Gate: Ace of Wands
I entered the vision gate and found myself standing on a beach in the moonlight. The sand glowed with a white, unearthly light that came from the ground as much as the sky. The sea water with its foamy waves was as dark as the void and concealed all within its depths. I stood on the edge of the sand where the waves met the land, listening for a time to the soothing susurration of the sea. As I walked into the water, it receded before me, leaving all manner of treasures in its wake.
The first thing I found was a beautiful sea shell with a miniaturized version of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus inside it, rendered perfectly. As I continued forward, I discovered a diamond the size of my fist. When I looked inside this diamond, I could see myself inside of it, gazing at an infinite amount of my own reflections in its walls.
Then, an ancient treasure chest, partially buried beneath the sands, was revealed by the retreating sea. When I opened its shell-encrusted lid, a tao symbol floated out of the chest from on top of a pile of arcane symbols which all moved under their own power like living beings. As I went to close the treasure chest’s lid, the tao rejoined the symbols in the chest and the whole thing sank beneath the sands once more.
I was enjoying the search as I continued to push forward through the shining sands and the dark water swept itself away from the shore. Suddenly, spirits in the shape of human figures began to emerge from the retreating water and they swept towards me in a rushing crowd. These beings had no discernable features, they were made simply of light and the shadowed water from which they came.
I heard them murmuring as they came closer: “Welcome, Heidi, to the shores of your subconscious mind. We, the Light Congress, have come to greet you and to explore the treasures that you have unearthed on this journey.”
I held up my hand in greeting as the crowd swept over and through me, bringing a renewed feeling of life to the staleness left in the retreat of the sea. “Thank you for walking this path with me as both guardians and guides,” I said. “I could not have made it this far without your help, all of you. Let’s see what lies beneath the waves, shall we?”
The Light Congress scattered and cries of delight began to come from all around me as the figures moved quickly over the sand, unearthing further objects that had been left behind by the sea. One group of half a dozen spirits was working together and located an enormous anchor jutting from the sea floor. On the side of the anchor in block letters, the word ‘Hope’ was etched in its metal. My friends followed the chain leading from the top of the anchor to a scuttled pirate ship.
The spirits laughed and sang sea chanties as they unearthed and righted the ship, restoring it to its former glory. “Remember sailing with the pirates, Heidi?” one called to me.
“We remember you,” another cried with a jaunty salute.
“Put your backs into it, friends, we sail for the nearest island!” the sailors yelled in unison and gave a spirited cheer.
“As if I could ever forget any of you,” I replied and smiled at the memory. “I never dreamed I would sail with the pirates nor how much I’d love the adventure of it all.”
“Friends, come over here!” someone yelled. “I found the Castle of Skye!” An ambitious project began on the beach as the Light Congress unearthed the beautiful turrets and walls of the castle of Love from the glowing sand.
“How funny,” I said as I helped shift some of the concealing earth from the castle gates. “I thought we found Skye up in the clouds but here it is beneath the sea. How did that happen?”
I left the group uncovering the castle in order to press on towards the distant dark waters. As others of the Light Congress joined me, one of the figures of light found a simple crown on the beach. He brushed it off and handed it to me with an ornate flourish. “I presume this is yours,” he said. “Where do we go now, Heidi?” The crowd, which had been animatedly chatting and working, paused and turned towards me.
“Deeper in, my friends,” I said. “With so much help, perhaps we will find something together that none of us have ever seen before. This could be the start of a very great adventure.” A flurry of excitement followed my words and, after a quick vote, it was determined that the Light Congress and I would continue onwards together.
An enormous clam was the next treasure left behind by the dark waters and one of my friends brought me the pearl from its depths. I gazed into its mirrored surface and saw my friends, Badger and Snake, swirling within its pearlescent surface and fighting as usual. “Come out of there!” I said to their reflections. “We need all the help that we can get!”
“Of course, Heidi,” Badger said as he burst out of the pearl. “I belong with you, not trapped and scruffling this lizard.”
“What’s the task today?” Snake said gamely. “You’ll need my help, I expect.” They assumed their human forms and traveled before me, digging through the sand with the other figures of light and clearing any insurmountable obstacles from my path.
