Sedna
: Beautiful Young Maiden/Old Woman of the Sea
In the spring of 1987, I was awoken in the middle of the night with a deep and sultry woman’s voice speaking to me.
“Shave the hair from your face and make an offering of it to me, to me, to me.”
I awoke and gave consideration to this request from this unknown spirit. As I did not know this spirit, I passed it off and went back to sleep. But the following day, the request stayed with me, and into the night. The following morning, I got up, shaved all the hair from my face, and made a bundle of it, and with a friend, drove down to Laguna Beach (I’d been working ceremony in Southern California). I walked out into the ocean, holding the bundle of hair in my hands, and dove into the ocean, and there, released the hair, speaking from my heart.
“Grandmother, you are the greatest woman spirit I know. I have been asked by another woman spirit to give my hair to her. You know her, and if it is right, pass my hair to her. Otherwise, I place it into your safekeeping.”
Immediately, Grandmother Ocean responded. “Grandson, it was I. It was I. It was I.”
I came up out of the water, astounded by the realization that Grandmother Ocean, Q’uela herself, had requested of me my hair. Neither understanding nor knowing why, I went back up and lay on the beach to give it consideration, to meditate, to lie in the sun. As I lay there, deep in a state of entrancement, after a bit, I heard the footsteps of people running past my head, the click-clack of aluminum chairs being folded. I lay in that deep and peaceful state, unbothered by the goings-on around me. Then, 𝐾𝑎-𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑠ℎ! a small tidal wave washed over me and drug my body out to sea. When my body, stopped by the floor of the ocean, could be pulled no further, my very spirit was dragged out from the bottoms of my feet, and into the depths of the ocean. There Grandmother Ocean immersed me within a mythic epic and revealed to me the Tale of Sedna.
𝑺𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒂: 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏/𝑶𝒍𝒅 𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒂
Sedna, Beautiful Young Maiden, lived with her father along the coastal waters of the far northern reaches of the sea. So very beautiful was Sedna that she was haughty and arrogant. Each suitor who came her way, she would turn away saying, “Oh, I could do better than he. Oh, and I could do so much better than that one.” After a time of this her father grew concerned that she would receive no man as her husband, and so insisted that she marry the next eligible bachelor who presented himself.
Sedna, obeying her father, waited. And the very next day, from out of the mists upon the ocean, came a kayak. As the kayak beached, from it stepped a handsome young man, dressed richly in luxuriant furs, his face well oiled. He approached the lodge of Sedna and her father, and spoke with Sedna there, saying that if she would consent to marry him, he would take her with him across the ocean to his land, there to dwell in a large stone castle, where they would feast upon the riches and abundance of the land and would lay in beds of luxuriant furs.
Sedna thought to herself, “Well, I could do worse than he.”
And so, in concordance with her father’s desires, she agreed and went with this handsome young man. Into his kayak, they went, and paddled across the waters, into the mist, and throughout the day. When dusk had fallen, there before them, as the mists parted, was indeed a very large castle of rock. They climbed up the stone steps into the castle keep. There was laid a feast of unimaginable fruits of the land. When their meal was done, into a side chamber they went, and there was a deep pile of furs. They lay together and consummated their marriage. Following that, Sedna fell into a deep, deep, deep sleep.
When she awoke, it was with a bitter chill of those northern icy waters blowing across her. She looked, and wrapped about her was an oily fish skin, no longer the rich and luxuriant furs. She found herself sitting not within a grand castle, but atop a craggy rocky isle. Her belly called out with hunger. In that moment a raven flew over and dropped a bit of rancid blubber. This she ate. It was then that she realized that she had married Raven, the Trickster.
With that, she began to bemoan her fate. “Oh poor me, pitiful me. Oh, what has become of me that I should end up in such a state, in such a place? Oh poor me.”
After some time had passed, her father, not having heard from his daughter, thought that perhaps he’d been too rash in his insistence, and so set forth across the waters in search of his daughter. Through the mists, he paddled, guided by the sound of his daughter’s voice calling, “Oh, woe is me. Oh, poor, poor pitiful me.”
At last, the father came to the craggy isle and called to his daughter. “My daughter! My daughter! I’ve come to rescue you to bring you home. Come! Come with me!”
Beautiful Young Maiden called out, “Oh my father! This I cannot do. For I have consummated my marriage with Raven, my husband, the Trickster. I cannot come with you.”
Sedna’s father climbed up the cliffside and wrapped his daughter in a cloak and carried her away down to his kayak, and set forth across the water back to their homeland. In the midst of that long journey across those far northern reaches of the ocean, they came upon Raven flying overhead. “Oh, Raven, look! I’ve brought you your daughter,” calls out the father.
