DANCE OF THE SPIRITS

The Cree Nation called them the Dance of the Spirits. We call them the Northern Lights. The scientific name is Aurora Borealis. I prefer the Cree name as to me it is more descriptive. Of course, if you know Latin and Greek, you know that Aurora is the Roman goddess of dawn and Boreas is the Greek name for the north wind. Aurora's are usually seen around the time of the Equinox and almost always at night and always in the Northern Latitudes.

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I was in the U.S. Army Reserve on maneuvers in Fort Drum which is located in North Central New York State close to the Southern Border of Canada. I awoke at approximately 3AM for some reason and stepped out of my tent. It was the last week of September and you could feel the snap of fall in the air. I could not believe my eyes. The night sky was ablaze with swirling greenish white with glints of red and blue in swirling undulations. A sight I had never seen before or since except in pictures. It was amazing and spectacular and easy to understand why ancient people felt they were coming from the Gods.

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If you've experienced the sight you know how it feels. If you haven't you should. It's a very humbling experience which will remain with you your entire life. I can bore you with the scientific causes of the Aurora, but it wouldn't be important. It's much better to believe the Cree name because they believed in the spirits of the earth they lived on and valued the land. They respected the animals and all life. It is a philosophy I wholly embrace and it's a damn shame that all people are not like the Native Americans. Maybe then there would be a future for the earth and all it's inhabitants.