The Healing Stones From The Snake

The Patience Stone Composition: Basalt Weight 1 Kilo Note: The stone was selected by the Shaman from the banks of the Snake River, near Celebration Point, Idaho. Dimenstions: 135mm Wide 431.8mm Diameter 60mm Thick 28mm Center Hole (Round) 69.85mm in Depth Hole: Bi-Conical and slopes from wide, at the edge, to 28mm in the center. By chipping from two opposing sides I was able to cut a hole through the Basalt, taking a full, non-stop day, without breaking the stone. This took constant concentration and exacting care. The object was to teach me Patience. I prize these stones. When I become impatient, I look at them, clear my mind, and meditate on Patience. Quartz Cutting Stone Composition: Hard Quartz, also from the Snake River. Began the size of a softball and when I was finished it had been chipped and worn down to the size of a small hen's egg. The Healing Stone is a well-worn piece of Basalt that fits perfectly in your hand with a smooth indentation worn by generations of using it as a Capstone for a HandDrill for starting fires or drilling holes in hided. It was given to me by the Shaman as a gift, my most prized possession. I have used it to make fire and drill holes, back when my health was better. I now finger it and think of my Vision Quest and as part of the Healing Process passed to me, in secret, by the Shaman. My Quest Begins… Having lived most of my life in the scientific world as a T-Type and/or A-Type Personality, I seldom had time to ponder the Spiritual Nature of my bring, I was beginning to feel empty. One day I met Willie, a Sho-Pai Indian, and Shaman. Willie “took me under his wing” and for the next five years he taught me the Old Ways. The more I learned,

the more I yearned to be allowed to go on my own Vision Quest…A milestone along the way to Native American spirituality. Throughout these learning years I was impatient and kept at Willie to allow me my chance at my Vision Quest. Willie would always kindly say, “You’re not quite ready yet…Be Patient.” But…I had been short on Patience all of my life and this particular occasion didn’t help, after all, what did Patience have to do with a Vision Quest? One summer morning, during Coyote Hour, Willie came to me and with absolute silence he bad me follow him. Wearing only a pair of shorts Willie and I went to the edge of the sacred Snake River – (Celebration Park, Idaho). Willie started searching for something along the banks of the Sacred River and after nearly half an hour came to me with the two Stones mentioned above. Willie said to me, “Take the quartz stone, break off part of an end, but not too mush because it is the only cutting stone you may have today…take away only enough to make a sharp, cutting edge.” Willie continued, “Using the quarts you are to cut a Bi-Conical Hole through the Basalt without breaking the stone. You must be finished by sundown.” “What a joke, I thought; I can have this done in less than an hour…I began at a pace as though the NunumBi were after me…I quickly slowed down to a more respectable pace, to “save myself.” The task was harder than I had expected. Willie had taken me to a quiet spot where I could only see and hear the river. Taking a stick he drew a circle in the dirt approximating a meter in diameter. Willie said to me, “You must remain inside the circle for the entire day without food or water, working to make the Perfect Circle without breaking the Basalt. Break the Basalt and you will have to wait another five years to try again. Without haste I sat down, sharpened my Cutting Stone, a lesson learned years earlier, studied the Basalt with care, and began cutting from both sides, hoping to meet in the middle without breaking the Basalt. I estimated the task would take but an hour or two. After the third hour came and went my level of Patience and Frustration were at a breaking point. In addition I was extremely bored. It was then, with the hot sun beating down upon my naked body, that I began to recall lessons taught to me by Willie years earlier. Take a deep breath, relax, become one with your surroundings, go to your Sacred Place (Mental), concentrate on Patience and continue with the task at hand. At once I felt euphoric and the growth of Patience from within made me euphoric. Time faded into nothingness and it wasn’t until the Hole was completed, stone unbroken, that I notes the sun was setting.

With extreme Pride I took the Basalt to Willie who said, “You are now ready for your Vision Quest. The Basalt and Cutting Stone now sit on my desk to remind me to have patience when Patience wears thin…