Skipping on a summer breeze
Notes from your wondrous flute
Coax wetness from the womanly earth
With an upstanding salute

Joy Bringer
Pleasure Giver

Penetrate us with flames of sound
Life’s fertile incantation
Teeming with possiblities
For approaching generations

Seed Carrier
Baby Maker

As your song drips into the ground
We quiver with the thrill
Of bursting toward the sun
Existence’s dream fulfilled

Magic Wand
Fountain of Life

Ho! Kokopelli!
Doing the god’s will

James: : : I shot this image in Hawai’i and rendered it in New Mexico. At the time, Kokopelli was the entire focus of the piece. Because we wanted to present him as he is known – but rarely seen – we included three women in the shot to portray his sexual allure to women. What else does a “fertility god” mean? To generate real energy for the shoot (and subsequently the painting), Becca, Amalia, and Jura did a seductive strip-tease for Jael. I like this shot because of the aspect of honoring the Masculine that comes with the sexuality.

Upon completing the painting in Taos, I spoke of it to some friends who were visiting us from Santa Fe. As I described the painting, our friend Rob said, “You put in the Three Sisters?” In response to my mystified look, he went on. “You said you painted three women around Kokopelli. You put in the Three Sisters? Don’t you know about the Three Sisters?” No, I didn’t. He explained that in Native American lore, the “three sisters” were planted together: corn, beans, and squash. Off we went to the studio to see the painting. When we stood there looking at the freshly-painted piece, we marveled at how I had painted the three women: Venus was yellow (the color of corn); the center woman was brown (beans); and the kneeling woman was orange (squash).
Once again, Venus and Her Lover was working its magic! Even though we had been unaware of the Native American story, the Three Sisters had found their way next to Kokopelli. What could be more natural than an agricultural deity surrounded by food crops?!

I have no more clue why I painted Kokopelli purple than why I painted the maidens their colors. But I put the eagle feathers on his head on purpose, and there is an eagle soaring in the sky. In Native American medicine, eagle feathers are very sacred healing tools, and Eagle represents the Great Spirit. I believe that sacred sexuality, here portrayed by a Spirit Man, is also a great healing tool for our society.
The background I took from my recollection of the landscape around Sedona, which impressed me with its bold rock formations. The phallic rocks in the background emphasize Kokopelli’s power. Becca pointed out to me that I had painted the corn with golden tassels emerging. I didn’t realize it at the time, but in fact, the tassels are full of pollen, ready to fertilize the corn plant. If the pollen does not reach the corn silks and their kernels, there will be no next generation for the corn. So Kokopelli’s presence, as the fertilizing principle, is vital for the life of the corn, and hence, the life of the tribe.
I got personal satisfaction out of this rendering of Kokopelli. Living in the SouthWest, surrounded by tourist kitsch depicting Kokopelli without a penis, I was happy for my brush to call attention to the organ that, in simpler times, was something that could be publicly admired.


Becca: When I compose a poem, I require silence, so that I can hear the rhythm of the unfolding poem playing in my head. But “The Harvest” was different. We had been living in New Mexico awhile when I wrote this one, long enough to have met several Native American flute players and acquired their CD’s. So it was that one winter evening, with the house muffled by the snow surrounding it, I put on Native American flute music and looked up at the Kokopelli painting. Song after song; it was uncanny how it seemed to me that Kokopelli was actually playing the flute. So I listened to him play.

The song of the flute is the metaphor that runs through the poem. How appropriate, as while there may be some discussion about the origins of Kokopelli, the Hopi Flute Clan today recognizes the importance of the Flute Player as a deity who benefits humanity with his music. They make the distinction between the Flute Player and the Hopi kachina god Kookopölö, who has a humpback and is associated with sexuality and fertility. Based on our modern interpretation of the character known as Kokopelli, my poem celebrates the benefits of the Masculine Principle.

While we spend a fair amount of pages in Venus and Her Lover decrying the abuses of the Patriarchy and the insensitivity of the male sexual impulse, we must also admire the truly wondrous aspects of the Sensual Man. I honor his lingam that is “upstanding” and can “penetrate” the Sensual Woman. The woman responds with “wetness”, “bursting”, and “quiver[ing] with the thrill”. Most obviously the refrains pay tribute to the lingam as “Joy Bringer”, “Pleasure Giver”, “Magic Wand”, and “Fountain of Life”.

Since feminism opened the doors for the Career Woman, it is not always politically correct to laud our biological roles of mother and father, but in this poem, Kokopelli’s lingam is called “Seed Carrier” and “Baby Maker” (a reference from She Who Remembers), as it delivers the genetic material needed for the survival of the species. Our sexual urges, at their very base, propel us to reproduce (“Existence’s dream fulfilled”), which is why Kokopelli, and any man, are fulfilling an evolutionary calling when they impregnate a woman. In one sense, they are “doing the god’s will”, carrying forward the perpetual “incantation” of life.

