She-Who-Watches

She-Who-Watches
CC Jean Stimmell

When I was in Oregon a few years back, I took a photograph of She-Who-Watches. She is an ancient Native American pictograph-petroglyph, revered throughout the Pacific Northwest. For her people, she was the resident guardian of the Columbia River basin. She cast a spell over me: Her eyes not only follow you everywhere, they pierce your soul.

I had a similar experience visiting good friends in a tiny town called Kokadjo, lost in the wilderness of northern Maine. It is near a pristine pond whose original Indian name is Kokadjeweemgwasebem, which translates to kettle mountain pond.

Hiking near the pond, which is really a magical lake 7 miles long, we came across another haunting face, another Native American guardian: I call her She-Who-Watches-Over-Kokadjeweemgwasebem. 

Click on the image to make it larger. Take a good look and you will agree: we stumbled upon a goddess.