The Story of the Feather
The following story was told to me by the Fire Keeper, from the Dokis First Nation Pow-wow. He is a most amazing Spirit and I have been lucky enough to be able to spend a little time with him in the past few years, here and there. We get along quite well, in my opinion.
I did not ask to be told this story but the Fire Keeper told me the story because he saw the Feathers on my walking stick (I have a special walking stick for many years now, it is a Power Object and has a few different Feathers on it as well). I remember the day as if it was today.
Holding one of my Feathers gently, the Fire Keeper became quiet for a few seconds as if he was drawing the information from the middle of the Earth.
“The Feather, is like the path in our life”, he started saying.
He held the Feather from the bottom of its stem and told me to pay attention how the stem of the Feather runs straight, from top to bottom.
“That is the good path in Life: the road we should walk on.”
Yet, as the Fire Keeper explained, in Life we have many obstacles. We often have detours or sometimes we end-up making mistakes and walking off the good path and those many wrong turns which many of us encounter in our lives, are represented by the little fine hairs on each Feather which grow sideways from the main stem of the Feather. All those little independent hairs of the Feather are dead-end roads. For some they may represent an indulgence in the Fire Water (alcohol), or an addiction to gambling or any other dead-end of that sort. So, if we have deviated off the main vein of the Feather, we should be aware: the road has no future and thus, we should search to find our way back to the main stem of the Feather: the Red Road, the good road.
The Feather represents Life and our journey.
I wrote this story in Brian’s honor: the Fire Keeper, may Wakan Tanka always walk with Him!
And the second reason I wrote this story is for Mr. Aravind (http://aravindb1982.hubpages.com/), to whom I have given a Friendship Feather. Two Feathers came together: one small one I held and the bigger one I gave to him, in good Spirit.
I wish everyone well.
Da-na’-ho-we-yo.
Note: My photograph, Brian, the Fire Keeper, at Dokis First Nations, 2012, Ontario, Canada
