The “HOW” post

Posted on by

“HOW”

So, I am at the North Fred Meyer fueling station yesterday filling up on my way back from my 3rd trip to the VA in 6 days, which means I am full of joy, when a young man with a clipboard starts to make his approach toward my car. Having had the experience of him trying to push a Credit Card application at me before I just held up my palm and gently tried to wave him off. I find this sort of marketing beyond intrusive but realize he is just trying to do his job. I figure a subtle wave off should do the job since in his “chosen” occupation he probably has seen every “leave me alone” look there is and has to power through to pay the bills. So, here he comes; looks at my hand, looks back at me and says, I kid you not, “HOW”.

I did not eat him. I did not even yell at him or jump out of the rig and school him on the chasm of missing knowledge. I calmly informed him that I was (and forever will remain) a Native American and that he needed to go think about how racist and inappropriate that was. This morning though I was still thinking about it and I remembered how Southern Oregon University Native American Studies Program Director David West has had a class hold up their hands if they had had more than a few hours of class work in their 12 years of public school concerning Native America. Most kept their hands in their lap. So it occurs to me that the young man was probably just ignorant. The many chances the United States education system had to the him about who and what we are were wasted. I found out this morning that the University I attend has us at about the same level of priority. Now I am left to wonder if any teacher would knowingly send students into Brazil or China or wherever without a bit of ‘must pass’ coursework on the land to which they were headed. The is “certified” and their is “certifiable”; yep.

My heart tells that none of these folks are racist or stupid. I keep coming back to the term ignorant. The just do not seem to have a grasp of how important our 10’s of thousands of years of knowledge about this particular continent are. The have to cut budgets for school while the oil companies continue to pollute the heck out of everything in sight while making record profits.   Well, other stuff to think about…..

WHY the Devil Fears the Blacksmith and why we ring our anvils! The whole Story!

Posted on by

Legend of the Ringing Anvil
or
Why We Ring Our Anvil
and, Whence Comes The Luck of the Horseshoe

IMAGINE . . .

THE old blacksmith is “sitting” with one hip propped on his anvil. Gathered around his feet are three or four little barefoot children. Obviously one of the kids has asked a question because in a deep Irish brogue, you hear the blacksmith saying,

 

“So you want to know why we sometimes tap our anvil while we work do ye?”

 

WELL then, Once upon a time long long ago and far far away; on an island where the grass is emerald green,

A VILLAGE SMITH was shoeing a horse at his open air shop. His large anvil rang with each blow to the shoes. Standing quietly in the shade of the spreading chestnut tree, the horse waited patiently.

THE DEVIL, passing by, heard the ringing of the anvil and decided to see what was going on. He stood watching as the blacksmith made a wonderful set of new shoes for the horse.

THE SMITH then proceeded to trim the horse’s hooves and nail the shoes in place. The horse stood quietly as this was done, and when the smith finished, the owner of the horse mounted his steed and took him for a trot down the road.

THE HORSE was noticeably happy with his new shoes, for he danced and he pranced all the way to the corner and back.

SEEING THIS, the Devil being a hoofed creature himself, decided that he must have a set of these wonderful shoes. He approached the smith and told him to prepare a set of shoes for him.

THE SMITH (realizing that this was the Devil himself), made a set of shoes too small, trimmed the hooves too short and drove several close nails in each of the devils hooves. He also clinched them quite heavily so they would not come off easily. The Devil in terrible pain, lame and very sore footed went running away and suffered for many days.

SO to this very day when ever the Devil hears an anvil ringing he makes it a point to stay as far away as possible.

THIS is also why hanging a horseshoe over the door keeps the Devil away!

THERE be two ways to hang a shoe. The blacksmith will hang a shoe with the heels down, so that the luck of the shoe may pour over his forge. But YE must hang a shoe with the heels UP so that the luck will remain in your house!

AND ye canna just use a shoe ye find by the side of the road. For when the shoe was lost, the luck was also lost from the shoe. Instead, you must go to the blacksmith and buy an old shoe that he has taken off of the horse’s hoof. For when he removed the shoe, he removed the luck with it, and tis still in the shoe!

Jim Paw-Paw Wilson

Thanks to Anvilfire

http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/stories/PPW/anvil_ringing2.htmImage