The Hopi are a Native American tribe who reside in the Four Corners area of the United States. Their prophecies have been a source of discussion and debate for the last 50 years among futurologists. Since the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, interest has been rekindled in these prophecies.

To hear the Hopi tell it, somewhere a small chunk of rock holds the key to the world's future.

But perhaps we're getting ahead of the whole story....

The Original Rock Band

The prophecies begin with the ending of the Third world. As with the Mayans, the Hopi use references to large cycles of time in their legends. Each cycle is a World, marked by the comings and goings of the Great Spirit, known as (Maasaw). The Third World was destroyed by flood; most people except a Chosen few died in the deluge. These people were hidden in the earth, and brought out again once the waters receded, entering the Fourth World.

The Great Spirit handed out eight stone tablets to the survivors, split them up into four colors, and gave them "Guardianship" of a fount of knowledge related to each of the four elements. These tablets contained "Original Teachings" that each group was to maintain; at the end of the Fourth World, the people were to come together again to share their teachings and knowledge, bringing about a great civilization. If the tablets weren't maintained, both the people and the planet would once again face near-total destruction. The Great Spirit admonished the people to never let the tablets "touch the ground"—meaning to respect the tablets, and keep them safe.

Each "clan" is associated with a color, a direction, a racial type, and a base of knowledge related to one of the four elements. When you put the list together, it reads almost like a crew for a starship. As we'll see later, the resemblance is not entirely coincidental.

According to Lee Brown, who gave public talks about the prophecies in the mid-80s, the Hopi currently believe the Black "Tribe" to be the Kikuyu, and that their tablets are stored at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Kenya. The White tribe is Swiss, their tablets somewhere in Switzerland. The Yellow Tribe is Tibetan1, and their tablets are still assumed to be in Tibet. The Hopi tablets reside in the neighborhood of Third Mesa, in Hopiland.

The Hopi were led by two brothers: Blue Brother and White Brother. White Brother was sent East, while the rest of the Hopi were left in the land of the Great Spirit2. So that the younger brother might know him when he returned, White Brother also took a small chunk of one of the tablets. Blue Brother would know when he'd arrived at the right place when a white star appeared in the sky. The return of the White Brother, known as Pahanna, is clearly laid down in glyph form on a Prophecy stone located in Hopiland, near Second Mesa. His coming signals the end of the Fourth World, and the commencement of Judgement Day. If White Brother arrives from the East, there will be harsh judgements, but many will survive; if he comes from the west, the judgements will be merciless.

O Brother, Where art Thou?

Of course, identifying the White Brother isn't easy. "White" in this case does not necessarily refer to skin color. The White Brother is supposed to have long black hair, a red cloak, and two companions: one male, who carries the sign of the swastika; and a female, who carries the sign of the Celtic Cross, covered in red lines. In alternate interpretations, the White Brother's companions are actually the two World Wars. The female's "Celtic Cross" is similar in form to the Iron Cross Medal awarded to Germans who fought bravely in World War I. The male's sign is seen to be a swastika combined with the symbol for the sun, signifying the alliance of Germany and Japan in World War II. In any event, when the Pahanna returns, he will have his chunk of rock with him; the chunk will clearly fit into the tablet the Hopi possess. The Hopi may also have other tests to ascertain the White Brother's identity, no doubt as rigorous as the tests the Tibetans use for identifying tulkus.

In 1971 an offshoot of the Rainbow Family discovered an odd rock on a farm in Oregon. The rock, covered in petroglyphs and other carved designs, didn't seem to belong to anyone, and no one could recall how it got there3. The rock's appearance coincided with a gift of Hopi corn. Hearing of the prophecies, the family made its way to Hopiland, and showed the rock to the tribal elders.

It wasn't the right rock.

Nonetheless, the Hopi elders proceeded to give the Rainbows instructions on the care and feeding of sacred stone objects, and charged them with the task of upholding the traditional ways of caring for Mother Earth. The Rainbows followed instructions, only to have the rock disappear from their possession in 1978.

