Tag Archives: personal narrative

The Albino Donkey in Grand Canyon Sweat Lodge

“So our tribe is Umatilla. That’s the name. That’s the name of our tribe. It’s in northern eastern Oregon. Okay. And. And, you know, while I was out there, one of the things I do is a sweat lodge.

It’s like a ceremony where you go into, like, this mud igloo, and they get these, like, blackstone rocks, and they get really, really hot all day long.

And. And then you. You go in there. The rocks in there. And then you go in there and you sit in, like, a little crisscross applesauce, you know, position.

And they bring water in there. And then they. They close up the. The. The. The hut, and they’ve got herbs on top of there, too, like, you know, sage and other stuff.

So they get that water on that hot rock, and it just like.

It’s like a. You just hear, like, sizzling on rocks, and then that steam gets released within the hut.

Well, when you’re doing this, it. It literally feels like. It feels like your skin is melting. It’s so darn hot. You feel like. You feel like surely my. I’m gonna see, like, my skin melting off my arms because it’s so hot.

And you’re like, oh, let me blow. Let me cool myself down a little bit. So you. So you gotta blow. And it feels like you’re breathing fire on top of your skin.

Likeinstinct that’s a bad idea. Let’s not do that. So you. You have to contain your breathing in a nice, slow, slow breath so you’re not breathing too hard.

So you have to control that whole panic inset, which, you know, a lot of people can’t handle it because you kind of start to panic.

And. And then you get into this, like, you know, once you get that slow breathing, you can get this, like, really nice and meditative state.

And of course, there’s drumming going on outside where, you know, so that, that also, the, the, the drumming of the, of the drums puts you also in a, in a nice sort of trance.

And then, once you sit in for 20 minutes, there’s a river right next door.

Oh, the other thing is rivers. Like, if I’m next to a river, that flowing water is like my charger battery.

Like, I can pick up on almost anything that, like, I’m like, supercharged.

So running water is like. It’s like if I wanted my abilities to be like, on high, you know, premium, you know, optimum position of everything.

Running water. It’s just like, it’s amazing electrical or circuit for charging.

That ability, for some reason I find, at least for me.

And then you jump the water and you, you, you, you know, you pull yourself off.

Well, one of the things that they do prior to that is calledtype of cactuseremony, ya ou.

They, they prepare peyote tea. I don’t know if you. If you’re familiar with that.

Speaker 2 (shaking head), I’m not.

Speaker 1 You don’t know what that is? Okay, so peyote is a cactus type of plant or type of plant that you use part of it, and they take about like 48 hours to prepare this tea.

But it’s a, It’s a hallucinogenic type of tea, apparently.

But so you drink it, and literally, you have like half a teaspoon.

I mean, it’s very little that you drink. And then you, you know, we went on a. A hike throughout the Grand Canyon. And while we were out hiking, which is funny because I didn’t realize that no one else saw this but myself, I was watching and like, oh, my gosh, look at this white albino donkey that’s behind me, following me.

I’m like. And it had a palm leaf in. In its mouth. I’m like, wow, that’s really amazing. Like, this pure white albino donkey is following me.

He’s got this palm leaf. Like, that’s. Wow. I couldn’t even believe it, you know. Right. And. Well, yeah, I was the only one that saw that. So, you know, who knows where my mind was at? But it was, it was quite a. I don’t know, it was a very spiritual moment.

I felt very. It actually felt. I felt like it was showing me the way to go down this, this treacherous, you know, mountain in the, you know, Grand Canyons, you know, and, and the Havasupai or the Havasupai Indians, That’s who was leading this ceremony. Anyway. That was a really interesting and very spiritual. Very beautiful, enlightening experience as. As far as, like, at that point when you’re under that influence, You know, you feel so connected to Mother Earth and Your ancestors and stuff like that. You feel like they’re guiding you in, you know, teaching you the ways of What, like, you know, what life, what truly living is, you know, like, you know, being, you know, take. Like when. If you go hunting, you don’t. You don’t. You don’t kill the first animal that you see of that species. You wait till you see more than one, because if you only see one, that means that the population is not enough to support your hunting. Right, right. It’s just being mindful. Right? Mindful of, you know, the nature and, you know, what, what you, you know, how much you take is what you’re going to receive.And so, you know, don’t always use all of the animal, always using all the plant or, you know, you know, just being mindful of all that stuff.” 

Her thoughts : 

She sees this as a deeply spiritual and meaningful experience. She describes feeling connected to Mother Earth and to her ancestors, and believes they were guiding her and teaching her ways of living. In particular, she emphasizes ideas of being mindful in nature, such as how and when to use resources, including animals and plants, and living in balance rather than excess.

