Po-wa-ha (Water, Wind, Breath)
Lately, I have been reading what I can find about Dr. Rina Swentzell, a Pueblo scholar, architect, potter, lecturer and author. I had the privilege of meeting her and hearing her speak at Ghost Ranch in June, 2015 at week long program on “Earth Honoring Faith”. She died in October of that year so I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to be with her. I just ordered her book: Children of Clay: We are Still Here, and look forward to learning about her pottery and perhaps more spiritual philosophy. Dr. Swentzell went to the University of New Mexico, earning a Master of Art in architecture in 1976 and a doctorate in American studies in 1982. At the Earth Honoring Faith Conference I was particularly struck by the Pueblo spiritual belief she articulated which she had translated from Tewa, Po-wa-ha (Water, Wind, Breath). I later found a writing online that you can also find on Youtube where Dr. Swentzell spoke further about Pueblo spirituality and Po-Wa-Ha called “An Understated Sacredness”. I invite you to look up this reference to learn more.
I remember quite clearly Dr. Swentzell talking about the breath of life that flows through all things. She spoke of this essence as being most like the breath that animates us: moving through us and all things, all the earth breathing. As a child in the Santa Clara Pueblo she was taught that this life force is called Po-wa-ha, water, wind, breath. She described it vividly as flowing in all creatures, people, rocks, trees, buildings, animate and inanimate things. She said all things, including ourselves, are temporary residences for Po-wa-ha. This breath of life cycles through all life giving birth and death. Even buildings for Pueblo tradition have birth, life and death, and are symbolically fed cornmeal when they are built. It struck me at the time that it was not unlike the ancient Hebrew idea that life came with the breath. However, with the Hebrew tradition the breath of life emanates from God who is separate and distinct from creation. The Pueblo tradition has no concept of a dualistic God. It seems, from what little I know, that Po-wa-ha is the closest thing Dr. Swentell’s tradition has to God. This breath or essence is present in and unites, all things. Humans are one with trees, animals, rocks, mountains, the sky and the cosmos.
I would call this way of thinking about God and the cosmos as panentheistic*. I have not done exhaustive research by any means, but in every case when I have investigated the beliefs of an indigenous or primal culture, whether it be from Europe, Africa, Asia or America, I have found similar concepts of a God who creates and is present in all things. There are surely exceptions, but I haven’t learned of them. The concept of the Tao in Chinese tradition was my first exposure to this idea back when I was an East Asian Studies major in college. The Tao, the mother of all things, the pattern and process of the universe was for many years my go to concept as I tried to conceive who and what God is like. It seems to fit with process theology which considers God to be present in all, creating all and yet still somehow beyond life (truly panentheistic). As I have learned more about indigenous spiritualities I am comforted to find similar concepts of God. I have to say that it rings true to me that there is some essence, some process, a spirit or breath or presence, that is in all things and unites all things. As I dig in the dirt in my garden, hike through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains or seek permaculture solutions on my land I increasingly feel connected to all things.
When I try to conceive of God, when praying, for example, or explaining my faith to someone (like now) or sitting in church and trying to make sense out of the rituals and prayers, I find this inclusive, mysterious, breath of life strangely comforting. I don’t have to work to understand or imagine what kind of being God is, or if I should pray to Jesus or to a mother/father/creator, the Holy Spirit or someone else. I can seek a sense of unity with all things, and with this all encompassing essence of life and let the questions be for awhile. It’s really what contemplatives have been doing for a long time: letting go of self and seeking oneness with all. I would call it non-dual thinking, not separating myself from everything else, but my investigations of non-dualism have left me with the knowledge that I’m in way over my head trying to explain dualism and non-dualism. That will need to wait for another post.
I’ll conclude by sharing the mantra I have been using when I practice walking meditation these days. It’s one that I revised from one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s books:
I have arrived – I am home – in the here – and in the now – I am solid – I am free – I am one with all that is.
* Panentheism – Everything in God. This is a belief system wherein the divine interpenetrates everything in the Cosmos, but also transcends the Cosmos. Pantheism holds that everything is God: God is synonymous with the cosmos. Meister Eckhart used the analogy of a drop of water (the Cosmos) in the ocean (God). The drop is ocean, has the qualities of ocean, and ocean permeates it. But the ocean is not a drop, and can never depend upon a drop.