T H E    H O P I    P R O P H E S Y    R O C K

by Johnny Pious

The approaching millennium has been an inspiration to many groups and individuals who are seeking a better understanding of human civilization. This arbitrary numeric change is being used as an excuse to re-evaluate our relationship to the Creator and to the Earth. Many people have started reading scriptures and the prophetic works of Nostradamus, the Kabalah and the biblical Book of Revelations, seeking clues to the future and warnings of things to come.

While the old books contain much wisdom, their interpretation in these modern times is often subject to uncertainty and even error. The meanings of the past have, in many cases, been lost by the extinction of the secret cults and esoteric societies that first put pen to paper.

In the February issue of ViewZone Magazine, we carried a story of an Alaskan Prophesy. This story spoke of a special age-- the era of the "fifth hoop"-- that was to coincide with the re-establishment of the indigenous peoples as overseers of the planetary environment and culture. In this revelation, the "sacred tablets" of the races were mentioned. One of these sacred tablets resides on the Hopi Indian Reservation in northeast Arizona and is called "The Hopi Life Plan."

The picture above shows the petroglyph in enhanced form, as it appeared to LaVan Martineau on his visit to the Hopi Reservation in the late 1960s. Out of respect for the Hopi, we have not shown to actual stone as it appears today.

Although this petroglyph was unguarded for hundreds of years, it is now carefully protected by Hopi elders. Access to Hopi lands and the recent disputes with neighboring tribes and governmental agencies have restricted these cultural icons to the religious leaders of the Hopi. The stone, also called the "Hopi Prophesy Stone," is now hidden from the view of cameras and non-Hopi visitors. In the late 1960's, a remarkable man visited Hopiland and made an extensive survey of this petroglyph. LaVan Martineau copied and translated the strange marks and revealed a message that has special meaning to Native Americans and all people of our planet-- especially during the impending new cycle.

The "Hopi Plan of Life" is described by the elders of the Hopi Hotevilla faction as follows:

When the Hopi first arrived upon this land the Creator was the only one living here at the time. When the Hopi met the Creator here, they asked him to be their leader. The Creator refused and said that there were many evil intentions in their hearts that they must first fulfill before he could be their leader. Those who managed to survive and live through all their evil intentions would meet the Creator after all was over and he would then be their leader. The Creator is therefore the 'first' and the 'last' because of this meeting arrangement.

One of the many instructions given to the Hopis by the Creator at this time was that they should migrate all over this continent and, while doing so, they should leave their picture writing and clan symbols upon the rocks near their ruins as a sign that the Hopis were the first and were rightfully holding this entire continent in trust for the Creator. In regard to this they were told by the Creator that a time would come when another race would come upon this land and claim it all, but that these Hopi writings upon the rocks would justly retain and hold the ownership of this land by the Hopi in trust for the Creator.

LaVan Martineau was raised by Native Americans as a child and was fluent in the sign language used by many tribes. A stint in the military exposed him to the science of crypanalysis, the study of codes and symbols, and later enabled him to decipher the hidden meanings of American petroglyphs. In his book, The Rocks Begin To Speak, Martineau gives the following interpretation of "The Hopi Life Plan," symbol by symbol. Symbol A represents the Creator pointing down close to the ground from where the Hopi claim to have come. The short vertical lines near the Creator's hand B thus represent the Hopi people. The Creator is holding in his left hand "the life plan" or "trail" C upon which the Hopi are to embark. Near this hand is a circle D which represents "holding" of the entire continent in trust for the Creator, as he had instructed. (Since this photograph was taken, viewers of this panel have added a bow to the right hand of the Creator which was not apparent when Martineau surveyed the carving.)

Point E on the trail or life plan represents a time when it was predicted by the Creator that the Hopi would digress from the true path given to them and pursue another way. The square F is said to represent Oraibi, and the line or path G coming down from the square represents the false path of the wicked Oraibi-- the Hopi who are always trying to outdo and hold themselves above others, without the help of God. (This line is above the true path.)

The figures H standing upon the false path represent the wicked themselves. Older Hopi claim that heads have recently been added to these symbols, for they remember a time when no heads existed on these figures. The absence of heads would represent the punishment or death that the wicked must undergo as a result of following the false path.

The two zigzag lines I stemming from the false path represent the careless and different paths to permanent destruction pursued by the wicked. Each zigzag is the pursuit of a careless and wicked intention that will eventually come to a dead end when all evil intentions have been exhausted. This "dead end" is shown by the symbol turning around or sagging down J. The upper zigzag line has recently been scratched and marred to such an extent that is resembles a fourth figure, which the Hopi say was not there originally. Whether it was or was not does not seriously affect this translation.

Symbol K is the true path of everlasting life, symbol L, which is shown at four points along this true path. The incorporation of the symbol old age (a cane) with life (a branching corn leaf) represents everlasting life.

This true path to everlasting life is bisected at three different points by three half circles M, which might have been complete circles at one time. (This panel has been scratched over so many times that it is often difficult to distinguish the correct form of these symbols). The Hopi say that they are gourds which are shaken, thus representing three great wars or shakings that will transpire before the everlasting life is reached. The last circle represents the "final war" of purification in which all evil will be destroyed.

At point N on this panel the false path connects with an everlasting life symbol, showing that some may return to the true path and to everlasting life. The two zigzag lines which extend beyond this point of possible return to the path of everlasting life thus truly indicate permanent destruction, since the wicked have gone beyond this point of no return. Symbol O, at the end of the path is the great spirit holding an everlasting life symbol in his hand. He is shown waiting here at the end of the trail just as he was shown at the beginning of it. For this reason he is called the first and the last.

Symbol P is difficult to distinguish, again because of the panel having been repeatedly scratched instead of chalked (for photographing). It more closely resembles three dots, but the Hopi claim it is a Catholic cross added to the panel after a bad experience with the Catholics in the seventeenth century. This symbol was placed there by the Creator's instructions, to show that the Hopi way and the Catholic way should not combine.

To gain a better understanding of the Hopi and their way of life, see The Hopi: People of the Corn in the archives of ViewZone Magazine.

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