The Great Spirit, also called Wakan Tanka among the Sioux, The Creator, or The Great Maker in English and Gitchi Manitou in Algonquian, is a conception of a supreme being prevalent among some Native American and First Nations cultures. The Great Spirit is personal, close to the people, and immanent in the fabric of the material world. He ruled the Happy hunting ground, a place similar to Heaven. Chief Dan Evehema, a spiritual leader of the Hopi Nation, described the Great Spirit as follows:
"To the Hopi, the Great Spirit is all powerful. He taught us how to live, to worship, where to go and what food to carry, gave us seeds to plant and harvest. He gave us a set of sacred stone tablets into which he breathed all teachings in order to safeguard his land and life. In these stone tablets were inscribed instructions, prophecies and warnings."
The Great Spirit is generally considered the nearest equivalent in description to the God of the main monotheistic religions (such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam). However the Great Spirit differs in that his panentheistic nature is especially emphasized; he is embodied in everything. This more closely resembles the Hindu conception of the divine (Brahman), rather than the more transcendent conceptualization of God by the Abrahamic religions.
JAH RASTAFARI GOD OF ALL MANKIND
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