Janine Bolon: White Buffalo Calf Woman

Tell Me a Story Podcast

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Janine Bolon: White Buffalo Calf Woman

A story from Seeking the Divine by Janine Bolon

John Kremer

Apr 30, 2022

Hi, this is Janine Bolon. John has given me the singular honor to share with you a story. It is out of my book, Seeking the Divine: An Intimate Journey into the World of Mysticism.

Just to give you a bit of background, I am a shaman and a healer where I have been able to work with multiple Native American tribes.

This story is from chapter 15 of Seeking the Divine. It's called White Buffalo Calf Woman. That afternoon, I called Thunderhorse. He had just returned from a sweat lodge up in the mountains of northern Utah.

I told him about my recent vision of a woman of white light, and how she had gifted me with a buffalo horn. He was quiet for so long that I asked, “Hello, are you there?”

His reply was measured and calm. Still, I knew that this particular vision carried great significance for him.

“You have met White Buffalo Calf Woman. We call her Cuilcagh.” Thunderhorse then started telling me the significance of her presence to his people. The Lakota, Dakota and Sioux tribes also had strong ties with this particular figure. He asked me if she said anything?

“No,” I said, “But she gifted me with the horn and a part of me felt like something had changed in my brain, as if I was getting a whole new set of instructions.”

I then told him of my meditation, and Yogananda giving me his blessing. He was touched that my gurus statement was: Go help my Western brothers.

This was the beginning of a three month routine of conversations between us. I would meditate every morning upon waking as I had done for 16 years. Then I would receive visions; I would see, hear, or feel certain experiences. Then I would immediately call Thunderhorse to get feedback about what I was seeing, including what the symbols meant and how his tribe interpreted the shamanistic experiences I was having.

I was spending upwards of three or four hours a day in meditation or on phone calls with numerous shamans. There were times I would receive a complex mix of symbols or beings, and Thunderhorse would give me a phone number to a different person.

After three months of this, I had contacted over 15 different Native American nations, and had been in intimate touch with their shamans. Without planning it, I ended up learning from all of these shamans about travelling dreams, or what they call journeys.

Each day, one of them would guide me into the spirit world and show me how the mystics of old would stay in touch with one another, and what it meant to be a shapeshifter, Shadow Walker, and dream weaver.

Each one ended up telling me the legends and story of their tribes. As I described my visions and the stories and symbols that were being shown to me, each shaman would decipher the meanings of these symbols and share with me their most sacred teachings.

It didn't take long for me to realize that I had some outdated concepts in my head about the world of Native Americans. The more I learned from them, worked with them and adopted by them, the more I saw the heterogeneity of their belief structures, symbols and intertribal prejudices.

I'd always heard the terms Indians and Native Americans and First Nations as referring to a unified population. This was quite wrong. As with the Japanese, the Bahamians, and the Spanish that I had been raised around, the Native Americans had a diverse population and structure.

During my discussions and intertribal work, I would soon learn that the sacred animal to one tribe could be a bad omen for another. One bird would be worshipped as a divine messenger by a southern tribe from the Yucatan, and was seen as a flying pest by a Canadian tribe. I learned quickly to adjust and keep a very open mind toward the bliss of different tribes that I was being called upon to serve.

Even the legends and stories of White Buffalo Calf Woman were mixed and varied. I soon learned that she was considered the origin of the peace pipe to some tribes, whereas to others, she was the destroyer of egos. One legend had her vaporizing a young warrior to dusk because she wanted to. He wanted to take her as a wife, while his friend looked on. Their friend immediately bowed to the power of White Buffalo Calf Woman, and she honored him with gifts of wisdom and long life.

I gathered story after story after story. It soon became clear that the many experiences and teachings were building a foundation for what I had no idea. White Buffalo Calf Woman had come to me to herald a new phase of learning, and to bring an old concept into the modern realm. She was teaching me the legends she had been known by and was using my scientific training to show how quantum mechanics related to shamanistic travel and healing. She was ready for me to bring an ancient knowledge into the modern world in a way that would provide comfort and peace to individuals that were drawn to the forms of shamanism, though not to the highly structured approach of specific religions.

But I digress. It is now time for me to meet the tribe. This is Janine Boland saying thank you for listening to my story. And I wish you much success in life.

if you should ever wish to connect with me you can find me on LinkedIn or go to my website: https://www.thepracticalmystics.com. See you soon.