The Toltec Way by Susan Gregg

Author:Susan Gregg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

Teaching Story

THE VISION QUEST

The girl wandered the woods all day with anger driving her and sadness filling her heart. She too wanted to go on a vision quest, even if they were only for boys. Now that the sun had set, she felt fear dancing at the edge of her consciousness. She was lost, her stomach was empty, and she was thirsty.

She sat quietly by a tree and listened. The wind had always guided her, but her anger had drowned out its voice. The leaves began gently moving so she stopped to listen. She followed the wind. The air was fresh and sweet with the smell of water. After a few moments she found herself standing beside a brook. She thanked the wind and dipped her hand into the cool water to quench her thirst. As she looked up she saw a young fawn watching her. Their eyes met briefly before he ran off to join his mother.

She crossed the stream and filled her stomach with ripe berries and pine nuts. Summer was almost over and the earth was bountiful. It was too late to try to find her way home, so she wandered along a path until she came to a beautiful clearing. The moonlight filled the area with a shimmering light.

She raced into the center of the clearing and began to sing and dance. Ecstasy filled her young body and she danced until she fell to the ground exhausted. She drifted into a deep sleep but the voices kept calling her back to consciousness. Finally she pulled herself awake.

When she opened her eyes the world looked very different. When she tried to move her feet she found she couldn’t. Then she looked down at her body and screamed. Her young body was covered by gnarled old bark, her arms had become limbs, and her feet went far down into the earth. She was a tree, an old gnarled tree.

“What happened to me? What have you done to my body?”

Laughter filled the air.

“I don’t find this at all funny, now give me back my body!”

“Not so fast, my child, take time, watch, and listen. You will learn much,” said the wind.

The young girl took the wind’s advice and began to calm down. She listened in silence and watched intently. As she looked within her new body she felt only acceptance, love, and a great deal of patience. There was no need to hurry; the seasons would come and go no matter what she did. In her branches she supported many families; there were birds, a young squirrel, and colonies of ants. The wind constantly caressed her and the earth met all her needs. She was at peace and one with all about her. She sighed and surrendered to the feelings of peace filling her heart.

She had a great deal of knowledge but she had no idea where it came from. The voices were quieter now but she could still hear them if she listened carefully.

“Who are you?” asked the young girl.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.