Among New England’s treasures are its stone Calendar sites. Archeologists, historians, and natives disagree on the origins of these structures and their history of use. The chambers are often formed of large stones, stacked around a lintel doorway. The roof may consist of long flat stones weighing two tons each.
At one site the first light of the sun on the winter solstice enters and falls directly onto a stone located in the back of the space. We had gathered there in preparation for the work to follow in the days ahead.
Carried on the song and the drum, I would meet my ancestors there.
Sound was opening new doorways of consciousness. I found myself no longer in the space of the chamber, but standing in a favorite field, immersed in the light of stars, familiar and remote.
The stars became threads of light, reaching down to me. Slowly, the threads increased as the darkness was giving way to a sky filled with countless points of light.
I walked out on a shining path.
When at last I stopped I was at a threshold, a Wall of Light, feeling a scope and scale of Love that I had forgotten. It was a feeling I will always remember. There was a sense of stillness and perfection there, a perfect state of being without doubt or darkness, as timelessness embraced me.
But at last the drum called me back to the chamber and the work to be done.
As I turned toward home, from out of the Wall of Light stepped Rothko.
Walking beside me, down the path, was one of the gentlest souls I have ever known.
…
Rothko was a puppy when we took him in years before. With a spiked collar that said Master on it, he was roaming the streets and railroad tracks of Chattanooga with a pack of pit bulls, living on trash.
He has been my constant companion ever since. An inspiration, the one who tells me to lighten up when things become too serious.
He is the embodiment of the Guardian Angel, and is known as a Master to many.
To know him is to know something of Heaven on Earth.
