Cultural Stories Which Involve The Force from Cultures World-Wide...

I had a sort of werid idea, and it's stuck in my head for a coupla nights now... it has occured to me, that since "the Force" actually-factually exists, and there is evidence of it in cultural stories from all over the world, I thought it might be nice if each and every one of us could contribute a story, from each, their very own ancestral culture(s), in this thread (even if they must more deeply research their own culture to do so), that has anything to do with the Force in any of it's aspects... for example;

Some aspects of the force can include Asiatic concepts, like Qi, chi, Ki, Jing, Shen, Chigong, etc....

Some aspects can be found in Christianity, among those who are non-trinitarian, and see the "Holy Spirit" as an impersonal active force...

Some aspects can be from Medieval European Alchemy schools of thought, as the Quintessence, or the First Matter...

Perhaps some ancient Sanskrit, Tibetan or Hindi legends which mention Akasa or Prana...

Maybe some Aboriginal Australian legends/creation stories which involve the Dreamtime and the powers of the animals...

Something from Aotearoa, maybe the Maori teachings of how things came to be...

Some Native American ("American Indian") stories of how X, Y or Z came into the lives of the Human Beings...

Perhaps it was a legend from Scandinavia or the British Isles, at-or-before the days of King Arthur for instiance, that involved sorcery and magic, or near-death escape through use of the cloaking power of invisibility, or a wizard's use of the force to protect a king or group of people...

From anywhere and any culture, so long as it's one you take part in - that's the one requirement

Maybe it was how a certain magic was used, or how a certain sacred object came into the hands of The People, or maybe it involved the force (spirit/"magic") in the way that interspecies communication is able to happen... anything that has some aspect of Spirit, Magic or the Force involved... though not too vaguely

It might also do well to have a footnote to explain how the Force applies in the story

This ought to be fun and educational!

Ready? I'll start in the very next post...

I've posted this elsewhere in at least two other places online in the past, starting nearly two decades ago...

This is a story about the Native American "courtship flutes" that I started making when I was 13 years old, and where they originally came from.

Many tribes and nations of us tell this story, each a mite differently, but all with generally the same main pieces.... about Woodpecker, the Elk-Medicine men, the warrior who was poor, the chief's daughter, etc. - this is my own telling of it, the way I've told it to my son.

Y'see, a whole mess of winters ago, many-many before the whites came, perhaps a thousand or more ago, there was this one warrior who was deeply in love with the chief's daughter.

Everyone tried to court her, giving her fine presents, and everyone tried to out-do one another with the presents they would give to her. A great many things were heaped up in her possession, and she could not decide who she should marry.

This one warrior, however, though he was a great hunter and could more than provide for a hungry family with his hunting skills, was otherwise very poor, and had little or nothing to give to her for presents to try to woo her heart his way. She liked him enough, but she would always say, "You are a good hunter, and a good Human Being, but you are poor, and I am a chief's daughter after all.... what can you give me to show me what I am worth to your heart?"

Though he was a good hunter and provider, he grew up being fatherless, and had no-one to teach him how to make tools other than those to hunt with, nor how to make other things for daily life, nor to teach him good trading sense so that he could acquire good-quality things that are needed in life. Being a good provider of food alone is not enough to get a good wife.

He was heartbroken, and so he took a sweat-bath in the sweat-lodge, and wandered off into the wilderness, and took no food for days, hoping to receive a vision from the spirit world as to what to do about his situation.

After three or four days, he crossed a great distance of the prairie, and came to the edge of where the Great Forests began. It was some time after Morning Star (Venus) came and went, early morning, just after dawn. He went into the woods, and after a long time's walk within, he came to a small clear place with big rocks that were left behind when the Big Ice had moved across the land in the Ancient Days. He sat there, and cried out to the Great Spirit for an answer to his dilemma.

Soon, he heard what he thought sounded like some elk. He looked towards the sound, and in the distance through the trees, he saw elk antlers. Two pairs of them. But their song seemed more like spirit people language. He looked closer and noticed that they were men.... Elk-Medicine men.

