Gate: Two of Swords
I passed through the vision gate and found myself standing on a dark ground that absorbed the light. The world’s surface moved slightly as I stepped on it like the outside of a bubble and, as my feet applied pressure to the ground, the darkness of the ground turned to light. I walked forward to explore the realm further, leaving a trail of brightly glowing footprints in my wake.
After some time moving through an empty and seemingly lifeless world and cutting a new path through it, I sensed movement above me. A winged horse descended from the skies above and atop the horse was an armored warrior with a spear. The horse landed gracefully in my path and the warrior spirit dismounted to stand proudly upon the shadowed earth.
“I am Jason,” the warrior said. “I followed your progress through this realm because of the light that follows in your footsteps. Would you, spirit of the sun, join me and my men on our quest? We need someone like you to light our path through the shadows.”
“I’m afraid you have me mistaken for someone else,” I said. “I walk more often beneath the light of the moon than the sun. My name is Heidi and I am a servant and messenger for a higher power. I have come to this world seeking its true nature and have yet to encounter anyone other than you, Jason. Therefore, even though I come from the waking world and not the sun, maybe I was sent here to be of assistance to you. I’m honored to join your number, if only for a brief moment in time.”
The warrior smiled. “Come on then, Heidi of the moon and sometimes sun,” Jason said. “My warriors await my arrival and now yours as well.” We climbed onto the magnificent winged horse and took off into the sky. As we flew, the ground beneath us took on the normal appearance of earth rather than a shadowy realm of darkness set upon an empty bubble.
“What is your quest?” I asked, wrapping my arms tightly around the warrior’s waist in order to retain my seat. “Maybe I’ll remember the story associated with it and can help with the inevitable trials and patterns it contains.”
“We seek the golden fleece!” he exclaimed. “A treasure of legend and myth, and one worthy of the combined search efforts of a prince such as I and my honorable companions.”
“That is an epic quest and I remember parts of the established story,” I said, brushing some strands of hair from my face. “As for more recent additions to the canon, I’ve seen a lamb or two on my journeys through the Inner Worlds but none with a fleece of gold. They’ve all been examples of typical sheep with cream or ivory colored coats, soft to the touch but otherwise unremarkable.”
“The story I was told in my childhood relates that the golden fleece originated from a godly ram who was a son of Poseidon. In your travels, did you ever see any flocks near water? Perhaps our treasure may be found near the sea. At any rate, once we find it, the golden fleece will return my throne to me,” Jason said. “If my uncle keeps the promise he made before the gods and any who would listen.”
“Sometimes promises are not kept, especially when it comes to an exchange of power,” I said. “However, I hope we find the fleece quickly so that you may resume your place as king and anointed leader of your people. I know a thing or two about not being able to find the place that was meant for you in creation.”
“What seems to be your difficulty around that issue, Heidi?” Jason asked. “Do you lack the power to assert yourself? My warriors and I could help you with that once we finish our own quest.”
“I have serious memory issues when it comes to the other worlds, Prince,” I said. “If there is a place I belong or a people who claim me as their own, I can’t remember it or them and therefore can’t find my way back. But I do appreciate the offer of assistance, and if I ever do remember where my true home is, you and your companions will be the first I call upon when the time comes.”
Silence fell between us as Jason’s horse flew swiftly through the skies and we eventually touched down among a group of heavily armed warriors at the foot of a mountain. As soon as Jason and I joined their number, we began to scale its formidable heights. A bright light shone at the top of the mountain which I assumed was our final destination and the location of the treasure the men sought. The path that we were ascending was winding and exceedingly difficult so, after some hours of struggling, I brought the company to a halt.
“Prince and warriors, why can’t we just fly to the top of the mountain?” I said. “This walk is arduous and it doesn’t need to be so. Let’s pretend we’re birds and ascend the heights through the air rather than crawling upon the ground. It’s so much more fun.”
Jason’s second-in-command looked at me as if I had grown a second head. “We are men, not birds or children who play pretend,” he said. Turning to the Prince he murmured, “Where’d you find this one? Take her back, she’s lost her wits to the shadows.”
“What a rude thing to say, especially when I’m only trying to make your lives a little easier,” I said, causing myself to rise through the air with a thought, as easily as a dust mote upon the breeze. “Sometimes I think adults with closed minds like you are just frightened children pretending to be grownup to make themselves feel superior to everyone around them. Everyone has an imagination, whether young or old, male or female, man or beast. Why not use them to make our lives better?” Instead of approval, the company took in my words and aerial display with unexpected horror, grabbed my feet and brought me back to earth to walk among them once more.