Treasures were discovered more rapidly now, one after another, on every part of the beach. I saw a golden chest with two statuesque angels on its lid being carried away by Badger and Snake. They held onto wooden poles that passed through the sides of the artifact. “The Ark! The Ark!” I heard the crowd murmur as my friends proceeded through their midst.
Someone pressed a glowing chalice that shined with runes into my hand. “Odin’s cup, we’ve been looking for that for awhile,” she said and ran back out to discover more.
“Please return this to the god’s keeping,” I said and handed the treasure to a friend nearby. Then, I moved forward with the rest of the crowd, continuing the search.
After an unmarked period of time, I found myself almost alone on the forward edge of the search party as the Light Congress became entranced with the treasures we had already discovered. They danced and celebrated on the shining sands with the artifacts from the uncharted lands beneath the Sea of Consciousness. Undeterred and unwilling to turn from our path, Badger, Snake, and I pressed onwards towards the dark waters which, no matter how far we walked or how much we discovered, seemed further away than ever.
“A skeleton,” I heard the cry. “We have found a birdman’s skeleton.” Unlike the other lost treasures, the bones rose under their own power from the sands, covered with flesh, and the god Horus was suddenly walking towards me and my most stalwart friends.
“Well done, Heidi and Light Congress all,” he said. “You have come so far and learned many mysteries and forgotten things. See all the joy you have brought? You have done much good in your journey and I am very pleased with your progress.” He studied me for a moment. “Yet you continue onwards and inwards. What else are you seeking?”
“Please walk with us while we seek a deeper insight,” I said, never stopping my pursuit of the retreating sea. “Maybe the next discovery will be the key to this journey. Do you know what lies further within the Inner Worlds, Great One?”
Horus shook his head once. “I do not have that knowledge,” the god said. “We see what you see. We learn as you learn. We grow as you grow. Our evolution occurs alongside yours. If it is your wish to continue, by all means, go on. I look forward to seeing what you discover in time and I know others who will be interested in such things as well.” An enormous pyramid made of the same glowing sand as the sea floor unearthed itself before us. “This is where I leave you,” Horus said. “I am going to visit my father, Osiris.”
“Please give my best regards to both your father and his wife,” I said. “And be well, Horus, until we meet again.”
“May you find what you seek, Heidi,” he said. Then, with two quick steps, the god moved through the wall of the pyramid and was gone.
In the departure of Horus, the treasures beneath the Sea of Consciousness began revealing themselves with no further effort on the part of my friends and I. The Temple of the Imagination exploded from the sands to my left. Then, Mount Olympus and its smooth, unending slopes emerged on my right. The Light Congress spilled towards both of these locations, exploring their limitless mysteries and secrets to their hearts’ content.
Sleipnir and a unicorn were spotted in the distance behind us and a race began to see which of our number would reach them first. I laughed at the playful antics of the group as the fabled creatures easily outpaced all of us, moving from the sands back to the dry lands and continuing on together towards the distant horizon.
Despite our relentless progress, the waves seemed so far from me now that I felt an intense fear that my friends and I would never reach them. I turned from the engaging activities and companionship of The Light Congress and began to run towards the waves, Badger and Snake pacing me in a final push towards the unknown. We ran as if our lives depended upon the search, yelling encouragement to each other when our strength began to fail. Finally, when I could go no further even with my dearest friends carrying me in their arms, the retreat of the ocean slowed. At long last, I stood with my feet submerged in the Sea of Consciousness, holding hands and facing the dark unknown with Badger and Snake on either side of me.
Whispers began to emerge from the water but the voices were so quiet and distant that I could not understand the words being spoken. I bent down and gathered some of the shadowed water into my hands and drank it in an effort to understand the message of the sea. After making the ocean a part of myself, the secret speech of the waves flowed through me and I realized the water had an intelligence all of its own.
“Badger, do you hear them?” I said, looking for the speakers in the waves. “Snake, do you hear the whispers from the sea?”
Badger squeezed my hand. “Tell us what you hear, Heidi,” he said. “They don’t speak to us as they speak to you. Tell us their words.”
