ORE FEATURES
A Monthly publication of Ozark Rock Exchange
VOL 5: Issue 9, June 3, 2004
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ORE'S FEATURED GEMSTONE: Ozark Mountains Mountains cannot be worn in jewelry, so the Ozark Mountains do not fit the gemologists' definition of a gemstone. However, since I will wear these charming hills and valleys in my heart for the rest of my days, they are something of a gem to me. The Ozark Mountains are technically defined as the Ozark highlands or uplands. I suspect they are called highlands and uplands by geologist because the hills were formed when continental collisions folded and faulted the North American continent. Low lying ocean floors were literally thrown up by the collisions. Today this area is between Southwest Illinois and Northeastern Oklahoma, including Southern Missouri, much of North, West and central Arkansas and a portion of Southeast Kansas. Geologists have been able to trace the geological history of this region back some 570 million years. Some of their findings have been courtesy of the highway department's efforts to build straight roads through this hilly region. Road cuts into our hillsides, in addition to making travel safer, also offer the wise geologist a history report on continent building. Nowhere is this more visible to me than on the drive to the crystal mines in Southwest Arkansas. Even along this older road, cuts into the hills dramatically illustrate the intense energy it took to fold a horizontal plate into a vertical formation. Columns of flat rock look as if a row of dominos is just beginning to tip. Over and over again I remind myself that these vertical formations rising above the road were once the floor of a very ancient ocean. This folding and upthrust occurred primarily during the Paleozoic time, when the African and South American continents slammed into the North American continent. The Appalachian, as well as the Ozark and Ouachita mountains were all formed during this process. It also created several of the modern basins we now find in Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. As the continents begin to split back apart during late Precambrian and early Cambrian it created rifts or fault lines. One of those rifts, the New Madrid fault continues to cause earthquakes around the midwest. It also brought numerous igneous rocks to the surface, showing future scientist evidence of pre-historic volcanic activity in the Ozarks area. During the Jurassic period, the dramatic movement of continental plates ceased. Now the entire Southeastern US is under sea waters except for the uplifts and mountains created earlier. By the time the Tertiary period begins, the waters are as far North as Illinois and covering portions of Oklahoma and Texas. The first residents to occupy the area found a very dry and arid climate, similar to the American Southwest of today. Some of those first residents were the Piankeshaw and Osage tribes. The Piankeshaw often traveled in their canoes using Missouri's rich web of streams and rivers (remember, this was thousands of years before flood control attempted to tame American rivers) to visit the Osage near present day Lake of the Ozarks. One of the items the Osage used in trade was a colorful Jasper stone that we now call Mozarkite. The Osage were very proud of their Mozarkite and kept the location of their source secret. In fact the penalty for revealing the location of their prized Jasper was death. According to an Ozark legend, Mina Sauk, the daughter of the Piankeshaw chief Taum Sauk feel in love with an Osage warrior named Eagle Eye. When the Piankeshaw returned to their homes, Eagle Eye accompanied Mina Sauk and they were married. However, not long after their wedding, the Osage determined that Mina Sauk had used magic to seduce Eagle Eye into the marriage and revealing the location of their valuable Jasper. This assumption led them to declare war on the Piankeshaw. In an effort to placate the Osage, the Piankeshaw declared Mina Sauk a witch and threw Eagle Eye from the top of a mountain. Grief stricken over the loss of her lover, Mina threw herself from the mountain to join Eagle Eye in death. As the two lovers lay together in tragedy, a storm erupted with great flashes of lightening and thunder, and a rush of water emerged from the Earth carrying the lovers away. Today the mountain (Missouri's highest point) is called Taum Sauk, and the waterfall that flows out of its base is called Mina Sauk. Treasure hunters still search the Southern Missouri hills for the Osage's secret deposit of Mozarkite. It is believed to be somewhere in Benton, Henry, Hickory, St. Clair, Camden or Cedar counties. Mozarkite is a colorful Jasper that formed while the area was under the great sea is Missouri's state stone. Some of the other minerals left behind by the geological events in the Ozark Region are Lead (Galena), Zinc, Coal, Diamonds, Quartz, Calcite, Tourmalines and even occasional Citrines. Today much of the Ozarks' rugged beauty has been preserved. Several of the rivers (North Fork, Gasconade, White River, Buffalo, Eminence etc) are nationally protected and their white waters attract canoe and kayak enthusiasts from around the world. Mark Twain and the Ouachita National Forests encompass several hundred thousand acres around the region. In addition state and county parks protect even more of the natural beauty here. Still, humans are not without impact. Local lakes struggle with phosphates upsetting the natural balance of fresh water marine life and sewer spills are not uncommon further threatening water and land resources. Plus, everyone feels they have to have their piece of acreage and habitat is being gobbled up at an alarming rate around areas like Springfield, Branson, Nixa, Ozark, Republic and Rogersville to accommodate single family homes. Each day I pray for sanity and respect to return to the human race. Not only to