Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2020
A few years ago my partner and I decided to go on a spiritual pilgrimage and explore the Confluence Trail project monuments, which are Native American art installations at parks in Washington and Oregon that call attention to the indigenous tribes and how they were impacted by the Lewis and Clark expedition. While we were on this pilgrimage to learn more about the history of the land we live in, I ended up encountering the spirit of the Columbia river, She Who Watches and since then have had a connection with that spirit that is solely based on a mutual recognition of each other, and in my case a recognition that I am fundamentally rooted to the Columbia river area.
Even before I went on this pilgrimage I felt a connection to the Columbia river. When I first moved to the West coast and traveled through PDX, I felt a sense of connection. I thought initially it was to Portland, but I eventually realized it wasn’t. Within a year I moved down to Portland and while I like living here, I found myself drawn to explore the Columbia valley gorge. There was something about it that drew me in.
I’ve explored the length of the Columbia river since then and each time I travel along it, I feel this sense of connection and coming home that speaks to me on a profound level. I may not always live in Portland, but I will try to live near the Columbia river, because it is the one place in the world that feels right to me.
It wasn’t until I learned about She Who Watches that it really hit me that what I might be connecting with is this spirit of the Columbia river. She Who Watches is the myth of a female chieftain of the region who gets concerned about what will happen to her people when she’s gone, and is told by Coyote that the world is changing and soon women won’t be chieftains. Coyote tricks her and transform her into stone to watch over the river and the people that live there forever after. The painting I’ve shared above is my own interpretation of her, based on my experiences with her.
Recently this spirit helped me with some healing I needed to do. My partner and I visited one of the sites that we hadn’t gone to as of yet and as we walked the site, there was the petroglyph of She Who Watches on the stone. I felt her reach out and connect and help me dissolve some pain I was carrying with me. She ended up telling me she was going to round out my work with Suvuviel, so that I had truth and connection, wisdom and empathy with the ongoing spiritual work I’m doing. Since then I’ve felt her presence in my daily spiritual work and in the lessons I’m experiencing around connection and truth.
When a spirit comes into your life and connects with you, you have the choice of whether you’ll work with it or not. But in some cases there is a fundamental recognition that occurs. For me, that fundamental recognition has happened in relationship to the Columbia river and She Who Watches. I’ve chosen to work with the energy of this area I call home and the spirit that seems to embody it and I’m continuing to develop that relationship solely through my own spiritual work with her and the lessons she teaches me.
