Shadow Friend Raven

Headlands Bluffs, Marin County California

October 11, 2008

by Dawn NicDarrah

Camera action has been minimal over the past week . . . between the rain and this lingering cold I have been satisfied staying warm indoors as much as possible. It has given me opportunity to do some more shadow work. Not sure how much of it I wish to share here, but figured it wouldn't hurt posting my Shadow Friend for inspiration.

There is a photo I wish I had . . . of a stone fireplace in a cabin I once visited some twenty odd years ago. Why it is still with me I am trying to understand as I had only been to the place once, but clearly this fireplace made an impression. The other question is 'why is it coming up now?' Considering who brought me there might be part of the key . . . but there is also the fact that this was the first fireplace I had encountered that was not your average brick cookie-cutter fireplace. It was hand crafted by this fellow and his family . . . from stones found on the property . . . and part of the design feature were randomly placed flat stones that served to display these antique medicine bottles that were also found on the property. It was unique . . . and it was made with considerable care and attention to detail as well as recycling natural resources (the stones AND bottles apparently came from the hole of an antique 'outhouse' - bless nature for running her course and tidying up) There is the obvious symbolism of the fireplace, hearth, being the heart of the home . . . this fireplace certainly had a lot of heart. It was the focal point.

I wrote to the one person who would recall this place - thought I would check my facts to see if they were accurate and apparently they were, however I also received the news that the fellow who helped build the fireplace, the one I was associating it with who was a friend of the one person who I could ask about it, I was told he had been killed in an accident, but that his wife and children had survived . . . most likely due to his skill and desire to protect his family . . . he sacrificed himself. This news (18 years have passed now, but it is new to me) is sitting very heavy with me . . . for the loss of one who was so young at the time, for his young family and for our mutual friend who I approached with the questions about the fireplace and it's location.

What started out as a simple dream in which I just seemed to be studying the details of this fireplace, has now become somehow more entangled and riddled with meanings I could not possibly have unearthed had I not asked outside of myself about it. I need to sit with it longer . . . really understand how it relates to the now . . . if the now is what the dream is referring to . . . or if it is the retrieval of yet another shadow being brought to light. I feel it is more of the latter at this point, but will stay observant to see where this line of processing takes me.