12/03/2021
Nov. 20 marked the culmination of a journey that began in 2013. That year, I attended a Native American Heritage Day at CFCC and met Mike-El, who makes and plays his own flutes. I got the idea to get a flute made from a bit of wood from the oak tree in my grandparents' front yard. I have always loved that tree. After getting the wood, it had to cure, so I kept it until June of this year when I reached back out to Mike.
The old oak presented some challenges, including a run in the wood. Mike took the wood to a pow wow at Cherokee for healing, and another one in Jacksonville. He said that he was still having trouble seeing a flute in the wood. Unbeknownst to me, he'd told himself I'd have to see it. Shortly after that, which was in September when I was in Iceland, I started having flute dreams. After I got back home, I checked back in with Mike, and incidentally mentioned the dreams. He said that was confirmation that there must be some way to get a flute out of the wood.
I picked it up on the weekend of Nov. 20. Mike told me about the process and challenges he'd run into along the way. He explained that since it had been with them in the circle at the pow wows, it was a sacred flute, and I needed to open it in sacred space, looking at the oak tree. So, on the morning of the 20th, I had a simple flute opening ceremony with a small group of friends. There is more that could be told, but I'll leave it there. It was beautiful, and I am grateful for the chain of coincidences that made this all possible, to my friends for sharing sacred space with me, and most of all to the oak for lending me some of its branches and to Mike for his expert craftsmanship and not giving up on "Old Man Oak".
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