save places like the Ozarks, but all of our wild lands that are in constant threat of encroachment by us. How can we love and admire this beautiful continent Mother created, yet continue to treat Her with such disrespect --+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-- SUBSCRIBER'S SPECIAL: FREE Small Gemstone Of Your Choice! Receive a small Gemstone of your choice with any purchase from Ozark Rock Exchange. You can shop on line at http://www.ozarkrockexchange.com/cart You can also place your order by email at stephanie@ozarkrockexchange.com or send your telephone number for a phone appointment. Discount will be taken at the time of purchase. You must be a subscriber as of June 3, 2004 to be eligible for the Subscriber's Special; the Subscriber Special is not valid with other offers (unless otherwise stated). Only one special per subscriber, please. The Subscriber's Special will expire July 6, 2004. Remember you never pay extra for shipping at Ozark Rock Exchange! --+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-- SKY NOTES Full Moon, Thursday June 4 12:20 am ET -+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-- Woman Who Walks: Goddess Eyes' Story (part 3) "Hill Dancer did not know how long he had followed the albino deer through the forest. He was sure that at least one full cycle of the Moon had passed since he left his clan". Goddess Eyes stops and takes in a long breath. I wonder if her voice is getting weary from telling the story, but I silently hope she continues sharing. Woman Who Walks instructs me to cup my hands and she pours water from her bottle, which I offer to our story teller. As the sounds come back to life in my ears, I realize again, that I have not actually been "hearing" Goddess Eyes' story in the normal way. "He was not even a yearling when he first saw his dream vision". The doe returns to her story. "In the fever of his sickness, Hill Dancer saw only a white vision of loving light that had given him back life and returned hope to his mother's heart. Through all his growing seasons, and now adult seasons, he was unable to rid himself of the ghost doe that haunted him. "As he grew into adulthood, he heard the stories of a magical but mutant doe that roamed the forest. There were many tales of healing magic, of brave deeds and a tragic life doomed to loneliness because of her brilliant white coat. Hill Dancer often wondered if this creature could be the Doe of Light in his dreams. "He was now well into his prime mating years and still had not chosen a mate. His mother and father constantly pushed him into choosing, assuring him it need be nothing more than a simple mating. But he must think of the health of the clan. "Still, Hill Dancer resisted. Finally his mother's nagging and father's ultimatums drove the young buck into action. In the deep stillness of a Moonless night, he quietly crept away from the clan. He had been working on a plan. "A few days earlier, a young buck from the Gladetop Deer Clan had been visiting (looking for a possible mate) and was sharing a tale of a magical white deer that had returned a fawn whose mother had been taken by a hunter's gun. "Hill Dancer knew the area between his clan and the Gladetop very well. He had accompanied many scouting parties that had covered the territory. Since he could not rid himself of his dream, and this dream seem to stand between him and being fully alive, then it was time to find and face his vision. "Experienced and driven by years of restless confusion, it took the young buck only three and a half days to track and catch up with the albino deer that had haunted him since childhood. Now, with his vision a physical reality just a few steps and a greeting away from him, Hill Dancer was frozen with a fearful dread he had never known before. "His normal coloring and forest knowledge allowed him to keep his presence secret as he began to follow White Eyes. Days easily slipped in and out, time lost its meaning for the male deer. Instead confusion and uncertainty raced through his heart and mind. "It is not normal for a healthy deer to desire mating with an abnormal one. It is against all natural laws for a healthy member of a species to seek continuing their kind with one that was flawed. However, Hill Dancer was having a great deal of difficulty finding flaw with the living dream he followed. "In his eyes, this creature lived her life meticulously. Every action deliberate, with a grace he had not seen in any other doe. Because she could not rely on her coat to camaflouge and protect her, my mother had learned other ways to "hid" in the forest. She had learned the art of the silent footstep and could travel many miles without a single rustle. She learned to relieve herself far off the path she traveled, sometimes covering her piles to further disguise traces of her scent. She knew that by standing in certain positions sometimes she became almost invisible, especially in the bright, sunlit day hours. "Hill Dancer marveled at his dream's intelligence and beauty which only caused his desires to grow deeper and his uncertainty greater. Not only would she be repulsed by his perverse desires, but he was nothing but clumsy and dimwitted in comparison to his vision". Goddess Eyes stops, a momentary cloud seems to cover the brightness of her blue eyes. A happy, yet sorrow tinged nostalgia seems to sweep from her, then she continues her telling. "It took about a quarter cycle of the Moon for White Eyes to realize she was being followed. When she did, at first, she did nothing. She recalled a dream in which she had been lovingly seduced by a shadow, and the lonely deer choose to continue the pretense that she was unaware of the buck shadowing her. "Finally impatient for action and filled with curiosity, the albino deer decided to end their hide and seek play. When the Sun broke through some afternoon clouds, a bright beam fell just off the path