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It is early spring and still chilly in Wyoming when Sunny meets Shung' in Cheyenne. Sunny embraces her teacher, but the medicine woman has little time for affection and is in a hurry to get on with more important things. As they drive, Shung' informs Sunny that they are headed for Medicine Mountain to see one of the oldest and most sacred Medicine Wheels. She speaks in great length about the old world calendars and the secrets that lie hidden within each stone of the Big Horn Medicine Wheel, the point of their destination. As the darkness of night engulfs them, Shung' points out the placement of the stars as they appear in the sky, the seven sisters in the buffalo's head, and looking onward to Orion's Belt the three stars aligned in the belly of the buffalo. Long ago, she continues, when certain stars appeared in the sky, it told the medicine people that they were lining up with the sacred places on Mother Earth, and it was time for ceremony. Shung' let Sunny know, that it was time for the next step in her Medicine training, her Vision Quest or "little death". Sunny picks up a shovel to dig her pit. She walks until sundown, but the land does not speak to her. Knowing that when the time is right she will find her sacred place, she relaxes and goes into Shadow World. In Shadow World she meets the male and female souls who have shared many lifetimes together. The male insists on returning to another mortal life on Mother Earth to prove the worthiness of the love he has for the female soul, and she offers her assistance to help lighten his burden. As their words echo throughout the rebirthing chamber, the wolf kingdom feeling the purity of the female's soul's promise, gather around the couple in a circle of light. A female timber wolf offers to support and nurture the female in this endeavor. In return they ask that she remain free from her counterpart's emotional burdens. Since her mortal life will be with the Wolf Clan people, and their teachings will take much time and effort, she is given a seven-year extension to her earthly life. She in turn offers the seven-year extension to the male soul, and as a result, is released from her karmic fate. Before leaving, she lets the male soul know how to find her again. Shung' prepares Sunny for her Vision Quest, covering her head with a black hood so that her senses would not distract her. She reminds her that if Medicine is to be her future she must begin to shape this future with a heart filled with love. Sunny is then placed in the ground. When Sunny completes her Vision Quest, Shung's weathered hands ever so gently remove the shroud from Sunny's head. Shung' picks up a shovel and begins to dig Sunny from the pit as she proclaims, "Throughout time and dimension this woman walks strong with the old medicine ways just as her grandmother predicted long ago. Now that you have met, seen and faced all that you are; walk strong Daughter of the Sun, Wind Wolf Woman." |
© 2000 The Red Pathway Learning Center & Foundation, Inc.
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Wind Wolf Woman |