The Cusp, Part XIV
“I believe that the mother has a plan for you. Tomorrow I will meditate and try to dream. I would like for you to join me in my shelter after sunset.”
“What do you need of me?”
“I would like you to join me in seeking a vision. Perhaps the mother or the ancestors will speak to you.”
The hunter looked perplexed. The shaman spoke.
“When we met, you said you would keep an open mind. Bring your mind on this journey with me.”
“What do I need to do?”
“Do not eat tonight or tomorrow. Drink clean water and rest well.”
“I will be at your shelter after sunset.”
They returned to their campsite. He and the brother went to the river and bathed, washing off the sweat and grime of the day. When they returned to the shelter, they made apologies and went to their sleeping mats. The woman joined him and they melted into their favorite sleep position. He woke an hour before sunrise feeling the pleasant weight of the woman astride him. She had taken him inside as he slept and her thrusting had woken him. The release was intense for both of them. She nestled against him and he let the feel and smell of her fill his senses. There was no need for words. They dressed and went to the fire. The people at the campsite joined them. His mother and the woman’s mother began to make porridge, giving them knowing smiles. He drank deeply for the waterskin that had been filled at a spring. The water was cold and sweet. He and the brother were sore after the long day, but their muscles began to loosen as they moved. They were young and healthy. They spent the day resting and visiting with people from other camps who stopped in. As the sun set, he made his way to the shaman’s shelter and rapped his knuckles against one of the posts by the door. It would have been a breach of etiquette to enter a shelter when the flaps were down without announcing himself in some way. The shaman told him to enter. She indicated a folded skin and motioned for him to be seated.
“You slept well?”
“Yes. I had no choice but to sleep well. Yesterday was a long day.”
“You and your team did well.”
“We would have been happy to not have had the contests; it was not like a friendly test of skill.”
“It served an important purpose and was necessary. It brought good things.”
“What happened?”
“The women who lost husbands during the sickness have found good men. Their band lacked role models for the young men. The band will be healthy again.”
“Perhaps the braggart will learn.”
“Perhaps in the next world. He ended himself last night.”
The hunter reflected silently. When the braggart had confronted his woman and insulted the old one, he was ready to become physical with him, but he would not have seriously injured or killed him. A band needed every hunter, even an obnoxious one. The shaman seemed to read his thoughts and spoke.
“He had many chances to change his behavior. Your group is not the first that tried. His behavior had become a sickness in his band and would have brought conflict to the tribe. What happened was hard but necessary.”
“What will we do tonight?”
“We will have a ceremony to try and connect with the ancestors or the mother. It may take all night or longer. They do not always wish to speak. We will drink a special tea to prepare us. I am here to guide you. To succeed you will need to have your mind calm and be present.”
“Like hunter mind?”
“Exactly. Like the moment you are about to loose an arrow.”
The shaman’s apprentice entered. She was a woman of about sixteen summers. She had approached the shaman when she was a girl of eight. She told the shaman about her dreams and how there were times she had dreamt things that later happened. The shaman had looked closely at her and asked her many questions. When she was sure that the girl knew what she would be giving up and her family had agreed, she took her on as an apprentice. She had proven to be gifted. The apprentice handed the hunter and the shaman clay cups. They drank the bitter liquid. The apprentice lowered the shelter flaps and lit fat lamps, then she picked up a rawhide drum and began to beat a rhythm that was like a heartbeat. She and the shaman began to chant.
He began to breathe deep measured breaths. The tea was working. It was as if the drumbeats were entering his body and syncing with his heart. He heard and felt the words of the chant. It was as if something very ancient was connecting with him. He closed his eyes. Time stopped and he entered a state of deep calm. He felt the presence of the shaman, although he could not see her. As the drumming and chanting continued, he felt as though he was drifting out of his body. He looked down and saw himself, the shaman, and the apprentice from above. Then he was outside the shelter drifting upward towards the sky path to the next world. He watched as the gathering became a series of dots, the fires becoming fainter as he went higher. Then he was higher still. He looked down on the plains and mountains. He recognized the places where the people lived, rivers and streams growing smaller as he drifted higher. The earth was a dot in the darkness, and he followed the sky path behind the moon.
In the distance he saw a point of light that grew larger as he approached. The light grew brighter and he could see it was green. He and the shaman’s presence grew neared, and he saw green meadows, forests, rivers, and mountains. It was as if the earth had been perfected. There were camps along the rivers and smoke rose up from cooking fires. A woman looked up as they approached and beckoned them into a shelter made of earth and logs. He did not remember walking into the shelter; he was just there. The woman was striking. Not beautiful or especially pretty. She possessed a magnetism that radiated strength and compassion. Being in her presence filled him with warmth and calm. The woman spoke.
“Welcome hunter.”
“The shaman is with me.”
“Her presence is here; you cannot see her.”
“She is a good shaman and very wise.”
“She has worked hard to do well for her people.”
“What do you want of me?”
“We have watched you since before your naming day. You have done well and are a good man. There are things that you can do that will help your people.”
“You know everything that will happened in my life?”
“No. The mother did not create people so that she could control them. She knows what happens when it happens, but not everything that will happen. Her people are free to choose. It is the way of things. There are many possible outcomes.”
