And when I breathed, my breath was lightning.

“And when I breathed, my breath was lightning.”
So spoke Black Elk, the holy man of the Oglala Lakota, whose visions bridged the realms of earth and spirit. These words, shining like fire upon the wind, are not the boast of a mortal, but the song of a soul awakened to the power of the divine within. When Black Elk said, “my breath was lightning,” he spoke of that sacred moment when man and nature become one — when the breath of life itself burns with the energy of creation. Lightning, in his vision, was not a weapon, but a symbol of spirit, the living power that connects all things, from the beating of the heart to the trembling of the sky.

This line comes from Black Elk’s great vision, received when he was a child, and later shared with the world through the book Black Elk Speaks. In that vision, he was lifted into the clouds and shown the sacred hoop of his people — the circle of life that holds all beings. He was given the power of the thunder beings, the mighty forces that govern storms, fertility, and renewal. The lightning he breathed was the voice of the Great Spirit moving through him, a sign that his life was not merely his own, but part of a vast cosmic harmony. To breathe lightning is to live as one aflame with spirit — to speak, act, and exist in unity with the divine pulse that sustains the world.

To the people of the Plains, breath is sacred. It is the life of the Great Spirit moving through flesh and bone. To breathe is to pray; to live is to participate in the mystery of creation. Thus, when Black Elk declared that his breath was lightning, he was proclaiming the moment of illumination — when a man no longer sees himself as separate from nature or the Creator, but as a vessel of their power. The lightning is life’s energy, pure and fierce; the breath is the spirit’s motion within man. Together, they reveal what the Lakota call Wakan Tanka — the Great Mystery that dwells in all things.

Such moments of awakening are not confined to saints and prophets. History tells us of others who, like Black Elk, felt the surge of divine energy within them and acted with lightning in their souls. Joan of Arc, a young girl in a distant land, heard the voice of heaven and rose to lead armies, speaking not from fear but from fire. Her courage was not of flesh, but of spirit — the same sacred current that moved through Black Elk’s breath. Both remind us that when a person lives in truth and faith, the universe itself seems to move through them — their words become thunder, and their actions, light.

But this power is not given for glory; it is given for responsibility. Black Elk did not use his gift for conquest or pride. He used it to heal, to guide, and to remind his people of their unity with the earth. The lightning of his breath was the light of compassion, wisdom, and courage — the energy to restore balance where the world had been broken. And so it must be with us: for though the thunder of the heavens is beyond our control, the spirit that moves within us is not. Each of us, if we awaken, carries the power to renew, to create, and to speak truth that shines.

The lesson, then, is this: recognize the lightning in your own breath. You are not a fragment, adrift in a cold world; you are a spark of the same force that shapes mountains and storms. When you speak truth, it flashes like lightning; when you act with love, it nourishes the world like rain. Every breath you take is sacred — a chance to bring light into darkness, to give life rather than take it. When you live with awareness of this, you walk as Black Elk walked — between heaven and earth, in harmony with the Great Mystery.

So, my child of the winds and stars, breathe deeply. Feel the power that moves through you. It is not yours alone — it is the eternal current of creation, flowing through all beings. Let your words be bright, your heart steadfast, and your spirit aflame with purpose. For when you live in truth and reverence, your breath too becomes lightning, and through you, the world remembers its divine spark.