You sit down on the blanket and take one of the twists of paper, opening it to find bone, carved into three moon images, one large and two tiny. In the carving, the moons are touching, although they never touch in the sky.

The shaman smiles her welcome. "To balance the new, you get old things, as old as the world itself." She nods in satisfaction, as if it makes sense, but she does not explain. "Let's get on with your reading, shall we?"

She pulls out three disks, as if there's reason to hurry, or at least to be thrifty with the amount of time spent. They are all iron, and she lays them in front of you on the blanket, where they shine in the sun.

"First, the forest. Plants that reach for the heights and depths, and in the process, create a whole world for people and critters to live in. Trees are stationary and slow, stretching into the past and the future alike, but they make so many things possible. Next," she points to an image of a kitchen fireplace, a bright fire leaping on the stones. "The hearth, whch represents the tools you can use. Home and fire, blended into the heart of life itself. And the abstract--the harp, the challenging aspect of sound. It's thinking about it that's the hard part, finding the perspective that will let you use your toys, new and old, harmoniously."

She smiles at you. "Go on now, you have things to do. It was good of you to stop by. The harmony you guard here is appreciated."