“We cannot go that way, Heidi, like spirits of the air or sky,” Jason said. “If it was that simple, I’d just use the son of Pegasus to ferry us up there one at a time. This is more than a disagreement about the proper way to move through the world. The fleece belongs to the gods and the struggle is our sacrifice for its acquisition. It is as much a part of the journey as its desired end.”
“As you wish it, Prince, but know you all suffer from a severe lack of imagination,” I said. “The patterns of existence will always remain the same with struggle built into them if we, the ones who walk the paths, do not find new ways to approach the trials. If you want to continue the difficult way up the mountain, then I am not going to prevent you. I will stand beside you in solidarity and suffering though it does not have to be this way.”
“Thank you for adding your sacrifice to our own,” Jason said. “After this is all completed, you must show me how you move through the sky without a steed. I could see such knowledge being as valuable in time as the fleece itself.”
“You have my word on it,” I said, shaking the prince’s hand. Then, we took to the difficult path once more and our struggle to ascend the mountain continued for an unmarked period of time.
Finally, after much effort, we reached the summit where a gleaming, white staircase led to a temple that emitted a shining, golden light. Cautiously, Jason moved forward to begin the steps with me and his warriors following closely behind him. Suddenly, there was a piercing shriek and a dark figure hurtled down from the sky and landed on the steps. Her arms were the wings of a predatory bird and she was clothed in darkness and shadow. Fire issued forth from her eyes and her tongue was a living serpent.
“Jason, wandering prince of a lost kingdom,” the creature screamed. “You shall go no further. Turn back now or I will be forced to slay you and your men. This temple belongs to the sky and you, of the earth, are not welcome here.”
“It is a harpy sent by the shadows to keep us from our treasure!” Jason exclaimed. “We do not fear you, demon spawn. Your words are as fuel to the fires of our warrior spirits. We shall demonstrate to you the fearsome power of those who walk upon the surface of the earth.” The warriors gathered themselves about their prince, preparing to attack the harpy. Before they could throw their weapons, I rushed up the steps and put myself between the two opposing forces.
“Harpies are sacred messengers of the gods,” I said. “Though her appearance is frightening and her manner combative, she may have information that will help us on our way. I will brave this peril for you as one messenger to another.” I turned to the harpy, steeling my heart against the fear that poured off of her in waves. “Have you a message, Storm Born? If not, these warriors spell your doom for you are but one and they are many.”
The harpy laughed in my face, the serpent upon her tongue spitting poison. “No, foolish one, it is your doom you see before you,” she said. “The one who sent me will speak with you now. Listen well and die.” The darkness increased around the harpy and she began to grow in size. Her feathers became dark robes and she turned into a god, crowned with iron and dressed in shadows.
“It is Hades himself! Zeus have mercy upon us all!” Jason yelled and all of the men in his company seemed to go mad. They foamed at the mouth and groaned, throwing themselves to the ground in agony. I ran to Jason but his eyes were rolled back into his head and he gave no indication that he heard me as I shook his shoulder and tried to bring him back to my reality.
“Don’t worry, Prince,” I whispered into his unconscious ear. “I will yet brave this peril for you. Take heart in whatever world you now walk in and keep your men together. You will need them when this nightmare passes.” I rose from my knees and approached the god upon the temple steps. “Great One, why do you honor us with your presence today?” I said, lowering my eyes to the ground in respect. “What have we done to draw your godly attention?”
The shuddering and shaking war party became very still upon the ground. If I had not observed their chests rising and falling, I would have thought they died in that moment upon the mountain top. The world around the god and I became very still and resumed a lifeless appearance as a deep shadow covered the sun above.
When the god finally spoke, his voice was deep but very soft, barely perceptible above the light breaths of the sleeping warband. “I come from my brother and speak his words and will. His message for Jason is that he shall not have this fleece,” Hades said. “The completion of the quest is the start of his dream’s death and it is not yet time for that, so says the lord of the sky and storms. I would add that his uncle’s death draws nigh and the prince needs not the fleece to claim his birth rite, but this foreknowledge was not sanctioned by my brother and shall remain between us.” The god walked a few steps towards me as I stood at the base of the staircase. “My presence does not drive you mad,” he observed. “Who are you and why do you walk with these warriors of old?”
“My name is Heidi, Lord Hades,” I replied. “I walk with Jason and his companions because I was wandering lost in this world until the prince found me and invited me to do so, giving a focus to my somewhat scattered existence. I will deliver the message as you and your brother desire. There is no need to remain above the ground if you wish to return to your seat of power.”
