Gate: The World
I entered the vision gate and found myself standing beneath the feet of the giant woman. The earth shook with the power of her steps and the winds blew her hair and robe in a perpetual storm that was centered around her form. I felt the moment the giant saw me at her feet because the effect of her attention upon my spirit was like a bolt of energy from above. The being bent down as if to speak to me but then, I blinked and I was the giant, looking at myself on the ground, looking up at a primal force of nature.
My focus was drawn from the small seeker near my feet as the storm moving about me gathered into a dark funnel cloud, demanding my attention to its existence. “Who are you?” I asked, throwing my voice into the storm. “My name is Heidi and I come seeking your true nature.”
“We are the tunnel to the unconscious mind, the road to the psyche,” roared the winds. As the storm spoke, the dark cloud changed into moving light and the sound of the blowing winds abated. It shaped its form into a living, breathing path made of light that led to unimaginable and unexplored heights above.
“There is more than one way to avoid the journey inwards,” intoned the path. “Most people use their imagination to construct false realities that they call their lives. They work jobs, decorate houses, raise families, and all the while shutting their eyes to the meaning behind it all, the reality behind their existence as mortals with bound lifespans upon the earth.”
Within the tunnel of light, I saw my home and all of the things contained within it. I saw my family and pets and my daily motions through this reality and its material objects. Then, it was as if I moved back from this vision of the everyday world and saw myself moving on an enormous stage. The home, family, and other possessions were now part of a larger backdrop that had more potentials than I had ever imagined. There was a greater reality behind the everyday one and it took my breath away.
I moved into the tunnel and began to walk through the “stage” behind my life, marveling that I could do so by employing a new way of looking at reality. “How did I not understand this truth before,” I said to myself as I wandered behind the facade of the world I had once known.
“Welcome, Heidi, to a new world,” the path said in response and then the vision dissolved into light.
When I could see again, I found myself moving through clouds in the night sky. Tiny diamonds glittered in the air around me like stars but so close that I could touch them and perceive the energy they contained as complex prisms that gave off brilliant light. These living intelligences kept me company as I continued through the sky, seemingly alone but never alone anymore.
Ahead, the moon appeared, nestled in the clouds and much larger than it should be. As I approached the moon, its form grew and grew so that it filled a large portion of the sky, then shrank into the form of a spirit shaped like a woman. At first, this woman appeared to be three separate beings but then her bodies fused together and she was one who was once three. The goddess wore a moon shaped symbol on a circlet over her brow, proclaiming her identity to all who viewed her.
“Hail, fair Hecate, lady of the moon and mistress of magic,” I said and bowed my head in respect. “It has been long since I walked in your presence. Thank you for revealing yourself to me again.”
“As the moon freely shines down upon the earth, so too do I share my knowledge and wisdom without reservation with those who seek it,” the goddess said. “Why did you come to this place, Heidi?”
“I am trying to connect the awakened energies in my mind, Great One, by opening the paths between the worlds,” I said. “I believe this to be the next step on my journey through the spirit realms and I welcome your advice and assistance with this endeavor.”
“That is a worthy goal,” said Hecate and sat down on a throne that appeared behind her. “Let us consider the best way to continue forward.” As the goddess sat, I saw a child seating herself on Hecate’s left and an elderly woman reclining to her right, but these were momentary glimpses of her hidden nature. Now seated comfortably, the goddess was once again one being with a single form.
She raised her hands and a large, white moonflower filled to the brim with water rose from the clouds. “On the path you are walking which is called the World,” Hecate said. “The energies of the imagination enter the physical realm from the realms above. The path is a direct connection between the moon and the earth, a world of dreams and the beginning of physical manifestation at the level of spirit.”
Hecate moved her hands over the water in the flower and the moon in its phases rose from the surface of the basin. It was formed of the water itself and shined with its own inner energy. When Hecate waved her hands again, the moon dissolved back into the flower, resuming its existence as raw potential contained within the water of the goddess.
“Use your imagination to produce forms, Heidi. You may practice with my basin as long as you require it,” the goddess said encouragingly. “This type of work will become quite simple for you, I have foreseen it.”
I moved my hands over the water as I had observed Hecate do and, after a moment of memory and visualization, the moon swirled into being once more above the flower basin. I motioned again and it sank back into the water. Then, I waved my hands and my cat came into being above the water. She rolled and purred, welcoming me as if we were in the waking world rather than a spirit realm. I waved my hands again over the water and she was gone from my reality.
Anything that I could imagine rose effortlessly from the surface of the water, and I could banish it with a small movement of my hands and a simple expression of my will. I was in the sky with Hecate for a timeless moment, learning her method of visualization through the active imagination.
