the condor and the eagle

i first heard about the condor and the eagle prophesy at ghost river's training camp last august. simply put, the south american indigenous prophesy goes, "when the eagle of the north and the condor of the south fly together, the earth will awaken." okay. neat.

reading one of the last chapters in confessions of an economic hitman, i came across this:
"'The Prophesy of the Condor and the Eagle'... states that back in the mists of history, human societies divided and took two different paths: that of the condor (representing the heart, intuitive and mystical) and that of the eagle (representing the brain, rational and material). In the 1490s, the prophesy said, the two paths would converge and the eagle would drive the condor to the verge of extinction. Then, five hundred years later, in the 1990s, a new epoch would begin, one in which the condor and the eagle will have the opportunity to reunite and fly together in the same sky, along the same path. If the condor and the eagle accept this opportunity, they will create a most remarkable offspring, unlike any ever seen before.
'The Prophesy of the Condor and the Eagle' can be taken at many levels--the standard interpretation is that it fortells the sharing of indigenous knowledge with the technologies of science, the balancing of yin and yang, and the bridging of northern and southern cultures. However, most powerful is the message it offers about consciousness; it says that we have entered a time when we can benefit from the many diverse ways of seeing ourselves and the world, and that we can use these as a springboard to higher levels of awareness."

ho-lah. it might not mean much to anyone else, but it sure means a lot to me. i've had a hard time justifying to people my decision to take an after-degree in native studies (which i'll start in september). i don't particularly want a career working specifically with native populations, and i'm not really very good with indigenous populations, but i've just felt myself inexplicably drawn to these teachings. i don't really believe i'm "fulfilling prophesy" or anything, but i like how these words and thoughts kind of make sense of the direction my life is taking right now.

interestingly, i just learned that thunderbird, who i know a little bit about from what i've learned about pacific northwest coast art, is apparently a condor. i didn't know that before. the cowichan i had made for myself last year has thunderbirds on it. neat. i'm feeling this intuitive and mystical influence. now i just have to be on the lookout for killer whales.

post script: i just came across this. it's part of a letter from benjamin franklin to his daughter:
"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him."
hummm... maybe not such a bad choice as far as accurate representation...