La Hija de la Chuparrosa
pp 268-270...
"Our power comes from the earth," Huila said. "Itom Achai sends us life through the ground. Look at the plants! Why do they have roots? Do they have roots in the air?"
Teresita smiled and shook her head. She could recite Huila-speak in her sleep.
"Look at the Yoris." Huila spit. "Shoes, boots, wagons, floors. They don't remember the earth."
She planted her feet wide, sagged on her knees a little.
"Stand inside the earth. Feel yourself standing inside it. Once you connect with the earth, nothing can move you Not a hurricane, not a thousand cowboys."
She bobbed.
Teresita thought Huila looked as if she needed to go to the bathroom.
...
"In the earth," Huila said. "Say it. I am in the earth."
"I am in the earth."
"And the earth is in me."
"And the earth is in me."
They breathed. They felt their lungs fill with sky, and they let the dark clouds inside them flow out. Then they connected to the earth.
"Lift the toes, and press with the balls of your feet."
"I feel silly."
"Part of being a medicine woman is feeling silly."
Teresita stood before her, digging into the ground with her feet.
"Now, push into the ground with the inside of your foot, all the way to the heel. You've got prongs in your heels, like a pitchfork. Two on the inside, two on the outside. Plug in the two on the inside of your heel. Push into the earth. Then you have roots, child. Do you see that?"
"Roots. In my heels."
"Yes. Plant them. Deep in the soil. Your roots."
Huila breathed out in a long swirl of nose whistling.
"Feel the earth, keep the integrity of the heart. Keep the spine in line. Let your heart shine. Relax, don't strain. The white man always has to strain. Has to flex his muscles. Be soft. Be like water. Water is soft, and it is the most powerful force on earth."
...
"Let your knee bob a little. There, connect. The earth's strength will spiral up your legs, to the inside. You'll feel it bring your knees together. Feel it? Now, feel those outer roots on your feet. Push your heels all the way in. Now the rest of your foot. You're standing in the earth now. Another flow of power is going up the outside of your legs. Feel it spiral. Soon, nothing will be able to overpower you."
"I can't be hurt?" Teresita said.
"I never said that. We'll all be hurt, child. We will all be hurt. What I said was: they shall not overpower you."
"I think I understand."
"I doubt it."
Crazy old woman.
Teresita shook her head.
"All right, I don't understand."
"People always want to understand everything," Huila sniffed. "Do you understand how the sun works? Yet it rises every day, whether you understand it or not. Do we understand how the vine makes grape, and the grape makes wine? No. You don't need to understand any of it. What I want you to do is to remember it and believe it."
"I will remember."
"Do you believe?"
"I don't know."
"That is Faith," Huila said. "Faith, like Grace, is a gift, you see. It's one of those riddles nobody can understand. Nina - God gives you the gift of believing in God. If you cannot believe in God, then how can God punish you for your lack of Faith?"
"I don't know."
"Damned right, you don't know. It's a mystery."
Teresita thought for a moment.
"Faith," she finally said.
"Correct." The old one nodded. "Believe. You might never get explanations."
"And if I cannot believe, what then?"
"Then," said Huila, "God sends foolish old women like me to try to help you."
They held hands as they walked back toward the rancho.
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