Spirits

"You did well pup, rather than cowering in the corner you faced danger head on. I can see you are strong in body, and able to overcome your fears. You were able to think in a moment of crisis rather than rush forward without a plan. This is the reason my spirit resonated with yours."

"Spirit? Wait do you mean that you are my spirit guardian, or ancestor spirit? And why the hell did you attack me? Aren't you supposed to guide me or show me a path that I should take?" Varen asked starting to get confused and slightly irritated.

Do not you get snappy at me pup, yes and no. I am a spirit of one of your ancestors, but I am also a part of your spirit. We spirits are a part of your soul, we are the gut feelings you have. When you sense something is wrong, but do not know what is wrong; that is us giving you warnings. Spirits are your base instincts that help you in tense and dangerous situations. The more you experience the fainter we become until we dissipate, and you create your own spirit.

Some people have multiple spirits that help a person's soul grow, though it is unusual to have more than two. We guiding spirits are from your ancestors. We could have been your parents, grandparent, or an ancient ancestor that has long been forgotten. It is unknown how spirits are chosen for each person, but we are there since birth to help guide you when you are developing.

"HOLD ON!"

"This is too much information you are giving me right now. This is the first time that I have heard about spirits being a part of a person's soul. Grandfather only said that these spirits are a part of nature and will help guide me. No one ever mentioned that they are the ones that literally shaped me as a person! Do I even have any free will? Were all the choices I made really my choices or were they yours?" Varen dropped to his knees grasping his head in shock.

They were always yours, the only time I would interfere with your life was to warn you or help you in tense situations. When you were fishing with your grandpa and the ship almost capsized, the reason you were able to stay on the ship rather than fall out into the sea was due to me giving you warnings to stay in the cabin before the storm came in. When you were fighting, do you wonder how your body would suddenly move or attack without you thinking? That was me nudging you subconsciously. Everything else was all you. The yellow wolf stated while pawing the ground in a stern manner.

I have not been able to communicate with your other ancestral spirit since you have been born; it has been asleep deep within your soul. This spirit contains a deep hunger and anger. That is troubling, with the strength of the emotions it is emitting there is a chance your soul will become tainted.

When a spirit taints the soul, bad things happen. People that have emotional outburst or multiple personalities are usually caused when one's soul gets tainted. The only way to purify a soul again unless you can confront the spirit head on and defeat it.

But many no longer follow in the old ways and know how to confront the spirit.

Lucky for you, your soul has yet to be tainted and this ceremony has made commuting with us spirits easier.

"If you are here to help me grow then, what was the point of attacking me?" Varen start to sit up straight while brushing the dirt off his bison pelt.

Last time I checked, me dying would not help me grow as a person or become stronger.

"Remember I told you your other spirit is emitting some powerful emotions that could taint your soul. I was checking to see if it would affect you if I put you in a life-or-death situation. Or if the soul would even try to help you at all."

But it just stayed quite almost like it does not care what happens to you.

Well since I got that out of the way, do you have any questions you would like to ask?

"Yeah, a couple; first off can you see everything that I see all the time, or do you just get glimpses?"

I am mean I have no idea how to feel with someone seeing me use the bathroom every day along with private situations. Second how long does it take for me to develop my own spirit?

Do you spirits only have consciousness when you are in a person, or is there a place where all spirits go and are waiting to be put into a descendant?

Do you have the memories from when you were alive? Do you have memories from when you were the spirit for someone else?

Can you only be a spirit for one descendant, or can you do it multiple times?

What happens to the spirits of the people that no longer have a family line?

"Shit stop it with the questions already. Dam, I did not think you would put that much thought into it right at the beginning."

I guess I will answer the best I can:

We spirits do not contain the full memory of when we were alive, just bits and pieces.

We only become guiding spirits once, in-between being alive and becoming a guiding spirit I have no recollection. And no answer to what comes afterward.

When there are no descendants left, while you are waiting to become a guiding spirit, your spirit becomes one with the soul of the world: weather, elements, natural disasters, some even become animals that their spirit are based on.

As for how I see, I cannot see in the same sense as you. I feel the energy of all the spirits around you. I do not know what they are thinking but I can tell if they have good, bad, or indifferent intentions towards you. With the soul of the world, it is more of an agitated state or clam state. That is how spirits know their descendant is in danger.

I will also let you know that the reason the other Comanche people did not like you at first was not because of what you look like or your heritage. After your parents died, your soul was not restricting the sleeping spirit's negative energy. It was so strong that their spirits' must have felt it and they subconsciously decided to avoid you.

The other spirit inside of you only started to calm down once you were in Norway. It is easy to tell that this spirit came from your father's ancestors and that it was able to recognize Norway.

Trying to process this information Varen sits his back against the cave wall and tries to process what he has just learned.

"What should I do with all this information?"

If I tell other people about this, they will think that I am crazy!

"No, you should not tell other people about this. In a couple hours you might not even remember any of this and think that all of this is just a dream" the yellow wolf responded.

"Then why even tell me all of this if I won't remember it! Are you just getting a kick out of making me get nervous?" Varen stares at the yellow wolf directly in its eyes.

"No, the reason that I am telling you all of this is so that you can at least try to remember some of the conversation that we had so that you are better prepared for your future. After most of the adulthood ceremonies the young men will remember vague parts of their conversations that resonates into their soul, helping their soul grow and separate from guiding spirits."

I want to tell you what I remember of my life that way you can get an insight into what you want for yours. It will be a short story for I no longer remember much.

"My name is Yellow Wolf, and I was the nephew to Chief Joseph. When I was but a young man, I became a fierce warrior and hunter. But for the most part I was a loner and rarely got involved in the public view of Native American's. When I was young, I was able to hunt bears and Buffalo by myself. When the Nez Perce War occurred, I was able to defeat the US troops in combat and force them to retreat. When we were surround, I was able to lead some of my people and escape into Canada. By the time I was 50 my warrior days were over, and I had to find a new way to survive. I lived by traveling the land either as a farmer or a rodeo working teaching the ways of my people to the English men. At the end of my life, I was stricken with grief not being able to do anything for my people as our land and heritage were taken from us.

That was the summary of my life. Solitude, fighting, and regret.

Solitude will not bring you peace, only loneliness.

I enjoyed fighting be it hunting or to help save my tribe, I only regret that I was not able to save my tribe from being pushed out and losing our land.

I hope you can learn from my choices to better your own life.

Try to remember those feelings once you finish your ceremony. You must live your life, do not regret the choices you make, instead make the best out of them.