“Does she guide and protect us?”
“She will speak in subtle ways if she is asked by those who revere her, but she will never force her people. She will give guidance and protection in her own way.”
“Why am I here, in this place?”
“What you will see here will help guide you through your life. It is a gift few receive.”
“All I want is to have a good life with my woman and the people.”
“You can have that. One path you may take will lead you to happiness and give you the chance to serve your people through trying times. It is a path that will let your love of your woman span more time than you can imagine. It will be a hard path, but you can travel it. Trust what the mother has given you and always be ready to listen and learn.”
“Is there another path?”
“Yes. If you do not trust the mother and what is inside of you. That path leads to death and the ruin of everything you love.”
“Will the mother turn away from us?”
“Never as long as you respect her and listen.”
“I still don’t know why I am here.”
“Because change is coming, hunter. You have been chosen to be ready to meet it.”
“What type of change?”
“I will show you.”
The woman approached and sat next to him. She placed her hands on the side of his face. Her hands were warm and firm. Then the shelter fell away and he was in another place. The world was cold. There were mountains made of ice. He saw huge shaggy animals, bigger than aurochs, with tusks growing beside their long noses. He was over a camp of people. They were dressed in furs and were on a hunt for the giant ones. He saw the hunters working together. One group distracted the animal while others speared it. Some hunters ran under it and thrust spears upward into the vitals. They were very brave men and women.
Then he was in the same place, he was not sure how he knew it was the same place, but he knew. The ice mountains were gone. The land was fertile and people were hunting and gathering. They formed tribes and took care of each other. It was a time of abundance. Looking down he could see just a few groups of people, they were widely scattered over the land. When they met, they traded and socialized. It was like his time.
Then he was in the same place but at another time. There were many more people. When he looked down, he saw many tribes and many camps. People were less friendly toward each other. He heard shouting and saw smoke. He looked down and saw one tribe attacking a camp from another tribe. They looked different and wore different clothing. The people in the camp were outnumbered but fought bravely. The adults and elders formed a circle with the young ones in the center. They shot arrows and launched spears into the attackers killing many. Then fought with knives and clubs. In the end the attackers won by weight of numbers. They killed all. Even the youngest. They took tools and food and burned the rest. The bodies were left unburied. Time passed and the attackers had moved into the territory of those they had killed. Grass grew among the bones. From a distance he could see cities and knew that they were expanding, reaching further into the land. The woman removed her hands from his face. He spoke.
“That was the worst thing I have ever seen. They even killed infants and mothers.”
“It is a terrible thing. The mother weeps at it.”
“Why did they do such things?”
“When you saw the time of ice what did you notice.”
“Great animals and a band working together to hunt them.”
“And in the time of plenty?”
“Groups of people living well and working together.”
“In both time people thrived because they formed groups and worked together. They were like big families. The mother gifted that to her children. It got them through the frozen time and let them fill the land.”
“Why the killing?”
“The land became full of people. They all wanted to take care of their tribe. The thing that made them strong and happy worked against them. They began to see anyone who was not of their tribe as a threat, taking food and territory that could be used by them. The love of their group became a hatred of anyone that was not one of them. It became easy to see strangers as less than human. That let them reconcile killing them and taking their things and their territory.”
“The mother sees this and does nothing?”
“She cannot change what people choose to do. She rejoices in the best parts of them. Her heart breaks at the things they do to each other.”
“Does she think that I can stop these things?”
“No hunter, you are one man and cannot stop the change that is coming.”
“What can I do?”
“Lead.”
“I am not a leader. I am a hunter and a tool maker.”
“How is a group hunt organized?”
“The senior hunters gather the group and make a plan. The best trackers lead the others until the animals are found. Then the best archers shoot from a distance and the best with spears close in. Every hunt is different, but they usually work that way on large game. Other times the whole band or a group of bands form a plan and slowly push animals into a canyon or enclosure where they can be taken by the hunters waiting there.”
“How do the senior hunters assign tasks?”
“The senior hunters know their people and what they are good at. All hunters can track or shoot a bow, but the senior hunters assign jobs based on what each person does best. Even the young ones can help by walking with the group to slowly push the animals.”
“What is a hunter’s most important duty.”
“To do what is best for the people.”
“You have answered your question, hunter. You will learn what gifts the mother has given to each of the people you lead and then guide them in using those gifts for what is best for the group.”
“I am young. They may not listen to me, and I hate telling people what to do. It doesn’t seem right.”
“No one is asking you to tell people what to do. Do the hunt leaders give orders?”
“The best leaders do not give orders. No one among the people can command another to do something. People do what the senior hunters ask because they respect them.”
“Exactly. You are young, but you are respected. Keep on the path and watch the best leaders. Listen, learn, and contribute. You can do much in time. Always be willing to do the hard thing for the benefit of your people and you will get them through trying times.”
“You have told me more than my head can hold.”
“You will remember. Trust yourself and do what you feel is right. Now it is time for you to go, your woman is getting worried.”
He felt the shaman’s presence as he was lifted out of the shelter and back into the sky. They followed the star path back to the gathering and he dropped into his body in the shaman’s shelter. The sun was just beginning to rise.