Woman Who Walks: Goddess Eyes' Story (part 3)
by Stephanie Pflumm ©Copyright 2007

"Hill Dancer did not know how long he had followed the albino deer through the
forest. He was sure that at least one full cycle of the Moon had passed since
he left his clan".

Goddess Eyes stops and takes in a long breath. I wonder if her voice is
getting weary from telling the story, but I silently hope she continues
sharing. Woman Who Walks instructs me to cup my hands and she pours water from
her bottle, which I offer to our story teller. As the sounds come back to life
in my ears, I realize again, that I have not actually been "hearing" Goddess
Eyes' story in the normal way.

"He was not even a yearling when he first saw his dream vision". The doe
returns to her story. "In the fever of his sickness, Hill Dancer saw only a
white vision of loving light that had given him back life and returned hope to
his mother's heart. Through all his growing seasons, and now adult seasons, he
was unable to rid himself of the ghost doe that haunted him.

"As he grew into adulthood, he heard the stories of a magical but mutant doe
that roamed the forest. There were many tales of healing magic, of brave deeds
and a tragic life doomed to loneliness because of her brilliant white coat.
Hill Dancer often wondered if this creature could be the Doe of Light in his
dreams.

"He was now well into his prime mating years and still had not chosen a mate.
His mother and father constantly pushed him into choosing, assuring him it
need be nothing more than a simple mating. But he must think of the health of
the clan.

"Still, Hill Dancer resisted. Finally his mother's nagging and father's
ultimatums drove the young buck into action. In the deep stillness of a
Moonless night, he quietly crept away from the clan. He had been working on a
plan.

"A few days earlier, a young buck from the Gladetop Deer Clan had been
visiting (looking for a possible mate) and was sharing a tale of a magical
white deer that had returned a fawn whose mother had been taken by a hunter's
gun.

"Hill Dancer knew the area between his clan and the Gladetop very well. He had
accompanied many scouting parties that had covered the territory. Since he
could not rid himself of his dream, and this dream seem to stand between him
and being fully alive, then it was time to find and face his vision.

"Experienced and driven by years of restless confusion, it took the young buck
only three and a half days to track and catch up with the albino deer that had
haunted him since childhood. Now, with his vision a physical reality just a
few steps and a greeting away from him, Hill Dancer was frozen with a fearful
dread he had never known before.

"His normal coloring and forest knowledge allowed him to keep his presence
secret as he began to follow White Eyes. Days easily slipped in and out, time
lost its meaning for the male deer. Instead confusion and uncertainty raced
through his heart and mind.

"It is not normal for a healthy deer to desire mating with an abnormal one. It
is against all natural laws for a healthy member of a species to seek
continuing their kind with one that was flawed. However, Hill Dancer was
having a great deal of difficulty finding flaw with the living dream he
followed.

"In his eyes, this creature lived her life meticulously. Every action
deliberate, with a grace he had not seen in any other doe. Because she could
not rely on her coat to camaflouge and protect her, my mother had learned
other ways to "hid" in the forest. She had learned the art of the silent
footstep and could travel many miles without a single rustle. She learned to
relieve herself far off the path she traveled, sometimes covering her piles to
further disguise traces of her scent. She knew that by standing in certain
positions sometimes she became almost invisible, especially in the bright,
sunlit day hours.

"Hill Dancer marveled at his dream's intelligence and beauty which only caused
his desires to grow deeper and his uncertainty greater. Not only would she be
repulsed by his perverse desires, but he was nothing but clumsy and dimwitted
in comparison to his vision".

Goddess Eyes stops, a momentary cloud seems to cover the brightness of her
blue eyes. A happy, yet sorrow tinged nostalgia seems to sweep from her, then
she continues her telling.

"It took about a quarter cycle of the Moon for White Eyes to realize she was
being followed. When she did, at first, she did nothing. She recalled a dream
in which she had been lovingly seduced by a shadow, and the lonely deer choose
to continue the pretense that she was unaware of the buck shadowing her.

"Finally impatient for action and filled with curiosity, the albino deer
decided to end their hide and seek play. When the Sun broke through some
afternoon clouds, a bright beam fell just off the path mother was traveling.
She stepped into the beam, turned her body just right and waited for the buck
to catch up.