Publicizing the Prohecies

The Hopi tablets have been tested by carbon dating. As near as modern Science can determine, the Fourth World has lasted between 10,000 and 50,000 years. For most of that time, the Hopi kept their knowledge of the tablets, and the future, to themselves. However, the tablets clearly outlined the future and detailed nine signs by which the end of the Fourth World would be known. In the 19th century, the signs began to appear; as of this writing in 2002, eight of the nine signs are considered fulfilled. The Ninth is under debate.

By far the most disturbing signs concerned Pahanna's companions and a "gourd of ashes" that would "burn the sky". In 1920 the Hopi, concerned, wanted to warn then-President Woodrow Wilson of the danger, during an attempt by the Native American Tribes to join the League of Nations. They were unsuccessful. In 1950, the Hopi authorized certain tribal members to speak publicly about the prophecies, in English, for the first time4. After a second World War and some atomic bomb drops, the Hopi traveled east and started knocking on doors.

Mind you, they didn't knock on just any old door. The one they chose belonged to the United Nations Headquarters, at its newly-built home in New York. The prophecies had described a great "House of Mica" in which the people of the Earth would be able to come together. The glass-fronted skyscraper seemed to fit the description. The Hopi were part of a much larger Native American contingent applying for member status in the UN5.

During this time, the four clans our story began with found themselves under siege on various levels. Tibet was invaded by the Chinese in 1950; by 1959 the Dalai Lama and countless others would flee the country. Coal and valuable radioactive minerals were discovered on Big Mountain, in the center of four mountains5 considered sacred by Hopi and Navajo alike in the Four Corners area. Mining began in 1951, and continues to this day. By 1952 The Kikuyu were embroiled in the Mau Mau rebellion against the British. The Swiss, having successfully remained neutral throughout both World Wars, were now being invaded by two different groups of accountants and politicians. The first group was seeking a piece of the millions (in 1946 dollars) in stolen gold, money, and other treasures banked in Switzerland by the Nazis. The second group was none other than...the United Nations, seeking a politically neutral home for its European headquarters.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a new generation of humans was making use of the new Swiss invention known as LSD7. Hippies, seekers, and the just plain curious descended on the reservations, seeking a more natural, peaceful way of life.

While a number of different translations of the prophecies have been made over the years the best known are:

  • Frank Water's book The Book of the Hopi;
  • A talk given by Lee Brown, at the 1986 Continental Indigenous Council in Fairbanks, Alaska;
  • Various talks given by Thomas Benyaka, of the Hopi Tribe;
  • Chief Dan Evehema's "Message to Mankind";
The Nine Signs

Both the books and the talks go into great detail about predictions of the future that have since proved accurate. Other portions of the prophecies have foreshadowed such things as the 1969 moon landing...

"You're going to see a time when the eagle will fly its highest in the night and it will land upon the moon."
—Lee Brown, quoting Benyaka

genetic research, splicing and cloning...

"You're going to see a time in your lifetime when the human beings are going to find the blueprint that makes us. They're going to cut this blueprint."

...and even sex change operations.

"You're going to see a time in your life when men are going to become women.
The Great Spirit is going to make a man on the earth. He made him a man but this man is going to say, 'I know more than the Great Spirit. I'm going to change myself to be a woman'."

These are the Nine Signs, according to Frnak Water's version of the prophecies.

"This is the First Sign: We were told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana -- men who took the land that was not theirs and who struck their enemies with thunder.

This is generally seen to be the arrival of America's western settlers, who were well equipped with guns.

"This is the Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices.

This sign concerns the arrival of Conestoga wagons in the West.

"This is the Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns, will overrun the land in large numbers.

Following the settlers across the West were the ranchers, with their herds of Longhorn cattle...

"This is the Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron.

Followed by the railroads.

"This is the Fifth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed by a giant spider's web.

