The Vision

The following short story called "The Vision" was written in the winter of  2010, but the actual events that inspired it occurred years earlier. It took sometime before I was ready to write and even longer before I started to share this one. I guess I just had to wait until the time was right. When times are hard, I refer to the ideas here as a ship's captain might look to the stars to guide his ship over rough seas....

The Vision ... 

When my grandfather, Poppa, became very ill and was near death, I visited him the night before he past away. I knew that it was going to be the very last time that I would see him before he went. When I left, I told him that I loved him and gave him a kiss good bye. 

Later, my grandmother, Nana, became very ill and was soon on her death bed. I saw her when her time came near. Looking at her suffering, I knew that this would be the last time that I would see her alive. I refused to tell her that I loved her. I guess that I thought that she would not pass away if I didn't tell her. After she died, I felt horribly bad about missing my last chance to tell her how I felt about her.

Then, one night, as I lay between the worlds of asleep and awake ( in "the in-between" as I now call it), she brought me a vision. The vision went something like this:

Four great medicine men came from great distances to the wise Old Woman's great fire in the middle to settle their differences. One came from the East, one came from the South, one from the West and one from the North. When they arrived, the Old Woman began to make their meals. As they waited, they began to argue and bicker about whose God was the greatest.

The man from the East stated that his god, the God of Air, was the greatest because no life would exist without air. Air was within and above all.

All beginnings start in the east - from where the sun rises we begin a new dawn. Each day is a good new day with a fresh beginning, a new start. East is the direction of the physical body and newness including children and newborns. It is the time of change for all is a new beginning. New ideas and seeing the light. Change. Spring is the season when all things begin to grow and awaken. Yellow is the path of Life, to begin the walk as a warrior, to shine in all that you do. The sun rising in the east empowers each of us. The energy to do and to begin the action of the mind and heart is there.

The man from the South stated that his God of Fire is the greatest because nothing would be achieved with out warmth and passion which encourages growth. Growth in the South it is the time of Summer. From the bloom we transform into the fruit of the labors. It is the time of mid-day, the hottest part of the day, the part when the sun is overhead and no shadows are cast. Maturing and growing into an adult to be that who we are. It is the time to accept the change and learn, to understand.

Red is for fire, passion, time of fertility. The South is the place of passion in all things, sex, fertility, mating - the fires that burn within. The direction of fire, like the phoenix, we can rise from the flames, we take and rise again from childhood into being an adult in the direction of the South.

The man from the west stated that his God of Water was the greatest. All things came from the water and would not exist without it. Water can move and break the heaviest and hardest of rocks. Water can make air move it where it needs to go and it can choke out fire and it replenishes the parched earth. Water is has great power because it is the place of emotion and intuition.

Later adulthood is the time of Fall, the time of the setting sun - twilight. The daylight fades and brings a new awareness in this time of gradual change. When the darkness comes we must look inward to find the light and have courage. To understand what we see in the darkness may not be real but only shadows. This is the emotional part of ourselves, like the flowing water we must learn to go with the flow of life. The time of the West is when we learn that we are responsible to all things and to each other. It is the time to prepare, to finish things for the time of Winter is coming. We gather ourselves and family, working together to prepare for what is to come. As the place of emotions it is the place of family and love - of responsibility from our hearts because of the love. It is hard work and team efforts. Black symbolizes change from this life.

The man from the North argued that the God of Earth was the mightiest as all things are made from the earth and the earth is the center of all things. It can also choke out fire; block the water and the wind.

As we get older our hair turn white, as we come to our time of winter. White (and purple) also symbolizes spirituality. With experience and age we gain wisdom. Now we have time to rest and contemplate the lessons. North is purity and wisdom, a great place of healing. This is the time after midnight, a dream time. The time to be grounded within yourself and deep within, like a bear in a cave.

North is the place of winter. This reminds us to stop and listen. That we must have prepared for the long time of winter. Having been in action the other seasons we now rest and contemplate to understand the wisdom we have been given.

Then their arguments became mean-spirited and bitter. When the first rays of the new day came, the Old Woman quietly, but firmly spoke for the first time, "Enough!" she began. Her voice silenced the campsite. She then continued to explain that none of their gods could match the power of God, The Creator, who always was, always is and always shall be. It was in his love that God, the Creator, made the elements: air, fire, water and earth. Life cannot be sustained without all of the elements working in harmony with one another. Without the balance, life would not survive.

After the Old Woman spoke, the men began to listen to each other. Each one started to learn and grow from the teachings of the other. When each man left to return to his village, he was a more powerful medicine man than when he came to the fire for he was now a part of the bigger picture of life.

Then Nana encouraged me to work on my own medicine wheel and to find my own center and balance. When times are hard, I remember this vision and it helps me through even the hardest of times.

The last thing that Nana gave me before she left was the knowledge that she loved me, always has and always will. Even though I didn't tell her that that I loved her as much as I could have, she always knew that I loved her back. Love is love…it is always there, it always has been and will always be.