Funeral in the Valley

Funeral in the Valley

I am sitting with my friend, the twisted cedar "Chief".  He gifts me with a vision.

I see a large grassy field stretching across a mountain valley. The steeple of a church sticks up in the middle, out of the tall grass. A large, very old oak tree, stands behind, under which is a cemetery. People dressed in black are there burying someone, possibly a child. I do not sense too much emotion, but there is a feeling of loneliness and loss and maybe resignation. The idea that this scene is a cliché comes to me, like it's taken from a classic movie. However, it is because this scene has been created so many times that the people here are now strengthened by this cliché… that they are now participating in a vital, strengthening ritual and ceremony.

On the steeple Owl sits, then he flies over the people and lands in the tree. The funeral ends and the people then turn into antelope and run off into the grasses. The preacher seems to dance in a circle, blessing the four directions. He then turns into a white dove and flies off while Owl watches without moving.

The church then vanishes and there is now a medicine wheel around the tree. I notice the scene is reversing in time. The tree gets smaller and there is snow and there are buffalo with snow on their backs, their heads low to the ground.

This is my Journey.

-- Owl