"Hill Dancer approached the area where he had last seen the white deer with
great caution. He saw her turn away from the path, but then she disappeared.
He flared his nostrils and smelled the warm, late Autumn air. Her scent was
still there, but where was his vision?

"He scanned the tree line, searching for her bright outline. Cautiously he
moved a few steps ahead, for the first time he feared his tracking skills had
let him down. Then he heard the sound of rustling branches and brushing
grasses, as my mother stepped out behind him.

" 'Who are you? Why do you follow me'? She added so much sternness to her
thoughts that their intensity even startled her.

"Suddenly, with the face of his dream finally so close, the fear, doubt and
confusion that had haunted Hill Dancer was gone. In the pale blues eyes that
glared at him, he saw the loving light that had haunted him since he was a
yearling. In those eyes he found peace and completion.

" 'I am Hill Dancer, son of Night Dancer and Laughing Eyes, and one who is
honored to be in the presence of such rare beauty and blessed grace.' The buck
bent a knee and lowered his head in a reverent bow.

"Now it was White Eyes turn to be confused and a bit frightened. She had
expected the young man to turn and run in flight, not disarm her with
reverence and compliments.

"Raising himself back up, he looked straight into my mother's eyes, and
confidently said, 'I have dreamed of this moment for many years. No other doe
could arouse my desires, you, daughter of the forest are the owner of my heart
and I have waited many turns of the season for this moment, for the chance to
seek the honor of being your mate'.

"Whatever happened next, Hill Dancer could now live his life with some peace.
He had found his vision and stated his purpose. He felt the weight of an
unfulfilled duty fall from his shoulders.

"Mother was even more frightened than before. She knew well the consequences
of what Hill Dancer, son of Laughing Eyes and Night Dancer was proposing. They
both would be banned and ostracized for the remainder of their lives. But,
then, being kept at a distance was nothing new to White Eyes. She imagined if
the buck in front of her had truly been carrying around his desire for her all
these years, that he too was use to being alone.

"And if she could have a child as the result of a mating, what would happen to
the fawn she bore? What if it was born with the flaws of her mother?

"Then she looked directly into the eyes of Hill Dancer. What she saw there
made her questions disappear. It was something she had never seen before. In
the eyes of the buck was an unconditional answer, and unwavering reflection of
love meant only for her. In those eyes she found the same peace and completion
that he had seen in hers.

"Without words, without replying, they began their First Rites, two not so
young virgins tasting and becoming drunk on the fruits of their love. In the
morning as mother awoke beside a companion for the first time in her life, she
knew that a child would be coming in the Spring, and she tried not to worry".

and now for the conclusion . . .

Woman Who Walks: Goddess Eyes' Story (part 4)
by Stephanie Pflumm ©Copyright 2007

"My mother and father waited for Spring with great anticipation. White Eyes
tried not to think about the consequences of her mating with Hill Dancer. In
her dreams she greeted a perfect colored fawn with midnight eyes - not brown,
but not quite blue either. Except her fear was so great, that she would not
trust her dreams.

'Mother's labor started on the eve of the Spring Equinox. Once she was sure
the time was near, she slipped off into the forest when father was distracted,
hoping to spare Hill Dancer any grief should the labor go bad.

"Father was a scout and a tracker. There was no where mother could go that he
could not find her, especially in the midst of labor.

"Father says when he caught back up with mother, my birth sac was laying on
the ground, steam rising up off its warmth in the cool Spring morning. Mother
was just staring, terrified to do anything.

"Hill Dancer walked up to mother and looked into the cloudy package. He says
my eyes were staring back with a bright curiosity that shone right through.
But, because of the sac, the color of my coat appeared to be very milky, and
this was why White Eyes stood frozen.

"Male deer know nothing about birthing, but some instinct assisted my father
in breaking open my sac, and as I took my first breath they both noted
instantly my tawny coat and white snowy spots. The same as every other baby
deer born.

"'We have a daughter' father announced to mother in a tender, almost inaudible
voice.

"Mother could not reply, her voice was caught in a cascade of joyful tears.
Joy and contentment replaced fear and apprehension as she began to clean my
perfectly normal coat."

