Journey 1/23/17
I take down the Brigidâs cross hanging from the apartment door, and bring it to my desk. I make an offering of wine and a lit candle in front of the cross.Â
I put on Anatâs garnet necklace for protection. I draw a few things on a piece of paper with colored pencils - what I want to wear, what else I want to have for protection (besides my necklace), what I want to offer, and where I want to begin. Then I enter the trance.
--
I am walking down the steps into the labyrinth, where I always begin. I am wearing my drawing - a brown hooded cloak (the hood is up). I am barefoot. There is a garland of bay leaves around my neck, and a silver circlet around my head with a garnet gem. There is a garnet around my neck, as well. The garnets are raw, unpolished. I weave the elements around myself - Air, then Water, then Earth, then Fire. I am carrying a cauldron filled with flame (one of the offerings I drew - I also drew a cup of wine, but it never appeared in the journey, I suspect because I offered real wine before journeying, which was good enough). The cauldron feels like cast iron but it is the color of copper. The flame is warm and bright, and lights my way.
At the end of the stairway is the usual dark hallway. At the end of the hallway is an arched gateway (which I drew as my starting point). Through the gateway I can see rolling green fields. I step through and feel a tingling. I am now in a vast field of flourishing grass and wildflowers. There is a path. I walk down it, and come to a thick, old forest. I am still holding the cauldron with the flame.
I enter the forest with no reservations. Soon enough, I come to a small clearing. Jacob is there, in a similar brown hooded cloak, though his hood is down. He is both an elderly man, a middle aged man, and a young man all at once. His beard changes colors as he moves, going from long and white to short cropped brown streaked with grey to barely stubble. He isnât smiling, but his energy isnât hostile. He kneels down, and I kneel too. He holds up his hands, palms outward. I do the same, and we press our palms together. I feel a warm golden energy pouring into me. I gasp, feeling a little light headed. He nods, satisfied, and disappears. I continue out of the clearing deeper into the forest.
Soon I come across a stable. I know I should go in there. There is a black horse with a white mane and tail in the stable, and she is restless to be freed. I let her out of her stall, and she nudges me with her nose. She wants me to ride her. Iâve never seen a horse like her before. She is glossy and graceful, and her eyes are a sparkling brown. As soon as I climb on her back - there is no saddle, I am just clinging to her - she starts to gallop.Â
She takes me to a small cottage, somewhere else in the woods. The cottage has a thatched roof and vines completely covering the outer walls. There are wildflowers everywhere. It feels safe, so I enter. I still have the cauldron with the burning flame, and I set it in the hearth, which is in the center of the main room. There seem to be stairs that go up, but I do not follow them. I make my way to the kitchen, where there is a large pot. I start filling the pot with various herbs - a white flower, a yellow flower, green leaves, dark brown roots, a mushroom. These plants just spill out of my hands, I do not remember picking them anywhere and they were not already in the room.
Once the pot is full of plants, I fill it with water from a sink. I then hang it from a rod over the fire in the hearth, so that it boils. As it boils an amazing aroma - fragrant, floral, calming - begins to rise from the pot. I feel the urge to leave the cottage - the black horse is still waiting outside. I ask for her name and she says it is âElmeera.â I ask if she is a spirit and she says yes. She tells me it is time to ride again, we must go to the spring.
She takes me to a small spring in another clearing. The water is fresh and cool. I kneel by the edge and put my face in the water. Something dull and grey begins to seep out of my face, floating to the top of the water and bubbling. I feel lighter. My hair is dripping and the hood of my cloak is soaked, and the bay leaves around my neck seem to be gone. I get up and feel suddenly vulnerable. Elmeera is there, urging me to leave. âIt will rise up,â she says. I donât know what this means, but get the feeling we should leave. I let her take me away.
She takes me to a huge tree. For some reason, I am holding the cauldron with the flame again. I circle the tree with the flame once, then set the cauldron on the ground in front of the tree. There is an opening in the tree trunk, and Elmeera tells me I have to enter. I crawl inside - the opening seems to expand around me, giving me more space. I make my way through the tree trunk into a dark, cozy, secret place. There is another flame here. It covers me entirely and I feel hotter than the sun. I am burning and shivering all at once. When I canât stand it anymore, I come out of the tree and Elmeera is gone. I feel like something isnât quite right so I get out a bow and arrow (the last thing I had drawn before the journey). The arrow is red shafted, with a black arrowhead. The bow is also red. I get ready to fire at whatever might spring out of the shadows. I feel Jacob beside me, his hand on my shoulder. Itâs time to go. Itâs time to come back.
--
I open my eyes, back in my room. I prey to Brigid, asking Her to help my husband and I get the house we put an offer on tonight. I pull three cards from the Pythia Botanica Oracle Deck, asking for a message from Brigid:
SEA CHANGE (Protea) -Â âThe wind will call you by a new nameâ (as I pulled this card, the actual wind outside was blowing incredibly strongly, making my window panes shake)
INFLUENCE (Indigo) -Â âTrust and realize your most vivid dreams - let yourself in.â
SACRIFICE (Anemone) -Â âDarkness - it wonât feel this way at first, but it was all worth it.â
