Episode 7: How the Skunk learned to use his voice.

This episode relays how the skunk learned to speak up for himself.

Transcript

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Welcome to Spirit Stories, a spirit-driven podcast where the poems, songs, teachings, and stories of spirits are shared with the world. Thank you for joining me today and opening your hearts to what spirits have to say. This story is about how a skunk learned to use his voice.

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Originally, skunks were one color. They were a solid black, dark as shadow and night. And skunks of that time, as well as the skunks of this time, they loved to dance. Graceful beings, elegant and acrobatic. In fact, they're a real treasure to watch if you ever have the opportunity. And skunks being all that dark color, they would dance in the shadows, and they enjoyed to dance. They enjoy the acrobatics. Sunks are a friendly sort. Yes, they are jovial, and not only do they make friends easily, they keep them as well. This particular skunk lived in the forest and had friends in both the forest and the prairie that was along the edge of the trees. This particular skunk really enjoyed playing with his friends and coming up with games together. One day, they decided together as a group to play hide and seek. That's a game where one person is chosen as the seeker, and that seeker goes about searching for all the other people who have hidden in various places in the forest. In this first game of hide and seek, the skunk was chosen as a hider while the fox was the seeker. And the fox used his nose as a clever one would do, and he found each and every single person one at a time. This story isn't about everyone else. This is about what happened when the fox found the skunk. The fox found the skunk under a bush, and the skunk wasn't entirely paying attention and had not realized where the fox was. So the fox thought to himself, this is a great opportunity to creep slowly, slowly, quietly, stealthily upon the unsuspecting skunk. And then the skunk startled. And as he startled, he jumped into the air, flipping acrobatically and landing on his front paws with his hind paws and tail in the air. It was a very elegant display. And amusing also. And the fox, seeing what he had done, let out the loudest belly laugh. It took a few moments for the skunk to shake his fear off, and whew, my goodness, it was quite a fright before he would place his paws back on the earth. He chuckled a little bit at himself, feeling a tiny bit silly for being frightened so and on the game went and the fox found the other beings, and the day progressed, and everyone had a lovely day and a great time. Unbeknownst to the skunk, the fox started to tell everyone about how the skunk was frightened so and the beautiful dance and the funny acrobatics that the skunk had done. Now skunks are quite good natured naturally. And so he took this in stride and chuckled with the group. The next day, when everyone got together to play another game, the suggested game was hide and seek again. So the skunk, being an excellent hider, decided to go and find another bush behind a certain tree to hide by. This time the badger was seeking. And when the badger spotted movement in the shadows and realized that it was the skunk who had dozed slightly. He had decided that he was going to sneak up on the skunk and startle him awake. And the skunk leapt up into the air, flipping and contorting in a great display of acrobatics before landing upon his front paws with his hind paws and tail in the air. Oh, his heart was racing. Oh, he had gotten quite a fright. And the badger watched the display with amusement and laughed loudly as the skunk took a moment to recuperate. Later that day, the badger told everyone about the skunk and his dance and acrobatics and how amazing the skunk was and how funny it was. Now the skunk had been frightened the day before, and though it was funny the day before, it was starting to get less funny now. Being frightened is not always a pleasant feeling, after all. But the skunk was uncomfortable vocalizing his fears to his friends at this time. So as the days continued, the friends all decided to play hide and seek more frequently. And as the tales of the frightened skunk grew in proportion, each seeker decided that they would try different ways of frightening the skunk. It got to a point where the skunk decided that maybe he should be a seeker, and that way he wouldn't be frightened as much. So one day he volunteered to be the seeker instead of the hider. And he continued to look and look and look, and as he looked, he would spot something, a movement maybe behind a bush or a tree, and he would approach, stealthy and quiet, prepared to give them a fright all of their own. But just as he was about to leap out and startle the person on the other side of the bush, that person would leap themselves and shout quite loud, and thereby frighten the skunk, who would jump high into the air, flipping and making beautiful acrobatics before landing on his front paws with his hindpaws and tail in the air once more. Realizing that this did not work, and