East, South, West, North

Washington, DC - Every morning in Brooklyn, I breakfast in my small kitchen peering out the kitchen window. The window gives view to the rooftops of buildings. Around 7 a.m. or so, I can see the sun rising out of the clouds. I prefer standing looking east in this womb of a kitchen to sitting in a comfortable sofa in my living room with its grander view of the Verazzano bridge. I couldn’t explain why until this weekend.

I spent Saturday in DC in an exhibit on Native American cosmologies at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibit showcased the belief systems of the first peoples of the Americas, such as the Lakota (in South Dakota), the Qe'Q'Chi' Maya (Guatemala), and the Anishinaabe (Canada). The explanations of the world, the heavens, and all points in between by people in these cultures were vivid, practical, and symmetrical. The Qe'Q'Chi' Maya people ascribed these qualities and attributes to the 4 cardinal directions:

• East----blood, the source of happiness, the color red
• South--seeds, birth, the color yellow
• West---maize, death, the color black
• North--bones, growth, the color white

So now I know why I prefer to gaze out the eastern window. The sun rises on the east and many cultures have explained many kinds of beginnings to what comes from the East. Something compelled me to see this particular cosmology as well. I noticed that the colors associated with each direction by the Qe'Q'Chi' Maya were found in the four colors of corn. I noticed that they did not fear death—it was another change in the cycle of humankind. This was a practical philosophy. If I can draw any conclusion, it is this: the practical can become the philosophical and the profound can exist in the simple.

Link to exhibit.