River Revelations: Worthy as a dead skunk

     After a storm i was walking in the dry river bed with a friend when we came across the skin of a skunk.  Wonder if the river skinned it?   It had rapped itself snuggly around a branch.  It was going to dry real nice.  So i continued to check on it every so often, thinking that eventually i might take it, teeth and claws were still in tacked, really a great find.

     I went out again a few weeks later after another storm, I was looking for the skunk when another woman came along and asked what I was doing.  I told her about the skunk; she new exactly which one I was talking about.  We decided this last storm must have taken it.  She started talking about how she wished there wasn’t so much garbage in the river.  I couldn’t help myself, I blurted out like a playful puppy, “oh I love all the garbage, I bring home treasures almost every time!”  And I pulled out of my pocket the one I had just found.  About an inch long piece of meddle with the words “worthy” on one side and “in” on the other.  She said, “indeed!”  Before we parted she thanked me for changing her way of experiencing the garbage and our river.

     Now if I could only cultivate that kind of compassion for my own internal garbage, see it as beautiful.  I think that’s what the river was trying to tell me that day, “it’s all worthy, inside is worthy, not just what you see on the outside.” 

Check this out, found the definition of skunk medicine

LINK      "SKUNK - brings us an awareness of self-respect. When we fully accept who we are and learn to express the essence of ourselves, without ego, we attract those who share our path and repel those who don't. Skunk medicine is the original "Walk your talk."  It is about developing a good self-image.  In brings increased sensuality spiritually, sexually, psychically."

oh and by the way, the Native word "Shikako" or "skunk place" is recognized as the origin of the name "Chicago" my birthplace.  Wild onions grew all over that area.  Wonder if that shikako smell will just never wash off?

sorry only had my cell phone camera for this photo of the skunk