My thoughts: 

This was, by far, the story that felt the most cultural and spiritual to me compared to the other ghost stories she shared in that session. It also generated the most questions for me. I really enjoyed learning about the Umatilla tribe, and it made me curious to hear more about their habits and ceremonies. Before this, I didn’t know anything about the tribe, the sweat lodge ceremony, or the Havasupai who led it.

I found myself wondering about the structure and purpose of the ceremony – why they hold it, how often it takes place, and what it is based on. Is it connected to a specific time of year, a need within the tribe, or some kind of celebration? I was also curious about the physical experience itself: how many people are inside the hut, whether there are multiple huts, and if everyone participates in the hike together afterward. Even small details stood out to me, like the peyote tea – why it takes 48 hours to prepare and how it is actually made.

I was especially interested in the moment where she saw the white albino donkey. Within her belief system, that kind of animal can be understood as sacred or spiritual, which made the moment feel significant. The fact that it was carrying a palm leaf in its mouth made me think it could be interpreted as a kind of message, especially since that is not something I would expect to see in that environment. I even tried to look into what a white donkey might symbolize, and found that in different belief systems it can represent ideas like peace, wisdom, or guidance.

Overall, this story felt like a combination of a ghost encounter (the donkey) along with a spiritual experience shaped by cultural beliefs and ritual.

Conversations with Spirits during Dreams (Memorate)

Text 

Collector: “Have you ever been contacted by a spirit?” 

Informant: “With loved ones that I have lost, I have had experiences with them partially in the physical world and a lot in the metaphysical slash dream world. When our Nana died, I started having dreams about her and they felt immensely real. I’ll still have some every now and again. I’ve had experiences with my father’s grandfather who passed away. Immediately after he passed away, he came to me in a dream and told me things about myself, gifts that I had, and I felt like he was very at peace with his death. I only experienced him once, same with my great-grandmother. Two days prior to her physical death.” 

Collector: “What made this experience feel different than other dreams, your normal dreams?” 

Informant: “In these dreams, I felt paralyzed like another force was holding on to me. Almost like my soul was in a different place and then needed time to get back to my body. I found myself lying in bed. I heard the sound of static like a television channel. It grew louder. I grew more uneasy. My body felt celestial is the best way to put it.” 

Context

The Informant is a 26-year-old man. He’s had several spiritual interactions through intense dreams and episodes of sleep paralysis. Each interaction was with a deceased family member after or nearly before their time of passing. The Informant expressed he could have full-length conversations with the dead through this medium. 

Analysis

I found it interesting that the Informant’s spiritual interactions took place during vivid dreams. This reminded me of the article, “Ghostly Possession and Real Estate: The Dead in Contemporary Estonian Folklore” when the author Ülo Valk explains that, “visual and auditory experiences with spirits can also occur in dreamlike states.” (Valk 34) In this dream space, both parties could say their peace. These encounters also happened near the Spirit’s time of death. This could be interpreted as the Spirit “finishing business” with loved ones before moving on to the afterlife. Valk also notes that spiritual interactions commonly occur in transition periods where there are feelings of, “disorientation, uncertainty, discontinuity, [and] unrootedness.” (Valk 35) Those emotions are common during grief. For the Informant, these spiritual conversations helped both parties to emotionally move forward and find peace in their respective realms. 

Christian Faith Testimonial

Nationality: American
Age: 59
Occupation: Electrician
Residence: Palmdale, CA
Language: English

Context

My father faced a lot of difficulty in his early life. Born in the same Southern California town that I was, his mother died at 11 and his father at 17, leaving him orphaned and couch surfing immediately out of high school. He had been raised Christian, but fell hard into the Evangelical Christian revival of the 1980s. Although we no longer attend church and his views have softened drastically since I was a child, he maintains a strong tie to his faith. I first heard this story about a week before I asked him to record it. We were having a lengthy discussion about the world, and he told this story as testimonial for his faith. This recording occurred over family dinner at my parents’ home. The events that are described likely happened in the year 1980 or 1981.

Text

SS: We were–my wife and myself–and, and a good friend of ours were young Christians. And we traveled everywhere together. And I had nothing. I had no job, I had nothing. And my father and I lived together and he was he was getting ill, I really realized it. But I came, we’re living in this little one bedroom. I would call it a shack. And I was sleeping in the bedroom, he slept on the couch. And my–I came home one day back to the little shack. And my brother had been there–when he lived in Arizona, and I hadn’t seen him in a long time. And he left a note saying, I took your dad and, and took him back to Arizona because he’s sick. Need to take care of him. And because you have nothing here.

