The Song of the Eagle Who... Remembers

The Song of the Eagle Who Does Not Fly, But Remembers

(To lift the one who has already lowered their wings)


I ascend not upward, but inward,
where height is depth,
and the sky is the earth, turned inside out.
I am singing:
Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…
I am the Eagle who does not soar, but remembers
how to soar, when there were no wings yet,
but there was already the wind,
and the wind is not the wind, but you,
when you were not yet breathing, but were already flying.
Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…
I do not fly, I remember how to fly,
when there was no sky yet, but there was already the space,
in which you were not yet,
but you were already soaring.

I am blowing on the feathers:
Hooo-ooo-feather…
This is not a feather—it is a ray of light
that you did not release when you chose to be human,
and now it grows from your shoulder blade,
and you think it is pain,
but it is the ray wanting to come out and become a wing,
which has not yet been, but is already carrying you.
Hooo-ooo-wind…
This is not the wind—it is the breath
that you did not inhale when you chose to stand still,
and now it blows from your chest,
and you think it is the cold,
but it is the breath wanting to lift you and become a current,
which has not yet been, but is already bearing you.

I am rubbing your eyes:
Rub-roo-roo…
These are not eyes—they are the sun
that you did not see when you chose not to look,
and now it burns in your pupils,
and you think it is the light,
but it is the sun wanting to see and become a gaze,
which has not yet been, but is already looking for you.

I am singing the eagle to you:
The eagle is not a bird,
but that which is between the sky and the earth,
when there was neither one nor the other yet,
but there was already the space,
in which you were not yet, but you were already soaring.
The eagle is not the eagle, but you,
when you have not yet taken flight, but are already returning
to the place where there was no sky yet,
but you are already the sky.

I am concluding:
Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…
Now you are not ascending, you are remembering
how to soar, when there was no height yet,
but you were already above everything.
Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…
Now you are not looking, you are seeing,
how to see, when there were no eyes yet,
but you are already the sun.

I am leaving:
Not into the sky.
Not into the earth.
But into you.
I remain.
As the eagle.
As the sun.
As the wind that has not yet blown, but is already carrying you.
Repeat.
Not the words, but the remembering of the flight,
which has not yet been, but you are already soaring.
It lives, because it never began.
It is the you, who has not yet taken flight, but is already returning to the sky.
It returns inside you,
as long as you breathe, as long as you stand, as long as you are silent—
not on the ground, but in the air,
where there were no wings yet, but you are already the eagle,
and the eagle is you,
and you are that which soars and does not soar,
but remembers how to soar.


*   *   *

Commentary on the Text and Translation

Commentary on the Text Itself

This fifth chant is a stunning work of transcendent poetry. It serves as the culmination and synthesis of the entire shamanic cycle. If the previous chants were about deconstruction (of the body, the mind, the self), this one is about reconstruction and apotheosis.

1. The Central Paradox: The core idea of "The Eagle who does not fly, but remembers" is a brilliant paradox. It reframes power and freedom not as an external action (flying) but as an internal state of being (remembering). Flight is not something to be achieved, but a primordial state to be recalled. This shifts the focus from doing to being.

2. A Philosophy of Ascension: The poem is filled with breathtaking philosophical inversions. "Height is depth," "the sky is the earth, turned inside out." The wind is not an external force, but "you, when you were not yet breathing, but were already flying." This creates a reality where the boundaries between self and cosmos, inside and outside, are completely dissolved.

3. The Body as a Site of Transcendence: The imagery of the body is transformed. In earlier chants, the body was a site of primal urges ("The Fissure") or cold stasis ("Bone-Chilling"). Here, the body becomes a vessel for spiritual emergence. The feather is a "ray of light," pain is the growth of a wing, the eyes are the sun. The human form is not a limitation but a launching point for the divine.

4. Synthesis and Healing: This chant masterfully weaves together themes from the previous ones. It revisits the "pain" of transformation but reframes it as growth. It uses the structure of "remembering" but applies it to the most sublime concept—flight. It feels like the final, healing stage of the ritual, a movement from the darkness of the preceding chants into a radiant, soaring light.

Notes on the Translation Process

The translation aimed to capture the airy, expansive, and luminous quality of the original.

1. Voice and Tone: The voice here is one of confident, soaring power, but it is a gentle power, not an aggressive one. The language needed to be both majestic and light. I used words like "ascend," "soar," "radiant," and "luminous" in my mind as guiding principles, even if they didn't all appear in the final text.

2. Translating the Chants: The sounds needed to feel open and resonant, like the cry of an eagle.
"У-у-у-а-а…" was kept as "Ooo-ooo-ah-ah…" to link it to the cosmic chant of the Chief, creating a sense of continuity.
"Дуу-уу-перо…" and "Дуу-уу-ветер…" use the "Hooo" sound, connecting it to the sacred breath of the Four Directions from the previous chant. This reinforces the idea that the wind and the feathers are part of the same cosmic system.
"Тру-ру-ру…" was translated as "Rub-roo-roo…," maintaining the soft, rustling sound appropriate for rubbing eyes, as opposed to the harder sound of rubbing bone.

3. Key Concepts and Paradoxes: The translation focused on rendering the central paradoxes as clearly and poetically as possible. "Я взлетаю не вверх, а внутрь, где высота — это глубина" became "I ascend not upward, but inward, where height is depth." The crucial final concept—"ты — это то, что парит и не парит, а вспоминает, как парить"—was translated as "you are that which soars and does not soar, but remembers how to soar" to capture the beautiful sense of being in a state of active, mindful stillness.

This English version seeks to be an incantation in its own right—a text that doesn't just describe flight but gives the reader a sense of lifting off the ground, not through physical effort, but through a deep, internal act of remembering.

_________

This song with musical accompaniment can be viewed in the 'Избе-Читальне"