Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Flint and Twig

In the version of the Iroquois Creation story I learned as part of the American Indian Program at Cornell so many years ago, the Twins were called Flint and Twig. They're Flint and Sapling in the linked version here and more closely associated with good and bad than in they are in the story I know; in fact in some versions they're called the Good and Evil Twins. In others, they go by Good Mind and Bad Mind.

Together, they create our world; one creates flowers, the other poison ivy; one creates prey, the other predators. From birth, one obeys his Mother and the other disobeys. Eventually they fight to the death, choosing one weapon after another, until—through cunning and flexibility—Twig overcomes his much stronger brother Flint, who is forced to live under the surface of the earth where he rules to this day.

Whatever his name, the flexible twin is the one best suited to living on the surface of the earth.

Ganesh Baba liked to quote Tagore: "Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf."

Ancient wisdom for transitional times.





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