The Archaeology of the Soul

I have a new essay up at bensozia, a review of a book about the archaeology of American Indian spiritual life.

There before the buffalo skull
lies the grave-like trench with the rainbow snare;
there before the buffalo skull
grows the fabled Garden of the Evening Star.
There within the earth life stirs
as in a woman bearing a child;
There within the earth life throbs
with the rhythmic beat of a living heart;
There within the earth life thrives
as death begets life and life follows death
in the sacred Garden of the Evening Star.

--Pawnee Song