"Path of the Bear" – June 13, 2010

2010-13-10

The Books of Fae

2010-6-10 – "Path of the Bear"

"…To protect him from the dryness and winds of the lands of enchantment North and I make the journey northwest along the Paths of the Bear towards the mountains of Tahoe and the Ashland Shire  …"

Goodbye Akashic Alley

It is at this time that signs begin to appear that suggest the movement from the Lands of Enchantment, appearing as a repeated issue with particles of dust getting into North's eyes, beyond his lupine second eyelid.

As we make our plans to leave, we stop at the local hot dog stand, whom I am convinced regard North as a deity (rightly). Whenver we come here, they give him a tithe of free meat which he readily accepts whilst I witness him working his magic …

Goodbye Akashic Alley

I am convinced the people here regard North as a God amongst Wolves, and pay him appropriate due for his celestial status.

Clan Tynker

Here I wonder, why am I encountering these avatars of the circusian realms? What is their significance upon the path? Is this the same clan Tynker that intersected my path during the Pennsic Wars of 2006?

I love the circus realms, playing like rainbow strings of chaos and certitude across the ethers.  As I make my way to the festival, I encounter Clan Tynker …

The scent of their energic signature is familiar to me. I realize that they are the same allies of the Circusian realms whom I had encountered during during the 2006 episode “Valhalla – The Pennsic Wars” on the Journey Home.

I am so happy to witness them. To be on this sacred journey, documenting my adventure deeper into the real World of myth and magic. Using my photos as golden breadcrumbs, intent on help the people to remember. The Land of Enchantment has been good to me, and I am thankful for what Gifts have come during my time here.

Yet for all these things, the road beckons, drawing us northwest, back towards the Faerie realms of Cascadia …

The Northern Realms

The sense that I am moving through a timeline of synchronicities that embodies the modern myth continues as we make our way northward, finding mountainside campsites along the way. Following what I observed during the journey through the Faerie Roads and the discovery of the fae landscapes of Livingwell, I am curious to discover what arrives on my path.

Following the Path, North and I are led to mountains, far and away from the peoples of the “civilized” World. Here, we ascend the mountain, finding pools of winter water, where I invoke the misogi spell of cleansing yet again …

Such is a perfect place for the misogi meditation, and I open the space, invoking the elements and stepping into the Water.

It is such a pristine place.  A realm of Nature, where the roundedness of the deva is more easily felt.  It's cold, but not too cold, reminding me of my time in Tahoe's winters and the walks with North through her snow-blanketed forests.

Following the Path, North and I are led to mountains, far and away from the peoples of the “civilized” World. Here, we ascend the mountain, finding pools of winter water, where I invoke the misogi spell of cleansing yet again …

Such is a perfect place for the misogi meditation, and I open the space, invoking the elements and stepping into the Water.

It is such a pristine place.  A realm of Nature, where the roundedness of the deva is more easily felt.  It’s cold, but not too cold, reminding me of my time in Tahoe’s winters and the walks with North through her snow-blanketed forests.

Return to Red Rocks

At Last, Mead

It's good mead. Better that it arrived on the Quest for me, a proof of the magic.

The Sacred Yuba

As my wolf and I set our tent up by the side of the river, I consider – nothing has changed. We are here, knight-errants in service to a greater cause, camping and exploring, finding our way across the landscapes of our evolving legend. Such is always constant, beneath our many Stories, the pulse of the heroic journey wrought into the modern myth.

As I rejuvenate by the sacred river, Patience Yanderling, one of my fellows from the realms of Faerie, visits me, and we reminisce over our shared adventure a year before during the 2009 – "Faerie Roads" adventure to Scotland with Noah McLain.

Characters

Jim Mattos

Patience Yanderling

North