God of Nature - Pan Appears During Vision Quest

I walk the beauty way, hey hey, the beauty way,hey hey, the beauty way,Sacred Dawn comes and sings to me, hey hey, the beauty way, hey hey, the beauty way, Sings me songs that set me free, hey hey, the beauty way, hey hey, the beauty way.

The words to this song, and the simplicity of the tune, touch me and move me deeply. They take me back to another time and place, where the world was simpler and newer, and still had the wonder of innocence.

In those forgotten times, it seems, we had a closer connection to nature, and our roots were deeper in the earth, connected to the sacredness of the silence of the valleys and the hills. I believe we had knowledge, at one time, of the spirits that dwell within the realms between the worlds—to where they disappeared—allowing the in-between to absorb them when they felt we had lost our connection.

Some of those tales from long ago surface at times, in the lore of the folk that live closest to their roots. The stories passed down through the ages have faded as much as the spirits of the past. But, they were alive at one time. Perhaps they will be again, when there are those willing to listen.

One story I can share with you actually happened about 12 to 15 years ago, while I was somewhere out on 82 acres of land in the hills of southern Ohio. There were a few of us that were finding our sites to camp, out on what we knew as a vision seeking time. This was a time where we went into a sacred rock lodge, also known as a sweat lodge to some. After the lodge, we went off to our designated sites that we'd set up beforehand. We had nothing but a little water, no food, and hardly anything to wear—just the clothes on our back.

Then, you sit with nature for five days and four nights, alone, doing what all of nature does. You exist. No phone, no book, nothing to distract you from the messages that nature bestows by showing up. A fly, a fairy bug, a bee, a deer, a wolf. Not funny. I've actually had a black wolf walk right up to my tent, and stare me right in the eye. I was so in-between the worlds, I wasn't sure if it was physical, or in-between the worlds with me. That's what a vision seeking is all about.

One day, I was sitting naked on the earth in the sunshine, enjoying the warmth of the day, when I heard the most beautiful flute playing. I couldn't tell where it was coming from. It was like it was all around me—stereo surround-sound. The air permeated flute. I'd never heard anything like it. The player was a master, and knew how to direct and play the notes so well that my thoughts were, "Whoever is playing belongs in Carnegie Hall."

Then, I realized something else. The notes were pure seduction. Sitting on the earth as I was, I responded to the notes of that flute with passion. Killer seduction. Orgasmic even. The notes of the flute expertly carried me off on a wave of passion, and I let myself become lost in the music.

Later, after we had come off the land and were all sitting around discussing our experiences, Grandmother asked if anyone had heard the flute of Pan. More than a few of us had heard it. It seemed so ethereal and entrancing, though it had never occurred to me that it was the god of nature that had been playing the music—so programmed are we that we would never surmise a presence out of a myth would appear to us, and gift us with his music.

Interestingly, the Spirit of Pan touched us, and more than hearing the music, the seduction that followed him and his legacy throughout history in the ancient stories about him proved true. He really knew how to play that flute! Smile.