Vision Quest: The making of a man

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Pale Rider
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Vision Quest: The making of a man

Post by Pale Rider » Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:23 pm

Author's Note: Bare with me as I have not written in almost 4 years. Also please note that the items in James medicine bag are easily researched under Cherokee Vision Quests (I modified them somewhat to incorporate a change in philosphy as the tribe relocated to a new planet, etc.)

James could barely wait. Today was the day; his tribal elders led by the Ladies Three, women who had each passed their 80th summer and who would be replaced in time by those who also were qualified, had declared him fit and ready for his Vision Quest.
He had followed the traditions of his elders. Traditions that had been returned to the forefront when the collective elders of the remaining members of the Cherokee Confederation petitioned the right to purchase and colonized a small planet similar to Earth in the Alpha-Tau Quadrant. This was agreed upon with the financial backing of the GrantCorp; providing the CC releases the minerals and other assets to the company. When the planet was colonized each of the chiefs took his group to establish villages. The Indians would return to their heritage.

At Screech Owls, urging James had searched the area surrounding his village to gather the necessary items for his sacred bundle. Within his bundle which had gone through the smudging rite he had added:
• Five stones each the size of his eye teeth (strung together in the following order)
1. Amethyst
2. Rose Quartz
3. Clear Quartz
4. Light Blue Turquoise
5. Clear Quartz
6. Amber Agate
• The smooth downy coat of a fledgling Spotted Owl, plucked from the nest as the moon reached its zenith.
• A twig of cedar plucked from the crown of the tree that the Owl nest was located.
• A microchip produce from the sand located on the shore near
• A small tobacco bag
• Small bag of corn pollen
• A small piece of Flint carved in the shape of his father’s totem.

He was the only son of the tribal shaman and the nephew of the tribal chieftain so his was to be no ordinary Vision Quest. He had spent the past fourteen hours deep within the confines of the Village Sweet lodge. The cloying scent of sage still clung to his sinus cavity. As he exited the ground he had been stripped of his loin cloth and stood before the tribe as he entered the world. A loud keening erupted from women of his family as his relatives turned their back on him. Screech Owl and Running Fox slowly began to paint his body in the white clay that had been smoked to purify it. The soft skin of a snow hare was tied around his eyes, closing him off from the sights of the world around him. The wails of his mother, six sisters, and aunts rose in pitch as he was lead away into the deepening twilight.
He must have walked what was at least fifteen miles, being led by the silent person who grasped his hand. The hand was rough, and seemed to be covered in a short coarse fur, “Ah, Running Fox leads me,” he thought. Suddenly, they stopped he was moved forward and motion to sit. Reaching down he felt the air until his hand brushed against a log. He is moved until he is positioned with the heat of the dying sun on his back. He heard the soft sound of footsteps retreating. Running Fox’s lyrical voice called out to him in the darkness, “Remain sitting until you have felt the heat of the sun on your face. Then you may remove the blind fold.”
Where he had at first seen a world of gray light, it quickly faded into darkness so black, that he began to respect the elder who had been blinded from birth, yet managed to aid the people in the tending of the gardens and even bringing down the occasional bird as it took flight with a sling. Time seemed to pass at a snails pace. He heard the snuffle of a bear in the distance as it awoke from its long period of rest. At some point during the night the sounds of the night disappeared; the cough of a panther, a deep huffing sound came to him from his back and to the left. The next time he heard it, seemed to have moved further along and was too his front and right. The insect’s songs returned covering him in its soft sound like the waves of the ocean as it crashed upon the beaches.
Several times during the night, nature warned him of the approach of a predator as it grew quiet. The sounds of the approaching dawn came to his ears, as a soft wind picked up. He could hear it rustling the grass and shrubbery around him. His nose picked up a familiar scent; a damp moist scent, like freshly turned soil. “Rain is coming,” he thought. “How shall I know when the sun has risen? I am unable to speak until the time I become a man!” He was struck on the bridge of his nose by a cold drop of rain, it stung his naked flesh as it picked up in intensity and was driven by the wind that whistled through the threes.
(TO BE CONTINUED)

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Nick
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Re: Vision Quest: The making of a man

Post by Nick » Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:46 am

Thanks, great read!
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