Through the Mists

Greetings all,

All is silence out at this late hour as I return home through the fog.  I am very tired, but I will muse a bit for you.

Tonight was the annual Day of the Dead party at my teacher's house (well one of my teachers anyways).  This is one of my favorite gatherings of the year.  There is always a good turnout.  Normally I am very into the ceremony, but tonight I was pulled away from it by children.  I had a friend who had started doing a skull face make up but hadn't quite finished it and so I was helping her jazz it up for the festivities.  Well once the attending kids got a whiff of this every one of them wanted their face painted by me.  So while despacho was going on I was busy lending my artistic vision to painting stylized skulls on little girls' faces.

I dithered about giving full attention to ceremony while also being pulled in the direction of keeping the kids entertained.  I did take a few breaks to do my small part in ceremony, but for the most part I painted faces.  It was odd here I was to honor ancestors in ceremony and appeal for their aid in my endeavors for the year and I was stuck at the kiddie table.  Hmmm there might be a metaphor in there if I look hard enough for it. As I later considered the matter I came to the conclusion that I was honoring the ancestors by tending to the next generation.  I was making them a part of the festivities in a way they could grasp and enjoy.  Ceremony is a form energy can move through not the energy itself.

I did get out to the fire,  I did get to drum and dance.  I petitioned for the aid I think I need.  We sat up later than normal this year.  Each of us had all gone through profound changes, and most of them were quite difficult.  We traded readings and jokes.  Perhaps the jokes may turn out to be the more valuable asset.  As we wrapped up and got into our cars to leave a mist had descended.  It was so thick it hid the road practically.  It made us all very mindful of the space between where we were and our homes.

There is so much around us that we aren't aware of, and most times we don't give it much thought.  So much can happen in the space between one door and another.  The air is always full of possibilities just beyond our conscious awareness.  As I drove home a car passed me so close it set my heart racing almost as fast as it was moving, which had to be close to 100 mph.  A few to the left and I could have been joining the ancestors.  We can't see them usually but I believe we are always watched by ancestors or helpful spirits in those between spaces.  Taking time to honor them is never a bad idea.

So on this week where the veil between here and there is separated only by a screen of mists are you taking the opportunity to reach through?  Are you calling out to the spirits that walk beside us on our roads?  Are you drawing strength from those that have come before you?  Well if not perhaps it is time to consider your road and whether or not you wish company on it.  What would happen if you held hands with those who have gone before and know where the road leads?  Would you pass through the mists with courage and grace, or tremble with worry and stumble?  Consider your connections those that have passed and those that remain, how are you tending to them?

Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle