Black Elk

"I was born in the Moon of the Popping Trees on the Little Powder River in the Winter when the Four Crows were Killed."

This is "birth info" as given by the great Oglala Lakota Medicine Man, Black Elk. In White Man's tongue, much less poetic, this translates to December, 1863, Little Powder River, Wyoming.

"Black Elk Speaks" are the memories of his life and the sufferings and losses of his people under the White Man as told to John Neidhardt in 1932. The text is available on the Internet at http://blackelkspeaks.unl.edu/.

Here are the planetary placements for December, 1863.

North Node 28 to 25 Scorpio
Pluto 11 Taurus, Retro, Stationing
Neptune 4 Aries, Retrograde, Stationing, goes Direct on Dec. 15
Uranus 24-23 Gemini, Retrograde
Saturn 16 - 18 Libra
Jupiter 15 - 20 Scorpio
Mars 19 Scorpio to 9 Sagittarius
Venus 21 Libra to 24 Scorpio
Mercury 8 Sagittarius to 26 Capricorn
Moon: New Moon Dec. 10-12; Full Moon Dec. 25, 28
Sun changes from Sagittarius to Capricorn on Dec.22-23.
Chiron 7 Pisces

(There was a Partial Lunar Eclipse called "Gordon's Eclipse" which is related somehow to a Famous Historical Event. I don't know what this event was. Date of Eclipse Nov. 25, 1863. 3 Sagg Sun / 3 Gemini Moon.)

Black Elk says he began to hear voices around the time that he turned 5 years old in the Summer. He had a Great Vision while sick when he was 9 years old and he took on his powers as a Medicine Man in his 18th summer (Nodal Return?) at the mouth of the the Tongue River in a Horse Dancing Ritual. "A man who has a vision is not able to use the power of it until after has performed the vision on earth for the people to see."

In June, "Moon of Making Fat", 1882, Black Elk cured a little boy and became renowned for his Medicine. Unfortunately, the White people were taking over the land and in his 23d Summer (1886), he left and traveled across the country and to Europe for 3 years, performing ceremonies with Buffalo Bill's Wild West tour.

His life, however, was defined by the White Man's takeover of the land in their pursuit of "The Gold Metal" which could be found in the Black Hills.

Battle of Little Big Horn, also known as Custer's Last Stand: June 25-26, 1876 beginning 3pm, Eastern Montana. Black Elk's first Battle, Jupiter Return. The Lakotas were triumphant. This was led by the two great Warriors, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.

Crazy Horse was killed Sep. 5, 1877 (Age 14). (Half Saturn Return)
Sitting Bull was killed Dec. 15, 1890 (Age 27). (Close to Saturn Return)

The Massacre at Wounded Knee happened on Dec. 29, 1890. This is thought of the last battle of the Lakota tribes. (Age 27) Close to Saturn Return. Black Elk describes the horrors of this war, the bodies of women and children lying scattered over the ground.

Married 1892 to Katie War Bonnett who became a Catholic and had three children with her.

Black Elk became Catholic, changed name to Nicholas Black Elk and remarried in 1905 to Anna Brings White, she had two children from a previous marriage and they had 3 more children.