For Native Americans, the fertility principle meant not only the ability to produce children, but the ability to grow food. Kokopelli was depicted carrying a pack on his back, from which he distributed seeds for planting, making him literally a “Seed Carrier”. His magical music could coax warmth and moisture from Mother Earth, the “womanly earth”.

The poem is spoken by the Three Sisters, whose names are Sister Corn, Sister Beans, and Sister Squash. They adore the Masculine Power that can couple with the Triple Goddess, impregnating their [eggs] so they can “burst [through the soil and grow] toward the sun”.

The rhythm is fairly regular, with a rhyme pattern of abcb dd.

The mesa seemed to stretch smoothly to the horizon, but an eagle's perspective revealed that it was broken by cracks in the Earth. In these canyons lived the Cliff Dwellers. They had carved their cities into the brown cliff faces, making tiers of cave houses, plazas, kivas, and walkways. Each dwelling had an opening at the top, from which sprouted a ladder.

Summer had arrived, but the rains had not. Every day Sun Father shone strongly upon Earth Mother, who shriveled under the intense heat. People are worried. How will their corn grow, without rain? Would the spirits of the Three Sisters desert the little mounds of corn, beans, and squash? Today, however, an excitement stirs through the city. Hunters had returned with deer, and with word that Kokopelli was in the area. Surely he would visit them, as he had in the past, and bless them with his magic.

Then, at the ridge overhanging the cliffs, he stands there: tall, muscular, brown-skinned, of noble Toltec profile, with bright red macaw feathers in his hair and a large bundle on his back. He pulls a flute from his belt and plays, setting dogs to barking. The lively music echoes through the canyon, drawing the men, women, and children out to greet him. "He of the Singing Reed! He of the Sacred Seed!" they cry.

Everyone is interested in what he has in his pack - seeds, salt, shells, obsidian, spirit plant medicine - as well as the news he brings from his travels. Young women wind their hair into two round squash-blossom rolls and adorn them with beads and feathers, signifying their availability. Each one silently prays to Kokopelli, "Choose me!", for to carry the seed of the god-man would surely be a boon for the tribe.

In the evening, after the men have finished trading, the tribe gathers around the communal fire. Kokopelli unwraps his flute, saying, "I call to the Thunder Beings to unite with Earth Mother, to fertilize her with their life, their water." He grins, and the maidens who are praying for a night with him giggle. Holding his flute high above his head, he cries, "I dedicate my music to the Great Star Nation. We are their children. We ask our ancestors to help us find the way back home." Then he begins to play.

Indeed the notes from his flute seem to float directly up to the stars, which spill across the dark sky. His music is entrancing, and several people sit with eyes closed, flowing with it as if they are floating in a river. Suddenly a gust of wind blows through the canyon, and people hear the Thunder Beings beating on their drums to accompany his music. Distant flashes of light show that the Cloud People are approaching, coming to join them. Before long, the Thunder Beings begin hurling their fire sticks to the earth, awakening the Earth Mother to receive their rain. The clan gathered around the fire watches the awesome display in the sky.

As raindrops begin hitting the dry earth, women run for their clay pots, placing them in strategic spots to catch the water. But one maiden stands still, smiling up at the tumultuous sky. Kokopelli, who has ceased playing, notices her and asks, "Why do you not get your pots?"

She replies, "When I first heard your flute today, I went and placed my pots, because I knew you would bring the rain." Kokopelli smiles at the young woman, who looks lovingly at him. "So you are the one," he says. They go together to her room and make love that night to the sound of rain music, creating a child half Toltec and half Pueblo. Legend has it that a child of such a union will be able to lead the people back home, back to the Star Nation.

The next day, before Kokopelli moves on, the Medicine Chief leads everyone in a prayer of gratitude for the rain, the Earth Mother's fertility, and the magic of Kokopelli. Sun Father smiles upon them all.

Some say that the Toltec/Pueblo child grew into a man who did indeed lead the People home, which is why they say that the Hisatsinom (the Anasazi) disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Rock art throughout the SouthWest of North America depicts a humpbacked flute player. The Hopi say that the cicada, or mahu, is a "humpbacked" insect known for its flute-like snout, the loud buzzing sound it produces, and its aggressive mating habits. It was thought that the mahu brought heat and fertility to the land in the spring. Mahu was given the name Koko Pilau (Koko = wood; Pilau = hump); hence KokoPilau ' Kokopelli.

