Hyemeyohsts Storm
(1935-Present)
Hyemeyohsts Storm was born in 1935, in Lame Deer, Montana. His mother was Pearl Eastman, and her clan was the Northern Cheyenne. He was raised on the Cheyenne and Crow reservations, and attended Eastern Montana College in Billings. He says he is an enrolled Indian and a Breed of mixed blood. He also speaks of having the opportunity early in his youth to become apprentice to “…the brilliant and powerful Zero Chief and holy woman, Estcheemah. “He describes her as a Mayan Breed Indian who was born during the Indian wars of the late 1800s. In his words, “She was one of the wisest and most powerful Medicine Chiefs of her time, and a carrier and teacher of the Medicine Wheels. She taught of the histories and sophisticated knowledge of the Zero Chiefs.” He says it took several decades for him to integrate the teachings of Estcheemah into his being.
Hyemeyohsts, or Wolf Storm, is the founder and director of the spiritual organization The Circle Of The Earth Temple And Institute, as well as the founder and director of The International School Of Metis Art. Along with his wife Swan Storm, he has traveled, lectured, and taught all over the world, bringing these sacred teachings to the people of The Earth. In his book, Seven Arrows, he introduces the teachings of the Medicine Wheel to the world “…for the first time.” He is also an artist, specializing in designing different kinds of shields, and teaching this to others. This traditional art form is displayed in his book Lightningbolt. Of these teachings he says, “I tell all of my students to strive to treasure our Living Earth and look to her for the symbols and meanings in their art. Consequently, all of our art is, in some way, an honoring of our Living Planet and also a celebration of the many diverse cultures and peoples, throughout human history, who have loved and cherished our Mother Earth. Our art is dedicated to the Beauty and Natural Balance of Mother Life. In this way we have found our common ground, our Earth heritage, which bridges across race, gender, culture, religion, and all other human invented boundaries. The responsibility and care of our Earth is in our hands, as Earth citizens.”
In an interview with The Monthly Aspectarian, when speaking of the living universe, Hyemeyohsts says “People don't like to die. They fight for life. They want to see the next sunset and sunrise. They want to see these beautiful things. So it's the same thing when we look at the rivers and the oceans and the lakes. These are not dead. They are alive. The ocean is alive. The rivers are alive and trees are alive, the flowers are alive. And again, these are our relatives. These are our great teachers. When we get tired and we get sick and we get lonely and we are crying, we automatically will go to the river, go to the trees, walk on a shady part of a lane of a street, being with the trees, being with the flowers. We send flowers to people who are sick, and we love, because everybody on this cellular, human level knows that all these grandmothers and grandfathers are alive and that we can communicate with them. And that's why I hug a tree. It's the same thing when we're talking about the birds, songbirds, the Eagles, Buffalo, our cattle, our sheep―anyone who's ever worked with animals knows that there is a wondrous communication between these beings; the sweet medicine, these pictures of life.
“What we have always taught as Zero Chiefs is a very simple thing: we teach people to appreciate themselves and celebrate their lives, and that way they can understand that they are a self, a being, and that they have Choice… That means that they have a mind. And that we as human beings can make a choice to destroy or to build or to love or to ignore. We have all these things to teach us as a spirit.” And speaking on ecology, “It's fantastic to overcome a lot of our bigotry and hatred, because then there's a wonderful thing that happens in the heart of overcoming it: people feel that they have achieved some greatness when they do that. It's wonderful when a young person realizes that yes, our world is in trouble; yes, our Earth has been polluted; yes, there are people who do not care. But if you just to crush yourself with all of this information and do not realize that there are things that you can do about it on a second by second, day by day basis, and that your prayers do count, and your planting a seed in the ground, just planting one tree, whether it's next to the freeway or some by-road or in your backyard, or going to the river and praying for the river to clean up, all of this works because what happens is, people feel the energy of these things. They sense that your purpose is much greater and clearer.
“Mother Earth will answer these prayers in ways that are very beautiful, and people feel good when they go to the river now. They’re cleansed spiritually because they're caring for the river. They’re cleansed spiritually because they begin to care about the mountains, and don't want the guts ripped out of a mountain.” And when speaking of enjoying the comforts of modern life, he says, “By the same token, I would like to bring up the fact that we as human beings do like to wear shoes, pants, clothes, hats. We like our television sets, we like our radios, we'd like our computers, we like our recording equipment. There’s nothing the matter with this. What there is something the matter with is we build cups to disintegrate. We build recorders to destroy themselves. In other words, we can do better, can’t we? We can do better with everything on Earth. If we could really begin to understand, especially the young person reading this article, that one day they will have their say. There will be that moment. Maybe they will become an executive. Maybe they will become a mother, a father. That mother or that father might be the only person who shows a child how to respect life, to respect the mountain and the grass and the grasshoppers and the birds and everything equally. That person might be the next great woman or man on Earth who will make all the difference. In other words, if everybody begins to hold precious their opportunity in life, then things begin to change.”
There is very spiritual medicine connected to the sacred spirit of our mother earth. These teachings suggest that we appreciate the sacred on earth and it will lead us on a path towards enlightenment and healing. By teaching the spiritual healing powers of the medicine wheel, it seems Storm is sharing the natural world with those who possess a sacred yearning for the spirit. The art of this natural medicine, when applied in a sacred space, is the beginning of spiritual growth. And the most spiritual art exists in this space. The path to enlightenment is often sought through a scared yearning for healing. Find scared space for your own spiritual healing. Space in which you can commune with the sacred spirit and experience spiritual growth. Natural medicine is a great tool for spiritual art, for its creation and appreciation.