Lost River country

The dark chthonic waters – essentially ancestral waters – rise from the unseen land of the dead into light and become visible. This process is controlled by ancestral agency, the waters becoming a medium through which ancestral presence surfaces and circulates. (Mark Nemglan) The part of southern Indiana I belong to is characterized by karst topography, where water flows through soluble limestone and forms sinkholes and caves. Sometimes the water even disappears underground in what is called a sinking stream. Lost River is such a sinking stream, originating in Washington County and then disappearing and reappearing in a series of locations in Orange County before flowing into Driftwood River (a.k.a., the East Fork of the White River). According to Wikipedia, 23 of its 87 miles are in underground caverns. Reading about chthonic waters recently, my mind turned toward the Lost River. Not thirty minutes from my house flows a river between the worlds. Orangeville Rise But first, a…