Bear Heart

Maybe twenty years ago in a tipi meeting an ancestor Spirit sang into my left ear. At first I thought it was the medicine, but then I didn't know. He sang about a bear paw in the coals of the fire; and then I saw the paw physically in front of me. Afterwards I told Bear Heart (who ran the meeting) about it. He then told me that his grandfather was named for "the right front paw of a bear." He asked me if the claws were extended or if they were withdrawn. He said that a bear moves through underbrush without making a sound when its claws are withdrawn. He called it the Hunter’s Stalk. Sole, heel; sole, heel. Like that. There’s a spot on the sole of the foot (that corresponds with a spot on the palm of the hand) that draws power from the Earth, and communicates with the Earth. All animals know that.  Sun Dancers learn it.

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