He knew since he was a child that if he saw medicine men - or anyone - involved in sacred doings that he was not a part of, that he should stay away.... that he should not even look in their direction, for fear of interfering with their power or defiling whatever was being done, polluting it with his observing mind's presence in it all. But they were looking at him, and sounding their Elk-Medicine music in a way that seemed like they were calling to him to come closer and to follow them, and so that is what he did.

He would call to them and say, "Wait for me! I am trying to keep up with you!", but they would keep the same distance, though making sure he kept on following them, without their losing him.

Soon, they came to a grove of cedar trees. The Elk-Medicine men stopped under one of them, and stood still, looking up the tree. The warrior saw them there, and noticed that they had stopped making their music, and now another music was sounding. It sounded similar to the Elk-Medicine music, but was different somehow. The Elk-Medicine men began to smoke their sacred pipes, and a great amount of smoke came from them, obscuring them from view. When Wind blew his breath and made the smoke disappear, the Elk-Medicine men were gone.

Still, he heard the music.... it would sound, and then stop.... then he would hear a knocking sound.... then the music again.... then the knocking.... then the music.... and so on like this for a little while, and he looked and saw Woodpecker sitting strangely on a hollow branch while Wind was blowing his breath through the deadwood stick. Then after a while, he heard Woodpecker up in the tree call to him, "Brother, come on over here.... I have something for you!"

The warrior looked up into the tree and said, "Woodpecker.... what are you doing??", as he saw that the winged one was working away at a dead branch, rather deeply, but pulling up no bugs for his breakfast.

Woodpecker said, "The Great Spirit told me to show this to you and to gift it to you on his behalf, and to teach you about this wonderful thing.... this is to help you win the heart of the maiden who is your other half-self - the one who is daughter to your chief. The Great Spirit has been watching you, and knows that you are a good Human Being, and that you work hard and are a good provider, and wants you to be the husband of the chief's daughter. He knows that you have grown up poor, and that because of this you have grown to be a compassionate person, and non-materialistic. It is you that he wants, to help lead your tribe as one of it's elders someday."

"How will this piece of tree help me do this?", said the warrior.

"Did you not hear the music? Here.... break this off right here - carefully", the winged one said. "You see, the six-leggeds have hollowed this dead branch out in two places, and The Great Spirit instructed me to put holes through to the hollows, and where to put them." He then sat over the sounding holes and held on tight and said, "You will have to make a piece of wood to go here, near these two special holes, but I will cover them in a certain way myself for now.... now, cover these holes here with your fingers, and blow into
this end of the stick, here."

He did so, and a sharp, but soft piece of music came out of the stick. He was wildly delighted and amazed at it all. "Now open this first hole." He did, and when he blew into it, another piece of music came out, sounding a little different from the first. He smiled almost more than a person can smile.

This went on like this until he learned all about the holes and the sounds each one had made. Then Woodpecker showed him how to make other flutes.... he would have to split a piece of deadwood cedar, hollow out the two places, put it back together with sap, tying the pieces together with leather thongs, and to bore or burn in the fingering holes, and all the other aspects of it's construction.

"Now, you need to know that just making the sounds isn't enough.... you need to know what combinations will turn your woman's heart to you.... you need to learn the Elk-Medicine, and become an Elk-Medicine man.... a Holy Man.... and then you will know how to make the different songs of power. You know how powerful Elk's music is, yes? How all he has to do is call and his women flock to him? It is the same power." Woodpecker knew much about his forest brothers.

Woodpecker used his own voice and whistled a quick combination of notes, and smoke began to appear in one place. When it cleared away, the Elk-Medicine men were there where the smoke had cleared from. They showed him how to leave a smoke offering to the tree he took the branch from, and what songs to sing during the song-stick's construction, and all the knowledge of how the music's different voices, the notes, sit next to each other in a certain order, and how to find where they live along the song-stick, and all the other things he needed to know about the songs of power, and how to make the right ones for each person who would ask him, based on the person's personality, and the personality of the woman he wished to woo with the music - how to discover the proper song attuned to her personality, to then be used to call to her.