I opened my mouth and the whispers in my mind and heart from the Sea of Consciousness began to roll off of my tongue: “What do you want, Heidi, what do you want? We can give you whatever you want. Why do you pursue us when we can give you whatever you want, whatever you want, whatever you want…” The water spoke in many voices and echoed eerily in my throat.
Snake caught me as I fell to my knees on the edge of the water and it began to flow away from me once more. “Yes, what do you want, Heidi?” he said. “I’ve been wondering that myself for some time now.”
“I want to know the meaning of this journey and the vision that started it all,” I said in my own voice. “I need your help to find the way. I beg you, Seas of Consciousness, don’t leave us here in the darkness of confusion and ignorance.”
“Why didn’t you speak your desire?” whispered the waters as they retreated. “We could have given you the key at any time. You needn’t have come so far.”
“What’d they say to your request?” Badger said, kneeling beside me in the sand.
The sand began to boil and a golden key unearthed itself from the sea floor. “They said I needed only to ask for what I searched for and they would give the knowledge to me,” I said, picking up the key. “It is as simple as that, Badger. I so loved this journey. I wonder where they will lead us next.” The waves of the retreating sea were again so distant they were just a beckoning line on the horizon when I handed Badger the key from the intelligences within the water.
The Divine Mother’s familiar voice spoke to me this time instead of the Sea of Consciousness. “You are on a never-ending journey, Heidi,” the goddess said. “Your future holds endless adventures, endless wonders, and endless explorations for both you, your loved ones and your world. You have put your feet upon the path that is life itself. Welcome to eternity.”
A door with a golden lock appeared in the air before us. Badger took the key from the sand and it fit the door perfectly. Then, he put my hand upon his, we turned the key together and opened the door to another world.
Badger and Snake moved before me across the threshold. “Let us go first to ensure your safety,” Badger said and slipped through the doorway.
“Somebody has to keep an eye on that furry idiot,” Snake said and winked at me as he followed Badger into a new world.
Some of the Light Congress gathered before the sea-born gate while others remained on the beach, exploring and cataloguing the newly discovered treasures. I took a deep breath and passed through the doorway into the unknown with beings of both light and shadow entering behind me. We emerged from the retreating Sea of Consciousness into paradise.
Pristine wilderness spread before my sight in every direction in a land where fairies and creatures made of light and cloud danced in the sky while the grass, trees, and wildlife itself moved and spoke. Everything and everyone in existence had consciousness and intelligence and could communicate freely with us in a manner that each individual could understand. The very smallest particles in the air embraced us as we moved through the atmosphere. All in creation had the same message and they spoke it to my friends and I: “Welcome home.”
The Light Congress entered this new realm with cries of joy as tears of relief from laying down a burden I didn’t realize I carried began to fall from my eyes. A path made of sand continued from the doorway deeper into this new world and I began to follow it, looking for Badger and Snake among the dancing and singing throng. As I took the path made of familiar material through the unfamiliar place, seeking those I loved, my heart beat with the words of spirits of this world, “Welcome home. Welcome home. Welcome home.”
My steps slowed as the path ahead began to twist in on itself like the inside of a giant shell. Though I wasn’t moving in a circle like I would in the real world, I was continuing forward in a spiral that moved deeper and didn’t go anywhere even as the landscape and beings around me continued to change. It was a journey of discovery without effort, movement without motion. The path circled and circled itself as I continued looking for my Badger and Snake.
I never tired as I moved deeper into the new world in peaceful and hypnotic circles, and felt no fear as the light began to slowly fade. The paradise and its inhabitants began to disappear from my sight but the path remained clear to my eyes, so very clear, so I continued onward, my heart calling out the welcome from creation itself but also a song of longing for my companions Badger and Snake. Finally, I reached a place where the void came into manifestation in this new world and even the sand beneath my feet disappeared, leaving me without a way forward or friends or a love to call my own.
I fell to my knees and tears began to fall down my face. “Why do you weep?” a new voice said from the void. “We thought you would be so happy here. Why aren’t you happy?”