“Oh, my husband, my husband! Rescue me! For I’ve been kidnapped by my own father!” calls out Sedna.
And Raven sees the lies that each of them speaks. The father was not bringing his daughter to him but was seeking to deny that he had kidnapped his daughter from her marriage and that his own wife had allowed herself to be stolen away so as to not accept responsibility for her fate. Raven, in response, flew about them in a circle and began to dip his wingtips into the water, causing a whirlpool to form. This drew the kayak into the whirlpool. It began to swirl, being pulled down, down, and ever deeper down.
The father, in an effort to save himself, cast his own daughter into those bitter cold icy northern waters. She clung to the side of the kayak. Her father took his paddle and beat upon her fingers. Frozen by those icy waters, the first set of knuckles fell off. These became the many fishes of the sea. Still, she clung to the side of the kayak, and still, her father continued to beat upon her hands with his paddle. The second set of knuckles fell into the sea, and these become the great animals of the sea; the walruses and seals and the like. Still, she clung, barely, with her last set of knuckles, and still, Sedna’s father beat upon her hands until even these knuckles broke off, falling into the ocean and becoming the great ones of the sea: whales, dolphins, and the like. With that, Beautiful Young Maiden slipped into those icy waters, caught up by the whirlpool, and was pulled to the bottom of the sea.
As she was being pulled to the bottom of the sea, her husband, Raven, calls out, “My wife, I have promised you a castle, and a castle you shall have, there at the bottom of the sea, until such time as you have atoned for your transgressions. When those atonements are complete, you will be called home to the castle of red rocks that bears your name, Sedna.”
So Sedna resides there as Beautiful Young Maiden, Old Woman of the Sea. Her atonement is to maintain the regularity of the seasons and the weather patterns, the health and the welfare of the people, and the provenance of abundance. When these things are disturbed, when the seasons are misplaced and the weather patterns disrupted, when strange diseases rampage amongst the peoples, when the children starve amidst plenty, then do the people call upon their shaman to go and meet with Beautiful Young Maiden, Old Woman of the Sea, Sedna, and ask her to return her attention to her responsibilities.
They present the Shaman with a fur wrap and a bowl of vodka. A death lodge is built and into that small hut, the shaman goes, with the fur wrap bundle and the bowl of vodka He lies down within and sings his death song. With his demise, his spirit flies forth and dives into the watery depths of the ocean. Coming to the floor of the ocean, before him lies a deep and dark passageway. In that passageway reside the seven monsters of the deep. The shaman enters that passageway. With his awareness, he must discern the nature of each monster, its location, and its means of attack. With his awareness in a heightened state, he discerns the nature of each and makes his way around them or defeats them in battle.
When this is done, he exits from the passageway, and there before him is a broad stone bridge spanning a chasm. The shaman steps with his left foot upon that broad stone bridge, and it becomes thinner than a hair and sharper than a knife. Down below he sees the shattered and broken bones of those others who have come this way before, but who, through self-aggrandizement, greed, and lust, have lost their balance in life, and so have fallen, their souls escaped from their broken bones, their souls lost and wandering in the in-between zone. The shaman makes his way in balance across to the castle keep that lies on the far side. He mounts the steps and there is met by a fearsome guardian, blue in color, a single horn protruding from his forehead, and with a single eye.
The guardian calls out, “Who passes here? You who smell of the living but walk in the land of the dead!”
The shaman recounts his lineage. The guardian responds, “Shaman! What is it that you seek here?”
And the shaman says, “Oh guardian, I have come to meet with Beautiful Young Maiden, Old Woman of the Sea.”
“Ha! Ha! Ha!” laughs the guardian. “And I am here to ensure that this you do not do. Shaman! Prepare for battle!”
With that, the shaman takes the bundled fur robe, wraps it about his shoulders, and sits in meditative repose. Baffled, the guardian calls out, “Shaman! What is that that you put upon yourself?”
The shaman responds, “Oh, Guardian, I wrap myself in this to keep myself warm from the outside, for it is so bitter chilly here in your realm. Would you like it?” And with that, he offers the bundle of the robe up to the guardian.
The guardian takes it, thinking to himself, ‘Ah-ha, now the shaman will surely die in these bitter cold waters,’ wraps himself in the cape and finds, indeed, that it is warm, for he of this deep realm knows nothing of furs.
Meanwhile, the shaman lifts the bowl of vodka to his lips and takes a small sip while appearing to take a large gulp.
The guardian, seeing him do this, calls out, “Shaman! What is that you drink?”
