Humans are needed to connect the Three Powers together.

 

"God put Three Powers into the world for us to use. We need them all. We Indians know all three. It took us millions of years to find them. There's the material power, the spiritual power, and the supernatural power. The material power is the goodness of the Earth. The spiritual power is the goodness of human beings. The supernatural power is the goodness of God, the Great Spirit. The Three Powers are all separate. They're not connected. It's the job of human beings to make that connection. We connect the Three Powers with our prayers, with our ceremonies, with our deeds. Every good deed is a pillar of the Creation. Every prayer holds up the world. Our ceremony, our Sun Dance, keeps the Universe in harmony by connecting the Three Powers . . . Without the spiritual power the material power will destroy all life. Materialism without spirituality is the curse of the world. Spiritual power is the power to do good. It's the power to pray, to talk to God, to listen to Him, to follow His instructions . . . It's what makes us human. The third power refers to God Himself, the Great Mysterious. You can't use it for yourself. That's sorcery. It's supposed to use you . . . If you're open to God, if you're using your spiritual power, then God will use His supernatural power to help you . . . It's the Great Reality."

Mathew King (Noble Red Man),
Lakota elder

Photo: Stormy sky, sunlit badlands, and prairie; Badlands National Park, SD; May 18, 2013

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