My grandma was a full blood Seminole Native American. And she lived in Richmond Virginia, USA. The last I remember of her she was 102 and man she was a spry old lady. I remember that when ever I did something wrong she would grab a Willow wand off a tree and run me around the yard, now I'm a kid like10 or 11 and she is runnin me, I'm hawlin ass and every 5 or 6 strides I'd take I could feel that wand caressing my butt with intensity.
Thing I really hated was when she said "boy, go get me a chicken", I knew what was up then we was goin to have chicken fo dinner. I'd catch the chicken and give it to her and somewhere out of the bowels of her voluminous dress she'd whip a knife and off would go that chicken's head, now here goes the part I didn't like. "Boy go get the chicken". That chicken would be headless and runnin like all get out, slinging blood every which where. It be ziggin and zaggin and I'd be chasin the thing and finally I'd catch it after it done run out of life. I got blood splatters all over me.
She didn't have electricity and fetched her water from a well. I remember she had this big cast iron wood burnin stove and boy she could burn on that thing. She baked, fried boiled and did anything in or on that stove ya can do on a modern one. It had an oven connected to the flue and she could adjust the temperature in the oven by adjustin the flue damper.
In the community she was a sort of Medicine woman. People would come to her for their ailments, she would go out into the woods and gather herbs and stuff and hook 'em up with a cure. But she went much further than just herbs she also had some ritual stuff she would do in different circumstances when an illness or condition required more than herbs. She was well known fo her abilities, people would show up with their problems and pay her with a pig, a side of beef or even some hebs that she requested that she didn't have access to. At night those that didn't want to be seen in public seeking her services would come, people of influence and position like the Mayor, Police Chief or city Councilmen even leaders of industry. They would bring her money and favors. Ya see she also made her own corn liquor which was known to be the best in the County. So some of her visitors were not there for just a cure.
So one evening she says to me "how old are ya boy"? I said" I'm 13, mom". She says that about that time. I didn't know at the time what she was speakin of. But she told me that after dinner and not as you usually do before bed I want you to take a very through bath in the Zink tub. This was the usual way for me to bathe. She also informed me that she was going to wash it out with some special herbs before I do and after I have drawn the water for it she will also mix some other herbs in my bath water. I knew something momentous was gong to occur but I did not know what.
After I took my bath in the Zink in my bedroom I emerged into the living room and a fire was goin in the fireplace and there was a chair placed about ten feet from it and facing it. In addition she had candles burning all over the house, I didn't know she had any candles because she used oil lamps to light the house. These candles were giving all sorts of scents, none of them were unpleasant but they had a slowing down effect upon me. This slowing effect is hard to describe, it was like I was under water and moving very slowly. I addition she had taken chicken blood and drawn some sort of arcane sigils on one of the walls. She physically sat me down in the chair in front of the fireplace and started throwing herbs into the fire and instructed me to focus my attention on the fire only and to pay no attention to anything else. I did so and watched the fire dance with various colors that a fire does not normally exhibit. Shades of greens, blues from the very lightest in color to the darkest ones. All sorts of colors were represented.
Then suddenly I spied an unnatural movement in the fire as if there was some sort of living thing in it. I knew this could not be possible because what ever it was it would be burned up and consumed. But yes there is some thing in the fire and it is moving as if unknowing of the flames licking about it.
Granma's voice intruded and asked me if I see something, I replied in the affirmative. She instructed me to move closer to the fire so that I can make out what it is. She also said that it is imperative that I know exactly what I see. I moved close low and behold there was a salamander about eight inches long in the fire. Its flesh ran with a montage of bright metallic colors, it was iridescent with bright flowing, undulating and ever changing color.
She asked me for a description of what I am seeing. After my description she quickly and with movement that belies her age moved around to the front of me and slapped me real hard, she slapped me so hard that she knocked me off the chair.
Immediately she bent to one knee and grasped me in her arms and pulled me to her bosom and held me close while I sobbed.
After all was done she informed me that what I saw in the fire was my totem. The salamander will be my personal guardian. Whenever there is to be a great change in my life I will see the salamander and when this occurs I need to prepare for a momentous occurrence that is yet to come.
I have seen the metallic salamander running with colors three times in my life and three times I have experienced great upheaval, twice the upheavals were very positive but once it was very negative. I have experienced that the time span between the sightings can run between a week and three months.
On September 19th, 2007 I saw the metallic salamander again.