Then Woodpecker then instructed, "Please, remember the way which I covered part of the two special holes that make the sound's power.... right there where on the branch is my roost, place the birch bark nest, and make the wooden bird like me in the way that I sat there, and that will help you to remember, and also to remember this spirit time and how this came to be, after you begin to take food again. Now take the song-stick, and go from here in the direction of sun-goes-down for a time until you arrive again at your village, and eat, and rest, brother.... and remember."

The warrior thanked Woodpecker and the Elk-Medicine men very much, and they gave him an antler headdress to wear, because he was now an Elk-Medicine man himself.

When he arrived at the village, he saw that people began to form a search party for him, thinking that he had been in trouble somehow, or injured, and they saw him coming into the village with elk antlers on his head. He looked starved and tired, yet somehow strong and very wide awake at some high level. They knew he was coming back from a vision quest and had seen the spirit world.

His closest friends were the first to approach him. They asked him what the spirits had told him, and he lifted the song-stick to his lips and blew a short, haunting tune.... all were wide-eyed in amazement - he briefly played another tune, a little longer this time.... some laughed a couple/few syllables of laughter, followed by gasps of wonderment, and others laughed and cried at the same time. This was a sound that no Human Being had ever heard before in this Continent-On-The-Great-Turtle's-Back.

The women throughout the whole village were the most affected.... they came running when they heard the music - they wanted to hear more.... but the chief's daughter came right up to him and wrapped her arms around one of his arms and wouldn't let go.

She shook off the feeling, and tried to walk away, but when he played the song-stick again, she went back to him. She was sticking to him like honey on a bear's nose.

All the men noticed this, and wanted him to make song-sticks for them all. He said he would talk about it the next morning. Then the warrior took a sweat-bath in the sweat-lodge, and ate some wasna (dried meat mixed with berries), and drank a lot of water, and went to sleep.

The next morning, now that he had started to take food again and was well rested, he felt more grounded - more tied to his body - but he still remembered full well all of the past few days' events, and he felt like a renewed person.

All the village's men wanted a song-stick to woo their women - the single ones for their girlfriends, and the married ones for their wives. The warrior would say, "What will you give me in trade?" and the men nearly buried him with great goods - tools, skins, furs, flints, clothing, quillwork items, pieces of micah for mirrors, spears, spearheads, bows with arrows, and even horses, buffalo hide robes and tepees!!

Soon, the warrior was a very rich man, but he had already wooed the chief's daughter's heart his way. And, as is the way of a True Human Being, a man isn't judged rich by what he has, but by what he gives away - so he held a big giveaway party where all ate very well, and great things were given to the poorest people of the village. The next morning, the warrior and the chief's daughter got married, and had another party afterward. The party soon ended, because the men went out to get their song-sticks, and called the women away to them for a night of serenading. This was just fine for the newly married couple.

As time went by, and he and she had children, eventually he taught his oldest son all of the Elk-Medicine he knew and of the making of the song-sticks, and transferred all the knowledge of the songs of power and everything to him. Soon afterwards, he himself became one of the village chiefs, while his son was a very good Elk-Medicine man.

And this is how the Courtship Flute came to the Human Beings - the indigenous peoples of 'Turtle Island' (North America).

To this day, with a flute of this type, and a modicum of skill, if you blow from softly to sharply (eventually 'overblowing'), with all holes closed, you can mimic an elk's call and even call one out of hiding. With skill, you can also mimic other beings, like Wolf.... or even Woodpecker and others, with smaller flutes of this type.

I hope you enjoy this story - as it is exceedingly rare that this one is told in this way

NOTE; Many of Mother Earth's aboriginal peoples on nearly every continent do not so much see the force as anything separate from everyday life, but as an integral part of every living day... it allows for more deeply attuned consciousnesses and interspecies communication... or to elevate the mind through practices like fasting, such as in the vision quest philosophies of the Native Americans of the Northern Plains, for example (as well as other peoples), in order to be more communicative with the spirit world and learn higher things... and also use of the Force allows for deeper/higher communication with other fellow human beings on a very high/subtle level, such as with spiritual music or the enchanting magic of Love

Tarran wrote: Some aspects can be found in Christianity, among those who are non-trinitarian, and see the "Holy Spirit" as an impersonal active force...

