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The Sacred Hoop

Then I was standing on the highest mountain of the all,

And round beneath me was the whole hoop of the world.

And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell,

And I understood more than I saw.

For I was seeing in the sacred manner the shape of all things of the spirit

And the shapes as they must live together like one being.

And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that make one circle, wide as daylight and starlight,

And in the center grew one mighty flowering tree

To shelter all the children of one mother and one father.

And I saw that it was holy.

Words by Black Elk