Page 140 - Dark Matter:Women Witnessing Issue2

Dreaming the Future

Valerie Wolf

In 2007, I undertook a solo vision quest on Joseph Mountain in the beautiful Wallowa Valley of eastern

Oregon, having felt intuitively called by my spirits to seek guidance in protecting the earth and securing

a better future for all who dwell here. As one who has walked the shamanic path for twenty-­‐two years,

as an Earthkeeper, someone who attempts to discern what is best for the earth and all beings here and

live accordingly, I was now being paged by my spirit team to receive messages on this topic. The spirits

have appeared to indigenous people for centuries, and had been coming to me for more than twenty

years in dream and vision, as well as to many of my students and clients, bringing profound insights

and healing for us and our communities. I had a sense that I was making this journey on behalf of the

Earth and my spiritual communities, as well as myself. Too many humans did not know how to live

here properly; far too many seemed oblivious to the evidence that we were destroying our planet. I did

not know what it would take to stop this. How could I do more, what were the right actions that could

heal the planet’s suffering? I hoped a spirit would come to me in vision, and offer something I could

bring back to my community that might make a difference.

I was not in the best shape to make such an arduous journey, being fifty-­‐four and with my backpacking

days more than twenty years behind me. The climb would be seven miles up a steep rocky trail with a

pack and water to a peak just under ten thousand feet. I would have no companions as a safety net. I

called my spiritual mentor before I headed up the trail, to let her know my intentions, and she agreed

to hold me spiritually, even though her wolf was dying at the time. Quests are unpredictable, and can

be grueling. As I moved into the Spirit World, I wanted a human anchor here, to support me in facing

whatever might come.

As I steadily hiked the trail, I felt in every being around me— every tree, stone, cloud, chipmunk, spring

— a loving consciousness, and a sense that they were all on this pilgrimage with me. It was as if the

quest itself had awakened the spirits of this land, and they were gladly supporting my journey. I had

experienced the same profound love on my first vision quest in 1994 in Joshua Tree, a flow of it that

had emerged from the earth at the moment of vision after questing all night. Here it was again, at the