I got up this morning and finished packing for my vision quest. Usually I am very organized when preparing to camp but I just never got around to making a list this time. So I kept thinking of items and sticking them in an empty place or niche in my bags. Since I was already beginning my juice fast I blended bananas with orange juice and had that for breakfast as well as packing some to take with.
Tom helped me get the last items together and pack the car. He walked in front of the car as I drove because he thought with all the rain we've had we wouldn't be able to drive the trails but it turned out to be possible. He helped me set up camp, cut branches sticking up that might have poked through the tent, and made a path from my tent to Artemis Trail, which joins Hecate Dreambringer Trail in a threeway intersection. This is also the Cauldron site where we do our oracle rites.
I forgot a few small items so Tom drove back to the house and got them for me. Then he left but he will be back on Friday to drop off fresh juice and more water as well as bring me the Salvia Divinorum and watch over me while I use it. He worries about me too and wants to be sure that I am ok.
After he left I set up my bed, staked down the fly, and dug a fire pit. Then I spent time collecting branches so I will be able to start a fire later. I have a pile of 1" diameter branches and several thicker longer ones that I will stick in the fire and keep pushing it in as it burns down. I can't break them into the right length for the pit. I already discovered something else I forgot, my wrist braces. My wrists are already a little sore from breaking up the branches. I sang while I worked and the songbirds sang with me. They stopped when I stopped to listen to them and started again when I resumed. What a treat!
It's still very gray and chilly today. The weather report called for it to break up and get sunny for a few days. But it feels like it is going to rain again. I am listening to all the different birds and sounds. The forest is so filled with life. The insects are challenging and all around. I took a bright green inchworm off my pants while watching a 2 inch long fat brown caterpillar amble along. A deer fly, landed on the paper as I wrote and I blew it away. Even with insect repellent I have to keep shushing the mosquitoes away.
I took a short walk but my knee and hip were already aching as I headed up the hill to my tent. Its chilly enough now for a jacket and its only about 2 in the afternoon. I found a crow feather on the path and picked it up. It seemed like a gift to begin my quest with.
I went and worked on getting more wood for the fire as I don't have a good sense of how much I will use over the next couple days and I may need it for warmth if it stays this cold.
Then I went and sat down on a campstool by the Cauldron. At first, I just looked down Artemis Trail and focused on my breathing. Gradually the green filled my vision and I was looking down a green tunnel with faces at the end. I saw the faces in the leaves, first a Green Man and then a Green Lady. And still all around me the sound of birds twittering and singing. I could listen to them all day. After a time I got up and began moving around the Cauldron singing a chant song that I like. I don't know who wrote it. The words are "Lady, Lady, Listen to my heart song. Lady, Lady, Listen to my heart song. I will never forget you. I will never forsake you. I will never forget you. I will never forsake you." I danced as I sang. After a bit I began to walk around and talk to the Lady of the Cauldron at the Crossroads. I spoke of why I was here. "I cry for a vision. Lady, I seek a vision. A big vision, a sacred vision, Lady. A vision of my life path. What should I be doing? Is it with this church? Those I care for are here (and I named many) Even a small vision, something that I can build on." I alternated singing and dancing with walking and talking. Once as I spoke about a new lover and those I care for a scarlet tanager pair flew low through the clearing, a bright streak of red only a few feet away, followed by a brownish bird, his mate I think. They flew directly over the Cauldron and on into the trees but perched for a short time where I could see and admire. What a blessing!
I often look for messages in experiences like that and that seems particularly appropriate on a vision quest. I wondered what to take from it. Perhaps it is something about passion and fire because of the bright color and the subject at the time. Perhaps there's a more subtle lesson in the drab colored female Tanager. The Scarlet Tanager is a songbird and they are an indicator of the environment. Their presence bodes well for this land and I hope for my quest.
Copyright © 2001 Kyril Oakwind