Before stormchasers arrived on the scene, Native Americans had lived with tornadoes and violent storms on the Great Plains for thousands of years. They saw and continue to see the spiritual components of storms, including tornadoes, since they practice nature-centered spirituality. In his writings, Oglala Lakota holy man Black Elk, a distant relative of Crazy Horse and a kid at the battle of Greasy Grass (Little Big Horn), describes a religious vision in which he rode upon such a storm.
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In his preface to “Black Elk Speaks,” in which John Neihardt recounted Black Elk's account of his vision, Vine Deloria claims that his works “comprise a kind of canon for North American Indian religious tradition.”
As a result, his vision encompasses a spiritual way of knowing in this case, about strong storms capable of producing tornadoes.
Black Elk rides a bay horse high above the earth among a herd of twelve big black horses in his vision (and other spirit warriors and horses).
The color black represents the west, which is the direction from which thunderstorms rush across the plains.
In his vision, he kills a blue man who is in charge of a land that is suffering from a severe drought.
This allows the storm to discharge life-giving rain, replenishing the soil, plants, and animals.
“Black Elk Speaks” initially appeared in 1932 and has since been reprinted multiple times.
The lengthy passage that follows is from pages 31-33 of the University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1979 edition.
“I looked below me, where the ground was silent in a sick green light, and saw the hills, grasses on the hills, and all the animals stare up fearful; and there were cries of frightened birds and sounds of fleeing wings all around me.
When I turned around to look behind me, all twelve black horses reared, plunged, and thundered, their manes and tails spinning hail and their nostrils snorting lightning.
And when I looked down again, I saw the slant hail and the long, stinging rain, and the trees bowed low and all the hills were dim as we passed.
“As we traveled, the land became light once more.
I could see the hills and valleys, as well as the creeks and rivers that flowed beneath them.
Something awful was waiting for us above a site where three streams joined to form a large one a source of enormous waters.
The waters were engulfed in flames, and a blue man lived among them.
Dust floated through the air around him, the grass was short and withered, the trees were wilting, and two-legged and four-legged beings lay there sickly and panting, their wings too feeble to fly.
“The black horse riders then yelled “Hoka hey!” and charged down on the blue man, only to be pushed back.
The white force charged and was defeated, followed by the red and yellow troops.
“And when they all failed, they called out in unison, ‘Eagle Wing Stretches, fast!'
And the world was filled with cheering voices of all types, so I charged.
In one hand, I held the cup of water, and in the other, I held the bow, which transformed into a spear as the bay and I swooped down, and the spear's head was sharp lightning.
It stabbed the blue man in the heart, and as it did, I heard thunder and many people yelling ‘Uh-hee!,' which meant I had slain.
The flames had faded out.
The grass and trees had stopped withering and were pleasantly murmuring together, and every living being shouted out in joy with whatever voice it possessed.
The four horses then charged down and struck the blue man's dead body, counting coup; and then it was just a harmless turtle.
“Because I had been riding the storm clouds and had arrived on Earth as rain, it was drouth that I had killed with the power that the Six Grandfathers had bestowed upon me.
So we were down by the river, which was running freely from the source of waters…”
We witness the same kind of profound ambiguity in Black Elk's words and lives that we saw in the stormchasers' words and lives: that here is a thing monumentally bigger and more powerful than the living animals of the earth, and yet a thing that bears the seeds of life as well as death within it.
There is dryness and destruction without storms, which is always fatal.
The west's black storms are terrible, powerful, and very necessary to life because they provide rain.
This is why the plains Indians believe the west to be such a powerful direction, and why we opted to symbolize spiritual ways of knowing on the black, west portion of the sacred circle Tapestry employs to illustrate different ways of knowing.
What does this mean for you in terms of what to do if you see a tornado or severe storm approaching?
Perhaps the only thing a decision will provide you in the moment is a sense of being a part of something far bigger than yourself.
The most essential understanding it may provide is in how you think about tornadoes in general and how to stay safe from them.
Tornadoes are easily misunderstood as malevolent forces that must be controlled, avoided at all costs, and even despised.
For fear of tornadoes, some individuals refuse to reside in the central areas of North America.
When you consider what you may learn spiritually from tornadoes, however, you may find yourself wondering what else in our lives has the same powerful ambiguity.
Is this the only occurrence that humans have no control over, or are there others as well?
If so, do they convey the same unsettling and awe-inspiring mix of horror and spiritual knowledge about our role in nature and nature's part in our lives that defies words?
What does this mean for us, as a people who have come to believe that we can control nature and protect ourselves from anything larger than ourselves?
On a sweltering May afternoon, the possibilities for fresh understanding build like a thunderhead.
What do tornadoes represent spiritually?
“The weather of the mind is our emotions,” Loewenberg told the Cut. “Rain will symbolize grief, and tornadoes will symbolize concern and anxiety as they whirl out of control.” According to Loewenberg, a tornado dream represents “the destructive impact that stress and anxiety has on the psyche.”