*waves* Christian here, checking in. Though I'm mostly an armchair theologian and part-time mystic, I do feel the need to point out in discussions like this that there is not a 1:1 direct analogue to the Force in Christianity.

(potentially off-topic slightly)


I like the idea of this thread. I can't wait to see some responses.

So, I thought I'd try to help this thread along... just a reminder, this is for cultural stories that have something to do with the Force (in however your culture interprets it) involved in it. On that topic. Cultural stories. I'll try another...



This is an old one from a tribe in Canada... it only vaguely deals with "the Force" in the manifestation of manitou-like powers, and even once with it shooting forth from the spirit-boy's hand... enjoy;

A warrior and his wife once had a beautiful boy, for whom they made many plans. But when he grew up, and reached the right age, he would not consent to the fast. They wished him to blacken his face with charcoal, and not to eat anything for three days. But he threw away the charcoal, and when they denied him food, he ate birds' eggs and the heads of fish which had been cast away.

At length one day he came home, and, taking some coals, blackened his face. Then he went out of the lodge and lay down on the grass to sleep. As he lay there, he had a wonderful dream. He thought a beautiful maiden came to him, and said, "Onawataquto, come with me. Step in my tracks." He arose and did so, and felt himself mounting up over the tree-tops, until he reached the sky.

The maiden entered through a small opening, and he followed her. Looking around, he found himself on a beautiful, grassy plain. A tall lodge stood in the distance. She led him to it, and he saw that it was divided into two parts. In one end there were bows, arrows, clubs, and spears, and other things that belong to a warrior. In the other end were strings of colored beads, bright pieces of cloth, and fancy moccasins, such as belong to a maiden. On a frame was a broad belt, beautifully colored, that she was weaving.

"My brother will soon be home," she said, "and I do not wish him to see you, so come until I hide you." She put him in a corner and spread the belt over him.

In a short time the brother returned, and sat down in his end of the lodge. He took down his pipe, and began to smoke. Then, in a little while, he said, "Sister, when are you going to stop this practice? Do you forget that the Greatest of the Spirits has forbidden you to take the children of the earth? I know whom you have behind that belt. Come forth, Onawataquto."

When the young man came forth, he presented him with bows and arrows and a pipe of red stone. Now this meant that he was married to the maiden.

After that the brother used to take him with him over the beautiful plains, and he found everything very peaceful. Then he began to notice that the brother left the lodge each morning, and did not return until night. He asked him what he did when he was away.

"Come with me, and I shall show you," said the brother.

So they set off early next morning, and walked on for a long time. At last Onawataquto began to feel hungry.

"Wait a few minutes," said the brother, "and I shall show you how I get food."

When they reached a spot where they could see down to the earth below, he said, "Now sit down and watch." And Onawataquto did so.

When he looked down, he could see the earth quite plainly. In one village he saw a war party getting ready. In another he saw them dancing, and in another, a group of children playing beside a lodge.

"Do you see that beautiful boy down there?" asked the brother.

"Yes," he replied. Suddenly the brother darted something from his hand at the child, and he fell senseless.

The parents rushed out and carried him into the lodge, and made great wailing. Then they saw people gather around the lodge, and the medicine man arrived. He addressed himself to the spirit brother, and asked him what sacrifice he desired.

"I shall allow the boy to get better if you will make me the sacrifice of a white dog," answered the brother, through the opening in the sky.

They at once caught a white dog, and killed and roasted it. The meat was then put on dishes, which at once floated up to the spirit brother.

"Now eat," he said to Onawataquto. "This is the way I get all my meals."

After a while the young man grew tired of the quiet days, and desired to go back to the earth. His wife was angry when she heard him say this, and said she would not let him go. But after a while she consented, and said, "You may go; but remember you are not to marry any of the earth maidens, for at any time I can draw you back here."

Next morning Onawataquto found himself lying on the grass by his father's lodge, with his face still blackened. His father and mother and all his friends were standing near him in glad surprise. They told him he had been away a year.

For some days he went around very quietly; then he began to forget his dream. After a while he could hardly remember it at all.

In a few months, he married one of the maidens of the tribe. That night he went out of his father's lodge, and was never seen again.

It is said that the spirit maiden had drawn him back to her home in the sky.