After much experimentation, I had some new thoughts on the process. “Lady Hecate,” I said. “This is a fun diversion but this isn’t real. I can see that these creations are made of moon water and not the real thing.”
Hecate rose from her throne to stand beside her basin. “How do you think that potentials become real, Heidi?” the goddess said. “First, they exist in the mind as thought or the heart as emotion. It is through this “play” of imagination between the two that reality manifests itself. The process is no more difficult or simple than that. Bring whatever you wish into the imagination and you will find it manifesting in your waking world in unexpected and wondrous ways. This is a universal truth I give to you and any who follow behind you.”
As I absorbed the goddess’ instruction, I moved my hands over the flower basin once more and a small, watery version of Hecate rose from its surface. She and her larger self both spoke at the same time with the same voice. “We shall send you back to the physical realm and you will see what I mean, Heidi,” Hecate said. “You will learn these teachings through life experience and know my words are true.”
“Thank you for your wisdom, Great One,” I said to the goddess both in my imagination and outside of it. “I look forward to your promised revelations in the fullness of time.” Then, I blinked and Hecate, her basin, and the night sky vanished from my sight.
I was now standing on a muddy road in the moonlight, gazing at the moon reflected in a dirty puddle at my feet. An inn sat next to this road, and it lit from within by firelight as well as lively with the sound of visiting travelers within its walls. A sign hung on the building proclaiming, “The Inn of the Triple Moon”. Its sigil was the same moon in its phases that had appeared on Hecate’s crown and I took this as a sign from the goddess that I was in the correct place and time.
I entered this dwelling and discovered a large, open room with many spirits in attendance. Some turned to see who had walked in the door, but, at my non-threatening appearance, they quickly returned to drinking, eating, playing games, and warming themselves by the fire. I moved through this throng, touching no one and none touching me, as if I were no more corporeal than moonlight.
An innkeeper was behind the bar, serving drinks left and right to those in need of refreshment. “Hello, friend,” he said when I found myself an open place at the bar. “What brings you to the Triple Moon in the middle of the night? It can be dangerous to wander outside of these walls in the darkness. Be welcome and quench your thirst with us.”
The innkeeper filled a goblet with water and pushed it before me. On the side of the goblet, the moon in its phases was etched in a beautiful pattern which I admired rather than drinking from the cup. I felt compelled to move my hands over the cup and the moon rose from the water’s surface as easily as it had in Hecate’s basin in the sky.
“Lady Hecate sent me here to further my instruction,” I said. “I fear neither walking in darkness or shadow and hope that you do not either.”
The innkeeper’s eyes widened, filling with the light from the goddess’ moon before it returned to the water in the goblet. “I see by the signs that Hecate sent you to us and what a happy night this is,” he said. “Come this way, seeker and friend. There is someone whom you should meet.” He took back the cup and moved out from behind the bar, indicating a hidden door in the paneling behind him.
“Right this way,” said the spirit as he swung open the thick door and I followed him into a large, empty passageway, away from the main room. The door and walls were so thick that any sound from the crowd of travelers were completely muffled behind us. I found myself relaxing in the comfortable silence and stillness of the hidden hall.
“Hero!” the spirit said, knocking on a door at the end of the hall and opening it after a brief pause. “Your mother has sent another one to learn from your ways and you from her.” Then, the innkeeper moved back towards the din of the main room, leaving me standing on the threshold of a new place.
“Thank you for your guidance,” I said and touched his shoulder as he passed me, pressing a golden coin with Hecate’s moon on one side into his hand. He gave the coin a toss into the air and winked before returning to his work in the outer chamber.
A bright light was emanating from the open door, filling my vision with an energy like the full moon. “Come in,” I heard and entered the room. At first, I could see nothing of the interior but a flashing light which dazzled my eyes with its brilliance. Then, in quick succession, I caught glimpses of the spirit who lived in this place.
First, I saw a young boy at play, then a knight in shining armor, then an elderly man with a staff whose back was bent under the number of his days upon the earth. Next, he appeared as a laughing youth among friends and then a serious scholar in a classroom full of peers. The images came faster and faster to my sight, blinding me to my surroundings because of the energy of this spirit’s presence.
“Why do you stand there blinking?” a voice said, breaking into my reverie. “Are you one of those who cannot see me?”
“I see too many of you, Prince,” I replied. “Please pick one form so that I may speak with you and not stand astonished by your varied life experiences.”
“Ah, you must have spoken with my mother to be able to see as much of me as that,” said the voice. “This is easily remedied if I settle on the form of just one lifetime. I think I can manage that.” My sight adjusted once more and I saw a blond young man reclining on a couch in the center of the space. He was covered in a white sheet and his skin was the palest of colors as if he hadn’t seen the sunlight in a very long time. The spirit coughed weakly as though ill and the moon shone through the window behind him and provided light to the room which might have been wreathed in shadows otherwise.
