My Daily Mantra

I remember the first time I was consciously aware that all of my needs are met. It was in late 2009 and I was doing my first Vision Quest outside Sedona, AZ.

I was really scared: 5 days and 4 night with my sleeping bag, a tarp and me. No water. No food. No electronic devices! No journal even. No books...no drum as I might disturb others.

Just me and the sky. And the earth. And the hail and the hot sun. The slightly sloping hillside I was placed in. Staying in my sacred space that had been constructed and prayed over.

The very first night I had havelina's visit me in the night, snorting and huffing. I was sure it was a 500 pound boar with tusks 3 feet long. When I stood up and sort of shakily raised my voice and told them I meant them no harm, several feet pounded away into the night. But as the sun rose over the mountains opposite me - I did not sleep much - I heard drumming from below, my tribe letting me know that they were there for me, and for all of us. I was not truly alone. I cried. Wailed and sobbed. And each morning as the sky lightened in the East, I so, so, so looked forward to the drumming and singing from far below me.

I was afraid I would die. From exposure. From lack of  water. From no food. I am not sure which one scared me the most! Food probably! 

But I had prepared...prayed, made prayer flags, not eaten much in the few days before the quest.

Vision Quests are about lamenting for a vision. My vision was that things would change. No specifics...change. I had to trust that.

As the first day moved into the second and I was still alive, not dead from lack of water or food, I began to thank Mother Earth and Father Sky and shakily...worriedly at first say this mantra: Mother Earth
Father Sky
All my needs are met.

And they were. At the finish, day five I was happy, energized...thirsty but not hungry. All my needs HAD BEEN MET: I WAS ALIVE!