Yesterday, we drove about an hour north from Homolovi State Park to Second Mesa, where the Hopi center of the world is.  As we climbed in elevation, we saw a beautiful view from what seemed to be the top of the world.

We had the opportunity to tour Old Orabi Village and to see the one and only Prophecy Rock with Anthropologist Micah Lomaomvaya.  We met at the Hopi Cultural Center at Second Mesa and Micah drove us to the site.  There was no signage, no protective fence, nothing but the ancient site.

What did I know about Prophecy Rock prior to visiting it?  Well, I had seen various programs on The History Channel mentioning it in conjunction to 2012 and the forebodened end of the world as we know it.  It intrigued me and I wanted to know the truth.  Well, I am glad I had the opportunity to see it for myself.  Just before visiting, I looked up Prophecy Rock on the internet to see if this was the one that has been made famous.  Yes, it is.  I saw a sketch of the petroglyph and an interpretation.  (As a rule, the Hopi People do not allow photographs of their people or things, especially sacred things, because they feel it takes pieces of their soul away)

As we stood in front of the rock, Micah asked us what we knew about it and I told him I had looked it up.  He said not to believe anything I had read in some books and especially on the internet.  He said that there are six different interpretations on the internet, all are wrong.  As I stared at the rock art, I was confused because what was before my eyes was similar to the diagram I had seen on my computer screen, but different.  How could people put out information, claim it to be true, and change it to suit their agenda?

As Micah began to explain the story in Prophecy Rock, he wanted to first point out the damage from visitors to the rock.  Visitors are supposed to only be allowed there with a Hopi Guide, but people violate that rule all the time.  Micah said that when he or his people find visitors at the site with no guide, they are asked to leave.  He pointed out several shrines to the rock that appeared recently and then showed us additions to the message on the rock that have appeared within recent weeks that do not belong there.  These were symbols added to the picture by non-Hopi people to make them look like the incorrect sketches found on the internet.  That was shocking to me, but somehow rang true.  You see… as I found out, the real message of Prophecy Rock isn’t as horrific and fearful as it is touted to be.  The message is for the Hopi People, not a Nostradamus-like prophecy of the world coming to an end, as it is being made out to be.

The sketch starts in the bottom left hand corner with a man holding a digging stick in his right hand and a line stretching upward in his left.  He is the caretaker of this world and was who the Hopi met when they emerged from the last world (which was the third).  The caretaker is showing the Hopi how to live and prosper here in this world, the fourth and their last chance.  He gives them four things to live by:  language to tell the ancient stories and teach, the land, a digging stick to farm the land and grow crops, and a feather which represents morals and spirituality.  As we travel up the line, there is a rectangular box and this represents the four sacred corners of the world.  The caretaker told the Hopi to split up and spread to the four directions and claim their land and settle for four years at a time, working the land and meeting people, before moving on and establishing another settlement.  From there, the Hopis had a choice: to live and assimilate into a culture of convenience, over indulgence and not earning their place in the world.  That path (the top one) becomes jagged and chaotic.  The figure on the end has had his head cut off and it is rolling off his shoulders.

The path below that, is one of prosperity and longevity.  It shows two circles of bumps in the road felt by the world and then there is a line connecting the two paths, where the Hopi from the top path, the jagged one, have a chance to come back to the good path.  After that connecting line, there is a semi circle (which I’ll talk about later), and then a corn stalk, and then an old man who is fit, walking with a cane and still has his digging stick as he walks the straight path that goes on and on.

There are two significant symbols that need mentioning.  One is the semi circle I mentioned that rests on the line and arcs above like a sun.  This is a time of reckoning.  It is when the world will be different and everyone will be asked if they are Hopi and if they are living the good path.  If they are not, those found living inauthentic lives will be beheaded as shown in the path directly above.

Is the day of reckoning going to be a day when the world ends?  It didn’t seem to be, as Micah told us, this prophecy is for the Hopi People and not necessarily for the rest of the world.  Does it say that aliens will be coming down to Earth on that day?  No it does not.  

The other significant symbol is down toward the beginning of the story near the caretaker and it is the symbol of the cross.  That is the symbol of the Bahana, the white people who will come from the East who will bring a technology with them for the Hopi and will live as true brothers with the Hopi.  This symbol was carried by the Spanish who were mistaken for the Bahana but were given 90 years to prove themselves to be true brothers before being forced out of Hopi lands by an uprising of the Hopi people.

Such kind and peaceful people who will embrace you as a potential brother.  The Cultural Center at Second Mesa has a museum and restaurant open to the public.  The Hopi believe that service to community is the most important thing that they can do.  Today, many of the Hopi claim a piece of land and farm.  They dry farm (no irrigation) with seeds that were handed down from parents and grandparents that will survive the arid and windy climate.  Micah said they grow 18 different types of corn, watermelon, squash and beans and plant three times a year.

The vandalism to Prophecy Rock that we witnessed was that the digging stick in the right hand of the caretaker has been turned into an arrow and someone scratched a bow to his right.  That was never there.  Someone scratched an additional smaller figure onto the top, jagged path and put a head on the figure whose head was falling off.  They tried to turn the stalk of corn on the lower, straight and good path into a type of cross.  This was both shocking and unsettling to me to see the purity of the message be changed by someone with an agenda to make the message scarier than it is and thus, tamper with the Hopi’s heritage.  I could feel their feeling of being violated by outsiders who act as if they have a right to be there.

Please if you visit the Hopi Reservation yourself, and wish to see Prophecy Rock in person, please hire a guide and treat the Hopi and their lands with respect.  They have several rules on how to do that, such as not taking pictures without their permission.  If you are respectful in their home, they will open their hearts to you and you will not be sorry for your visit to their world.

Micah said they call the rock “Prosperity Rock” because its true lesson is how to live and prosper with the land and not mistreat it.  I believe that this is the true message of Prophecy Rock that should be promoted on television, books and the internet and not one that puts fear into people’s heads and hearts.