The shaman responds, “I drink this to keep me warm from the inside since you have that which keeps me warm from the outside. Would you like some?” offering the bowl of vodka up to the guardian.
The guardian thinking to himself, ‘Ah-ha, now, surely the shaman will die of the cold,’ takes the bowl and begins drinking, as he has perceived the shaman to drink, in large gulps. With that, the guardian passes out in a drunken stupor.
The shaman steps up, moves past the guardian, and into the inner keep of the castle. There at the far end of the hall sits Beautiful Young Maiden, Old Woman of the Sea, Sedna herself. As he approaches he sees that her hair is matted and tangled by the currents of the water, as she has no fingers with which to brush through her hairs, so it has become matted and tangled over time.
“Shaman,” she says. “What is it that you desire of me?”
The shaman responds, “Beautiful Young Maiden, Old Woman of the Sea, the children are hungry. Strange diseases rampage through our people. The weather is disturbed, and the seasons no longer follow their appointed course. Sedna, our people, they suffer. I have come to ask you to turn your attention once again to your responsibilities.”
Sedna glowers at him. “Suffer? Suffer? Your people know not the meaning of suffering. Look upon me! Every louse bite and every pustule a transgression of your people I bear upon their behalf. And I, with no fingers to pick myself clean, I bear the sufferings of your people. Your people know not the meaning of suffering!” she cries out.
The shaman sees that she indeed speaks the truth. After a moment’s contemplation, he offers her, “Oh Beautiful Young Maiden, Old Woman of the Sea, let me brush your hair for you, and untangle your tresses, so that your hair may fall beautiful once again. Let me pick the lice from your hairs, and let me cleanse your scalp so that you will be released from these sufferings. Speak to me the transgression of each of my peoples and the atonement required, and I vow that my people will acknowledge their transgressions, fulfill their atonements or be forevermore away from the people.”
Beautiful Young Maiden, Old Woman of the Sea, Sedna, agrees to this, and furthermore says, “When all is done, I will show myself in magical sign to you from the sky. Await my sign when all is well.”
With that agreement in hand, the shaman turns and leaves the castle, picks up his remaining vodka and the fur robe from the still-passed-out guardian, and makes his way back down the steps. As he retraces his steps he flies up out of the ocean and returns back into his body within the death lodge.
Taking a fresh breath, spitting out the saltwater from his lungs, he sits up. His assistant comes, and they confer. He tells the assistant what has transpired. Together they step forth, meet and greet the gathering of the peoples who stand ‘round, awaiting the message from Sedna, Beautiful Young Maiden, Old Woman of the Sea. The shaman recounts his journey of what has transpired, then beckons to the people: “Come forth. Come forth, you who bear transgressions, acknowledge these transgressions and receive the atonement from Sedna herself that she may be free to turn her attention back upon her responsibilities. Step forth! Step forth!”
One by one the peoples of the village step forth, acknowledge their transgressions, receive their atonements, and make vows of atonement. After the first wave of the people has dwindled and no more step forth, the shaman calls out, “Still there are others amongst you who carry transgressions. Hold not your transgressions of greater importance than the needs of the people. Step forth! Recount your transgressions, receive your atonements that all may be made well.”
A second wave of people comes forth and it is done. The shaman calls out a third time, “I beseech you, come forth! Those of you who still hold transgressions hold not the shame of your transgressions greater than the needs of the children, of the people. Step forth!”
And so a few remaining individuals step forth, recount their transgressions, receive their atonements, their vows are made. When no one else steps forth – if there are others amongst the gathering of the people whom Sedna has revealed to the shaman still carry transgressions – to those individuals he goes forth, touches their chest, and says, “You, such and such, and this and this you have done. And you, this you have done, and you, this transgression you have committed. But you, who hold your shame to be of greater importance than the needs of the children and the people, of the very seasons themselves, go with your shame and leave the people, that we may live in wholeness once again.”
So those individuals are driven forth from the people to live in their own shame and their own guilt. When all has been done in accordance with the directions from Sedna, she shows herself in a magical manner from the sky.
With this, Q’uela, Grandmother Ocean, spoke with me once again. “Grandson,” Q’uela said, “I set you forth upon this quest. Go and find the castle of red rocks that bears the name of Sedna. There conduct the ceremonial that you have been shown in preparation for the calling home of Sedna to her castle of red rocks. Grandson, so that you will know the truth of that which you have experienced, I will send to you a finger bone of Sedna herself.”
The Song of Sedna
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Q’uela ho
Sedna Wheeet! Q’uela HO!
To listen to this story in audio format, please visit: A Shaman’s Tales: Sedna