it did not matter if he was the hider or the seeker, the skunk came to the conclusion that he would be frightened no matter what, whenever he played, hide and seek. This realization and the subsequent feelings that it brought with it did not sit comfortably with the skunk. He grew sad. He did not like being startled so much. His concern of being frightened had begun to grow. It became all encompassing, and he was so vigilant all the time, seeking and hoping that no one would startle him. But it was not to be. And he would not tell his friends that he did not like playing hide and seek any longer, that it wasn't fun for him. No, he was concerned that saying so would make them stop playing with him and maybe not be his friends anymore. So the skunk, at the end of every day, would leave the forest and wander in the prairie by himself. At night, he would talk out loud to the moon, knowing that she would listen and not judge him. Yes, the moon was definitely his friend. She listened patiently, wise. And the moon, the great grandmother that she is, has cycles of her own, cycles where she is strongest and full, and when she reduces in size, but is not diminished. Rather just changes form. During that time when she is at her smallest, she can take the form of a woman that glows in white and silver. And she can walk the earth. And during the new moon phase of her cycle, she did exactly that. Come to the prairies in human form in a beautiful silver dress with silver hair. And she approached the skunk, who recognized her immediately. He was delighted to see her. She had been his friend for so long, and now she was visiting him. It was perfection. She sat upon the swaying grasses and invited the skunk to be in her lap. He did not need to be told twice. Immediately he climbed over her leg and joined her in her lap. He talked to her as she stroked his back and tail gently. He told her of the hide and seek game, of his fears of being frightened, and his fears of losing his friends. For he was concerned that if he vocalized his distaste for hide and seek, his friends would no longer play with him, and perhaps they may not be his friends any longer. When he paused in his tale, the moon asked one simple question Do you love yourself? she asked him. The skunk immediately replied Oh yes, Grandmother Moon. I love myself dearly. She just hummed gently. You can tell your friends that you do not like the hide and seek game. He shook his head vigorously. No, he could not do that. It was best if he would remain quiet and not say anything at all. Grandmother Moon in all of her wisdom chose that moment to remain quiet and still. She continued to spend time with the skunk and offer comfort. And when it was time for the sun to rise again, she departed, telling him that she would return upon the next cycle. The days and the nights passed, and the skunk continued to play with his friends the hide and seek game. He continued to be startled, and each time he performed the most amazing acrobatics, landing always on his front paws with his hind feet and tail in the air. And each night he would go out to the prairie and lament about playing hide and seek, and lament about losing his friends if he said anything. And Grandmother Moon hung high in the sky, listening, waiting. When the new moon cycle approached again, she returned to the earth, walking upon the grass as it squished between her toes. She sat down on the gentle swaying prairie, and the skunk came to visit her. She invited him into her lap and he crawled obligingly, happy to see his friend once more. How much do you love yourself today? she asked. And the skunk replied Fiercely, I love myself fiercely, and he threw his paws around himself, giving himself a great hug. And the wise Grandmother Moon looked at the young being before her and asked him, knowing the answer already. Will you tell your friends how you feel now? The skunk curled up upon himself, trembling and afraid. And Grandmother Moon took great pity upon him and coaxed him gently, soothing him with her strokes of her hand. She whispered kindly I cannot change who they are. That is not within my power. The skunk cried in her lap that night. Great tears for a great sadness. The days and the nights continued. The hide and seek game was played repeatedly and the skunk grew more and more miserable each day. And he complained in the prairies each night. And he asked the great moon as she hung in the sky if there was anything she could do. She was powerful enough to come to the earth. Surely there was something she could do. And when the next new moon came and she walked the prairie once more, she asked him again how much do you love yourself? The skunk replied, I love myself fiercely. But could you make me brave? In the true wisdom of Grandmother Moon she remained quiet for a time before answering. She wanted the skunk to really think about the very question he had just asked her. After a great pause she said I can make it so that you can communicate to your friends how much you do not like being scared. This sounded wonderful to the skunk. He agreed immediately. And in her wisdom she knew that he did not fully understand