“It is all so beautiful, really, but I don’t want to walk the paths alone without someone to share it with,” I said with my eyes closed tightly. “Thank you for this experience, every moment, all of it. But, please, where is the Light Congress now? I need Badger and Snake and I won’t stop until I find them again but I don’t know where to go anymore. They walked before me into this world, I watched them go, so where are they?”
“Look over there, Heidi,” replied the disembodied voice that suddenly sounded so like my own. “Did you bring that with you? I’ve never seen its like before.”
I opened my eyes to see what the voice was talking about and beheld a tree with golden leaves shining in the midst of the void. Its roots reached down into the nothingness of the abyss while its branches reached high into the starless upper regions of its sphere of influence.
“I have seen this tree before,” I said softly to whatever intelligences were near me. “Long ago, I may have even been a part of it.” I moved across the darkness of space, pretending as if the Divine Mother’s cloak was beneath my feet, leading me through a formless realm, and soon found myself at the base of the tree.
“Who are you?” came a voice from above and an enormous serpent began to climb down from the topmost branches towards me.
“I am Heidi and I come from another world,” I said. “Snake, is that you?”
“I am of snake-kind but called Ladon,” the serpent said as he reached where I stood. “This is my tree and none are allowed near it for I guard the apples of Hesperides. See there?” Gesturing with his serpentine head, Ladon indicated the branches of the tree and golden apples hanging from some of them.
“Oh those? No need to keep your treasures from me, Ladon,” I said. “I have some of those apples from another time or place or world. It’s hard to keep track of these things when one has journeyed as far and as long as I have.” I waved my hand and produced a basket of glowing apples from a rift in the air beside me. “Once upon a time, I gave these to the sky giants but I haven’t done that yet in this new world. I wonder if I will ever visit them again. Do you have sky giants here?”
Ladon hissed, his breath escaping his mouth in an explosion of surprise. “Give those to me at once,” he said, reaching for the basket with his fanged mouth. “Do you not know how dangerous those apples are?”
“Dangerous?” I said, giving the snake the basket. “What harm has ever come from stories?”
“What harm indeed,” Ladon said, placing my basket gently at the foot of the golden tree. “The mere fact that you stated the question shows your ignorance of the power of these apples. The words they contain change lives, fates, the path of worlds. I cannot believe a sprite like you could get your hands on these and not know what they are capable of.”
“I’m not a sprite, I’m a woman,” I said. “I grow tired, Ladon, of explaining to the spirits I meet who I am over and over again.”
“Yes, yes, you come from another world,” the serpent said. “Why not go back to it and leave me in peace here with my tree?”
“I can’t return now,” I said, looking over my shoulder at the nothingness all around us. “The path to my old world has disappeared and I can’t find Badger and Snake in this new world to show me the way back to what we once were.”
“Tell me of this Badger and Snake,” Ladon said. “While I figure out how to put these apples back where they belong.”
“It seems to me there is no returning an apple to a branch once it has been plucked, but I’d like to see you work this restorative magic. In the meantime, I will speak to you of the genesis of The Light Congress. Once upon a time, Great Ladon,” I said. “I had a vision of a Badger and Snake fighting over an egg.”
“An egg?” Ladon said, taking one of the apples in his mouth and slithering up the golden tree’s trunk. “What would a furry creature want with an egg?”
I paused in my recitation to consider the question. “I never thought about that before,” I said. “Snakes reproduce with eggs, don’t they, not Badgers.”
“They do indeed, though eggs are highly symbolic and your vision most likely means something beyond a simple egg. Think of the cosmos and subtle realms as a shell and yourself as a yolk,” the serpent said, placing one of my apples in the crook of the tree where it blended into the trunk and disappeared. As Ladon released the apple and headed back towards me, he sprouted another head from his massive body.
“Ladon! You’re growing!” I said, looking at the two-headed snake in some trepidation.
“I am?” he said and turned one of his heads to observe the other. “Well, look at that, I am. Who are you, Second Born?”
“I am Ladon,” said the second serpent head. “I protect the Apples of Hesperides against all except their rightful owner.”
“I do that too,” the first Ladon said. “Who holds the rights to the apples in your world?”
“No one ever told me who that was,” the second Ladon said. “Who holds yours?”
