
society, and certainly not anyone who was removed from the Earth and
Spirit.
He sat for the full four days, unmoving, as if made of stone, and
his heart felt heavy with the burden he now carried.
It was at the end of the fourth day that the third Vision came to
him. As he gazed out onto the landscape towards the setting Sun, the
sky suddenly turned to a liquid and then turned blood-red. As far as
his eyes could see, the sky was solid red, with no variation in
shadow, texture or light. The whole of Creation seemed to have grown
still, as if awaiting some unseen command. Time, place and destiny
seemed to be in limbo, stilled by the bleeding sky. He gazed for a
long time at the sky, in a state of awe and terror, for the red
colour of the sky was like nothing he had ever seen in any sunset or
sunrise. The colour was that of man, not of Nature, and it had a
vile stench and texture. It seemed to burn the Earth wherever it
touched. As sunset drifted to night, the stars shone bright red, the
colour never leaving the sky, and everywhere the cries of fear and
pain were heard.
Again, the warrior spirit appeared to Grandfather, but this time
as a voice from the sky. Like thunder, the voice shook the
landscape. "This, then, is the third sign, the night of the bleeding
stars. It will become known throughout the world, for the sky in all
lands will be red with the blood of the sky, day and night. It is
then, with this sign of the third probable future, that there is no
longer hope. Life on the Earth as man has lived it will come to an
end, and there can be no turning back, physically or spiritually. It
is then, if things are not changed during the second sign, that man
will surely know the destruction of the Earth is at hand. It is then
that the children of the Earth must run to the wild places and hide.
For when the sky bleeds fire, there will be no safety in the world of
man."
Grandfather sat in shocked horror as the voice continued.
"From this time, when the stars bleed, to the fourth and final
sign, will be four seasons of peace [that is, one year]. It is in
these four seasons that the children of the Earth must live deep in
the wild places and find a new home, close to the Earth and the
Creator. It is only the children of the Earth that will survive, and
they must live the philosophy of the Earth, never returning to the
thinking of man. And survival will not be enough, for the children
of the Earth must also live close to the Spirit. So tell them not to
hesitate if and when this third sign becomes manifest in the stars,
for there are but four seasons to escape."
Grandfather said that the voice and red sky lingered for a week,
and then were gone as quickly as they were manifest.
The Fourth Sign
He did not remember how many days he'd spent at the mouth of the
cave, nor did it make a difference, for he had received the Vision he
had come for.
It was in his final night at the Eternal Cave that the fourth
Vision came to Grandfather, this time carried by the voice of a young
child.
The child said, "The fourth and final sign will appear through the
next ten winters [that is, ten years] following the night that the
stars will bleed. During this time, the Earth will heal itself and
man will die. For those ten years, the children of the Earth must
remain hidden in the wild places, make no permanent camps, and wander
to avoid contact with the last remaining forces of man. They must
remain hidden, like the ancient scouts, and fight the urge to go back
to the destruction of man. Curiosity could kill many."
There was a long silence, until Grandfather spoke to the child
spirit, asking, "And what will happen to the worlds of man?"
There was another period of silence until finally the child spoke
again. "There will be a great famine throughout the world, like man
cannot imagine. Waters will run vile, the poisons of man's sins
running strong in the waters of the soils, lakes and rivers. Crops
will fail, the animals of man will die, and disease will kill the
masses. The grandchildren will feed upon the remains of the dead,
and all about will be the cries of pain and anguish. Roving bands of
men will hunt and kill other men for food, and water will always be
scarce, getting scarcer with each passing year. The land, the water,
the sky will all be poisoned, and man will live in the wrath of the
Creator. Man will hide at first in the cities, but there he will
die. A few will run to the wilderness, but the wilderness will
destroy them, for they had long ago been given a choice. Man will be
destroyed, his cities in ruin, and it is then that the grandchildren
will pay for the sins of their grandfathers and grandmothers."
"Is there then no hope?" Grandfather asked.
The child spoke again. "There is only hope during the time of the
first and second signs. Upon the third sign, the night of the
bleeding, there is no longer hope, for only the children of the Earth
will survive. Man will be given these warnings; if unheeded, there
can be no hope, for only the children of the Earth will purge
themselves of the cancers of mankind, of mankind's destructive
thinking. It will be the children of the Earth who will bring a new
hope to the new society, living closer to the Earth and Spirit."
Then all was silent, the landscape cleared and returned to normal,
and Grandfather stepped from the Vision. Shaken, he said that he had
wandered for the next season, trying to understand all that had been
given to him, trying to understand why he had been chosen.
Grandfather had related the story to me in great detail during
that night of the four prophecies. I don't think that any event had
been left out, and his emotions and thoughts were such that he
actually relived it for us. Thus the power of his Vision became part
of our spirit, our driving force, and a big part of our fears.
I sat for a long time up on the hill. The fire had gone out, and
all had retired to sleep for the night. Creation seemed to be at a
standstill, awaiting this darkest part of the night to pass by. I
felt alone and vulnerable, as if all of Creation were scrutinising my
every thought.
Grandfather had this Vision some time in the 1920s.
About the Author:
Tom Brown, Jr has called the wilderness home for most of his life.
In 1978 he wrote his first book, The Tracker (an
autobiography), and founded the Tracker School where he teaches
courses in survival skills such as tracking, nature awareness and
ancient Earth philosophy. He has since written another 15 books,
including Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival as
well as The Search, The Vision, The Quest,
The Journey, Grandfather and Awakening Spirits.
For details on tracking courses and how to obtain Tom's books, visit
The Tracker, Inc. website at
www.trackerschool.com.
by Tom Brown, Jr © 1991
The Tracker, Inc.
PO Box 173
Asbury, NJ 08802, USA
Telephone: +1 (908) 479 4681
Fax: +1 (908) 479 6867
E-mail: TrackInc@aol.com
Website:
www.trackerschool.com