THERE ARE TREES on the coast stripped of bark, stark silver white, and without the bark one can see how the very wood is twisted so the dead tree seems to be like a corkscrew rooted in the earth. There are people who think that only people have emotions like pride, fear, and joy, but those who know will tell you all things are alive, perhaps not in the same way we are alive, but each in its own way, as should be, for we are not all the same. And though different from us in shape and life span, different in Time and Knowing, yet are trees alive. And rocks. And water. And all know emotion.
There are rocks on the coast, which, like the trees, seem corkscrewed, seem to twist upon themselves, as if in agony. Whirlpools and riptides are the same, only different. All because they have seen Sisiutl and tried to flee.
Sisiutl, the fearsome monster of the sea. Sisiutl who sees from front and back. Sisiutl the soul searcher. Sisiutl whose familiars are often known as Stlalacum, the vision people, those who ride on the wind and bring dreams, the Stlalacum who search out the chosen and those who would see beyond the externals.
Sisiutl moves freely in water whether salt or fresh, even in heavy rain, for he is able to transform himself. He seeks those who cannot open through their fear, who do not have a Truth.
Fearful he is and terrifying. His eyes send cold fire into your belly and his forked serpent tongue flashes horror at your soul. No words could explain Sisiutl, who looks like a snake, but has no tail, rather a head at both ends, each head more fearsome than the other, and from him emanates cold and horror.
When you see Sisiutl you must stand and face him. Face the horror. Face the fear. If you break faith with what you Know, if you try to flee, Sisiutl will blow with both mouthsat once and you will begin to spin. Not rooted in the earth as are the trees and rocks, not eternal as are the tides and currents, your corkscrew spinning will cause you to leave the earth, to wander forever, a lost soul, and your voice will be heard in the screaming winds of first autumn, sobbing, pleading, begging for release. Lost, no part of the Stlalacum who know Truth, no part of anything, alone, and lonely, and lost forever.
The bark flew from the frightened trees leaving only the twisted wood exposed. Only the roots, deep in the earth, kept the trees from falling upward into the void.
When you see Sisiutl the terrifying, though you be frightened; stand firm. There is no shame in being frightened, only a fool would not be afraid of Sisiutl the horror. Stand firm, and if you know protective words, say them. First one head, then the other, will rise from the water. Closer. Closer. Coming for your face, the ugly heads, closer, and the stench from the devouring mouths, and the cold, and the terror. Stand firm. Before the twin mouths of Sisiutl can fasten on your face and steal your soul, each head must turn towards you. When this happens, Sisiutl will see his own face.
Who sees the other half of Self, sees Truth.
Sisiutl spends eternity in search of Truth. In search of those who know Truth. When he sees his own face, his own other face, when he looks into his own eyes, he has found Truth.
He will bless you with magic, he will go, and your Truth will be yours forever. Though at times it may be tested, even weakened, the magic of Sisiutl, his blessing, is that your Truth will endure.
And the sweet Stlalacum will visit you often, reminding you your Truth will be found behind your own eyes.
And you will not be Alone again.
FROM: DAUGHTERS OF COPPER WOMAN
BY: ANNE CAMERON