CHAPTER 5

Shaping Time:

Learning to Be Present

Sally Gordon wasted no time preparing for her physiol-
ogy exam. Medical school was hard enough without fall-
ing behind. Then disaster struck. A fire in the apartment
upstairs caused water damage all through her own apart-
ment. She would have to move everything out immedi-
ately for the repair crew to clean up the mess. By the time
she moved, stored all her belongings, and found a place
to stay, the physiology exam would be one day away.
Only a miracle could bail her out.
Her roommate Cathy had an idea. "Let's try some
time-stretching and see if we can borrow some more time
for you to study."
Sally looked at her incredulously. "That's impossible!"
"Let's just try it," Cathy said seriously. "My uncle is a
shaman in British Columbia. I used to spend summers
with him and he taught me some valuable lessons about
time. You'd be surprised what you can do."
"First, let me check with a friend of mine." Cathy
closed her eyes and was silent for a time. "Great, my
friend Wblf will help you. He says to use the drum my
uncle gave me." Cathy instructed Sally to lie down and
then helped her relax by tuning in to the pull of gravity.
Then she told her to visualize a cave entrance or opening
in the earth. "Wait there and if the wolf shows up, do
exactly as he says," Cathy instructed as she began to
drum.
Some time later, Sally opened her eyes and looked
around her. "I felt like I was gone for hours," she mur-
mured. "But something did happen. Your wolf did show
up and he took me down this long narrow tunnel. Then
we shot out of a geyser hole into this land filled with activ-
ity. Then the wolf flew up to the sun and froze it in the sky.
Everything stopped except for the wolf and me. The wolf
handed me a stick and said, 'Now you have your time.'

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