“The progeny of Hesperus, of course,” said the first born head. “The clue is in the name.”
“Ladons, both of you,” I said. “Please tell me why these apples require a guardian in the first place. I’m still not clear about that part.”
“You tell her,” said the first born. “I must get the rest of these basket apples back onto the tree before they cause some calamity.” He pulled another egg from the basket while the second head returned to my side.
“In the worlds beneath the sun, small two-legged snake,” said Ladon. “Gifts like these apples are a limited resource. Beneath the skin, the fruit bears names, titles, and ancient spheres of influence which are bequeathed to those who consume them.”
“That’s so silly,” I said. “An apple confers kingship?”
“Can do,” said the first Ladon who had reabsorbed another of my apples into the golden tree. “It really depends upon who eats the apple. Spiritual potentials can be unpredictable things and the worlds, as you know Heidi-from-another-world, are numerous. There’s no telling what might happen with these apples since you can’t even remember where you first acquired them.” As before, when the apple disappeared, Ladon sprouted another head. “This may become tiresome,” Ladon said, reaching for my basket again.
“Hello Brother,” said the second Ladon to the third. “From what world do you hail?”
“The one with the Apples of Hesperides,” said the third serpent head.
“How nice, just like mine,” said the second Ladon.
“Wait,” I said before the three-headed serpent could take another apple. “Maybe I should keep the apples I brought with me rather than giving them to you as I did with the sky giants. If they are mine, why shouldn’t I be able to choose who gets them rather than returning them to their source.”
All three Ladons sighed as one. “We talked about this, Apple Sprite,” said Ladon whose heads were moving so swiftly about each other now that I couldn’t tell the first from the last. “These are dangerous gifts that do not belong anywhere but this tree and under our watchful eyes.”
“But you never let me finish my story or vision about how I came to be here,” I said. “I still don’t remember where I found my basket of apples but maybe, with the three of you helping me, it will come back to my mind and heart.”
“Yes, let Two-Legs tell her story,” one of the Ladons said. “We’ll keep putting the apples back on the tree while she does.”
“Very well,” said Ladon. “Speak Heidi while we work.”
“This may take awhile,” I said, sitting at the base of the tree. “The first time I entered a vision gate, I found myself in a quarry filled with elemental spirits who were seeking treasures in the stone.” I continued on, telling all of the visionary journeys of The Light Congress while Ladon added my apples to his tree, sprouting more heads all the time. By the time I told the tale of chasing the Seas of Consciousness to this realm, the serpent had so many heads that I couldn’t count them all and the majority of them had their attention fixated on me.
“Maybe she’s a walking talking apple and we should put her back on our branches,” Ladon said when my story was finally done. “Quick, grab her and hang her from the highest limb so she can’t walk away again.”
I gasped as a few of the serpents’ heads darted my way. “I’m not a piece of fruit to be consumed; I’m a woman with hopes and dreams of better worlds for all of us,” I said, rising from my seat beneath the tree to dodge Ladon.
“Maybe she’s one of us,” another head said. “A Ladon who forgot what he was about and walked away from his tree with its fruit rather than protecting it from the shadows that move through creation.”
“That’s most likely the case,” Ladon said. “Get her!” The tree and its multi-headed serpent went mad, frothing with activity as the snake tried to catch me. I did my best to evade the grasping mouths, but one finally grabbed me by the arm and I found myself rising in the air, suspended from the serpent’s maw.
“Please don’t hurt me, Ladon-from-any-world,” I said. “I only wanted to find Badger and Snake again. Take my apples, they belong to you now. I’ll just wander on until I find more or another world where this encounter never takes place.”
“We can’t let you go now, Fruit Stealer,” Ladon said. “Join with us as another serpent head or a luscious apple waiting to be plucked by the appropriate seeker. You are out of options. We shall have both your basket of treasures and your freedom.”
“Help me!” I cried as Ladon’s heads snapped at my dangling legs. “Light Congress, please help me! I don’t want to be a snake or a tree. I want to be myself!”
