Journey 63 - Son's PA

6/24/04: A Journey to find and assign a Power Animal to my son. Recent events and a lot of pressure as he transitions to young adult have made me realize he can use the help. Who better than his Shaman Father to arrange this with the Spirits?! I had just finished consecrating my wife's Agate Stone for presentation tomorrow as an Anniversary gift, so I took the still-lit Sacred Candle into the bedroom and went straight into the Drum CD. I had already open Sacred space by Rattling to the 7 Directions and Smudging as part of the Consecration, and so I did not do this again once back in the bed room. I lay down while concentrating on my mission, and was soon off to meet with my Lower World Guide, the Snake, Crosses in Front. I was out back again, and the scene shifted from daylight back to night, and the same scene as in my last Journey was suddenly there again: small mounds of fire nested among the grass. I shrank myself down, and was walking among the mounds of fire, when suddenly, small blue Spirit blobs began to emerge and circle around me. They tightened a Circle around me and I realized from their speed and ferocity that they were attacking me! I felt pressured, and in a panic of sorts. I realized I was in this fix without any visible Power Animal to protect me! This could be quite “bad.” I felt a strong tingling in my body and felt I was actually be led away from it..I felt I needed to escape before I was taken for good. I even opened my eyes to try to end the Journey, for that is always the final answer when a Journey that turns in a direction one doesn’t want. Yet as I stared at the ceiling, I felt it was not a good time to leave, that things were meant to begin this way and I should go back into the scene. Leaving it unresolved, as it were, could leave me contaminated with the attacking Energies. I did go back, and determined immediately that I needed to get off the ground. As I was lifting off, the blue attackers came with me, pulling in ever tighter around me. I then saw Eagle, my Power Animal, come barreling in from above me, in a marked haste. He grabbed me away from the Blue Ones and lifted me up to a Tree Branch immediately above the scene, right next to Owl, who had just appeared. Owl wrapped me in his large Feathers and held me to his chest, blanketing me completely from the action. After a short spell, he let me back out again to survey the scene below. The Blue Ones were gone, but the Fires were still there. My Totem, Black Panther, then appeared and stalked across the area, putting out all the Fires. Suddenly, night turned to day, and the same area that had been covered in grass and fires was now a pleasant patch, with a light blue-green short-grass waving in the wind. Crosses appeared, and led me to the Tunnel to the Lower World. We went down, passing concentric colored circles whizzing by us in the walls. Eventually this wall turned into a blue fog of Energy. As we emerged from the Tunnel exit, we fell immediately into a large waterfall, landing at the base. The river bank was covered in exotic, short green blobs of plants, sans leaves. We went to shore and sat next to one of these. I looked at Crosses, who was staring at me with his mouth wide open, as if to attack. “Man,” I thought, “this is the Journey to have people turning on me..” Snake then bit me in the neck. He told me he had done this purposely to train me to transmute the poisons in my life. He said there would be several more such sessions in the Future. As I found my world getting dark, he told me that when I awakened from this transmuting session, my son’s Power Animal would appear to me. In total darkness now, I began trying to overcome the poison. At the same time, I saw my own face up ahead of me. Soon my face turned into that of an Owl, then a Skeleton, then a large circular Eye. The Eye then stretched itself into an inverse triangle. I think I recall it then circled up around my head. Then, I saw my entire self, standing at a distance in front of me. This “self” was asking where it was, and who was I. I told “myself” that I was Four Hawks, the Shaman living in the body “he” occupied. I told “him” I was the part of him that could never die. I told “him” that he must transmute his poisons. I then reached out to touch “me” to begin that process. I looked down at my left hand and it was the most misshapen and grotesque hand I have ever seen. The other “me” recoiled in horror and asked what it was. I told him it was the most beautiful hand in the Universe since it was a direct creation of the Great Spirit, and therefore had its own precious worth and beauty, no matter how it appeared to us. I told him I had to touch him with it to transmute his poison. When I did so, “he” appeared to die, and the last image I saw was of “my” face staring glassy-eyed and open-mouthed. I then came back to the room enough to begin forcing the poisons in my body down through the bed to Mother Earth. I pressed my palms against the mattress to accelerate the cleansing. I felt intense pain in my left hand, jut above the thumb. From there, realizing I had to fall asleep in order to wake up to my son’s Power Animal, I began to try to slow my breath rate to one per minute, concentrating on the drumming only and clearing my mind of all thought. I soon fell into the Theta State, and while there had several dream-lets. Again, I am not able to recall what they were, as I still have to strengthen myself into bringing images back from the Theta State. I was aroused from this very peaceful, sleep-like rest by the incessant return drumming in my headphones. As I awoke, I knew I only had a minute or so to find my son’s Power Animal. I didn’t try to see it, just waited..and then came a Horse. Yellow, with Pink Ears and a Blue Mane. Suddenly, the return drumming sped up to that of a Horse Trot! I saw Horse trotting along with my son, and knew he was now his Partner. I thanked him. I then came back up the Tunnel with Snake and we emerged into the back yard. I thanked Owl and Eagle and Snake for their help. The scene had returned to the grassy mounds with many fires. The Blue Ones now came up and circled around me in friendship. They told me they had been there at the start to get me ready for me Transmuting Ceremony. They congratulated me on surviving it. They shape-shifted and became Native men and women! They were NA Spirits! Shortly after this Journey, I went outside to get ready to cut the hedges. As I walked along the porch, a shape above me caught my eye. A HUGE bird was flying away from me right at the top of the red maple. The back looked just like the huge bird we saw leaving the Loft last Saturday. This time, though, the Bird began circling around just beyond the Maple..a chance to see just what kind of bird this is! It was a Peace Eagle! And it stayed with me for minute, slowly circling higher and higher just over the edge of the house. Then I saw a second higher up, and they both took off to the west. That Eagle had flown right over me head not 15 feet above me..the closest a Peace Eagle has ever come to me. I felt this was another sign that my Journey had pleased the Spirits! Moreover, this was the second such “near-miss” flyover is less than a week. Powerful forces are afoot on my Path’s behalf. Finally, we look at the Medicines of Horse, my son’s new Totem Power Animal. Jamie Sams says Horse stands for Power. “Compassion, caring, teaching, loving, and sharing your talents, gifts and abilities are the gateways to power. Every human must follow the compassion pathway to power before riding the winds of their destiny.” Ted Andrews says, “Horses are symbols of freedom. Horse People are friendly and adventurous and can be very emotional. Riding a horse raises us above the mundane, and is like flying. Horses can represent movement and travel, or showing up to help you with movement. The represent sexual desire, and the taming of the stallion represents the taming of sexuality and dangerous emotions. Horse will teach you how to ride into new directions to awaken and discover your own freedom and power.” The colors of my son’s Power Animal are also significant. Yellow stands for intellectual power, awakening, and is also the color of the South, the direction of youth and growth and joy of living. Pink is comforting to the emotional energies of the individual. Blue represents peace, faith, aspiration to higher things, and creativity. The fact Horses ears were pink reflects the need for my son to soothe his emotions by listening more closely to what is being said, and not assume the wrong messages behind the words that can lead to anger. Quite a Journey!!!