As she danced, the shaman’s eyes became blurry. Objects doubled and changed color. The woman floated like a feather on the wave of music that bounced off the cave walls, and Cassie floated right along with her. The shaman swayed from side to side and then, without warning, dropped on all fours. Mimicking the movement of a snake she crawled across the cave floor on her stomach, making for a dark gap in the stone right below the python’s raised head. There was a short tunnel hollowed out in the cave wall. She followed the tunnel as far as she could go and when she could go no further, she curled up next to the rock. The shaman rested her forehead on the cool stone that formed the python’s flank until she felt her mind merge with the creature. She became the great snake. Her awareness diffused and spread through the stone reptile’s body until her eyes were seeing out through the eyes of the python. She watched the dancers in front of her.
Then, the snake shed its stone skin and came to life. The shaman raised her snake’s head higher and willed herself to break free of the connecting rock. The dancers parted, and the great serpent slithered through the entrance and out into the night. It threaded its way down the hill until it reached the flat plain. Then it circled each of the four hills before turning in the direction of the star that does not wander. The shaman controlled the motion of the snake’s body, commanding it to find the place where the waters still flowed. They traveled on and on through the night, all the while the snake’s movement hollowed out deep gullies through the parched ground. When it was almost dawn, they came to a rushing river. The sky had broken open, and rain was swelling the stream to the point of overflowing.
The snake cut right through the embankment and propelled itself into the midst of the waters. Then the creature raised its head and reversed direction causing the river to flow backwards through the spillway it had created. The flood raced through the furrows made by the serpent all the way back to the base of the sacred hill, bearing the snake along with it. The shaman-python slithered out of the torrent and made its way up to the cave where the fire still burned and the people still danced and chanted. The snake burst through the entrance and fused with its stone form once more. The shaman separated her mind from the creature and settled back into her own body. She knew the waters would return now. She had called them forth, and they would come. It was done.
Cassie opened her eyes. She blinked a few times. The other three were staring at her apprehensively.
“Are you OK?” Erik asked cautiously.
“Yeah, I think so.” Cassie rubbed her forehead and looked down at her palm. “I thought I might still be bleeding,” she murmured, a little disoriented.
“Bleeding!” Griffin echoed. He caught hold of her hand to examine it. Apparently relieved to find no damage, he asked, “What happened to you?”
Cassie made an effort to get her eyes in focus. “I think I just dropped acid—Stone Age style. There was a shaman, and she mashed up a plant and rubbed the juice into cuts on her forehead. It must have been some kind of drug because we took a doozy of a psychedelic trip.”
She then related the entire experience to her amazed colleagues.
“How extraordinary,” Griffin commented when she was done.
“I’ll say,” Bobbye agreed. “We had no idea what kind of rituals were practiced here, but you just gave us details we could never have gotten on our own.”
Erik inched a little closer and rested his hand on Cassie’s shoulder. Staring intently at her face, he asked, “Are you sure you’re alright?”
She gave a small laugh. “This wasn’t like what happened in Turkey. It was strange but not scary or awful.”
He let his arm drop and nodded curtly. “OK, then.”
“It’s interesting that you mentioned the Oracle Chamber,” Bobbye said, half to herself. “I don’t think I told any of you about that.”
“The what now?” Cassie was still struggling to ground herself in the present moment.
“There’s a small chamber carved out of the rock on the opposite side of the python. I’ll show you.”
All four of them stood up and walked to the wall beside the massive sculpture. Bobbye crouched down. “You see? Right here.”
The trio peered into the shadows. There was still enough natural daylight to illuminate a small tunnel which ran parallel to the snake’s body and traveled into the back wall of the cave. The end of the tunnel had been squared off in such a way that it couldn’t be mistaken for a natural rock formation.
“Yeah,” Cassie confirmed. “That’s where I was. I mean, where she was.”
Bobbye straightened back up. “It’s been called the Oracle Chamber because there’s a theory that the shaman would have spoken as the voice of the python from that location.”
“She didn’t so much speak as listen,” Cassie said. “She was listening for the voice inside the stone.”
“The rock that whispers,” Griffin murmured. “We’ve heard of that notion before. The Sage Stone itself is reputed to whisper messages to those who are sensitive enough to hear its voice.”
Cassie barely registered his words. She was having a shocking revelation of her own. “Oh, my goddess!” she exclaimed and sank to her knees. The others crouched down around her, concerned.
“What is it? Erik asked tensely.
She looked at the three faces scrutinizing hers. “Don’t worry. I’m fine. I just realized something amazing.” She settled back into a cross-legged position.
Her companions relaxed their vigilance
