It was two days before the next full moon and I was ready to create another design . I pay attention to my intuition about all of my artwork but this one felt important and I made an intention to know what I was going to create by the full moon .

I had decorated my family room/studio in a cabin motif many years ago. It has pictures of bears, fish, horses, cowboys and Indians, buffalo, eagles, and other symbols of another lifetime that I had collected over the years. Most of my close friends resonated to this energy in a personal way. When they would talk about a recent experience at a sweat lodge or a spiritual journey to the beating of a drum, I always laughed and said that if I was an Indian in a past life that I hoped it was Pocahontas. My mother had read me a story about her when I was little, and I had identified with the romance and adventure of the Indian princess.

I had wanted for some time do a design that represented the Native American energy and I had many symbols and ideas in the family room to inspire me but each time I had decided on another idea. It was now time and I had made an intention that I wanted to know what to create by the full moon. I waited.

The only story that I was familiar with was that of Pocahontas and I asked her to guide me as to what image to create. I decided to go to the Internet and type her in and see what inspiration I could get and also an idea of the clothes she might have worn. As I read about her, I remembered the little golden book that my mother had read to me and why I had been so fascinated with the story.

I had enjoyed creating angels and fairies from pressed flowers and wondered if there was such a thing as a Native American fairy. That idea felt right and I looked again on the Internet to see if there was something in Native American folk lore but could not find anything. I decided to proceed and in my mind saw an Indian women with large wings standing with her hands outstretched. I know when something is "right" and this image felt good to me so I began to draw what I was seeing in my mind.

I had asked for guidance from the other side and I kept myself in a state of mind to receive the inspiration that I wanted. Over the next few days she began to take form and although I had looked at many Native American costumes, I had felt to make her dress out of white gardenias that I had recently pressed from a dear friends funeral. I decided not to look at any more pictures but just let the energy flow through my hands.

One day while checking my email the words Messenger of Peace came to my mind. I wrote it down knowing that was to be the name of the picture. That's when I "saw" her holding a pipe and I drew it in her outstretched hands. I could now see that she was not reaching out for something but that she was offering this pipe to someone. I also saw her with black hair braided on one side. Several times I tried to put shoes on her feet but could not find the right flowers and then realized that she was supposed to be standing barefoot.

Orion, my cat brings me "gifts" on occasion and the week previous had brought me another bird. It was very small and there were tiny feathers everywhere and I wished now that I had saved a few of them to decorate her wings with. I had never used any thing other than pressed flowers in my work but felt strongly about incorporating feathers into this one. He was watching me work and I looked at him and said that I wished I had some of those feathers now because they would fit perfectly.

The next morning he came to the door with another bird and I thanked him and the bird as I gingerly pulled out two feathers that I had decided to use as tiny fairy antennas . As I laid them down on the paper, I noticed that I had 3 feathers instead and then I "saw" that she was not suppose to be a Native American fairy but that she was some kind of royalty .As I put a gold band around her head and added the three feathers I knew what I had thought would be a fairy was to be something else. The wings I had created were symbolic of something spiritual and I said thank you out loud. . I "saw" the pipe she was to hold and added another feather to it. She was almost finished.

She was offering a pipe to someone but I had not envisioned any one else in the picture. I had used some leaves to create the end of the pipe and the leftovers were still on the picture and as I looked down I could see that they were almost perfectly forming the flames of a fire. I had sketched in what I thought might be some kind of foliage but I was to build a fire there instead.

I had ordered a frame for this picture and my friend Lupe would be here tomorrow to deliver it and I wanted to have the picture ready to show him. The next day I started work early and added a moon with an eagle to the design and new it was almost finished. Lupe was one of my friends that was connected to this energy and I was excited for him to see it. He just stared at the picture and looked at me with this questioning look and stared again. I asked him if he liked it? "Very much," he said. "But I didn't think you knew about 'her'. Do you know who she is?" I gave him a brief story of how the idea for her and her creation had come about and he asked me why I had made her dress white. It just "came" to me, I told him. After asking some more questions, he told me to get on the computer and look up White Buffalo Calf Woman.

I read stories with him and we talked about her for over an hour. I had never heard of her but that was not unusual as everyone knew native American history was something I was just not "in" to. The picture made perfect sense to me now and I thanked all involved for the guidance they had given me. It was a powerful picture and now even more profound.

There are many places on the Internet where you can read the stories about this legend and I was very honored to have been able to make a pressed floral picture that was symbolic of this incredible woman and I thanked Pocahontas and any others that inspired the creation of the "Messenger of Peace". I can no longer say that I am not connected to my Native American past. I was fascinated with the story of the peace pipe along with other stories about her and I hope those that are familiar and drawn to this energy will enjoy this design as much as I enjoyed creating it.