“You are not from this place or time, and that is why you could not see those who were living their destinies around you,” the god said. “This realm is not as empty as it appears to your sight. In my timeless and eternal presence, you should regain some clarity so stand in my shadow and speak true, what are you doing here, Heidi?”
“I have come from another world to learn whatever lessons that you and the ruling powers of this realm may teach me,” I said. “I was called to this path by a vision from beyond and will walk it until my time upon the earth is through. You have greater insight than I as to what comes after death but I might stay the course even then.”
“You speak of seeking the mysteries of creation which is a particular interest of mine. However, this additional quest you’re undertaking for Prince Jason’s sake may bring you to the end of your time more quickly than if you didn’t walk the paths at all and rejected the call of this vision of yours,” Hades said. “But I suppose there is no avoiding destiny when it presents itself in your experience as you have described to me. I will answer your questions about my nature, Heidi, but what lessons might one learn of death other than the touch of fear and madness?” The god came closer still, descending the steps as smoothly as water down a hill slope.
“The Divine Mother taught me that death is the other side of life, the other half of a tunnel of eternal existence. As our eyes open, so they close. As our eyes close, so they open again,” I said, fighting a burgeoning fear in my heart at Hades’ unstoppable approach. “She showed me this universal truth and she bid me not to be afraid at any step on my life’s journey, no matter the circumstances. So though I still feel fear when I contemplate death, I know I should not. It is a never ending struggle with the shadows inside my own spirit.”
When I finished speaking, I felt an object like a smooth stone appear upon my tongue. I reached into my mouth and removed the star that the Divine Mother had placed there once upon a time in a different world. “May this form from the Mother prove the truth of my words,” I said and, bowing in respect, I gave the shining star to the god.
“The Great Mother spoke with you?” Hades said. “I was unaware of any who walked the earth who yet value her wisdom as I do.” The god raised the star to his lips and swallowed it. The gift from the Divine Mother glowed within him and whereas before he had been all darkness and shadows, now he was lit from within by its softly glowing splendor. “If she deemed you worthy of instruction then so shall I, Heidi,” Hades said “Come with me to my realm if you would learn the lessons of the Underworld under my tutelage.”
Hades offered me his arm. “I will go with you, Lord Hades, if you swear to me that Jason and his men will recover,” I said, gesturing to the warriors who remained in a cursed sleep upon the mountain. “I could not protect them from whatever nightmare your mere presence provoked. Please have mercy, Great One. Their reason for scaling the heights was to return Jason to his appointed place in creation. Shouldn’t he take up the mantle of his father and rule?”
“Civilization’s churning wheels are of no interest to me and I have nothing to say about who should rule what and when. However, our departure will provide immediate relief to those who walked beside you,” Hades said. “I do so swear it.” Accepting the god’s word, I took his arm and we sank through the mountain with the Temple of the Golden Fleece through the earth, its attendant shadows and into another world.
I blinked and found myself seated at a long feasting table to the left of Hades. To his right was a spirit in the form of a delicate looking woman with long flowing red hair. “You see before you my wife and most treasured companion, Persephone,” the god said, handing the goddess his own cup from the table. “Dear One, I have brought someone to lift your spirits,” Hades said to his wife. “She is from another world like you.”
Persephone drank from the god’s cup and nodded to me once in greeting but remained otherwise silent and as still as a shadow. “I am honored to be in your presence, Great One,” I said. “I am a messenger for those in the waking world and a servant of the Creator of All. I feel compelled to say your mother misses you. Have you any message you desire to convey to the realm of the living?”
The goddess turned her curiously dead eyes in my direction. “If my mother cared for me at all, I would not be here,” she said. “Tell her that and leave me in peace.”
“I do not believe these words are true but I will speak them if you wish,” I said. “Though I’ve never spoken to Demeter directly, I’m certain she does not desire a life of suffering for you.” When I received no further response or acknowledgement of any kind from the queen, I turned my attention back to Hades.
“You are Lord of the Underworld which I expect is a weighty calling and places many demands on your time,” I said. “How do you spend your days when you have the freedom to act as you wish?”
“I call up the shades of the past, and Persephone and I learn much from them. Whom would you speak to?” Hades said. “Though the dead by necessity cross the river of forgetfulness into our domain, they still retain some memory of the lessons they learned in their most recent life journey. Our godly presence and wills strengthen their memory even further, leading to some surprising revelations before my throne and hers.”
“Please call whoever you believe will teach us the most to this time and place, Great One,” I said. “I bow to your wisdom and long experience with the dead.”
