Jimmy tore his gaze away from the fire in the firepit to give his friend a smile. He was surprised, yet not - at how well Mark had adapted to the situation/ and was grateful for his attentiveness to detail and doing the mental check-ins during the process.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. This is just sort of what we call having a 'soft head'. The sweat lodge can do that to you on occasion. I have to admit though, I haven't been in a sweat for about nine months, so it was long overdue," Jimmy admitted.
Perhaps, Jimmy wondered to himself, that had something to do with the strange hallucinations he had during the sweat lodge ceremony. He had entered it almost expecting his sister, Mara, to appear to me as she had in dreams over the last few months. At the thought of his little sister, he couldn’t help but wonder what she might have thought of all this had she survived that horrible day.
Noticing that the fire could use just a little more fuel, he threw a couple of small pieces of elder wood on the small flames. Only when he saw the subtle increase in smoke and fire did he continue. "What happens next is I am going to go up to the next peak with my pipe, a blanket, and very little else. I will spend the night there, and yes, it is going to be cold, so make sure you stay warm,” Jimmy warned. “If I'm not back by late afternoon tomorrow, then it's time to saddle up Sassy and see if you can find me - or what's left of me," he grinned.
The truth was, something could always go wrong, even when in prayerful contemplation with Spirit. Strangely, he wasn't too worried about it, and yet, there was a feeling, a decidedly different sensation radiating from his heart outward even before they had arrived at his aunt and uncle's cabin that morning.
An hour or two later, Jimmy left the lodge and continued up to the next peak. It was a bit of a hike but not so much that it would have taxed him too much for the night ahead.
Successful guitarists and musicians were not a humble lot when it came to their place in the world, and yet now as he was attempting to connect to the core of who he was as a person, that was exactly his end goal. With each step, he made silent prayers of gratitude to his ancestors, to his parents and sister, and to Wakauntanka for all that he had been given - for his career, his strong friendships, especially with Mark and of course for Caroline, Stelios, and of course, for his relationship with Jocelyn.
As he made it to the appointed spot, he laid out the colored cloths indicating the four directions and where he would be spending the night and part of the next day, his thoughts turned to his Grandfather Two Horses’ words all those months ago saying that this vision quest was necessary.
Putting the blanket on the grassy spot he sat down on it, placing the channunpa pipe across his bare knees and began to watch the natural world around him.
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"Don't worry, I'm fine. This is just sort of what we call having a 'soft head'. The sweat lodge can do that to you on occasion. I have to admit though, I haven't been in a sweat for about nine months, so it was long overdue," Jimmy admitted.
Perhaps, Jimmy wondered to himself, that had something to do with the strange hallucinations he had during the sweat lodge ceremony. He had entered it almost expecting his sister, Mara, to appear to me as she had in dreams over the last few months. At the thought of his little sister, he couldn’t help but wonder what she might have thought of all this had she survived that horrible day.
Noticing that the fire could use just a little more fuel, he threw a couple of small pieces of elder wood on the small flames. Only when he saw the subtle increase in smoke and fire did he continue. "What happens next is I am going to go up to the next peak with my pipe, a blanket, and very little else. I will spend the night there, and yes, it is going to be cold, so make sure you stay warm,” Jimmy warned. “If I'm not back by late afternoon tomorrow, then it's time to saddle up Sassy and see if you can find me - or what's left of me," he grinned.
The truth was, something could always go wrong, even when in prayerful contemplation with Spirit. Strangely, he wasn't too worried about it, and yet, there was a feeling, a decidedly different sensation radiating from his heart outward even before they had arrived at his aunt and uncle's cabin that morning.
An hour or two later, Jimmy left the lodge and continued up to the next peak. It was a bit of a hike but not so much that it would have taxed him too much for the night ahead.
Successful guitarists and musicians were not a humble lot when it came to their place in the world, and yet now as he was attempting to connect to the core of who he was as a person, that was exactly his end goal. With each step, he made silent prayers of gratitude to his ancestors, to his parents and sister, and to Wakauntanka for all that he had been given - for his career, his strong friendships, especially with Mark and of course for Caroline, Stelios, and of course, for his relationship with Jocelyn.
As he made it to the appointed spot, he laid out the colored cloths indicating the four directions and where he would be spending the night and part of the next day, his thoughts turned to his Grandfather Two Horses’ words all those months ago saying that this vision quest was necessary.
Putting the blanket on the grassy spot he sat down on it, placing the channunpa pipe across his bare knees and began to watch the natural world around him.