“At the center of this sacred hoop, you have said that I should make the tree to bloom.”

—  Black Elk

Black Elk Speaks (1961)
Context: To the center of the world you have taken me and showed the goodness and the beauty and the strangeness of the greening earth, the only mother — and there the spirit shapes of things, as they should be, you have shown to me and I have seen. At the center of this sacred hoop, you have said that I should make the tree to bloom.
With tears running, O Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather — with running tears I must say now that the tree has never bloomed. A pitiful old man, you see me here, and I have fallen away and have done nothing. Here at the center of the world, where you took me when I was young and taught me; here, old, I stand, and the tree is withered, Grandfather, my Grandfather!
Again, and maybe the last time on this earth, I recall the great vision you sent me. It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds. Hear me, not for myself, but for my people; I am old. Hear me that they may once more go back into the sacred hoop and find the good red road, the shielding tree!

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 3, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "At the center of this sacred hoop, you have said that I should make the tree to bloom." by Black Elk?
Black Elk photo
Black Elk 42
Oglala Lakota leader 1863–1950

Related quotes

Black Elk photo

“Again, and maybe the last time on this earth, I recall the great vision you sent me. It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds. Hear me, not for myself, but for my people; I am old. Hear me that they may once more go back into the sacred hoop and find the good red road, the shielding tree!”

Black Elk (1863–1950) Oglala Lakota leader

Black Elk Speaks (1961)
Context: To the center of the world you have taken me and showed the goodness and the beauty and the strangeness of the greening earth, the only mother — and there the spirit shapes of things, as they should be, you have shown to me and I have seen. At the center of this sacred hoop, you have said that I should make the tree to bloom.
With tears running, O Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather — with running tears I must say now that the tree has never bloomed. A pitiful old man, you see me here, and I have fallen away and have done nothing. Here at the center of the world, where you took me when I was young and taught me; here, old, I stand, and the tree is withered, Grandfather, my Grandfather!
Again, and maybe the last time on this earth, I recall the great vision you sent me. It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds. Hear me, not for myself, but for my people; I am old. Hear me that they may once more go back into the sacred hoop and find the good red road, the shielding tree!

Richelle Mead photo

“I told you before, we’re the center,” she said. “And the center will hold.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: The Ruby Circle

Zora Neale Hurston photo
Thomas Jefferson photo

“I have always said, and always will say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Attributed to Jefferson by Daniel Webster in a letter of 15 June 1852 addressed to Professor Pease, recalling a Sunday spent with Jefferson more than a quarter of a century before.
Attributed

A.E. Housman photo

“Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough.”

No. 2, st. 1.
A Shropshire Lad (1896)

Charles Bukowski photo
Frithjof Schuon photo

“The sacred is an apparition of the Center, it immobilizes the soul and turns it towards the Inward.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2012, Echoes of Perennial Wisdom, World Wisdom, 37, 978-1-93659700-0]
Spiritual life, Sense of the sacred

Black Elk photo

“Then a Voice said: "Behold this day, for it is yours to make. Now you shall stand upon the center of the earth to see, for there they are taking you."”

Black Elk (1863–1950) Oglala Lakota leader

Describing a childhood vision he had while very ill and near death.
Black Elk Speaks (1961)

Emily Brontë photo

“Love is like the wild rose-briar;
Friendship like the holly-tree.
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms,
But which will bloom most constantly?”

Emily Brontë (1818–1848) English novelist and poet

Love and Friendship
Source: The Complete Poems

Related topics