Hades inclined his head and I felt a new energy pouring from the god, an inescapable summons to those who dwelt in the realms of the Underworld. In the open space in front of the god’s table, the shining spirit of an older man who was reclining on a Grecian couch rose from the ground. He wore a white robe and had a cup in his hands that he was just bringing down from his lips.
“Be welcome to my table, philosopher of old,” the god said, sending the spirit a piece of fruit from his own plate and it placed itself in the ancient one’s hand. “You will answer my guest’s questions then I will return you to your eternal slumber. If your words please me, I will send you into a dream of such happiness and joy that you will believe yourself to dwell in the house of the most blessed in existence.”
“As you wish, Lord Hades,” the spirit said, rising somewhat from his position upon the couch to eat the fruit. The food seemed to have an invigorating effect upon the spirit as he took on more substance and light after its consumption. “Though I have zero complaints about my treatment in your domain thus far. You did not insist I drink from a poisoned cup for my thoughts.”
“Who are you, spirit?” I asked, curiously.
“When I walked among the living, I was called Socrates,” the spirit replied, blinking as if awakening from sleep and looking around Hades’ throne room as curious as I. “I must be dead though I do not remember passing through that final doorway. In fact, now that I consider it, I remember very little beyond my own name. I wonder what happened to my guiding daimona? She was always so forthright with me.” Socrates threw the cup he was holding over his shoulder and it vanished.
“Thy daimon and daimona both wander my halls and await thy arrival among the blessed,” Hades murmured. “Never let it be said Persephone and I separate ancestral spirits from one another in the seat of our power.”
“I am humbled by your beneficence, Lord of Death,” Socrates said, bowing his head once in reverence. “This is ironic for my death was ordered for my impiety. You bless even those others deem worthy of your scorn. You should instruct your priests in your godly ways.”
“You are known throughout the ages for asking many questions, wise Socrates,” I said. “May I ask a question of you?” The spirit nodded, good naturedly. “What drove you to act the way you did in life? What was your guiding star and moral compass?”
Socrates paused for a moment in reflection. “One may as well ask what causes the sun to rise each day,” he said finally. “As the sun rises, so too is the genesis and animating intelligence of Socrates. What can the sun do but shine down upon the living? What could I do but guide my illuminating thoughts to the shadows and questions that walked in the worlds of science, philosophy, mathematics, the minds of men? As the sun also sets, so too did my time upon earth end. I hope my students remember that the sun will rise again and those who nurture and grow the sum total of the knowledge of humankind cannot be kept from shining, no matter how many cups of poison they hand out to the unjustly accused for speaking their minds.”
“Do you feel like you helped people throughout your life’s journey and made the world a better place before you left?” I asked.
“Who knows? None but the gods,” the ancient scholar responded. “But I certainly made them wonder about universal truths and this is a worthy pastime. When you walk the halls of the Underworld in your appointed time, find me, curious spirit, and we will drink wine together and speak of all the unanswered questions of the worlds of philosophy. I look forward to our future meeting.” With those words, Socrates faded away, sinking back into the floor of Hades’ palatial dining hall.
“I have always liked him,” whispered Persephone, so quietly that at first I thought I only imagined she spoke. “The next spirit is of my choosing, messenger from another world. Attend his words carefully.”
Another shade rose in Socrates’ place, a tall man with a sad and far-away look on his face, dressed in a dark suit and stovepipe hat. He reached up and took his hat off as Hades gave him a piece of fruit from his plate as he had with the philosopher.
“You will share your wisdom with us, Abraham,” Hades said. The spirit nodded as he chewed the fruit and became more substantial than he had been before. “If your words please me, I will send you in a dream to one of your lineage and you will be free to share your wisdom and knowledge with them as you do at this moment before my table.”
“You walked the earth often in my days upon it, Lord of Death,” said Abraham Lincoln. “I do not relish standing in your presence again, but the Lord God always protected me as I set about serving my country at a crucial hour of its existence. Speak your questions and I will answer with as much wisdom as He allows me.”
“Hello, Mr. Lincoln, thank you for your generosity of spirit for appearing at this place and time,” I said. “I learned from the historians of our world that you lived a life of great courage and sacrifice for the good of all. I would know whatever you wish to share with me from your life experience, that which you deem most important.”
“I will speak with you as I said but first I would like to know how you know my name. Where am I?” the great statesman asked, confusion taking the place of depression upon his features. “My God promised those who believed in Him an eternal existence in heaven. This place looks nothing like what I expected and you do not look like an angel either, more like someone who could have been friends with my wife. Do I know you?”
