212 SECRETS OF SHAMANISM
situation," she complained angrily, kicking the snow with
her boots. She felt extremely sorry for herself and she
was fed up.
After a few minutes, shuffling along and looking at her
feet, animal tracks in the snow caught her attention.
"Hmmm, what are these?" she wondered. As she began
to decipher the tracks, Lena looked about her at the natu-
ral landscape. Well, this isn't so bad she thought. "Ani-
mals make a home here and they live with the snow
when it comes on rare occasions. They make the best of
it." Her thoughts began to shift. Lena remembered her
own power animal and was reminded of the potential un-
tapped power in this landscape. "Nature always works,"
she said to herself and she began to chuckle at their
seemingly hopeless predicament. The feelings of anger
and frustration faded and were replaced by the familiar
feeling of ease and certainty that she had come to know
through her shamanic practice.
She heard the distant cry of a bird and once again she
thought of her own power animal, the great homed owl,
an ally she could call upon. She closed her eyes, called it
forth, and asked it, "What would you do in our shoes?"
Owl sat on the thick branch of a pinyon pine and
gazed at her. "You are right to sense power in these des-
ert mountains. They are healing for you. What is your
hurry? You wished for healing emotionally and now you
are in a prime location to absorb it from the minerals
here. Let them give you balance. When you have had
enough there will come a way out."
Lena laughed, "You mean this is actually a healing ex-
perience?"
Owl cocked its head sideways and nodded. "It could
be."
Lena thought a moment and said, "OK, I think I get it.
Time to let go and receive."
Meanwhile, back at the car, Jose had exhausted his
attempts to makeshift the chains. After the obligatory
curses and frantic casting about for solutions, he gave up
and went for a walk up the road. His mind was filled with
the warnings he had read and dark thoughts about desert
passes in winter. No maintenance, no services, and no
traffic. And he was feeling bad that he had dragged Lena
into this. It took him some moments to simmer down and
regroup.
Oh, well, he thought, I've been in these situations be-
fore. We'll get out. I might as well enjoy this. Let's see