Something in them there skies

Alaska. The last frontier. For the residents maybe. But for travelers and visitors, this incredibly large area of land has been a quiet place of mystery and wonder. There are over a dozen different native cultures in Alaska, from Athabascan to Chugach. Surprisingly, none of these cultures had a formal written language. And while research and historical data give insight to their lifestyles, for many years, there was not much recorded study into their spiritual beliefs.  The hunt for The Source started in Fairbanks, on up through Denali, finally leaving us to set up shop in Anchorage just outside of Kincaid Park. Up until now, the answers were found below. But once we reached the land of daytime nights and nighttime days, we turned to the skies to find answers from above.

So what's really in the skies over Alaska other than cold air and static electricity? Some of the early natives believed and still believe that the gods are present all around them in the skies, the water, the land, and the creatures of the earth. After spending four years going through each indigenous venture in search of the source, we finally ended up in a remote village in Western Alaska with a very special tribe known as the Inuits.

There are so many tales of the Eskimos and their practices, but not many that relate to aliens, UFO's, conspiracy theories, etc. The imagination of the modern world burns at both ends merely miles away from ancient civilization. While there is a root of beliefs, they are quite different from the average Christian, Muslim, Jew of the millennial society. The mentor I worked with, bottom-center in the photo above, agreed only to share if his true native name and rank were kept anonymous. So we will call him "Floyd". "Floyd" explained how it was the Native Americans of the contiguous regions that brought their belief system to Alaska. The Russian influence on the Thule Peoples eventually led to a more developed language and recording of their own history. And then with the unavoidable mix of other people's beliefs with their beliefs, they developed a polygamous system that would clearly define who and what The Source is. Researcher and Historian, Paul Burke put together this chart that clearly highlights many of the gods that "Floyd" explained:

Inuit Gods

Agloolik

Good spirit that lived under the ice and helped with hunting and fishing.

Aipalovik

Evil god of the sea that could hurt boating by biting them.

Akna

Mother goddess of childbirth.

Anguta

Gatherer of the dead. Anguta carries the dead down to the underworld, where they must sleep with him for a year.

Aningan

The moon, brother to the sun whom Moon chases across the sky. Aningan has a great igloo in the sky where he rests. Irdlirvirissong, his demon cousin, lives there as well. The moon is a great hunter, and his sledge is always piled high with seal skins and meat.

Aukaneck

God that lived in the sea, whose movements created the waves.

Aumanil

God that lived on land and controlled the movements of the whales.

Ek Chua

God of merchants and cacao growers. Black faced with a huge nose.

Irdlirvirisissong

The demon cousin of the moon. Sometimes Irdlirvirissong comes out into the sky to dance and clown and make the people laugh. But if anyone is nearby, the people must restrain themselves or the demon clown will dry them up and eat their intestines.

Keelut

Evil Earth spirit with the appearance of a dog.

Sedna

Goddess of the sea and the creatures of the sea. A one-eyed giant. A frightful old hag, but she was young and beautiful when her father threw her in the sea as a sacrifice. A sorcerer wishing to visit Sedna must pass through the realms of death and then cross an abyss where a wheel of ice spins eternally and a cauldron of seal meat stews endlessly. To return he must cross another abyss on a bridge as narrow as a knife edge.

Sun

A beautiful young maiden carrying a torch who is chased through the sky by her brother Aningan, the moon. The planet Jupiter is the mother of the sun and very dangerous to magicians. If they are careless, she will devour their livers.

TEKKEITSERTOK**

God of the Earth that was the most powerful and owned all of the deer.

TEKKEITSERKTOCK**

The earth god, master of hunting to whom all deer belong.

Tootega

Old woman deity that was able to walk on water.

Torngasak

The good spirit, representing everything in nature good and helpful to man.

After all the rituals, food, traditions and folklore; rich with history and adventure out in the Bush with "Floyd's" people, it was not until the last meeting with "Floyd" on a cold October night, sitting in a cafe on 5th Ave in downtown Anchorage, that he finally revealed the best kept secret he said was "hidden in plain sight." He said, "there's something in them there skies." He explained that all the Inuit gods have a Master; a single source of infinite energy that is omnipresent and ever-changing. The spirit of the source is revealed in the winter skies in the form of the Aurora Borealis. Science defines it one way, but "Floyd" explained that long before scientists came along, the Aurora Borealis was called by its true name; the TiamaiT. He said, "the TiamaiT is the birthplace of the source; seek and ye shall find and ye shall be granted wisdom. Turn your mind to the sky and be open to receive."

So with that being said, the quest for the source was turned to many a night, studying under the midnight sun, recording the colors, shapes, patterns, and sounds. At first I was not sure what to look for, so I left it all open to interpretation. Just as I was about to give up, it came to me. It was not the Northern Lights I was supposed to be researching, it was the TiamaiT. What is it? Where is it? Is "it" even an "it" at all? There had to be more.

Feeling like the search in the skies was hopeless, I wrote off the entire experience as a great five years of living the wonderful Alaskan lifestyle, not realizing all the while, the real lessons were soon to come and the real truths would later be revealed. The data was recording all right, going straight to my subconscious, being stored, processed and deciphered. It was more than just dancing lights of colors in the sky, it was a language; being transmitted through sound. The sounds were then subconsciously translated into images: images that looked a lot like this:

X

marks the spot

{sleep now}

-DeMaster Thomas-