“I am no angel, Mr. Lincoln. I am simply a woman who walks the Inner Realms seeking wisdom and the answers to a vision I have been given. You are dead, sir, but I would venture to say most if not all Americans alive today know your name,” I said. “Have no fear, heaven waits for you. I know it is so because I have been there and spoken with God. They and their angels are all that was promised in your religion and you shall be held in their arms in joy and peace until time itself comes to an end if this is what you so desire.”
“Then I may lay down my great burden at last,” Lincoln said, relief animating his tones. “Learn from me, wandering spirit, that those of faith are rewarded in death and receive goodness and mercy from a God who can seem so distant and absent on earth. Now that I have spoken my truth, I find myself remembering that so many soldiers died because of orders from me. I must go and thank them all for their service and dedication to a cause that they may not have even believed in.” He handed me his hat and turned to walk away into the shadows.
“Wait! Mr. Lincoln,” I said. “What is it that made you, yourself? What drove your life and acted as your guiding star?”
The spirit looked at me over his shoulder. “The thirst for learning and the desire to be of service to God and my country moved me all my life and directed my steps,” Lincoln said. “My love for my family and fellow man as well. I remember so much now, how could I have forgotten my family? I want to see my wife and sons. Please let me go to them.” Looking to Lord Hades who nodded in agreement, the great spirit faded from my sight and I was left holding his iconic hat which disappeared shortly after the man did.
“This is an amazing learning opportunity for me and I hope you fulfill the promises you have made to these spirits, Lord Hades,” I said. “It’s a wonder to my mind that you are ever able to accomplish anything at all with the combined knowledge of those who lived before at your summons. I would sit around in conversation for ages in an effort to learn their part of the universal patterns.”
“Those who sit at my table and speak with the dead bring their own priorities with them though they may not know this or even be aware of that which drives them,” Hades said. “Who is your god, Heidi? And what have you learned from the shades thus far? In your answer, you reveal yourself and your secret heart so speak the truth as well as you are able.”
“The god of my fathers is the one Lincoln just spoke of,” I said. “Though I have moved away from the teachings of my childhood, I retain from them the lesson that God is Love and thus I consider myself a Servant of Love as well as a messenger from the one who put the stars in motion. I call them the Creator of All and though I have not seen this being with my eyes, I have heard their voice in the throne room of the Living God. They seemed to me to speak with the voice of every god and goddess in existence but then, to my own ears, they sounded like a singular deity who said they loved me and all in creation.”
“As for the lessons I have learned at your table thus far,” I continued. “I consider Socrates to be a mighty spirit of learning from the ancient world and treasured hearing his mind at work through the words that fell from his lips. He ended his communication with us with an invitation of friendship and further opportunities for learning, which is a message of love. President Lincoln spoke of duty and service to his God and country first but then seemed to remember more of the great loves of his life, his family and fellow men, at the end of his communication as well. I am moved through existence by Love and seem to invite those around me to express themselves in this manner in my presence too.”
“My beloved wife also spoke with you and chose one of the spirits from the multitudes just for you,” Hades said. “She has not stirred herself to express her unique voice in some time and I am greatly pleased by the cheering effect you have had upon her. Despite her melancholy and habitual sadness, I can feel her deathless spirit reawakening like a flower beginning her emergence from a seed whose potential was given up long ago. So you see, Heidi, as you were learning at my side, you performed a service for love with your presence for me today and I will return the favor to you. May your gods of love and creation witness what comes next.”
Hades raised his wife’s unresponsive hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss. “Remember we may speak with anyone at all, Heidi,” the god said and nodded his head in summons one more time. “This last spirit I call in honor of my Persephone and the love I bear for her. When you return to your waking world, remind them of this love in addition to what you have learned from the shades of the past today.”
In response to Hades’ summons, a spirit rose from the earth with his arms outstretched as if in supplication to the sky and a crown of thorns on his head. He bled from his hands, feet and side from terrible wounds to his body. I waited for Hades to offer the spirit fruit from his table to sustain him in the Underworld, but the god remained still, holding his wife’s hand and observing my reaction to the spirit’s appearance. The shade of Christ opened his eyes and looked directly at me as I sat at Hades’ table in surprised silence.
“Is it done then?” Christ asked, lowering his arms to his side. I nodded, not trusting my voice as tears filled my eyes at his tortured appearance.