What does tornado mean biblically?
Tornados are a sign of interior tension or a strained personal connection in the Bible, but they are also a sign of internal stress or a strained personal relationship in dreams.
What is associated with a tornado?
A tornado is a violent rotating column of air that originates in a thunderstorm and extends to the ground. With wind speeds of up to 300 mph, the most violent tornadoes are capable of wreaking havoc. They have the ability to demolish big structures, uproot trees, and fling automobiles hundreds of yards. They're also capable of driving straw into trees.
Do tornadoes serve a purpose?
Are there any environmental advantages to a tornado? Tornadoes aren't recognized for being very beneficial in any way. A tornado's only benefit would be rain if the area was in desperate need of it. Even the rains that precede a tornado, on the other hand, are more likely to be harmful than beneficial.
What do tornadoes in your dreams mean?
“Tornado dreams typically indicate concern, anxiety, and tension, as well as a sense of being overwhelmed and out of control think spinning out of control,” says Dr. “Tornadoes are powerful, destructive forces that have been linked to tumultuous emotions or things that you are concerned about.”
What do tornadoes sound like?
While a continuous rumbling or roar is the most typical tornado sound, a tornado can also generate various sounds. The magnitude and strength of the tornado, as well as what it is hitting and how close it is to you, all influence the sound you hear.
When a tornado rips through a huge city or a densely populated area, it can make a number of loud noises at once, making it impossible to identify a specific sound because the noise is so loud.
What does it mean when you dream of tornadoes and water?
Some dreams leave you wondering where they came from or what they meant in your life since they felt so vivid and real. While no one knows you better than you, there are some recurring themes in dreams that are represented by symbols. Tornadoes are one example of a sign that may appear from time to time.
“Our emotions are the weather of the mind,” professional dream analyst Lauri Quinn Loewenberg told The Cut. “Rain will symbolize grief, and tornadoes will symbolize concern and anxiety as they whirl out of control.” Tornado dreams, she continues, represent “the destructive force that stress and anxiety have on the psyche.”
Tornadoes, on the other hand, might symbolize more than just dread or concern. Tornadoes in dreams may represent emotional outbursts from yourself or those around you, depending on your personality (via Dream Meaning). In addition, no two tornadoes are the same. The dream could be interpreted beyond basic uneasiness, spiraling out of control, or violent, quick swings of feeling depending on other factors, such as color or other adverse weather mixed with a tornado.
Why are tornadoes so powerful?
Tornadoes are caused by the release of energy during a thunderstorm. Tornadoes, as powerful as they are, only account for a small portion of the energy in a thunderstorm. The fact that their energy is concentrated in a narrow region, perhaps barely a hundred yards across, makes them hazardous.
What are the 3 types of tornadoes?
Tornadoes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including wedges, elephant trunks, waterspouts, and ropes. Here's how to tell the difference.
- Tornadoes that form in supercells. Wedges are the most powerful and devastating twisters.
What was the worst tornado in history?
The Tri-State Tornado, the worst single tornado in American history, kills 695 people as it rips through Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwestern Indiana on March 18, 1925. A total of 747 individuals have died as a result of the tornado outbreak.
The Deep South tornado outbreak kills 332 people on March 21, 1932. Tornadoes wreak havoc from Texas to South Carolina, with 270 people killed in Alabama alone.
May 17, 1840 – The Great Natchez Tornado kills 317 people in the Mississippi town of Natchez, making it the second-deadliest single tornado in US history. The majority of the victims are killed on river flatboats.
The 2011 “Super Outbreak”: 314 deaths – April 24, 2011 Between April 22 and April 28, around 300 tornadoes hit the southeastern United States, killing at least 354 people. 314 people died in five states on April 27 alone. Around 250 people are killed in Alabama each year. Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, and Virginia are among the states that have been affected.
310 deaths – April 3, 1974 – The original “Super Outbreak”: Before 2011, the greatest tornado outbreak on record claimed 310 lives when 148 verified tornadoes raged through 13 US states in a 24-hour period.
305 deaths – May 27, 1896 – St. Louis-East St. Louis tornado: Tornadoes kill 305 people in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky, capping a devastating two-week storm period.
260 deaths – April 11, 1965 – The Palm Sunday outbreak: A total of 50 tornadoes struck the Midwest, killing 260 people and injuring over 1,000 others in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.
249 people died in the Tupelo-Gainesville tornado outbreak on April 5, 1936. Tupelo, Mississippi, is home to the majority of the 249 individuals killed.
April 20, 1920 – Alabama-Mississippi: 224 deaths In an extraordinary early morning outbreak in Alabama and Mississippi, the terrible tornado-filled spring of 1920 comes to a close with 224 people killed.
220 deaths – Dixie tornado outbreak, April 24, 1908: Dozens of twisters kill 220 people from South Dakota to Texas.