The dance began at dusk
Drummers chanting
Beating out the pace
Women chanted too
Songs older than time itself
The medicine man appeared
A clay pot in hand
The circle closed in on him
And as they did so, to the beating drums
So danced the medicine man
About the fire in the center
Calling upon the earth mother
To guide them in their task
When the medicine man was ready
Or the earth mother spoke to him
He raised his hands
The dancers stopped
The drumming became slow and soft
Chanting slowly as he did so
He approached the first of the young men
From the bowl he withdrew
A woven length of sweet grass
From the fire a burning ember
The sweet grass caught
Glowing as the medicine man blew on it
The young men then washed themselves
In the sweet, cleansing smoke of the sweet grass
Freeing them of any bad spirit influences
Not good for quest, young men, or Elijah
When the ceremonies were finished
The medicine man approached the bonfire
Offering the sweet grass to the four winds
Then tossed it into the middle of the fire
The dancing became very earnest, meaningful
As young men sought their own spirit guides
Were at last joined with them
The medicine man waved to the drummers
Spirit guides could be seen dimly
Entering their chosen young men
All manner of beast was there
The medicine man’s signal changed the drums again
The new beat was a victory dance
It exploded everywhere
It was very short
It was done.
………………………………………………………………..
8
With the rising of the sun
Young men made their way to a spot nearby
Every one was assigned a place
In a spirit canoe that no one could see
A young man with strong spirits
Was chosen to be in a place of honor
The bow
The medicine man would be to the rear
To help guide the spirit canoe
To its destination, the Underworld
The medicine drum began to beat, slowly
Monotonously
Fading and growing as the last man arrived
Old Elijah would make the journey with us
They carried him in a ceremonial stretcher
With woven sweet grass
Carefully, he was layed out on the canoe
Carefully layed out at the center
The drums changed
Our spirits began to rise with the drums
In that raised consciousness
The canoe was a reality
Shock on several faces to the reality of it
As each one of us felt and then saw
The paddles in our hands
The medicine man called for us to begin
The bow man set the pace with his drum
The medicine drum joined the ceremony
Faces faded about the canoe
As we entered the spirit world
Beneath the mother earth
Strangely, we were beneath the ground
In a river seemingly with no current
It being up to those in the canoe
To decide which way they must go
Which way we must return was firmly set
On each
Muscles were beginning to ache
When suddenly were again under a sun
But not our own sun, we had arrived.
………………………………………………………………………
9
We could no longer see the drummer
But its sounds pierced the unknown
Accompanying us on our journey
Under the strange sun
The medicine man began an eery chant
One none of us had ever heard
Somehow, it reminded me of a bubbling brook
The one I had come to know and respect
Suddenly and silently
An old stag came into view the shore by us
He stopped, we stopped
The medicine man speaking to the stag
“He whom you guide misses you
He needs his brother, the stag
The spirit that is his life
Come and rejoin Elijah, our brother
If not, he will join the shades
Searching for you far and near
We have need of our brother”
He made motions with his hands
Finally cupping them at last
About his own mouth
We could see as he took in the breath
So too did he take into himself
The stag
Who sang his thanks and admiration
He then turned to Elijah, and smiled
“Your spirit has come back for you
It only asks but one small thing
No longer ignore your nephews
Answer their questions
Be their teachers of the old ways”
The old man nodded
As the medicine man dropped to his knees
Bending towards the old man
Where he drew in a deep breath
Cupping his hands
Putting his cupped hands on Elijah
He bent into them
Blowing for all he was worth
Blowing the stag from himself to the old man
A light appeared in Elijah’s eyes
We could see that life had indeed returned
Taking his position again in the canoe
He turned the canoe for home
The journey back began, following the drums
We were again among our own people
It was done.
Drummers chanting
Beating out the pace
Women chanted too
Songs older than time itself
The medicine man appeared
A clay pot in hand
The circle closed in on him
And as they did so, to the beating drums
So danced the medicine man
About the fire in the center
Calling upon the earth mother
To guide them in their task
When the medicine man was ready
Or the earth mother spoke to him
He raised his hands
The dancers stopped
The drumming became slow and soft
Chanting slowly as he did so
He approached the first of the young men
From the bowl he withdrew
A woven length of sweet grass
From the fire a burning ember
The sweet grass caught
Glowing as the medicine man blew on it
The young men then washed themselves
In the sweet, cleansing smoke of the sweet grass
Freeing them of any bad spirit influences
Not good for quest, young men, or Elijah
When the ceremonies were finished
The medicine man approached the bonfire
Offering the sweet grass to the four winds
Then tossed it into the middle of the fire
The dancing became very earnest, meaningful
As young men sought their own spirit guides
Were at last joined with them
The medicine man waved to the drummers
Spirit guides could be seen dimly
Entering their chosen young men
All manner of beast was there
The medicine man’s signal changed the drums again
The new beat was a victory dance
It exploded everywhere
It was very short
It was done.
………………………………………………………………..
8
With the rising of the sun
Young men made their way to a spot nearby
Every one was assigned a place
In a spirit canoe that no one could see
A young man with strong spirits
Was chosen to be in a place of honor
The bow
The medicine man would be to the rear
To help guide the spirit canoe
To its destination, the Underworld
The medicine drum began to beat, slowly
Monotonously
Fading and growing as the last man arrived
Old Elijah would make the journey with us
They carried him in a ceremonial stretcher
With woven sweet grass
Carefully, he was layed out on the canoe
Carefully layed out at the center
The drums changed
Our spirits began to rise with the drums
In that raised consciousness
The canoe was a reality
Shock on several faces to the reality of it
As each one of us felt and then saw
The paddles in our hands
The medicine man called for us to begin
The bow man set the pace with his drum
The medicine drum joined the ceremony
Faces faded about the canoe
As we entered the spirit world
Beneath the mother earth
Strangely, we were beneath the ground
In a river seemingly with no current
It being up to those in the canoe
To decide which way they must go
Which way we must return was firmly set
On each
Muscles were beginning to ache
When suddenly were again under a sun
But not our own sun, we had arrived.
………………………………………………………………………
9
We could no longer see the drummer
But its sounds pierced the unknown
Accompanying us on our journey
Under the strange sun
The medicine man began an eery chant
One none of us had ever heard
Somehow, it reminded me of a bubbling brook
The one I had come to know and respect
Suddenly and silently
An old stag came into view the shore by us
He stopped, we stopped
The medicine man speaking to the stag
“He whom you guide misses you
He needs his brother, the stag
The spirit that is his life
Come and rejoin Elijah, our brother
If not, he will join the shades
Searching for you far and near
We have need of our brother”
He made motions with his hands
Finally cupping them at last
About his own mouth
We could see as he took in the breath
So too did he take into himself
The stag
Who sang his thanks and admiration
He then turned to Elijah, and smiled
“Your spirit has come back for you
It only asks but one small thing
No longer ignore your nephews
Answer their questions
Be their teachers of the old ways”
The old man nodded
As the medicine man dropped to his knees
Bending towards the old man
Where he drew in a deep breath
Cupping his hands
Putting his cupped hands on Elijah
He bent into them
Blowing for all he was worth
Blowing the stag from himself to the old man
A light appeared in Elijah’s eyes
We could see that life had indeed returned
Taking his position again in the canoe
He turned the canoe for home
The journey back began, following the drums
We were again among our own people
It was done.
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