As I wept and opened my mouth to speak the grief I felt bubbling up within me, Persephone’s eyes suddenly lit up as if filled with the moon at its fullness and voices began to emerge from her open mouth, streaming from her spirit in an unstoppable flood of emotion and loss. “My son, son,” the goddess cried. “What have they done to my beloved son? My husband, my love, why you and not another? Why the one I love, he has done nothing wrong. Father, father, do not leave me in this world alone. Father, come back to us, come back to us. We need you.” Hades took the edge of his dark cloak and covered his queen’s shining face, breaking her gaze upon the spirit of Christ. As he did so, the voices ceased and Persephone resumed her silent but watchful presence at the god’s side.
“Servant of Love,” Hades said. “I give your sacrificed god back to you. I claim no dominion over him and never have.”
I closed my mouth, struggling to compose myself from the waves of grief that continued to move through me as the wounds on Christ’s body healed and he was covered in a shining robe. “Do not mourn, woman,” he said, noticing my distress as my tears began to dry. “All is as it should be.”
After Christ spoke words of comfort to me, Hades removed his cloak from Persephone’s visage and her eyes appeared as lifeless as they had been before her outpouring of emotion. As he wiped a single tear from her cheek, the goddess’ altered face and spoken words touched my sadness and changed it, crystalizing the emotion I was experiencing from despair to anger, burning anger at the ruling powers of the worlds including those of life and death who allowed such grief to exist.
I found words pouring unbidden from my lips. “How do you know that all is as it should be? Gods do not die. Yet here you are, as dead as any demigod, prophet or visionary who walked the earth before you, like countless sons, loved ones, and fathers throughout time,” I said. “Did you hear Persephone’s voice, sharing the cries of those who stood in your shadow? Where was your god when they needed you?”
“Of course I would find you here, woman,” Christ said. “Speak the words of the Great Adversary lest they poison your spirit with their unexpressed rage. I never left you nor abandoned you on the paths of life. It is you who wandered away from me.”
“And why wouldn’t I? You died first,” I said. “Where do you find your faith in the Creator of All and the strength to walk the paths they ask of us when they allow suffering like that to occur? How do those you left behind know the many sacrifices they made in your name and memory were not done in vain?”
“I made a great sacrifice too,” Christ said. “All suffered and all shall be fulfilled as was promised in the beginning.”
“I can’t remember what was promised in the beginning anymore because it has been lost to my spirit in the innumerable years since,” I said. “Do you know I come from a time where you have been gone for over two thousand years?”
“What is time to God or you or me? Your anger has not cooled in the eons of existence so why should the Lord’s love for his creation falter either,” Christ said.
“Love? You speak of love but I don’t think you understand the term,” I said. “The tears shed for your sake should be repaid in literal gold but they never will be for the ruling powers couldn’t care less about any of us or you.”
“Now we move into discussions about the dominion of the earth, as usual,” Christ said. “Calm yourself, messenger, I hear and attend your words. Listen and attend unto me. You ask me where I find my faith and I would ask the same of you. Whose creation are you exploring so diligently along every path you can find? Do you not remember that what animates all the worlds animates you?”
“This force also fuels my anger at the imperfection of reality,” I said. “All should be taken apart and built again. We should go back to the beginning and remake existence in a manner that is more pleasing to all involved than this series of connected hells.”
“God also lights the torches of mercy and forgiveness,” Christ said. “Tap into those healing waters and you will find the anger of the abyss leaving you. You do not know what you are asking of me.”
“All things are possible with God,” I said. “Why should I not ask for a better world for all of us? No, I demand it.”
“How can you not see the perfection of God’s creation the way that it is? There are none who walk the paths of existence outside of His unconditional love and mercy, even the wolves, the lost, and the unforgiving,” Christ said and turned his face from me. “Walk with me, woman, and remember all you once knew and loved so fiercely that the shadow of this love causes such suffering. We shall see who else is here from the Father, waiting for my arrival among them to spread His message of love and forgiveness through a sacrifice made for all in creation. In this way, you will remember my essential nature and yours too. You were not meant to eternally weep or rage at your loss. You are meant to join me in paradise, so join me and learn that there is more to faith than mere words. There is also the power of direct experience and knowing. Be at peace and serve.”
My anger fled from my spirit all at once and I stood from Hades’ table as if in a trance, following the god who didn’t fade away like the other shades but seemed to grow with light and become more solid the further he traveled into the Underworld. The darkness and shadows fled before his illuminating presence and everywhere he walked there was light. I walked in the footsteps of Christ and saw with my own eyes the effect he had on those around him.
