Signs & Omens
Canyon carved by ancient creek, dance of stone and water descending from the land of the gods. Woodpecker keeps the beat. Wren sings the songs. Aspen connects the soils. Beaver crafts the land. Otter plays, keeping the sacred silliness alive. Eagle soars over all, messenger of Earth and Sky. The metal snake marks the boundary: to cross is to enter the land of myth. Walking through the valley of death you say? Perhaps in another land amongst the endless bounds of Otherworld. Walking in this land, is to walk within the canyon of life.
Our story does not begin or end within this canyon, nor will they be found within this telling. Our telling shall begin and end smack in the middle of the story, as all stories do.
I enter this canyon late in the evening, the stars were shining, the moon was waning, and I set up camp preparing body and spirit for the journey ahead. To prepare, I reflect. I reflect on the wildness and animal others who guided my feet to walk this path. Would you believe me if I told you that an Owl and a Fox guided me to this canyon? That a very particular Barred Owl and a very particular Grey Fox guided me within this space? Barred Owl of Stishem, Grey Fox of Tamalpais. They guided me to meet the unknown, wild other that calls this canyon home. Barred Owl marked this journey, but it was Grey Fox who revealed the trail to me.
Twas the fateful day of 7 April 2016, that Barred revealed herself to me. Twas on that day that I stared into her eyes as she stared into mine. Through her eyes medicine passed from one wild one to another. A shifting took place within my body, mind, and spirit as her medicine entered me. An awakening stirred that rooted me in land. I felt grief rise up, fear swirl within, and a depth of empathy that I had not known before. I was in her home, just a foot away from her burrow and children. Her medicine reminded me that this earth, this land is home to all beings. She taught me that I am but a guest in this land, and should act as such. She taught me what it means to be a protector, to be a guardian of the forest. She taught me the way of the Scout.
Fast forward to the fateful day of 2 August 2016. It was on this day that the medicine of Grey Fox entered my life. Passing from one wild one to another through a stare. Once again a spirit came into me, shifting and shaping my earthly being, rooting me in space and time. Grey brought with ki a different medicine. Ki reminded me of the power of gratitude and reciprocity. Ki also revealed to me a pattern of signs and omens. For it was after they came into relation with me that a realization settled into my mind. Barred had gifted me medicine in the time of the new moon in the sign of Ares. Grey had entered my life in the new moon of Leo. Both are signs of fire. I myself am a Sagittarius, the third and final sign of fire. I knew in this moment that a third wild animal other would gift me medicine in the new moon of Sagittarius. The path was revealed. The messengers of the divine were showing me the way.
I somehow knew that the third and final guide would not come all the way to me as the others had. I needed to meet them halfway. I needed to engage in a ceremonial wilderness vigil in order to receive their medicine. I did my research. The new moon of Sagittarius would fall on the 29 November 2016. A sacred canyon called me into their abode, where Yakima River and Umtanum Creek meet, waters cascading down from Tahoma kiself. I had in my awareness the when, now I knew the where. The time had come to prepare.
On the night of 27 November 2016, I entered the canyon. I crossed the boundary of the metal snake crossing over into another realm. This canyon exists here in this world, yet by entering in with sacred intentions, I crossed over into Otherworld. I did not know what to expect or what medicine I would receive. I knew only that the divine wanted me to be there, for Barred Owl and Grey Fox had told me so. I was open, I was listening, I was ready.
For three days and three nights I fasted within this canyon. Sacred stories of deep connection followed one after the other in each passing moment. On that fateful day of the new moon of Sagittarius, by the twilight hour when the veil between our world and Otherworld is at its most permeable, a third wild other revealed kiself to me. Once more I felt a being enter my soul, shift and shape my body and spirit as I slipped into a vision granted by other.
Consider for a moment that the land is a cosmology of signs and omens, messengers and messages of the divine. We are all connected by the cosmic web of spirit. When we listen, we can feel the pull of the threads as waves of electricity pass between us. Only through deep listening could I heed the call of other, only through deep listening could I have come into the wild embrace of Wolf Spider, only through deep listening could we together craft a song of love to share with the divine.
Consider for a moment that the land is a cosmology of signs and omens, messengers and messages of the divine. Imagine for a moment, if we treated the land as such, for what kin is, sacred. I can only wonder, how different our world would be if we stepped back within the Land of Myth.