With the heat bearing down on us, my father and I continued walking through the desert. Our shadows continuing to grow as sweat continued to drip down our faces. The trail of our footsteps refusing to fade in the seemingly endless dry sea of yellow sand. Not understanding why my father insisted on coming along with me on my spirit-walk. It was meant to be the rite of passage into manhood.  To commune with my ancestors before returning to the tribe.

Dusk was beginning to fall by the time we arrived at Cave of Souls. Without saying a word my father, handed me an ivory smoking pipe. Feathers of blue, crimson, and black hung loosely all around it. Knowing what that meant, I took the smoking pipe with both hands. Taking a breath before walking into the cave. Relieved by the coolness of the dark cave, I walked blindly. Letting my hands guide me in the darkness.

Stopping when I felt something other than the smoothness of weathered stone. Knowing it was buds of the plant,  Hyrbicus. Carefully plucking the bud from the cave-dwelling flower. Grinding it with my hands before putting it into the smoking pipe. Letting it rest in the pipe for a few seconds before taking a long puff into my body. The effects of the flower’s bud were immediate. Seeming to bath the cave with this light, I saw through the darkness. Seeing a narrow stone bridge that led deeper into the cave.

Walking across the stone bridge, I found a vast, smooth stone chamber. Six skeletons protected by a bright blue aura rested in the chamber.  A small raised circle of stone sat in the middle of the room. Walking into the circle, I took a seat in the middle. Taking another puff of the smoking pipe, before taking the smoke into my body. Beginning to notice that the blue aura that surrounded the skeleton had started to take a more human shape.  The one directly in front of me began to look like my grandfather. His spirit twinkling inside almost as if he had come directly from the night sky. Reaching out towards him, I felt a sudden intense burst of blinding pain.  The pain filling my mind with images of my grandfather’s life.

Suddenly the pain and images vanished from my body. While slightly grateful for that, I carefully stood up. The cave much brighter then it was before I entered.  Ready to head back to the village, knowing what my life was about to become.



Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s