DISCORD, FRICTION MEAN PROPHECY IS COMING TRUE

The discord in and on the Earth are signs that the ancient prophecy of spiritual awakening found in many cultures and traditions is coming true, Native American teacher and storyteller Rainbow Eagle says.

This seismic activity and social friction are "a birthing time for Mother Earth."

The disconnection with the Earth and with each other can only be counteracted by the valuing of ancient wisdom, he told an audience of about 40 Southeast students Tuesday at Kent Library's Little Theater.

The Earth is in a period the Ojibwa Tribe call the Seventh Fire, a time when native ways are honored again and when the light-skinned race will decide between destruction and the Eighth Fire of peace, love and joy, he says.

"We're ready to speak of the bigger picture than what has been known up to this time."

Rainbow Eagle calls himself a Wisdom Keeper, one who has the responsibility of teaching the traditions of the Native American Peace Shield. The Peace Shield is an Ojibwa drawing older, he said, than the Dead Sea Scrolls.

It consists of a circle that includes pictures of a bear, a rabbit, an eagle and a deer, symbols in a cosmology that embraces the sacredness of the individual, the importance of the community, the wisdom of elders and the sanctity of Mother Earth.

At the center of the circle is the Creator. "Everything is a reflection of the Creator," Rainbow Eagle said. "... Then everything is sacred."

Rainbow Eagle is a Christian who says the ancient wisdom can reinforce your present faith system.

He became a Wisdom Keeper through a vision he received in a Native American ceremonial ritual.

"It became the task of the Peace Shield teachers to prepare the community," he said.

Rainbow Eagle is the native name of Rolland J. Williston, an Okla-Choctaw American Indian who has a master's degree in education from Northeastern Oklahoma State University and is a licensed social worker for the state of Ohio. He also has been a high school counselor, professor of Native American culture and philosophy and alternative education consultant.

He was brought to Southeast through a Funding for Results grant.

His book, "The Universal Peace Shield of Truths: Ancient American Indian Peace Shield Teachings," was published in 1996. Among the teachings are to live without fear or guilt and to know "there is no death, just a changing of worlds."

The Native American prophecies don't necessarily predict disaster, he said, but rather alert us that this is a time when great spiritual leaps can be made.