POEMS, PROSE and PRAYERS

Douglas, your dream reminds me so much of dreams I had as a child, wherein native children were teaching me the ways of the ancestors. These dreams had more to do with telling the time of day by the position of the sun, the "directions" of the blowing winds, marking my trail with piled stones and identifying landmarks so I could find my way home. I was just four years old when I first moved onto a huge ranch, and at that young age, one of my biggest fears was becoming lost in all that space!

I began having Hansel and Gretel dreams at first, which quickly evolved into dreams of playing with and learning from my new dream-time Pomo Indian friends. To this day, I still have a great sense of direction, which is perhaps one reason why I am so involved in working with all of the various directions to this day. :-)
Teaching surely can and does occur on a spiritual level when the heart is truly "with the people", regardless of the color of one's skin.

Your story not only reminded me of these very special childhood dreams and memories, but also of the fact that these indigenous spiritual guides and teachers have always been there for me, and still are to this day.

By day, our land was covered with Pomo artifacts and arrowheads, grinding stones and bowls, and these items became my daily play things as I was growing up. There were also a lot of animals on our property, both domestic and wild. There was also a sacred burial ground and I always knew instinctively to walk around it, rather than through it. Even the horses knew to keep off of that "sacred ground", although the cows were not quite so perceptive in that way.

Treasured memories, both waking and sleeping dreams, that have shaped who I am today, even as your dreams have shaped who you are today as well Douglas. Thank you for sharing some of your sacred dreams, "visions" and memories with us too. I feel honored to have met you and am happy you're here with us.

Best blessings to you, Terri

The sacred land where I grew up, along Hwy. 12 in the Valley of the Moon, Kenwood, CA. The photo below shows the ranch itself from the top of Mount Hood, which is the large parcel of open land in this photo. Most of the artifacts and arrowheads were found in area along the creek (under the shade trees) on the left corner of the tree lined front field. (comment cont. below photo)

This "valley of the moon" was so beautiful that the local native people brought their elders to live out their remaining days in peace here. Today it is the home of a large retirement community called Oakmont and much of the open land has been sold to developers or has been converted from cattle county to grape vineyards and spas. It doesn't even look like the same place I grew up any more, but I suppose that's true for many sacred land sites these days unfortunately. It's just SO sad. My heart still belongs to the land I grew up on though, as you can no doubt clearly see from this rather lengthy response to your dream tale today. :-)

Oops, I meant to include this link to pictures of the Valley of the Moon taken from the top of Hood Mountain. Some beautiful images here.
http://mishalov.com/mt-hood-22sept05/index.html