SS: And basically, we spoke with the–the owner of this place who owns the house up front, “You’re gonna have to move.” I had no job I had no nothing. And I was–was damn I didn’t know what I was gonna do. And, and I just–I basically went and, and laid on my bed and, and cried out to the Lord, I just said, Jesus, I can’t do this. I can’t, I got no place to go. I’m done. I, you know, I wept and prayed. And then I went into a really deep sleep, like a nap but deeper.

SS: And I was awakened by banging on the door. And it was our friend that came to the door. And–and he was always optimistic, positive, full of the Holy Spirit. And he–and he said, he said, “The Lord told me to come here and said you needed me to help.” So he said, “Let’s walk.”

SS: So we hitchhiked–and we hitchhiked probably from one city to another, probably 12 miles. And we ran across a guy that was looking for help. I think it was working in a gas station. He hired me. And that same time, I don’t know how it came about. But my godparents’ son contacted me, I don’t know if I he called me. I don’t think you could call me because this was before cellphones, but if I ran across him, I don’t really remember. But he was living in a–in a mobile home park, and he needed to help sometimes with his–help him, you know, clean up around his place because his–’cause his wife and daughter, because he was working so much. And he had a–he had a little travel trailer on the side inside of his carport.

SS: And so by the end of that day, I had a place to live and two jobs. And I always attribute it to the fact that I was as low as I could go. And I think sometimes when you when you cry out from that point–from that position, it’s when God answers your prayers. It’s when you’re–when you’re done and you got no options, because he wants us to cast our cares on Him, so he can carry us. But we’re too proud most of the time.

SS: So that’s that story.

Analysis

Although I no longer identify as a Christian, I find this story compelling, especially given my emotional connection to the speaker. A testimonial like this has a very specific context. My father is an open-minded man in many respects, and immediately prior to this, I was speaking about my spiritual beliefs that are completely alienated from Christian theology. He brought his story up not necessarily to convince me of the existence of the Christian God, but rather to reaffirm his own faith. Coincidence or not, real life events created this narrative, demonstrating how religious experience is not just doctrinal, but first-hand and emotional too.

Following Propp’s “31 Narratemes,” the narrative can be broken up into key narrative elements: the stakes effecting the protagonist are defined; absentation, someone goes missing (1); villainy and lack: the need is identified (8); mediation, the hero discovers the lack (9); acquisition, hero gains magical item (14); departure, hero leaves on a mission (11); transfiguration, hero is given a new appearance (29); resolution, initial misfortune or lack is resolved (26).

Chaneques

Context:

A heard about these creatures when growing up in a rural part of Mexico. In this interview they recount their personal experience with a mythological creature.

The context of this was during a dinner when the conversation of creatures from folklore was asked about.

Text:

A: Aprendí sobre los chaneques cuando era pequeño, incluso vi uno una vez. Mi madre me había dicho que no me acercara a un río junto al pueblo en el que crecí, pero no le hice caso, así que iba con otros chicos del pueblo casi todas las semanas.

Me: ¿Es ahí donde lo viste?

A: Sí, estaba jugando a un juego con mis amigos y acabé separándome del resto. En la orilla del río, escondido detrás de un árbol, vi algo pequeño. Podía oírlo cantando o tarareando algo, no lo recuerdo muy bien ahora pero sí recuerdo haberlo oído. Me llamaba y trataba de que me acercara, creo, pero me asusté demasiado y corrí de vuelta a casa.

Me: ¿Lo viste después de eso?

A: Nunca más volví sin mi madre o mis amigos, así que no, no lo he vuelto a ver.

//Translation:

A: I learned about chaneques when I was little, I even saw one once. My mother had told me not to go near a river next to the village where I grew up, but I didn’t listen to her, so I went with other kids from the village almost every week.

Me: Is that where you saw him?

A: Yes, I was playing a game with my friends and ended up getting separated from the rest. On the riverbank, hiding behind a tree, I saw something small. I could hear it singing or humming something, I don’t remember it very well now but I do remember hearing it. It was calling to me and trying to get me to come closer, I think, but I got too scared and ran back home.

Me: Did you see him after that?

A: I never went back without my mother or my friends, so no, I never saw him again.

Analysis:

I found this interview really interesting because it was a personal narrative from someone that had actually encountered a mythical being. I had never met or had anyone tell me about meeting a mythical being so it was engaging to hear such a story. I have read about and watched videos regarding people’s encounters with beings of folklore but it was an entirely different experience to hear it in person. This was because I was able to see the body language and subtle changes in expression when A was telling their story. The experience felt so genuine and the raw emotion they spoke of was really compelling to hear. It was also interesting to hear about how the chaneques would sing or maybe hum as a way to somewhat lure children towards them, as said by A.