“My children, my brothers, my disciples,” Christ said. “I have come to free you from bondage to fear and death. Follow me to paradise.” Innumerable shadows and faintly illuminated spirits began to gather from all corners of the caves and stony hallways through which we passed and began to follow Christ through the Underworld in his footsteps as much as I.
Deep within the realm of the dead, we came to the shore of a wide river and a boat stood on the banks. When Christ nodded a greeting to Charon, the Keeper of the Boat, the ferryman transformed from an imposing guardian into a shining bridge of light over the river.
Christ placed himself at the entrance to this bridge. The shades of the dead who had been following him, some no more corporeal than faint mist, rushed forth from the shadows behind us. As they passed through Christ and over the bridge, they ignited from within by simply touching his energy and became solid in appearance just like him as they passed into another world. I approached the bridge too, unconcerned by the crowds pressing by us which were far too numerous to count.
As those who had been lost were given forms again, so too were their voices restored and they began to sing songs such as those I heard long ago in the halls of heaven. The reanimated spirits had the voices of angels and their lost parts of the songs of creation again sounded and further added to the illumination that was taking place on the bridge.
The beauty of the songs went into my heart and tears filled my eyes as Christ’s light touched me and I lit up like the other shades as I took my first step upon the bridge. “The bodies of the living make us forget our essential natures and strip our faith from us,” he said, speaking to all who stood near or took the bridge. “Do not forget that you are love. We are the living embodiment of the love of God for all creation. Remember and serve.”
I fell to my knees in the center of the bridge as a song came from my heart and added to the light. “Forgive me,” I whispered. “Forgive my anger. I could bear losing anyone but you.”
Christ’s voice spoke in my mind. “It is finished,” he said. Then, Christ, the bridge and all the spirits upon it disappeared in a brilliant flash of light and I found myself sitting under a large, golden tree covered in fruit.
“Heidi, Heidi,” came a whisper from the tree. “Taste of my fruit. I was formed to grow your knowledge of creation.” I walked up to the tree and took a long look at the fruit hanging from its branches.
The apples were as golden as the rest of the tree and I could almost see words upon their skin, swirling and changing in the light that came from the tree. I reached for a piece of fruit, drawn towards it shifting words as surely as a moth to a flame, but then a voice spoke at my shoulder. “Badgers don’t like apples, do we?” the voice said.
I smiled in remembrance of a time long past. “No, we don’t and I’m not hungry anyway. Let’s read the apples instead of eating them,” I said and, instead of plucking the fruit, I wrapped my arms around the tree’s trunk and was absorbed into it by a power outside of my own. For a time, I became the tree, stretching up high into the sky and deep down into the earth with my roots, living a simple existence as a plant in creation with no demands on my consciousness other than to be exactly as I was.
Light flashed again and I found myself in the sky, standing at the foot of a staircase that was wreathed in clouds and led to unimaginable heights above. On a throne at the top of the stairs, a god dressed in robes sat in state, holding a light of bright energy in the shape of a lightning bolt in his hand. The clouds moved around us in a gathering storm as I began to take the stairway up to speak to the god of the sky.
“Zeus, Jupiter, Great One, hear me,” I called as I climbed. “I hope my appearance here isn’t unwelcome. I come seeking your wisdom and knowledge of the mysteries of creation.” The wind began to blow fiercely so I ceased my journey upon the steps, waiting for the storm to pass so that I could continue onwards.
“I hear you, young one, and I see your struggles,” the god said and began to descend the steps towards me, moving through the storm as if it wasn’t there. “I did not expect to see you at this time but you are not unwelcome. How did you come to this time and place? You were not here then suddenly you were, as unexpected as a bolt from the clear blue sky.”
I sat on the steps at Zeus’ feet and recounted traveling with the heroes on the mountain ascent, meeting his brother Hades and our descent into the Underworld, passing across the bridge of light with the god who died but lived, remembering my part of the songs of creation, and becoming the golden tree, finally reaching the present moment. Zeus smiled as my recitation ended and stood from his seat upon the stair where he had reclined during my lengthy tale. “What a storyteller you are, Heidi. Now you are here to learn from me a lesson of the ones who dwell in the sky rather than beneath the earth?” the god asked.
“I desire that very much, Zeus,” I said. “Allow me to understand your true nature as well as Hades.”
“Follow me then,” the god said. “My brother is not the only one of the pantheon who knows how to impart a message or who loves.”
Zeus changed his form from an elderly man in white robes into an enormous swan and took off into the sky, launching himself from the marble steps. I transformed as well into a much smaller swan and flew with him, following Zeus from the sky to the earth far below.
