The Weather Wizards – Part Three
The entire universe, including the so-called “forces of nature”, rests upon the foundation of the mind. Man is not a pawn of nature. It is nature that is subservient to man. This is the truth that Jesus revealed when he calmed the storm at Galilee. He then went on to point out to his disciples that even so vast a natural feature as a mountain could be moved, merely by using the power inherent in the human mind. (Mark 11:23)
We are not accustomed to using our minds to influence the weather, simply because we do not believe that we can, nor do we have the faith to try. Yet every power that exists in nature, whether it be wind, tide, rain, storm or fire, is subject to the power of mind, for it is the mind that has given these forces birth. As Nisargadatta Maharaj responded to a skeptical enquirer:
“Man’s five-fold body (physical, mental etc) has potential powers beyond our wildest dreams. Not only is the entire universe reflected in man, but also the power to control the universe is waiting to be used.” (I Am That)
Not all societies regard the forces of nature as hostile agents over which they have no control. During her travels in Tibet, French explorer Alexandra David-Neel wrote of a certain Lama of Chorten Nyima who was regarded as a magician by local inhabitants. This Lama was said to have possessed the power to cause rain or hail storms, and to be able to stop them at will. (Magic and Mystery in Tibet)
Other aboriginal cultures have harnessed these natural forces, and obliged them to dance to the rhythm of their drums. When Harold Wright visited the African country of Dahomey (now called the People’s Republic of Benin), he was invited by his host Prince Aho to witness a ritual dance ceremony conducted in the courtyard of the royal palace. As Wright later described in his book Witness to Witchcraft, a tall man stepped forward brandishing a staff with a head of polished brass.
The man swished his wand to and fro, and began to dance in sinuous undulations to the beat of the accompanying drums. As the drumbeats increased in tempo the dancer revolved in ever more rapid gyrations until he moved like a man possessed. Soon other dancers joined in this trance-like frenzy. In his book Wright went on to describe the unfolding scene.
“The day had been bright and clear when the dance started, but suddenly I looked up and the heavens were overcast. The dance continued, with the rumble of thunder quickening the pace, and the dancers were now shrieking and distorting their faces while they made seemingly impossible leaps high into the air. I found myself gradually under the spell of the strange frenzy that possessed them, and all the while I was aware of the ominous gathering of clouds overhead.”
While Wright became increasingly concerned about the imminent storm, and the fact that it threatened to interrupt his picture taking, Prince Aho leaned across to him and whispered into his ear: “It will not rain because we will not permit the rain without the rain dance.” Although Wright tried to continue filming the dance, the sky soon became so dark that photography became impossible. As he described in the pages of his book:
“The air was hot and humid – well over a hundred degrees; and in the sky there was the distant clap of thunder, mingling with the roar of the drums. I expected to see lightning and then a downpour, but after a second clap of thunder the dance stopped. The man carrying the staff made a final gyration and toppled forward to the earth, almost at the Prince’s feet. His thick lips were covered with fine white foam, and the manner in which he plunged to the ground left no doubt that he was not faking exhaustion. He had danced himself unconscious.”
As the frenzied dancer collapsed on the ground, Harold Wright noticed with astonishment that the impending storm had simply vanished from the sky. In its place the blue sky had returned, together with the sun and the heat. It was then that the Prince turned to him, his lips wreathed in a smile as he pointed to the sky, and said: “We do this for our amusement.”
