The Bear

Despite his great size he moved quietly through the trees.His soft tread absorbed by the deep snow.His ancestors were the Bears of the First Creation .... he continued with tradition and kept the appointment this night

He was slow and sleepy , it had been hard to awaken into the cold Winter night from the healing sleep of hibernation, but this night was sacred. He had a job to do. He spotted the fallen branches and started to drag them towards the Clearing where the Coyote had lit the fire.

They acknowledged each other with a deep gaze into each others eyes .... all that had passed since their last meeting was given up in it.

The Bear pulled the branches onto the fire. The shadows in the Clearing danced higher as the blaze and the warmth took hold. He sat and watched the Spark Fairies weave their ritual dances, the year had been good to him.

His mate had given birth to two strong cubs in the Spring, a male and a female.The Great Spirit had been bountious with His Blessings of food and health through the Summer and Autumn. The cubs had prospered, as had he and his mate.

The Bear laid down and his thoughts drifted ...... he let the Great Spirit prepare his mind for the times to come.The World was a changing place, greed and anger and stupidity seemed to swamp it. It wasn't really that way though. Many still held the hopes and kindnesses in their hearts. It was this that mattered. To accept the defeats was necessary but to dwell on them was not.

He looked up into the wonderous vault of the Heavens and allowed the light of the stars to heal him. He was a part of the Cosmic picture, a piece of the whole plan.He felt the starlight enter him and the process of renewal begin.

He felt the echos of a thousand millenia warm his Spirit. His fur rippled softly and shone in the firelight. His eyes held the sparks of a million stars, his Spirit soared.

This was the Great Creators hand at work.This Creator was whatever you perceived Him to be. Man had named Him ...... but He had no shape or form. He was the trees ,the flowers, the streams ,the sand ...... and finally the atoms of each element. It was this the Bear absorbed. The pure essence of thought and perfection. Not a man made false idol.

The Bear eased back into his earthly form. He was ready for the Gathering. The time for the few to pool their souls to salve the many. No beginning , no end, but a vital continuity.To wash the World of its cares and hold the weary and the strong equally.

He listened intently ...... then he heard it.The soft bell tone of the Universe. All would be well ...... it was the song of the Heart