Introduction to a Totem

I have never considered myself a spiritual person. And, despite being a quarter Cherokee, I've never thought of myself as Native American. But this happened anyway, about 20 or so years ago.

I dreamed that I was in a mobile home, a small trailer really - those silver bullets you sometimes still see. There was a woman with me but I didn't know her. Suddenly the trailer was being slammed, hard enough to make it rock, the sides being dented by the impact. I knew, in the way you do in dreams, that the shell was being attacked by a huge grizzly bear, and that she would not take long to tear through the metal.

In the same way, I also knew that the bear was after me, and I could possibly save the stranger from harm by leaving the trailer. So that's what I did - if this sort of thing were to happen in real life I don't know if I'd have the courage for that!

But once I left the trailer, the bear calmed down, and sat with me, and started to speak. I don't remember anything else. I sure wish I did, because this was my vision quest. And that's how I found my totem, Bear. Or rather, that's how she chose me.

It could have been just a nightmare, but I don't usually remember dreams for years.