“What on earth have you gotten yourself into, Woman,” came a voice from beyond the tree in the surrounding void. At the sound of the newcomer’s words, Ladon’s many heads changed into hanging vines and I found myself wrapped in greenery and suspended from the golden tree, not by a watchful multi-headed guardian but by thick ropes of ivy.
“Thank you for your succor, whoever you are,” I said, swinging from the vines. “Please help me down and away from this tree trap while Ladon is contained in the vines.”
A spirit in the shape of a man wrapped in shadows came from the abyss beyond the light cast by the tree. “Who’s Ladon?” he said as he helped me extricate myself from the grasping vines. “That’s not one of mine for I remember all the spirits I name.”
“The spirits I meet give me their own names,” I said as I tumbled to the ground below the tree. “What arrogance, to assign names to beings as if they didn’t have mothers to do it for them.”
The shadows swirled around the man’s face, revealing two eyes that shone like stars in his countenance which were then quickly covered again by the spirit’s concealing mists. “I named you, Woman,” the spirit said. “Don’t you remember?”
“My mother and father named me, not you,” I said, struggling to my feet while ignoring the spirit’s outstretched hand and offer of further assistance.
“No, they named me, then asked me to name you,” the spirit said. “I am Adam, thou art Eve. I am Man, thou art Woman.”
“I am Heidi and you are crazy if you think I’m going to forget that I came from another world to this place or my given name,” I said. “All I wanted was to find Badger and Snake. Tell me where they are, Adam, and I will go dwell with them and leave you in peace.”
“All of the creatures of the earth were given to me to name,” Adam said, settling himself beneath the tree and turning his face to gaze up into its branches. “Tell me what these two were like and I will take you to where they may be found.”
“Naming rights aside,” I said. “Badger is a black and white furred mammal with brown eyes and an open heart, always ready for adventure and companionship. Snake has the head of a reptile sometimes and the countenance of a man with long black hair other times. His words are honey and his knowledge vast. Both have gotten me out of some difficult spots and I value both of them in my life beyond price.”
“Why Eve,” Adam said, raising his hand and reaching for an apple on one of the lower branches of the golden tree. “You left our garden. You must have to have developed friendships with the crawling creatures of the world. The exit is that way. Return to your animals if this is what you desire. It matters not to me for wherever you go or however long you’re gone, I will always recognize you when you return to me, Woman, even if you don’t remember yourself.” As Adam plucked the apple, the space around the tree swirled into focus and I saw that I stood in the center of a vast garden bound by thick and tall stone walls. On the far side of the tree, a gate stood in the wall, its door invitingly cracked open just a tiny bit, revealing light streaming from beyond into the garden.
I ran to the gate eagerly, pushing the door wide open and preparing to continue the search for my friends. “Not a word of farewell to me?” Adam said and I turned to find him standing directly behind me, holding out a single apple from the tree in my direction. “If you are without words, this will give you some. It is a gift from me to you, Woman, until we meet again. We always meet again in this world and all the others. It is a promise from the one who put the stars in motion.”
“Come with me, First Man,” I said, the unexpected words falling from my lips. “We will explore the worlds together and maybe we can find your version of me in this realm. I’m sorry that I am not who you think I am.”
“You are exactly who I know you are and there is no need for apologies between us,” Adam said, placing the apple gently in my hands. “I’m not going to waste my time in this existence seeking someone who has already been found. I will remain here, Woman, learning the mysteries of creation in this sacred space. Maybe your Ladon will come out of the vines and speak with me as he did with you and I can discover what you have learned outside of these walls.”
“If Ladon appears again, keep a safe distance from his fangs but ask him about The Light Congress. I told him all the stories I remember up to this moment in time,” I said, putting Adam’s apple in a bag that appeared at my hip. “They are my friends and if you ever need to find me again, I will be among them, standing side by side and fighting the shadows that come from the darkest part of creation. We are adventurers. We are scholars. We are warriors of light.”
“I know,” Adam said, ushering me out of the gate and shutting it again until only a crack remained through which I could see his shining eyes. “I named them too.”
“There you are, Heidi!” Badger said from behind me. “Where in heaven’s name have you been!” I turned from the Creator’s garden and ran towards my dearest friend in all the worlds.
There my vision ended.
END OF PART I
The Light Congress 