...This was a challenging fast. Much more than usual. Visions showed this during the pilgrimage but part of me didn't want to believe it. On the other side of every tear is the strength to continue with devotions.
~Cactus skeleton washed on the rocks by flooding in the wash~
Soft green moss appears amidst the lichen in celebration of life inspiring water. Sometimes there are black moss and orange moss around the area.
The wrathful/good deity stands facing her suitors: the many phallic features that rise in her honor. Divine romance and longing, ahhh...
Beautiful Goddess!!!
There are stories in Native American Lore about entities called "chindris". These spirits are vigilantes. They can be called up by a medicine person with that knowledge or can act of their own to protect the land if the spirit feels that the land or it's creatures are being disrespected. They do this by inhabiting the body of an animal to attack the target. You will know a chindri for it will walk on two legs. If you kill the animal it will only come back in another animal's body again and again until it exhausts you and takes your life. Your best bet is to put a protective circle around yourself and pray.
A true story: There is another cave in this area that looks out toward the Goddess. When J was 3 year's old his father, D, would take him camping here. There were times in the beginning when D made the mistake of killing a rattlesnake or two. He was concerned for his son's welfare. One night D was awoken by the blood curdling screams of his little son. There in the dark, J recounted the terrifying tale of his dream: a powerful medicine woman came into the cave and turned into a coyote walking on it's hind legs. She disemboweled them both. Imagine hearing this from a three year old in a dark cave in the middle of the desert... far from city limits. D no longer kills snakes.
There are three places, attributes of the Goddess, that I offer tobacco to. My pledge is to harm none (all creatures) and to ask for protection as one of her children.
The entrance to the goddess, sacred sakti yoni.
Ayya!
As the day breaks...
Another beautiful feature in the area, always brings to mind "Honorable Great Grandfather".
snout, snout, snout, snout...
Most of the day was pretty dark and stormy. This little pocket of sunlight opened up just for a short while I was waiting for someone to pick me up on the side of the road.
From the back of a pick-up... Canyon Lake.
Your recounting of the cave and the lore that is part of it is beautiful Starlyn,
ReplyDeleteI would have like to pick you up but glad you found a way home.
The pictures are those I recognize well from our previous journeys there, quite profound.....
Nameste,
Brian