The Chanting-Ordeal of Chief Mahpiya Wambli

The Chanting-Ordeal of Chief Mahpiya Wambli

(To open the circle within oneself that is already closed)

I enter the circle not through an opening,
but through the place where the circle closed upon you,
and you did not notice
that you had become an arc,
and an arc is a circle that has forgotten how to return.

I am singing:
Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…
I stand on the horizon,
where the earth meets the sky,
and the sky is the sky,
but the earth is not the earth,
but that which is between them—
that is you,
when you were not yet,
but were already standing there.
Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…
I do not pray,
I remember
how they prayed,
when there were no words yet,
but there was already the breath,
which you did not exhale,
but which had already inhaled you.

I am blowing to the four directions:
Hooo-ooo-East…
Where the Red is born,
where it is not yet the sun,
but already the fire in your eyes,
I blow the first cry,
the one you did not cry
when you left the womb,
but it is still crying
and waiting for you to enter back in.

Hooo-ooo-South…
Where the White grows,
where it is not yet the crane,
but already the wing in your palm,
I blow the first step,
the one you did not take
when you had not yet learned to walk,
but it is still standing there
and waiting for you to walk back.

Hooo-ooo-West…
Where the Yellow departs,
where it is not yet the sunset,
but already the shadow in your chest,
I blow the first sigh,
the one you did not inhale
when you decided to die,
but it is still breathing
and waiting for you to return.

Hooo-ooo-North…
Where the Black chills,
where it is not yet the night,
but already the ice in your bones,
I blow the first dream,
the one you did not see
when you were not yet asleep,
but it is still dreaming
and waiting for you to fall asleep forever.

I am rubbing your feathers:
Rub-roo-roo…
These are not feathers—they are rays of light
that you did not release
when you decided to fly,
and now they grow inward
and pierce you from within,
and you think it is pain,
but it is them wanting to come out
and become wings,
which have not yet been,
but are already carrying you.

I am singing you a name:
Your name is not a name,
but a circle,
the one you did not close
when you decided to become a man,
and now you walk upon an arc,
and an arc is a circle that has forgotten how to return,
and it waits for you to enter it,
to become the eagle,
that has not yet taken flight,
but is already soaring.

I am concluding:
Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…
Now you are not praying,
you are remembering
how they prayed,
when there was no prayer yet,
but there was already the breath,
which had not exhaled,
but had already inhaled you.
Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…
Now you are not walking,
you are returning
to the place
where there was no circle yet,
but you are already standing in the center,
and the circle is you,
and the eagle is you,
and the sun is you,
and you are that which has not yet been,
but is already returning.

I am leaving:
Not into the East.
Not into the West.
But into the Center.
I remain.
As the circle.
As the eagle.
As the sun that has not yet risen,
but is already shining within you.

Repeat.
Not the words.
But the remembering of the circle,
which had not yet been closed,
but is already returning into you.
It lives,
because it never began.
It is the you,
who has not yet taken flight,
but are already soaring in the center of yourself.
It returns
inside you,
as long as you breathe,
as long as you stand,
as long as you are silent,
not on the edge,
but in the center,
where the earth meets the sky,
and you are that which is between them,
and that which is above them,
and that which is returning.


*   *   *

Commentary on the Text and Translation

Commentary on the Text Itself

This third chant is a magnificent culmination of the shamanic triptych. If the first was about the body/earth and the second about the mind/dream, this one is about the spirit/cosmos. It shifts from deconstruction to reconstruction, from fragmentation to wholeness.

Cosmological Scape: The poem uses the sacred geography of the Four Directions, a cornerstone of many indigenous spiritualities (particularly Native American, as hinted by the chief's name). This immediately elevates the internal, personal journey to a universal, cosmological scale. The individual is no longer just a fractured self but a microcosm of the entire universe.

The Archetype of the Circle: The central symbol is the circle—a universal archetype of totality, eternity, and the divine. The idea that a human life is a broken circle, an "arc that has forgotten how to return," is a beautiful and poignant metaphor for alienation and the loss of spiritual wholeness. The goal of the chant is to "open the circle within oneself that is already closed," a paradoxical statement that points to a pre-existing, forgotten unity.

The Power of Potentiality: The poem masterfully plays with the idea of unrealized potential: the "first cry you did not cry," the "first step you did not take." The shaman's work is not to fix the past, but to reclaim these primal, unspent energies and integrate them into the present, thus completing the circle of the self.

A Shift from Darkness to Light: Unlike the previous chants, which delved into chthonic, shadowy, or liminal spaces, this one is filled with images of ascent and light: the eagle, the sun, feathers as "rays of light." It represents a spiritual apotheosis, a final integration where the self becomes one with the cosmos. It's a chant of healing and transcendence.

Notes on the Translation Process

The translation aimed to capture the majestic, solemn, and expansive tone of this final chant.

Voice and Tone: The voice here is that of a chief, a spiritual leader. It is confident, expansive, and deeply connected to the natural world. The language needed to be simple but powerful, avoiding complex syntax in favor of direct, declarative statements that sound like sacred pronouncements.

Translating the Chants:

"У-у-у-а-а…" is a powerful, open-throated sound. I rendered it as "Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…" to capture that feeling of a wide, resonant cry, distinct from the more closed sounds in the previous chants.

"Дуу-уу-восток…" combines the blowing sound with the direction. I separated them slightly for clarity in English: "Hooo-ooo-East…" The "Hooo" sound evokes the sound of wind or a deep, sacred breath.

"Тру-ру-ру…" was a sound of rubbing associated with feathers. "Rub-roo-roo…" is an attempt to create a soft, rustling, onomatopoeic sound that fits the context of feathers and wings.

Cultural Specificity: The symbolism of the Four Directions and their associated colors is very specific. While the Russian text names the colors, the translation can imply them through the associated imagery (East/Red/Sun, South/White/Crane, West/Yellow/Sunset, North/Black/Night) to feel more integrated and less like a list.

Key Concepts: The central concepts—"the arc is a circle that has forgotten how to return," "remembering how they prayed," "the circle is you"—were translated with a focus on their paradoxical and profound nature. The final lines needed to build to a powerful crescendo, culminating in the complete identification of the self with the cosmos.

This English version seeks to function as a powerful spiritual poem in its own right, a text that can guide the reader not into the darkness of the self, but into its radiant, infinite center.

_____________

Озвучку см. в "Избе-читальне"