what she meant. So she looked upon her friend and she said You must be sure When it is done this cannot be undone. And the skunk agreed. Oh yes, yes, make him brave make him make him more. He would love that. And the moon looked upon the skunk and told him that she will do nothing that night, that she will wait an entire cycle, and if he still felt the same way, she would give him a gift that would allow him to communicate to his friends what it felt like to be scared and how much he did not like it. The skunk did not like hearing this news. He wanted a solution right away. But he understood that Grandmother Moon was quite wise, and he chose to go by her request and wait until the next cycle. The next day and all the days afterwards, he and his friends played hide and seek. It did not matter if he was a hider or a seeker. It did not matter if he was awake and alert or dozing. Every time he was frightened. Every time he had an amazing display of acrobatics. Every time he landed on his front paws with his hind feet in the air and his tail in the air. He grew afraid and unhappy, always never able to calm down. Some of his fur started to fall out. Yes, he was truly miserable. So on the night of the new moon, when his loving friend Grandmother Moon would be present, he went out into the prairie and prepared himself for being a new skunk, one that was brave. Yes. That is what he needed. He needed her gift in order to be brave. He wouldn't be frightened with her gift. As the tall prairie grasses tickled beneath his chin when he walked, he spotted a beautiful woman, his friend, Grandmother Moon, sitting by herself in the grass. She was singing a lovely song, a lullaby, it might have been, or he never had heard it before, and it was soothing. Yes. She turned and saw him approach, inviting him into her lap. He came in without a doubt, curling up. Do you love yourself? she asked. Yes, Grandmother Moon, I do. Do you want this change? she asked. Yes, Grandmother Moon. I want to be brave. I want the gift that you have. She took a moment to remind him that once she has given this gift, it can never be undone. He nodded his understanding and vocalized again that he wanted this gift. So Grandmother Moon gathered her power and gently kissed his forehead. There was a brilliance behind his eyes, shocking and bright. And then she stroked the back of his head all the way to the very tip of his tail one time. Afterwards she would not stroke him again, but rather she sang a beautiful song that lulled him to a nice doze. After he had dozed for a while in her lap, she gently shook him awake, letting him know that it was almost sunrise and time for her to depart. But grandmother, what gift have you given me? She smiled, a full smile of love and compassion, and told him to go to the lake and look at himself. So he did. He went to the lake to look at his reflection, and there was a white mark on his forehead right where she had kissed him. And then he glanced and oh my his back and his tail had white stripes going down it. A mark of the power that she had clearly bestowed upon him. Why, he was now marked by the moon. What a wonderful thing. He danced and flipped into the air. So happy was he. Oh dancing for joy. He will be brave now. They won't be able to startle him. Oh this will be glorious. And as the sun rose, he sang in thanks to Grandmother Moon as he wandered back into the forest, ready to begin the new day. The skunk greeted his friends in the forest, and they immediately saw that something was different. Not only was he wearing these beautiful white markings upon his forehead and stripes upon his back, but he also had a confident air about him. It was wonderful to see. Everyone oooed in awe, and they asked him where did these stripes come from? The moon, he would say, Grandmother Moon had blessed him. Everyone was excited. And they thought he looked magnificent, and they told him so. And then the conversation turned to playing a game. And they wanted to play hide and seek again. And the skunk, now with his newfound confidence, enthusiastically said, Yes, let's play hide and seek. He even volunteered to be a seeker. So everyone scattered about the forest and hid themselves. And he went about seeking each and every single person, one at a time. And the first person he spied behind a bush, he thought this was an opportunity. And he came out, and then that person roared up from behind the bush, startling him, and he leapt up into the air, flipping into different acrobatics. He just, without thought, unconsciously, landing upon his front paws with his hind paws and table in the air. And there is a sound. And immediately following that sound, there was a horrific smell. Ooh. My goodness. Where did this come from? Ooh. And the person who had startled him, Coyote this time, started coughing. And his eyes were watering. And he started to whine. Slowly the skunk brought his hindpaws back to the ground. As the coyote ran away, crying, screaming that he needed to get away from the smell. And he went to go jump into the lake to cleanse himself. Huh. That was strange. Well never mind. And the skunk continued on to find the next hider.