We landed in a clear, still lake surrounded by woods under a full moon at night. Zeus went to the lake’s edge, transformed himself into a hooded figure and began to walk down a path that appeared in the moonlight. I turned back from a bird to a woman and followed. The god led me to a busy tavern at a crossroads with many spirits eating and drinking within.
Once inside, Zeus went directly to a table with a group of men who seemed to be downcast, frowning into their drinks and staring at each other in gloomy silence. I recognized the warband as Jason and his warrior companions whom I had last seen going mad at the feet of Hades. I opened my mouth to say hello when Zeus caught my eye and shook his head very slightly at me in the negative. “Allow me to brave this peril for you,” the god whispered in my mind and I shut my mouth again.
“Why so glum!” The god-in-disguise asked the men, spreading his shrouded arms above their table as if in blessing. “It is a fine night for drinking and the telling of epic tales.”
“We have failed in our quest, losing both the messenger and the opportunity to enter the sky temple in one fell blow of misfortune,” Jason said. “And now contemplate returning home with nothing to show for our labors. I shall never claim my crown now or be anyone of worth in this lifetime. Zeus has turned his favor from me.”
“Is that so?” Zeus replied with a twinkle in his eye. “Care for a game of chance with me to change your future prospects?”
“What is the prize?” asked Jason, frowning. “I’m afraid my future is set in stone now, no matter the treasure on offer. My part in the great story of my civilization is done.”
From a bag at his side, Zeus pulled out the edge of a shining pelt that filled the men’s eyes with golden light. “When I was your age, I had many adventures, some of which have been told and others that have yet to find their way to listening ears. As a prize for gaming with me tonight, I offer you the golden fleece, taken from a protected temple under the sky god’s dominion among the clouds,” said Zeus. “Is it a rich enough reward to tempt you to further action and shake you from your depressed torpor?”
Jason and his men gasped in amazement at the object in the god’s hands. “We would play your game, stranger from unknown realms, but we have nothing to offer that is near the worth of that,” Jason said. “What is it that you desire upon the surface of the earth that is of equal worth to you?”
Zeus tilted his head at the great warrior. “If I win, you give me the youngest member of your party to do with as I please,” the god said. “Some treasures beyond price walk around upon the surface of the earth disguised as ordinary men and women. I will play for these stakes and you and your warriors will call me ‘Father’ when you address me again, win or lose. This game is no mere game, you see, but an acknowledgement and reestablishment of the kinship that exists between those in the heavens and those upon the earth.” The prince and his companions looked at each other and quickly agreed to the deal.
The god produced dice made of bone and they played a game of chance that I didn’t understand though I tried to comprehend the unspoken rules as the players rolled. The game was over so quickly that I assumed Zeus had purposefully lost as he good-naturedly handed over the prize of the golden fleece to the earthly prince. Jason and his men rose from the table in celebration and prepared to return home in triumph.
Before they left, Zeus instructed them, “Tell the ones at home that you fought the harpy and won but the messenger fell to the monster’s claws. It makes a better story and fits the old forms so well.”
“We shall speak of this acquisition as you desire, Father,” Jason said. “Thank you for giving my kingdom back to me. When I claim what is mine, my door shall always be open to you.” The prince and his warriors disappeared into the night, waving cheerily to me as they exited, not recognizing me as the lost woman who walked the beginning of their journey with them only as a companion to the mysterious benefactor who changed their lives for the better.
I purchased two flagons of beer with a coin I found on the floor and sat down next to Zeus at the busy bar, knocking elbows with the friendly strangers around me. I offered the god a drink and we sat together enjoying our beverages as the noisy crowd rolled around us like the tide upon the shore.
“I can’t tell you how many epic quests succeeded or failed on a moment’s chance or turn of fate, Heidi,” the god said. “When all hope seems lost for you as you journey through the worlds, remember my words and continue onwards in the knowledge that there are those who desire a happy outcome for you and whoever you encounter on the path to self knowledge. Take heart and never give up, Servant of Love. I wish for you to call me ‘Father’ in the future too, as much as the prince and his men.”
“I will be as a daughter to you, Father, and give you regular updates on my progress as allowed by the powers that be,” I said and raised my glass in a toast to Zeus’ words, drinking the last swallow of the vintage as the god did the same.
Then, I blinked and found myself on the dark, bubble-like ground from the beginning of the journey. As the light faded from my sight, I began to wander through the world again, looking for someone to talk to and learn from while leaving easily followed footsteps of light in my passage.
There my vision ended.
The Light Congress 