Face the Pit

I faced the female Saami shaman whom I call (out of respect) "Grandmother". She smiled. {ep:1}
"Show me what I need to know," I asked. {ep:2}
Grandmother grabbed my hand and instantly we were teleported to another location. I didn't recognize some of the trees and in the clearing was a bubbling tar pit. {ep:3}
I looked back to Grandmother for an explanation. Suddenly, I was inundated with a feeling of recognition. The tar pit represented my past. {ep:4}
I looked closer at the tar pit; the heat and the smell were overwhelming. A squeeze of my hand drew my attention back to Grandmother. {ep:5}
"Use it to make you stronger," she said in her native language; a language I do not know yet was able to hear the translation even as I heard her words underneath like a dubbed foreign language film. {ep:6}
I slowly turned back to the tar pit and all of my past, my traumas were laid before me in a rush of images and I was frightened. {ep:7}
"It will make you stronger," I heard Grandmother say. {ep:8}
I knew I had to accept my trauma in order for my healing to take place. I knew that acceptance would make me stronger, more durable. {ep:9}

I awoke in my bed, dream still fresh in my mind. "Thank you, Grandmother," I whisper. {ep:10}