Download or read book Holiness.com Dating Survival Guide written by Shawn David Jackson and published by . This book was released on 2004-10-01 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Native American teaching tales are similar to those of any other culture around the world in many ways. One can see many of the more familiar characters of Western folk tales walking in and out of these tales in bit parts or supporting roles. In fact, just outside the forest where Bear and Deer live is the Briar Patch frequented by Briar Rabbit and the Big, Bad Wolf! The reasons for this are many and varied. One is that all these tales have a similar purpose, whether they originated in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Outback of Australia or North and South America. They are meant to teach our culture and values to our young, and to give them tips on how to handle problems they might face throughout life. Thus many tales reflect what may befall a child when he or she strays from what her society deems appropriate conduct. There is less emphasis on this in Native American teaching tales than in most European cultures, although "Bear Falls For Deer" has this theme at its heart. Native American teaching tales more often show the rewards of good behavior as compared to punishment for bad behavior. In "Daughter of Wolf" Deer gives birth to a foal not out of sexual activity but because of her faith and belief in the power of Wakan Tanka. In many ways this story seems biblical. These tales often deal with death and loss- loss of a loved one or a way of life. "Bear and Deer's Final Journey" and "Shines-Like-Sun" are such stories. Most readers will easily note the differences between the way death is viewed in these stories than in European culture. While Bear, Deer and Shines-Like-Sun all go to the Spirit World- all "walk with Wakan Tanka"- they are never truly away and come up in later stories in the same frequency and doing many of the same things they did while "alive". Another issue common in these tales is the role of Man in the universe. Native American societies saw more of a unity in nature than Europeans did, a knowledge that all living things were Brother and Sister. However they still could not help but notice there was some fundamental difference between Mankind and the other animals created by the Great Spirit- without deciding whether that was necessarily good or evil. "Little Owl Sees A Man" touches upon this theme. Native American Creation stories are varied and colorful, and well-documented, and any interested reader is encouraged to read more in this area. Most all Native American societies, both North and South of the equator, place great emphasis on the cyclic nature of the world. This is the central theme of these tales, the cycle of seasons, birth and death, of changes in society and Nature. "Comes-the-Spring" brings this cycle once again to its beginning, Little Owl shows all the same hope and love Bear expressed when she met "The Most Beautiful Creature". This is in direct contrast to many tales today- notably those strongly influenced by certain Christian sects- which see life as linear. There is a steady progression from creation to destruction. Native American societies- most notably South American ones including the Maya and Aztec- see this cycle as just one of many. What we can be sure of is that times are changing, and like Deer teaches in "Deer's Last Lesson", while we cannot hold back the seasons for even a single day, we cannot stop doing what we believe is right. Lastly, it is almost certain that some readers will note that both Deer and Bear are female. Sexual identity among many tribes was not considered as predetermined as it is today in Western culture. Sexual identities were often set by the role one played in society, rather than one's role being determined by one's gender, as is the case today. A Shaman was often on