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He did.

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He found the fox, the very one who had first come up with the idea of scaring him. And this fox was quite a clever being. And he has ferocious teeth. And he startled the skunk, who leapt into the air and started a beautiful display of acrobatics. When he landed upon his front paws, hind paws in the air, tail in the air, a soft sound escaped. Followed by a wave of unimaginable stench. And the fox started to cough. And his eyes started to water, and he whimpered and continually scratched at his nose over and over, whining about the smell. And he ran away, far away from the skunk, screaming the entire time. And the skunk's hindpaws gently came to the ground. And he realized that the smell was coming from him. And once he realized that that strong, awful smell came from him, he grew sad. For no one would want to play with him now. And he would be lonely. So the game ended, and the skunk wandered into the prairie by himself. As night came, he cried. He cried to Grandmother Moon. He told her about how lonely he was. The Grandmother Moon looked down upon him with great sadness and understanding. And when it came time for her next new moon cycle, she walked the earth once more. She approached the skunk who had continued to remain in the prairie, away from everyone else, for they had started to call him the smelly skunk, and he did not like that. Do you love yourself now? she asked him. No, he cried fiercely. This is not what he had in mind. He didn't want to smell bad or make his friends cry and wander away. They were afraid of him now, and he didn't like that. And he was so lonely, and he begged her to take it back, to take back the power she had bestowed upon him. She could not do that, you see. She reminded him gently that once the power had been given, it could not be undone. She told him that he had to love himself the way he was, even with this new ability. And the skunk cried and cried until there were no more tears. And he thought to himself, why, why do I smell so bad? And the gentle Grandmother Moon said that the amount of smell is equal to the amount of misery and pain and fear that he had been experiencing every time he was frightened. The sun rose as she spoke these words, and the skunk watched through eyes filled with tears as she returned to the sky. And it was then that he understood. He understood the words that she had told him all along. That he must love himself enough to tell his friends that he was frightened, that he did not like to play the games that they wanted to play, that they harmed him. Because he would not do that, she gave him a power that would allow him to express the magnitude of his fear and sadness without words. So now he had a choice. He could wallow and be lonely, or he could accept this gift for what it was, and he could tell his friends about the fear and the misery he had been experiencing. All morning he sat with this choice and decision. So in the afternoon, when he came into the forest and visited with his friends, he told them slowly at first about how sad he had been, how frightful he had become, constantly worrying that someone would startle him at any moment. He told them about the gift that Grandmother Moon had given him, about how profound the smell was was directly in relation to how frightened and miserable he had been. And his friends listened, and they grew sad, for they had not realized that he was so miserable. They had truly enjoyed watching the display of acrobatics that he was able to accomplish. And so they had grown so enamored with this display that they had regularly looked and sought for ways of encouraging it as opposed to just asking him to dance for them. And he had been so afraid of losing his friends and of being alone that he would not tell them how he felt. That he would not love himself enough to communicate his needs. This was a lesson for everyone. This was a lesson for the skunk to learn how to speak and use his voice. This was a lesson for his friends to learn how to listen. And together they decided upon a new game. Something with dancing or obstacles or racing. Something everyone could enjoy.

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Thank you for sharing this time with me and for listening to what spirits have to say. If you are driving or working with heavy machinery, please stop the recording now. Otherwise, I will play some drumming for you. And I ask that you take a moment to be with yourself and the feelings or lessons that were brought up for you with this story.