mother was traveling. She stepped into the beam, turned her body just right and waited for the buck to catch up. "Hill Dancer approached the area where he had last seen the white deer with great caution. He saw her turn away from the path, but then she disappeared. He flared his nostrils and smelled the warm, late Autumn air. Her scent was still there, but where was his vision? "He scanned the tree line, searching for her bright outline. Cautiously he moved a few steps ahead, for the first time he feared his tracking skills had let him down. Then he heard the sound of rustling branches and brushing grasses, as my mother stepped out behind him. " 'Who are you? Why do you follow me'? She added so much sternness to her thoughts that their intensity even startled her. "Suddenly, with the face of his dream finally so close, the fear, doubt and confusion that had haunted Hill Dancer was gone. In the pale blues eyes that glared at him, he saw the loving light that had haunted him since he was a yearling. In those eyes he found peace and completion. " 'I am Hill Dancer, son of Night Dancer and Laughing Eyes, and one who is honored to be in the presence of such rare beauty and blessed grace.' The buck bent a knee and lowered his head in a reverent bow. "Now it was White Eyes turn to be confused and a bit frightened. She had expected the young man to turn and run in flight, not disarm her with reverence and compliments. "Raising himself back up, he looked straight into my mother's eyes, and confidently said, 'I have dreamed of this moment for many years. No other doe could arouse my desires, you, daughter of the forest are the owner of my heart and I have waited many turns of the season for this moment, for the chance to seek the honor of being your mate'. "Whatever happened next, Hill Dancer could now live his life with some peace. He had found his vision and stated his purpose. He felt the weight of an unfulfilled duty fall from his shoulders. "Mother was even more frightened than before. She knew well the consequences of what Hill Dancer, son of Laughing Eyes and Night Dancer was proposing. They both would be banned and ostracized for the remainder of their lives. But, then, being kept at a distance was nothing new to White Eyes. She imagined if the buck in front of her had truly been carrying around his desire for her all these years, that he too was use to being alone. "And if she could have a child as the result of a mating, what would happen to the fawn she bore? What if it was born with the flaws of her mother? "Then she looked directly into the eyes of Hill Dancer. What she saw there made her questions disappear. It was something she had never seen before. In the eyes of the buck was an unconditional answer, and unwavering reflection of love meant only for her. In those eyes she found the same peace and completion that he had seen in hers. "Without words, without replying, they began their First Rites, two not so young virgins tasting and becoming drunk on the fruits of their love. In the morning as mother awoke beside a companion for the first time in her life, she knew that a child would be coming in the Spring, and she tried not to worry". (to be continued) -+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-- SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: 3rd Annual Favorite Crystal Contest! Summer time is time to play and time to win at Ozark Rock Exchange! You may remember the Favorite Crystal contest from the last two years. This is easily my favorite contest, I so enjoy reading your stories and entries. The contest is very simple - to enter, just email webmaster@ozarkrockexchange.com about your favorite crystal. It can be as simple as writing the name of the stone, or maybe you have a story to share about your special gem. It doesn't matter, because the winner will be chosen by random drawing. No judging or guidelines, just sharing. That means there is no reason not to enter. The winner (chosen by random drawing) will win a Raw Gemstone Collection that includes: Rose Quartz Favorite Crystal entries must be received and posted by Midnight July 6, 2004 to be eligible for the Favorite Crystal drawing. Email entries to webmaster@ozarkrockexchange.com One entry per contestant please. Pictures of the Raw Gemstone collection and contest information are posted at http://www.ozarkrockexchange.com/highlights/events/index.shtml -+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-- What's Happening At Ozark Rock Exchange? PATRIOTIC PHOTO CONTEST!: One of the two party groups I belong to, Bashextravaganza is sponsoring a Patriotic Photo contest (please feel free to interpret "patriotic" in your own unique way) through the end of July. There are several age categories and a pet category for your subject matter. Plus great prizes from places like Rhonda's Realm, Ozark Rock Exchange, Close to My Heart, Self-Indugence and more. Here is a link for more information: http://www.directsalesmoms.com/online_bash MOVING SALE: Coming June 15th, watch for some great prices on large specimens that I don't want to have to move. The move should be official by July 5th, shortly after my son's wedding! Will share details with you as they become ready. NICKEL DEALS: Ozark Rock Exchange is celebrating our Fifth Anniversary all year long with Nickel Deals! This month's nickel deals are: with any $15 or more purchase, receive a small gemstone pendant for only five cents! or Download a copy of Stone Power Volume 1 with any $50 purchase: https://www.ozarkrockexchange.com/cart/index.php?cPath=34 FAIR TO BENEFIT MINDY DAVIDSON: A very dear human and a long time ORE FEATURES subscriber is battling cancer and medical bills. Her friends in Neosho MO are holding a Spirit Quest to help raise money for Mindy. The Mobile ORE Store will be at the Fair, which is Saturday and Sunday, June 26 & 27 in Neosha. |
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