Three years ago, we found out that our brother-in-law had developed cancer, lymphoma. There were a lot of highs, a lot of lows, a lot of battle for him and my sister. There were a lot of trips for them out to Edmonton to see specialists for new treatments, dietary changes, vitamins, whatever would work. The fall of 2004, he finally gave up on treatments and decided to battle it out on his own. He was doing really well until last fall when he had a relapse and was off to Winnipeg for more treatment. At Christmas, he seemed to be doing well, but in January, he started to take a turn for the worse and had to be hospitalized. He resumed chemotherapy treatment here in Brandon which resulted in a roller coaster of return visits in and out of the hospital.

The week of March 20, this year, he took a major downfall. The doctors told him that there was no more that they could do for him on March 24, and they placed him in the local palliative care facility known as the Assiniboine Center. When I found that out, I started to wear a Celtic amulet known as a "serpent knot" every day. Something was compelling me to keep it on.

The next week, I became really sick. I thought it was just a virus. I was so sick that I couldn't eat, drink, shower, or any of the things a person does when they go about their daily business. I'm a student, and I even attended school the next week for two days, but I was deteriorating quickly, not recovering the way I should have been. That Wednesday, I was hospitalized with pneumonia of all things - the first time since I'd been a child. Strangely enough, the hospital was adjacent and connected to the Assiniboine Center. There was a woman in the room who was waiting for placement in the Assiniboine. Friday morning, the nurses came to get the woman as there was a bed that had just opened up over there. I instantly knew who had died much to my sadness. Bob, my brother-in-law, had passed away peacefully in the night.

This is rather uncanny. As delirious as I was, I still remember this dream clearly, and it still rattled me although I know that no harm was meant to me or anyone else around me. I'm not sure if the amulet I had been wearing had any bearing on whether I invoked this being or not.

A spirit/entity came to me in my dreams and he told me that he was the "Green Man/Brown Man" - not just the Green Man. I have a handcrafted wooden walking stick made out of wood so perfectly straight and beautifully knotted that I purchased on a whim last year, but have rarely used. In the dream, this spirit/entity was instructing me that on the day of the funeral I should tap the bottom of the stick firmly on the ground - "three times, no more, no less." Of course, in my dream I tried to tap it the traditional seven times, but he kept insisting three times and made me repeat it until I got it right. Then he instructed me to grab the stick by the bottom and tap the stick on the ground once with the top end, all with my left hand, then to wave my right hand vertically out from my head to my waistline. After that, he showed me where he was going to show up in the graveyard, but I never had the chance to see it as I wasn't well enough to go to the funeral, much to my dismay.

The day of the funeral came. It was a beautiful day here, April 12. While the funeral was going on, I did what I had been instructed to do and it really lent me a sense of peace, harmony and relief. I felt really bitter, though. I had lost a friend and I hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye. It somehow didn't seem fair as he was only 56.

A few days later, when I started feeling better and could think more clearly, I realized what had happened to me. I felt an overwhelming sense of panic. I've done some research on this being, but there's very limited information regarding him. I know this much - he is an ancient Celtic God.

In a chance meeting at a craft sale in Winnipeg last month, I talked to a wonderful woman of the Bahia (Baha) faith about this. She said not to be alarmed, but to seek what this might mean and why my spirit guides/angels might have placed this on my path. While we were driving home that night, back to Brandon, I began thinking about the encounter. The being was short in stature, and he was brown, but he was also green if you can picture that. He was very old, wizened, and he reminded me of Merlin, the great magician of King Arthur's court. He was very kind, very patient, but very stern when it came to me learning my lessons. He wasn't threatening at all. But why the insistence on being known as the "Brown Man" as well? I have so many questions, but I think the only one who can answer them is me.

I've been speculating the idea that he might have been showing me how to open the door or gate between the realms so that Bob would have safe passage. Speculation... I'm nothing special. It doesn't seem to stop with me and I hope it never does. It helps me appreciate the intricate nature and beauty of the life and death process. There's a beauty in death that defies all when a soul passes through the realms of this world and the next. Though we may miss those that we love, they're in a better, more beautiful place. And, if that love is strong enough, we'll find each other again. But, that's knowledge that not all are meant to know and that not all would understand. The world isn't ready for the truth yet.

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