Chiron Communications

Chiron Communiqué

Author's Occasional Newsletter

from Steven McFadden

Vol. 7 No.5

Whirling Rainbow Makes National News

For more on the Whirling Rainbow and the White Buffalo,
see Odyssey of the 8th Fire

Just about Noon on Friday, May 17, 2002 a dramatic, celestial phenomenon captured the attention of thousands of people in Miami and across South Florida. A huge, radiant, rainbow halo formed by concentric circles of light appeared around the Sun. The rainbow halo remained vividly visible for over two hours in a clear sky.

So impressive was the circular rainbow that people by the thousands vacated offices, supermarkets, and restaurants to gaze up at it. The rainbow halo prompted a flood of concerned calls to weather forecasters and inspired thoughts of wonder, confusion, and fear. According to a Miami Herald report on the incident, one man who was spooked by the rings of bright color declared, "It's Armageddon.'' Many others took it as a less drastic but still worrisome harbinger.

The rainbow halo caused such a stir in Florida that the story was picked up by major newspapers, CBS Evening News, and even drudgereport.com. According to meteorologists, the phenomenon was caused by the sun shining through an icy layer of clouds 30,000 feet above the Earth. They said a halo around the sun often means rain is on the way.

To learn the full story of the circular rainbow (also called the Whirling Rainbow or Sunbow) see Odyssey of the 8th Fire by Steven McFadden.

To read the Miami Herald story by reporter Martin Merzer, and to see a photo of the sunbow, try this link:
Miami%20Herald%20|%2005%2F17%2F2002%20|

Concentric Circles of Mystery
While meteorologists have a physical understanding of the circular rainbow around the sun, wisdom keepers of the Americas and Tibet have complementary spiritual understandings about this dramatic omen around the Sun which is known as the Whirling Rainbow or the Sunbow.

For some traditional native people, the Sunbow or Whirling Rainbow is considered to be a sign from Creator, marking a time of great change, or transition on the Earth. This full-circle rainbow around the Sun, some elders say, can be understood as a sign to people of the necessity to live a life in respect and harmony with all the creations that make life possible: plants, animals, waters, minerals, fires, winds, and other human beings.

It is said that in the time of the White Buffalo (which began August 20, 1994 with the birth of the first white buffalo, Miracle, in Janesville, WI), the Whirling Rainbow would begin to appear more frequently, as the sky sign language reflecting the era of transition that we are now in.

As held in the mythic memory of as many as 200 cultures around the world, at the time of the last great transition from one age to another, the Earth was purified by a great flood. At that time, it is said in many traditions, the half-circle of the rainbow was given to the human beings as a sign of the covenant between them and the Creator that the world would never again be destroyed by water.

Now in our epoch, when fire is a critical element impacting the world, some traditional peoples see the full circle of the Sunbow, or Whirling Rainbow, as the emerging sign of another covenant. It is understood as a sign of warning, for certain, for we are on the edge of destroying our home planet, as the shattering ice shelves of Antarctica and the widening ozone hole demonstrate. But it is a ultimately a sign of promise — of the possibility of peace, respect, and wholeness, just as the Whirling Rainbow is a whole circle.

The spiritual ideal is a restoration of the Sacred Hoop, wherein there is fundamental respect of all the parts for one another, and a recognition that together there is a Mystery far greater than the sum of the parts. But these ideals and this pathway must be chosen out of applied intelligence and free will.

As one who has studied the Whirling Rainbow intently since 1994, I have come to see it as signifying that the long–ago prophesied era of transition is well underway, and also signifying the possibility of restoring the Sacred Hoop, with a place of respect for all of Creation. In juxtaposition with that, I also have come to see it as a sign of warning that if humanity continues on a path of greed and selfishness, the cleansing — by all Four Elements — will continue and intensify.

Popular author Jamie Sams wrote revealingly about the Whirling Rainbow in Sacred Path Cards, Harper/SanFrancisco, 1990: "The Whirling Rainbow,’ she wrote," is the promise of peace among all Nations and people."

She also wrote that many Whirling Rainbow would be seen at the time of the White Buffalo, and that they will be "the sky–language sign that the Secret and Sacred Teachings are to be shared with all races. Enough of the Children of the Earth will be awakened to carry the responsibility of the teachings (by this time), and the healing process will begin in full swing." To learn more try her website: http://www.jamiesams.com/

I also wrote about the Whirling Rainbow in my 2001 book, Legend of the Rainbow Warriors, published through Chiron Communications (see web link at top and bottom of this page). You will find passages telling some of the lore of the solar halo in Chapter 9, pages 123–126.

There are many further teachings about the Whirling Rainbow. I intend to explore them in the book I am now at work on, Odyssey of the Eighth Fire. That book will tell the story of an 8–month prayer walk, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, under the Teachings of the Seven Fires and the Sign of the Sunbow (Whirling Rainbow). The many understandings that arose over the course of that long walk continue to evolve.

Green Light for 3 White Buffaloes

Here’s an update on the three white buffaloes who were re–located several months ago from South Dakota to Flagstaff, Arizona by their caretakers, Jim and Dena Riley.

The Rileys and their buffalo herd got settled comfortably onto the land at Spirit Mountain Ranch, about 20 north of Flagstaff, AZ, on the main road to the Grand Canyon (Highway 180). But problems arose about whether the County would allow them to open their ranch to the public. However, on April 17, 2002 the Planning and Zoning Commission of Coconino County, AZ, unanimously approved a request from Jim and Dena Riley to open the gates of Spirit Mountain Ranch to the public. Everyone is now welcome (spiritually and legally) to visit the white buffaloes — Miracle Moon, Rainbow Spirit, and Peace Pilgrim — and to learn something of the remarkable portent that they represent.

Spirit Mountain Ranch is set in a high meadow - 8,000 feet above sea level, right at the base of the San Francisco Peaks, which mark the southeast direction of the Four Sacred Corners. The ranch is a simple, beautiful place, tangibly vital, with vortex swirls of energy and pockets of powerful harmonic sound resonance. The buffalo themselves are, generally, the soul of contentment, munching, lounging and gazing back at visitors.

For more information see

Odyssey of the 8th Fire - a true and unfinished saga.

Spirit Mountain Ranch

Chiron Communications — 2002 SCHEDULE

May 30- Legend of the Rainbow Warriors - Evening Circle at Longevity Cafe, 112 West San Francisco St., Santa Fe, NM. All are welcome. Starts at 7 PM. For information contact Longevity Cafe at 505-986-0403, or visit their web site: http://www.LongevityCafe.com

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* The Chiron Communique is now published as a blog on the Chiron Communications home page.