Breathe deeply.
The flames rage and crackle in fury, like popcorn imprisoned in a lidded bowl. The intensity pulls me from my seat into an ephemeral world. It’s a journey of sorts; I know deep within me that there is magic here.
It has been a wonderfully powerful day of synchronicities. I have seen them everywhere. I sensed them before they materialized.
Then he intrudes. The one that I call The Menace—that little voice that intrudes every time I want to do something truly meaningful for myself. I breathe deeper, let the noise float by on a cloud, taking it away from this space.
Today it feels different. The flames are stronger, and I am more connected “within” this time. This time l have pushed him away; he’s a construct of my own making, a persistent bug trying for more of my juice.
I allow the tug of the hearth; I allow the pull of the flames. I know that I am safe; it is time to surrender, to explore what awaits beyond the inferno, beyond the physical barrier. I sit and I focus on one mesmerizing, magnificent flame.
I unfocus my eyes, then close them. I breathe deeply of the hot air, inhale the heady aroma of cedar and sage carrying me deeper into this moment, away from what surrounds me into a place more otherworldly than I have experienced before.
The heat and fury now seem to be going on around me; they cause me no harm. I am in my inner sanctum, a place of protection. I am a part of the whole.
It is both seductive and sacred, flames lick in a slow dance. My breathing quietens to match them. The crackle becomes a subtle background sound, no longer a cause of distraction. I am calm, I am present, there are no more intrusions.
A whisper from the fire tickles my senses. “You are here to listen, so be still child, and open your heart; allow yourself to feel your way through the fire—there are great gifts to be had on this journey.”
There is a deepening, and I feel loved and comforted, held safe. All is as it should be.
I am beckoned from deep within my soul space. The sense of movement is mystical, and I realize I’m not actually walking. I am simply going to a place within; it is a metaphysical experience of this world.
My focus shifts the light, the flames become more fluid like; their warm, deep copper colors transcending to deep purples and blues.
An aurora now, no longer flames, encompassing all that is found here. I feel the presence of an old soul, a trusted and cherished friend. My thoughts bring her to my side.
The words are heard deeply but not spoken aloud. She tells me, “This is your homeland, your ancestry, and your birth right.”
She shows me the plain beyond her. Vast skies with constellations I have never seen before expanding down to a horizon of wild, lush grasses.
The whole of this place is formed of the aurora; concentrating on one spot causes the colors to deepen, bringing them into clarity. My eyes experiment; everywhere they land comes into glorious, sharp, and splendid relief.
The detail of the landscape dances into life in front of me. Where there is water, it is crystalline and clear. I can feel its coolness as a part of my being. Where there are grasslands, I feel their movement in the breeze within me. My sense of connection to this place is intrinsic to who I am.
I am at one with all that is.
I focus on the woman. I do know this beautiful soul; I have known her for a very long time. My mind briefly flickers back to The Menace, and she raises her gaze to the heavens.
High in the sky above me there is a swirling intense dark and smoky light, completely at odds with everything that surrounds us. As I breathe out, the air circulates and pushes the smoke away, and it dissipates.
She touches my arm again; her thoughts are my thoughts. “It is gone, and it no longer serves you. You are free from its grasp now.”
She tells me that I should return here often and gift myself the privilege of remembering. That I’ve lost none of the old ways, I just need to rediscover them. She tells me each time I come here, there will be a deepening of my understanding, a rise in my consciousness.
I ask, “Why?”
She nods and smiles with her wise, old eyes, and I feel her answer: You have chosen to return here; it is your time.
She rises and touches my shoulder gently. She is leaving, but she will be back the next time I visit; we have much to accomplish. She tells me that for now I should return to my home and journey in a dream state.
I feel a tug, a slight shift in energy, a shimmering, and a displacement. I am alone again before I could even thank her.
My eyes flicker open. My hearth fire is just warm embers now. The silence is welcome. The Menace is nowhere to be felt. I am blissfully Alive and Awakened. All is well.
