DECEMBER 2020
On December 4, 2020, I brought out my collection of feathers and laid them beside my bed. I asked that they bring me messages during my sleep. The red cloth and hawk feather were gifted to me by a medicine man back on August 20, 2005, in Portland, Oregon.
“Once we arrived in the center of the village, we all split up and went our separate ways. I talked to tribe members from other tribes who had driven in from parts of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. They had come in for the day to sell their crafts. I saw some incredible jewelry, pottery, drums, and handmade crafts. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Although I wanted to buy everything, I settled for a beaded Macaw feather from a Native American named Damascus. I figured this feather would make a great addition to my feather collection, which included the feather Pasco blessed for me during my first sweat lodge in Oregon (See Hung Up), a hummingbird feather that I found on my balcony in Portland, and an owl feather that I discovered during one of my many hikes in Oregon.” – (See Hung Up)
“Although the Macaw feather only cost me twenty dollars, I knew it would become a priceless addition to my collection. It would always remind me of my day in Taos.“ (See Fighting Spirit)
My collection of feathers grew considerably over the next fifteen years.
It had been eight months since I moved to California, and I felt like it was time to stir up the inner and outer cosmos again.
After spending considerable time on Google Earth, I was happy to discover that Ricardo’s residence was close to two gridlines, which included numbers 1, 2, and 3. W122.13.24.96° and N37.502226.
I also discovered that longitude W122.13.50.88° fell right on top of the Temescal Regional Recreation Area, which was only 1.5 miles from where I lived. Stranger still was that I had been doing daily hikes around that park in early December when I brought out my feather collection.
I learned that Temescal, Temascal, and Temazcal were all forms of the Nahuatl word temazcal, which refers to a type of sweat lodge used by Indigenous Mesoamericans. While looking at the aerial view of Temescal Regional Recreation Area, I noticed that the lake itself had a unique shape, and the outline of the park was in the shape of a pyramid or triangle.
After considering all of this, I concluded that this was the right place to lay down prayers. I arrived in the Bay Area on March 21, 2020, during the Spring Equinox, so it only felt right to give birth to this nine months later, during the Winter Solstice.