Dreamland

Part of It All

I'm younger in dreamland tonight; maybe a dozen years less than the fifty odd years I carry in reality. But I'm in the distant past, a member of a rain forest aboriginal tribe untouched by western civilization, and in that society I am considered one of the tribal elders.

My wife has passed on and my children are grown, all following their own paths. Although as an elder I am not required to, I still participate in hunting, admittedly not as successfully as the younger men in the tribe. And it saddens me that I no longer have the speed and agility to participate in the ritual ball games with the other warriors.

Lately I have felt the calling of the spirits, not to join them in death, but to choose another path, the path of the elementals, the shaman. Every year on the night of the spring full moon, they welcome those who feel the call to one of the paths: fire, earth, wind, or water, to participate in their ritual quest for knowledge. I have asked them to be allowed to participate in this ceremony.

Those of us wishing to be initiated, as well as the four shamans, have fasted all week, taking nothing but small sips of water. In our weakened state it is easy to slip into trance as they lead us in the chant...

Four large gourd cups filled with their brew are passed around, with their appropriate chants to each of the elements. We all manage to swallow our portions of the brew, in spite of the foul taste. There are maybe a dozen of us novices in the group, and soon after drinking the brew we are all on our knees, vomiting copiously, much to the amusement of the shamans...

I find myself alongside other members of my tribe, inside a large tree! Part of it, part of the very sap flowing through the trunk! I feel the water being pulled from the earth, along with the elements of the earth itself which feeds our tree! I feel the sun rising, and its fire touches our leaves, giving us energy and life! I feel the wind blowing through our leaves, giving us the breath of life! It is really quite amazing to be part of it all...

Eventually the vision fades, and I find myself walking in a daze by the edge of the river. Everything looks grey, as if all the colors have been drained away... Eventually I meet a woman walking along the river bank; she is one of the widows of our tribe who also participated in the ceremony. I recognize her as having been alongside me inside the tree...

We smile knowingly at each other but say nothing, walking together back towards the fire. When we arrive there we see that the others who participated in the ceremony are all still very ill, retching up their last traces of the ceremonial brew. The woman and I are no longer feeling any sickness.

The sun rises and we can feel the plants around us come alive. The morning breeze makes my skin tingle with life! I can feel the life in the earth beneath my bare feet! One of the shamans hands me a gourd of fresh water, and I drink a generous mouthful, feeling my body absorb the life giving fluid. I hand the gourd to the woman alongside me and she drinks her fill...

"Of all who participated, the elements have only chosen to accept the two of you," the shaman says to us. "Rest well, and enjoy your return to the land of men... But be aware that in the coming days you must choose which element you will follow..."