To some Pueblo peoples, Kookopolo was a humpbacked kachina, a supernatural being who could positively affect fertility. Kookopolo, however, had no flute. They insist that in their tradition, there are two separate entities: the music-making cicada, and the fertility kachina. It is modern culture that has crossed the two to make Kokopelli. Whatever the case may be, Kokopelli is a iconic character enjoying great popularity in modern SouthWestern culture.

Sky Woman, who lived in the Upper World, is peering down through a hole in the sky one day and tumbles out. As she falls toward the Endless Sea, the sea creatures see her approaching, and heap up some mud upon the back of a huge turtle in order to catch her. That is why we call this land Turtle Island [North America].

Sky Woman was pregnant when she fell, and while living upon Turtle Island, she gives birth to a daughter, who, when she becomes a woman, gets pregnant by the West Wind and gives birth to two sons. Sky Woman's daughter dies in childbirth, so she buries her in the new earth.

Upon her burial mound there sprout three girls, who become known as "the Three Sisters". They are beautiful, each in her own way, and fiercely independent.

The first, whose name is Corn Girl, is very tall, so she carries herself proudly, to flaunt her bright green ribboned shawl and fine yellow hair that shimmers in the sunshine. But standing all day in the sun, she gets sunburned and her feet hurt. Before long, weeds grow up around her, so that she finds it hard to breathe. "I'm hungry!" she gasps, but no one will bring her any food.

The second sister, Bean Girl, is not as strong and has to lie down all day long. There on the ground she gets muddy, and no matter how much she rests, she still feels tired. . . and hungry, too. "I'm feeling so low!" she cries, knowing full well her sister is too proud to stoop down to give her a hand.

The third sister, Squash Girl, adorns herself in a gorgeous dress the color of goldenrod with orange and dark green embroidery. Because she is lazy, she just lays around getting fatter and fatter. No matter how much she eats, she still feels hungry. "No one loves me!" she laments, but the sisters ignore her complaining.

The sisters are so proud and independent that they will not ask for help, until one day Bean Girl, tired of wallowing in the dirt, gets an idea. "Hey! Corn Girl!" she calls up to her sister. "So . . . I hear you're hungry. If you'll just hold me up for awhile, I'll come over and make some food for you." Corn Girl is so miserable she agrees. Not wanting to be left out, Squash Girl makes her plea, "Corn Girl! I see how sunburned you are and I know your feet hurt. Why don't you let me curl around you? I'll give you some shade and give your feet a rest!" Corn Girl finds the suggestion refreshing and welcomes her sister over.

That's how the Three Sisters learn to embrace each other, and as a result, they all grow stronger and healthier. Corn Girl holds her sister so she can finally get off the ground and stand up. That makes Bean Girl so cheerful, she prepares lots of food for her two sisters. Squash Girl makes shade for her tall sister and keeps the weeds from strangling them all; this makes her fat and happy. In fact, the sisters become inseparable. Out of their now harmonious relationship, the Three Sisters are able to spread their joy. As more and more People walk upon Turtle Island, they learn from the example of the Three Sisters. By helping one another, everyone can thrive.

Variations on the myth of the Three Sisters can be found in most Native American traditions: the Cherokee, Iroquois, Mohawk, Pueblo, and Aztec nations all told stories of them and incorporated them in their planting rituals. These earliest American farmers would invoke the spirits of the Three Sisters to bless their plots. They called them Dyonheyko, "the ones that sustain us."

The myth underscores sound agricultural practice: by intercropping corn, beans, and squash, all benefit. Corn, because it grows tall, acts like a trellis for the climbing bean plant, which in turn strengthens the corn stalk against the wind. The bean plant is "nitrogen-fixing" in that it harbors a bacteria which feeds on sugars from the corn's roots and converts nitrogen from the air into a form that can easily be taken up by the roots of other plants, thus manufacturing a natural fertilizer. The squash vine has broad leaves, creating moisture-retaining shade that inhibits the growth of weeds, and some varieties have spiny stems, which repel hungry crawling insects. The organic matter left after harvest, when turned back into the soil, increases fertility. Native Americans' sustainable approach to growing the Three Sisters increased their crop yields, required less water, and enhanced the nutrition of these basic foods so vital to their diets.

Corn, beans, and squash, when eaten together, compile an amino acid profile that produces complete proteins in the body, thereby eliminating the need for meat. They provide comprehensive nutrition, requiring only vitamin C for a balanced diet. Corn yields primarily carbohydrates, beans protein, and squash vitamins. Pumpkin seeds are a source of a healthy oil. They are truly staples that helped Native Americans thrive for centuries.

Indeed, the local Wampanoag tribe that, according to legend, celebrated that first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims in 1621, probably insured the survival of the English invaders by teaching them the importance of corn, beans, and squash. Hooray for the pumpkin pie!

§§ See also: KOKOPELLI

....
_____________________________