Between Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone, and Thomas Edison's ingenuity with electricity, wires and more wires cross the planet today. And we won't even mention fibre optics.

"This is the Sixth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun.

In bright sun, especially in desert areas, the average concrete highway will create mirages. Other prophetic descriptions include "bugs" that crawl along black roads, and bounce into the sky, as though someone were watching the evolution of cars and planes from a long way away.

"This is the Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it.

Two words: Exxon Valdez.

"This is the Eighth Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like our people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn our ways and wisdom.

Hippies, yippies, Merry Pranksters, etc.

"And this is the Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of the Hopi people will cease.

Many people are certain that the Ninth Sign applies to the destruction of the World Trade Center. Twin brothers are a consistent theme in Native American mythology. The WTC, which consisted of two of the highest skyscrapers in the world, certainly qualified as a house in the sky. On the other hand, there is one other "sky-house" to watch out for: the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS has remained in orbit for three years, which is a blink of the eye, really, when compared to the length of the Fourth World. A related prediction describes a "Blue Star" kachina who will remove his mask during a dance. In some interpretations the Blue Star kachina is an actual star (Sirius) or even a comet like Hale-Bopp.

A further prophecy states that "The white man will battle people in other lands -- those who possessed the first light of wisdom." This part of the prophecy is the one that has people a little jittery. Most sources agree that the "first light of wisdom" refers to the Old-World religions of the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As retaliation for the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush has taken his "war on terrorism" not only to Afghanistan, but also to an "axis of terror" that includes Iraq and North Korea. It's unclear how far this new war will really spread.

The Fifth World
And so arrives Judgement Day. In the Hopi prophecies the Fifth World is preceded by a period of purification. Those who have followed the Great Spirit's instructions are the ones expected to survive. Afterwards, the Fifth World begins. It is to be a paradise, a utopia; all people sharing their knowledge, creating greatness and peace.

But not here.

In 1970 a well-documented UFO sighting occurred after a "calling" by the Hopi. According to Frank Waters, those of the Fifth World are to be taken up to the sky, and on to other planets, aboard a "ship without wings".


FOOTNOTES
  1. Sociologists and Anthropologists alike have been fascinated by the cultural similarities between the Tibetans and Native American tribes. The Hopi are less amazed.
  2. Hopiland, an area in Arizona roughly centered around Big Mountain, in the Four Corners area. The Hopi consider their lands to be the "womb" of the world, and believe that violence done to the ground there is reflected in the planet at large.
  3. Of course, in the late 1960s and early 1970's, the term "heroic dose" was in everyone's vocabulary.
  4. Which might explain their problems with Woodrow Wilson, thirty years earlier...
  5. After four days, the Native Americans were not admitted. It's believed that the United States delegation vetoed their application.
  6. The four sacred mountains are:
    • East: Mt. Blanca, east of Alamosa, CO
    • South: Mt. Taylor, near Grants, NM
    • West: San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff, AZ
    • North: Mt. Hesperus, west of Durango, CO
  7. The drug was invented in 1943 by Albert Hoffman.

Websites:
"The Hopi Prophecies." http://www.crawford2000.co.uk/hopi.htm
"Chief Dan Evehema's Message to Mankind." http://www.timesoft.com/hopi/message/message.htm
"Hopi Prophecies (Morgana's Observatory)." http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/tethys.htm
"HOPI Prophecies of the Future." http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/hopi.html
"NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN (HOPI) PROPHECIES." http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/prophecy/hopi2.html
"Hopi Blue Star Prophecies." http://www.crystalinks.com/hopi2.html
"THE LOST TABLET OF THE HIPPIE": http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/prophecy/99awf.losttablet.garrick.htm
"Hopi Elders on the Art Bell radio show." http://www.crystalinks.com/hopi3.html

Books:
Waters, Frank, and Fredericks, Oswald Bear. The Book of the Hopi. (Reprint edition) Viking Press, 1985.
Mails, Thomas. The Hopi Survival Kit. Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2000.