The Sweat

By Carolyn Wright

Enshrouded by the black chasm of night, my spirit awaits.

The crackling of the grandfather fire and its wood smoke, intoxicate

and call me to a time I no longer know.

The scent of pine mixed with cedar surrounds my

body as it wafts up on

its heavenly journey.

The Pleiades rejoice at our gathering.

The giant, pearlescent orb begins its slow track

upward, just illuminating the edge of time.

I hear the symphony of crickets, night birds, and the

forlorn call of the coyotes in the distance.

A place of magic is being borne forth by the Earth Mother

and Father Sky, all for my benefit.

As the time draws near, we gather one at a time

to a place where eagles once dared. As the magnificent

wing is swept upward against my body, I feel as light as

a thought, and it lifts my consciousness skyward imparting

the negative energy to the Earth Mother. The atmosphere is

charged with electricity as anticipation rises.

I lift the abalone shell and allow the acrid and pungent smoke

of the white sage to envelope me, cleansing any impurity that may

linger.

I am immediately placed at ease surrounded by sage and cedar. As

my grandmothers

and grandfathers, who have gone before me, I am called to enter. I

gleam with

beads of perspiration, which form rivulets that merge and overflow

into one another.

My time is now; the sweat lodge begins.

AHO, Mitakuye Oyasin
(as it should be, for all my relations)