"The sun was slowly setting on day two of my fast when I saw it. Sitting in my power spot, an old stump of a pine tree blackened by fire and time, I cried out once again for a vision.

Praying aloud, I asked Spirit to send me a sign, something to show me what I was here for. As if in answer to my hearts prayer, a gust of wind passed through the forest around me like a deep breath. The wind animated the trees in front of me, bringing life to their still repose and clarity to my sight.

What I had thought was just a random grouping of trees around me revealed their deeper form: 12 trees arranged like a great councill. Suddenly, I no longer felt alone. These 12 trees had heard my every word, spoken and unspoken. They had watched silently as tears of lament and of love passed my cheeks. They stood equanimously as fear racked my bones and as courage found its footing. These trees had been with me the whole time, both allies and ancestors in my quest. With these twelve trees before me, I realized now that my power spot was not just any stump.

It was the thirteenth pine."