In spite of my full knowledge that Goddess Eyes was a deer of normal color,
relief washes over me just the same as she tells her story. I look into her
eyes, which in some moments appear to be blue, but right now look the color of
midnight, not brown, but not really blue.

"We spent four years in the forest. A small, deliriously happy deer clan,
White Eyes, Hill Dancer and Goddess Eyes, mother, father and daughter.

"As the end of my fourth Autumn season began to draw near and the cold air
crept into the longer dark nights, mother began to have some very bad spells.
She would try to hide them from Hill Dancer, but my father was quite wise and
rarely missed any sign or movement.

"He managed to find a cave that no one else had chosen to occupy that Winter.
There there had been residents in past frozen seasons, not this one, not yet.
He told my mother that he was feeling a stiffness and aching in his bones and
asked how she would feel about spending this Winter in a more accommodating
shelter.

"White Eyes agreed. She had already seen 65 full seasons, twice the number any
other known deer had seen. Hill Dancer himself was entering his 28th full
season, though he would live another ten years after mother.

"Father showed me how to gather grasses and leaves and we padded the floor of
the cave. On the coldest nights, we would huddle together, keeping each other
warm and White Eyes would tell me her dreams.

"As Winter grew older and hints of warmth began to return, mother began
telling me about her dreams with a greater urgency. She told me of the violent
images, and the feeling of finality when she saw the young man dressed in
greens. She told me of the plant relations, what they had shown her and how
she had used their teachings.

"One warm February afternoon we walked to the field where a bucket of oats had
once been left. She showed me the large field with stone carvings with the
names of two-leggeds. She took me to the stones and read the names, Harry,
Mary and David.

"That night she told me of her final dream.

"'Goddess Eyes you listen carefully, and remember the complete telling of this
dream. There will be a time for you to share this dream with a two-legged
relation. I do not know the name, nor how you will find them, or even tell it,
but you must and you shall'.

"'There is a dream that comes, not with fear, but with a helpless resignation
and the end of all that is now. In the dream the two-leggeds are walking their
path in perfect harmony with the Earth Mother and Sky Father, honoring all
relations, and respectful of the Great Mysterious All. In honor and respect,
the knowledge and power of the two-legged grows.

'But as this power grows, it begins to create its own path. One that slowly
turns away from love for all Creation's Children and focuses on self and the
right of eminence over all that seem to move below themselves.

'As the path turns, many two-leggeds are drawn into its deception of
perfection, some are not. Some continue the path of honor and respect and for
many thousands of full seasons a balance will help hold all life sacred'".

Goddess Eyes stopped. I felt she was saying something I could not understand.
I heard Woman Who Walks tell the deer to "not worry about the right words,
just remember your mother's telling".

The Sun is setting and I only briefly wonder how long we've been sitting here.
Goddess Eyes begins again.

"White Eyes said 'for thousands of full seasons a balance will hold life
sacred. The two paths will balance the future of all relations on a very fine
point. Eventually the two-leggeds will choose one or the other, and everything
shall fall into the end, or back to the beginning.

'So they must know there is a choice, and the great importance of choice. They
must know that every choice, no matter how small, affects the All. Once the
two-leggeds choose to accept the responsibility of free will's impact on all,
their great knowledge and power can be used for the good of All instead of the
end of all that is now'.

"This is the dream I was told to share. The dream did not say when or how the
balance will tip. Mother said the dream had separate endings when it came; one
would tip toward honor, respect and love for all who share life and the other
would tip toward selfish dominion over life on this planet, or wherever the
two-leggeds' touch could reach.

"Both are paths of power, both bring great reward. One brings renewal and
continued opportunity. One brings exploitation and depletion ending in
extinction".

Goddess Eyes' story ends. A rush of forest noises, leaves, bird calls, insects
buzzing, wake up sleeping ears and my ability to hear Goddess Eyes is gone.
Our eyes meet in mute confusion and we turn together with curious eyes toward
Woman Who Walks.

Who simply rises, nods a farewell to Goddess Eyes and beckons me to follow her
back to the dirt road home. But not before I manage a clumsy human "thank you"
to Goddess Eyes

Abundant blessings,
Stephanie