Eihwaz looks a little bit like a tilted inverted Z.  It represents progress and is meant to represent a bow.  It is related to Ullr, the Norse god of hunting who lives alone in a valley of yew trees.  Some see him as the dark aspect of Odin.  Drawing this stone, means that you are on the right track.  Some patience is required, because things may seem to be moving too slow.  You need to be like an archer and wait until the target is within range before taking your shot.  It is the right time to gather your courage and take a risk.

When it comes to healing, Eihwaz relates to denial.  Before you know what you want, you need to take an honest look at where you are and where you have been.  Be forthright about your pain and fear.  Obviously, you can’t get what you desire if you don’t know what that is.  That sounds funny, because we often think we know what we want or what would make us happy, but do we really?

Most of my life I could’ve told you what I wanted but had no idea how to get it.  If I did get to it, which I often did, it would’ve come about in the most drawn-out and painful way possible.  I might’ve claimed to be paying my dues, which I was, but how much of my failure to get across was a result of my own fear and insecurity, the deep feeling I held onto that I didn’t deserve good things to happen to me.  In a few years I’d be too old to keep holding back the arrow.  It was time to let it fly and see where it landed.  That was happening right now.  I was letting it go.

Day of the Dead was drawing to a close, but there was still one activity left that I looked forward to, and that was going to see Lucha Libre at the Arena Mexico.  Lucha Libre is professional wrestling, a little more airborne and acrobatic than its North American counterpart.  The Arena Mexico is the place to see it, as it is the great Mecca of wrestling in Mexico.  After resting up at my hotel for a few hours, I set off on the subway again.  There was one transfer to get there.  The stop was Balderas.

I ended up way too early, scalping tickets off the street.  It was unfortunate that I was on the wrong side of the building.  When I walked around it, I came to the box office, where I could’ve gotten better seats at a cheaper price.  Now I was stuck in the balcony section.  The vendors were only beginning to set up outside, hanging up T-shirts and masks, arranging dolls and other souvenirs on the tables. 

I walked across the street and ate at a cafeteria, ordering enchiladas and orangeade, and then finishing it up with cheesecake.  The waitress was cute.  I flashed my ticket at her and said Vamonos, or We go!  She laughed and said, Not today, Caballero.

It was a big hassle to be up in the balcony, because they wouldn’t let me into the historical lobby with all the great paintings of luchadores past and present.  I tried to sneak in on a pretext, but the doorman was firm.  On my third attempt, I was allowed to take some pictures from a distance.  I had pictures from an earlier trip that I’d have to look for later.  What could I see?  A masked superhero throwing an alien over his back.  A jaguar clubbing a conquistador.  A human torch doing a back flip and soaring through space. 

Two men were asking me to move on.  If I didn’t honor their request, I’d soon be participating in a lucha libre of my own.  A gringo slapping a yellow jacket.  Two yellow jackets double-teaming the gringo and tossing him out the door.  The gringo tearing his shirt and making threatening gestures from the sidewalk.  Who wouldn’t pay to see that?  I’d print up my own T-shirts.  What would they say?  Don’t try to live this way.

From where I sat, the ring seemed fifty yards away.  The show they put on was a good one, however.  Dia de Muertos at the Arena Mexico.  Talk about a classic.  The presenters, three men and two women, all came out in calaveras, or black and white skull faces.  The women wore the dresses of Catrina.  The men looked like mobsters.  An army of green dragons came out during the opening ceremony. 

The fight started with two midgets, Pequeno Dragoncito against Mercurio.  They jumped high and did spins in the air.  Everyone hooted and laughed.  Next was a tag-team matchup, four great musclemen, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.  Now the women, more vicious than anyone, Arana against Demonia.  It was great but I was so far away.  I decided to see if I could try to get down to one of the lower seats, but once I left the building, I couldn’t get back in.  That was my penance for scalping a ticket. 

My feet were burning in my shoes anyway.  If I ever made it into the ring, I’d try to trade shoes with my opponent.  Then when he was bent over, grasping his feet in agony, I’d deliver a dropkick to the chest.  I’d raise my hands above my head and the crowd would chant my slogan.  You know the one I’m talking about.  Don’t try to live this way.  Don’t even think about it, amgio.  Just don’t do it.