Sacred Mound in the heavens, glowing with Ancient Red,
Fire Spirit of the Great Smoky Mountains;
Earth's Elder mountains, Grandmother and Grandfather mountains.
Home of Kanati, Celestial God of Thunder,
Cast your Eternal Flame into the Darkness;
Illumine the stars, give life to the galaxies who are but the
Star Clans, ancestors of the Cherokees alive today.

Sacred Temple of the Stomp Dance,
Let the sounds of a million rattles, the rhythm of ten thousand drums
Echo the voices that cry out in ceremony.
Echo the lyrics of the sacred songs.
Echo the prayers sent up to the Creator and Selu,
Echo the laughter of the people,
Echo the sobs spent on the Trail of Tears.

Suddenly! I am free to travel in my Star Body.
I take flight into the night sky, and pass through the Star Gate of the Pleiades, star home of the Cherokees. Once there, I am guided to the Star Lodge,
Home of the Cherokee star spirits,
Keepers of the Immortal Fire that burns in the cellar of all the
Sacred Mounds.

Once inside the Star Lodge I stand in the center of a Circle of Star Chiefs,
I am met by Sequoyah who, in the Beginning Time, brought a written language to the Cherokees on Earth.
Grandfather Tzali, Chief Junaluska, Drowning Bear, Will West Long stand before me in their true forms, which is that of Star Chiefs, Keepers of the Cherokee Hall of Memories;
Fathers of the Seven Star Clans: Paint, Twisted Hair, Sweet Potato, Wolf, Deer, Raven, and Bird

I look into the face of the Grandfathers, watching as their eyes are transformed into inky, black pools of Space, each pupil a whirling galaxy of suns.
As I watch I am transported into the Inner Sanctum, the Celestial Council House atop the Sacred Mound that stands in the middle of the Star Lodge.
The Immortals, Guardians of the holy place at once surround me.
The fire in the souls burning bright and hot in the darkness that is Space.

Out of the High Altar there grows a stalk of tobacco
From whose top a star is being born, first one and then another,
One sun after another; new candles to light up the night.

Grandmother Selu, Great Grandmother of the Cherokee lineage.
appears before me in her guise as a Heavenly Woman, Cosmic Servant
Star Fire Grandmother, Celestial Elder;
Speak to me of your wisdom Wise Woman.
Tell me your story; sing me your song.

Corn Mother's voice rings out,
Her presence fills every atom in the space that is occupied by the Star Temple of the Cherokees.
Her song is of Kituah,
No, not the earthly village of men, but the cosmic Kituah that burns in the Eternal Fire, parent of Ancient Red, that lives in the soul of the Cherokee Nation.

"It is time for the Star Teachings to once again return to Earth,
Time for the Song of Creation to be sung, time for the star dances to be danced around the sacred mountains.

As in the heavens, so it will once more be on Earth."

The grandmother's words open the Star Gate that stands guard over the Cherokee Star Lodge,
Its light pours forth from the Flame That Lights the Stars.
Streams of light flash from the heavenly Lodge, gently falling and mingling with the nebulous mists rising upward towards the dome of the sky.
Once again Her voice rings out and fills the starry realms.

"Receive, Great Smoky Mountains!
Receive, once again, the Star Wisdom.

Let its fire rain down upon you and soak your peaks and valleys with the essence of the mysteries of the Star Nation.
Let it awaken the seeds of your memories of the star songs and star dances;
Open your heart and again receive the ancient Star Medicine."

As I watch, the earthly mountains absorb the starlight into the soil.

Over time it will fertilize the age-old seeds of stellar knowledge that will once more take root in the minds and hearts of the men and women who are the incarnated Cherokees, people of Shaconage, Land of the Blue Haze.

My journey to the Cherokee Star Lodge is ended.

I have witnessed the reseeding of ancient truth that teaches the way to walk the path of life on Earth while being guided by the stars.

Thank you for this gift, Grandmother Selu and Grandfather Sequoyah

Now I know in my heart that Kituah will be reborn.

By the power of the Star Nation, the Trail of Tears that brought so much pain will be transformed into a Trail of Light, a celestial roadway, the Great Star Bridge upon which the people can walk into the night sky to be reunited with the Cosmic Ancestors, the Cherokee Star Chiefs, and Selu, the Stellar Grandmother.

Winding on the body of Mother Earth,
creeping forever forward, yet never moving,
writhing silently along a never-ending journey through Time.

Green, grassy Serpent, how mysterious you are.
Your body tells me what you are,
Yet tells me nothing about who you are.

Who molded your body so carefully upon the Earth?
By what motive were the hands of your architects inspired?
What gods did your makers worship?
What rites did they perform?
What dances? What songs did they sing?

The energy of the thoughts released from my mind took my consciousness to another time. I find myself in my Star Body at a place where the green forests are alive with tall, leafy trees; colorful, weedy stalks, and a myriad of wildflowers blooming profusely along the trails and filling the meadows with pastel pink, yellow, and violet patches. I am a part of the place, my being merged with the vibrant, sweet-smelling landscape.

Voices; I hear voices in the distance. I smell the cooking fires of the village close by. The air is humid, the ground and trees moist from the recent summer shower. I know in my Star Mind that the steep cliff above the streambed of Ohio Bush Creek. It wasn't called by that name then. It was called Bent Water.

The village before me is a manifested "memory" from the past, made real by and through my Star Mind. My questions have opened an ancient Hall of Records, an earthly Temple of Stars.

Celestial Serpent Temple made of stars,
Your winding halls echo the voices of ancient shamans who once held Council at your earthly Altar,
They who once performed the Sacred Walk around your meandering form.

I now walk your silent halls in search of answers.
I humbly give my offering of crystal to honor your existence deep in the heart of space.

unfinished