Today has been a better day, and although I haven’t thrown the bones, I know that things will get better the more time I spend with them. Mamba told me on Saturday that I don’t have to “read” the bones, because they are inside of me: it’s the ancestors talking and once I get home, things are going to change. Last Sunday, Mamba went with me to the nearest reserve. He was instrumental in setting up (he was a very high diplomat before he retired) and getting the animals to re-populate it with. We took a tour through the park, and Mamba shared a lot of things with me that the guide did not know. It was really nice. We stopped feet away from a sleeping pride of lions – 1 male, and five females. He was on his back with his feet in the air, just like our Irish setter Morgan sleeps. Then he sat up, and we stayed there for a while longer watching. I would have spent my whole time there, but there were two other people with us, so we had to move on. Mamba was funny. He is a very black, very proper English gentleman, from the colonial era. Always well dressed in a suit, pretty much just like PH. Mamba told the lion he was a lazy bastard, and should get up and walk around. I was shocked at Mamba’s words, and amused at the same time. He taught me how to swear at my bones, and at my ancestors. He says it works for him. I’m still working on talking to them out loud.Today we sorted and bagged muhti for me to bring home. It was a very good day for me. I wish we had been doing this for the last five days! PH was fun to watch. The ancestors would tell him which ones to choose from all of the bottles and jars he has. He would sway and smile, and stamp his feet as he got more and more pleased with each mixture. Pray for me on Saturday, as I go through customs. My ancestors say that I will not have a problem. PH says I will not have a problem. My bags are full of herbs. I learned so much, and it really felt like I was home, like I have done this for a very long time. I have two ancestors that are herb specialists. I am now dreaming about herbs, which one to get and where to plant them in my yard. I am excited to start this process. In the meantime, I am taking a few home with me. Tomorrow, one of the boys is taking me out to dig muhti that will purify my bones. PH thinks the same plant grows in the US, and wants me to be able to identify it. And then he will pray over all of the sacred things I am bringing back, and instruct the ancestors to let no one touch them on our journey home. Two more nights left, one more day, and I’m headed home. I’m ready to be at home. My ancestors are ready to leave too. They have instructed me to pack, PH has told me to not pack until I have the blessed muhti, it goes in my suitcase first. I have found myself packing today, and then having to unpack because I don’t have the muthi, only to find myself folding and sorting clothes to pack again.
And then on another note, I am staying on a homestead that is basically a family farm. There are chickens and goats and cattle and my three brothers, the guinea fowl. Two weeks ago I went and got them bird food. My brothers followed me around before, watching from outside when I had my bone lessons, well, now that I am feeding them, they are almost impossible. And the chickens have become pesky too. They wait for me outside what ever building I am in, and once I come out, they begin to shriek and cluck and chatter. I can’t hear anyone who might be talking with me.
There is one white hen that PH used in a healing. The “healing law” states that he was supposed to kill it, because he used it to remove the sickness from a patient. He is having an experiment, and watching the bird to see what happens, and how it is behaving, and then periodically checking in with the patient. This white bird has been following me around since I got here, even more so than my brothers. It actually comes into the building for my bone lessons, and just stands there and watches. PH laughs a lot when this happens. I have been calling the bird possessed, as in entities, but I think PH thinks I mean it in the form of the ancestors. Now that I have begun feeding them, the white one has taken to biting my ankles. If I don’t watch for it, it will sneak up behind me and get me. The first time this happened, no one else saw it. I was so taken by surprise. could not believe it would do this. Then PH and Mamba saw it get me the second time. They both were laughing so hard, they had tears. PH had to sit down to recover. Now I am positive the bird is possessed. PH says that my brothers are going to the airport with me. I know that won’t happen, because they make way too much noise, I would find them. But now I am worried about the possessed one. She is so sneaky. I am now always watching over my shoulder when I am outside. I do not trust her. She got me again tonight. I was looking for her, and she was no where to be seen, and then out of no where I got bit. And then she runs off. It is great amusement for all that happen to see it. I warn them all that I am going to get the last laugh. I am leaving, and she is staying, and she is going to turn her attention to someone else. Their ankles are in danger. This is all for now, and probably the end until I return to the US. Two more nights, one more day, and I’m on my way.
Shilo