The Shaman Path – My Fire Vision Quest – Part 3

As my fire vision quest (Part 1, Part 2) continued through the night, I learned a lot about my place in the land around me. Rather than feeling detached, unsettled and confused, I am now completely aware of why I am here and what I am here to do. All my life I have wandered aimlessly, trying to fit into a society that for the most part I struggled to understand. At school I was ‘the geek,’ the awkward teenager, the unpopular one who was bullied and shy and completely lacking in confidence. As I grew older I became the quiet, polite young woman. But I was never satisfied. And now I am finally beginning to understand why.

Back to the dark hillside in rural Derbyshire. I had been listening to the steady beating of drums all around me. I had slept in the embrace of our Great Mother, and woke feeling happy and at peace. I spoke to the grand old oak tree under which I sat. I spoke to a tall, proud thistle that stood just in front of my sacred space. I was aware of small wild animals snuffling around behind me, but none approached. I was aware of my fellow spiritual travellers each sitting in their own sacred spaces up and down the hill, but I couldn’t see any of them.

At some point in the night I heard the sound of a Native American flute being played. The sound drifted up the hill, and I thought it came from a point lower down, around where my sister and spiritual brother were sitting. I knew that neither of them had their flutes with them, but I clearly heard the soft, melodic, peaceful sound. Later in the night I heard voices chanting, like a sacred choir. Turning my head towards the empty field to my right, I saw no shadows and was not aware of any human presence. I knew the chanting wasn’t coming from our fire below, because everyone was in silence all night. It seemed that a spiritual choir had joined us, and their sound was beautiful. I was not the only person who heard it that night.

I slept again, this time curled on my side with my nose buried in the grass. I inhaled the fresh, clean smell of earth, and reveled in the freedom to partake of this sacred ceremony. Normally I would be afraid of touching a snail or a slug, or having a spider crawl over me, but tonight none of that mattered. Another time I lay flat on my back staring up at the stars after the clouds broke up. I saw my first shooting star, which was a very exciting moment. I saw the constellations, a rare treat nowadays. I don’t know their names, or which ones I saw, but I intend to further study the night sky in all its glory. I felt the energy of the Moon, although I couldn’t see it because the branches of the oak tree obscured it. I slept again.

To be continued…

Catherine is the author of the adult paranormal romance series The Redcliffe Novels and also The Darkness of Love, She has short stories published in YA anthologies, freelance articles on various industry websites, and contributes to her personal personal blog, and her author blog .

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