Tears for Mother

The Cherokee originally lived above the sky vault. The Cherokee people came down to Mother Earth after it had become crowded above the sky. Now after all the humans have come here to live and have become uncaring for our Earth Mother and created the poisons killing our planet.

The Raven in the painting symbolizes the Raven Mocker

The Raven Mocker is an evil spirit and the most feared of Cherokee witches. According to Cherokee mythology it robs the sick and dying of their heart. Normally appearing as old, withered men and women, or turning completely invisible except to certain medicine men, they take to the air in a fiery shape, with the sounds of a raven’s cry and a strong wind as they hunt for their next victim. After tormenting and killing their victim by slitting the victim’s head they consume his heart (doing so without leaving a mark on the victim’s skin), and add a year to their life for every year that the slain would have still lived. The sound of a raven mocker means that someone in the area will soon die.

Raven mockers are normally invisible when feeding, but those with strong medicine can not only spot them but cause them to die within seven days. Medicine men will sometimes stand guard over the dying to prevent raven mockers from stealing the heart of the afflicted.

The Heart of the Mother Earth is disappearing.

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