“Thank you for grounding my sight, Prince,” I said. “My name is Heidi and I come to this place and many others seeking the true nature of the ruling powers therein. Are you a son of Hecate?” The youth nodded his head once in acknowledgement. “Do you have a name you prefer?”
“I have many names from many times and places,” said the youth. “But you may call me, Hero. You go by Heidi, do you?”
“Yes Hero, that is my name,” I said. “I have come from your mother’s presence in the sky to learn what you have to teach me. Maybe I can help you in return for I find you in a reduced condition at this moment of time.”
Hero reached for a bowl of fruit that was by his side upon the couch and carelessly began to peel a pomegranate that he pulled from its depths. “There is nothing that I have to tell you that you do not already know,” he said. “I can’t imagine there’s anything you can share with me that my mother has not already given to my mind.” He wrestled the peel off of the fruit and gestured with his hand. The seeds spread in a constellation about him and he began to pick them out of the air, popping them into his mouth, one by one.
“You must have some wisdom that I do not know,” I said. “Otherwise, Hecate would not have sent me here.”
“My mother keeps her purposes to herself,” shrugged Hero, preoccupied with the consumption of fruit.
“Since you insist that you have no knowledge to share with me,” I said. “Perhaps I should share with you a lesson I learned from your mother. Feel free to stop me if you’ve heard it already for I would not waste your time on previously recovered truths.”
Hero continued to eat his fruit as I sat in front of him upon the floor. “Speak your message as so many others have before you,” he said. “It makes no difference to me. Mayhap you will entertain if not enlighten.”
“Once upon a time in another world, there was a young woman who went through the side of a mountain and discovered a goddess at its base,” I said. “This goddess taught her the interplay between reality, nature, and the shaping power of the mind and heart on both.” As I spoke, a moonflower of Hecate began to grow from the floor of the room between Hero and myself. It was filled with water as it had been in the clouds.
“Because of these lessons about our ability to shape and mold reality with our imaginations, especially in this realm, I believe that the face that you are showing me now, Hero, is not your true nature. I am curious as to why you see yourself as an invalid and alone,” I said and Hero’s eyes widened at both my words and the appearance of the moonflower. The pomegranate seeds which had been floating around him dropped to the ground as his focus shifted to me. “Perhaps with a different form of light, we shall see you as you truly are, Prince,” I said. “For I would know you better and hope you would know me. Allow me to give you this gift of self knowledge from your mother.”
I gestured with my hands as I had been trained to do and a small sun rose from the surface of the water within the blossom and glowed with a fiery, yellow light so different from the moon’s glow and Hero’s innate illumination. I rose from my chair and closed the blinds in order to turn night to day within the Inn of the Triple Moon.
“What have you done to my mother’s light? Don’t look at me!” Hero cried and pushed away from his couch, drawing the sheet over his head as he moved to the far side of the room.
“Hero and Prince,” I said and approached the young man as he cowered in the corner. “Let us see you as you truly are. Let the sun shine on you. Your mother would not want you to be in the dark and alone.” I moved the blanket aside and revealed a handsome, but filthy face. Where the spirit’s ears should have been, there were two identical faces to one he had presented to me before. He had three mouths, three noses, and six eyes. Hero moved to cover his head with his hands but couldn’t because he had only two hands to his three faces.
“You have unmasked me for I am a hideous monster,” he cried. “Only in the light of my mother can I choose to appear as I wish. I haven’t left this room in ages because I don’t want the others to see me as I really am. You don’t understand what it is like to be me and to exist forever in the shadows because of who I was born to be.”
“Hero, you are no monster,” I said. “You are perfectly formed as you are, the very image of your mother, a goddess of three aspects that are one. I think your form is marvelous and I bet the others will too if you just gave them a chance to see you as you are. Let us clean you up and see if that makes you feel better.” I drew the moonflower with its water close and used the edge of my cloak as a rag to clean Hero’s faces and feet. As the accumulated dirt fell away, I saw bedsores, bright and angry against the paleness of his skin.
“You have hurt yourself by staying locked away and in one place for so long,” I said. “Let me draw you a hot bath and see if we can’t heal your injuries. Together perhaps we can imagine a better future for you than what has been going on in your life experience lately.”
I found a silver tub somewhere in the shadows of the room and pulled it beneath the window where it magically filled itself with steaming, hot water. I opened the curtains, banishing the sun back into the moonflower, and the moon shone through the window onto the water of the silver tub. As I helped Hero into the bath, the sores on his body immediately healed. Then, as he splashed the moon-kissed water over his head, his multiple faces disappeared and he again became the blond, beautiful youth that I had seen before, but this time, without his cough or tired eyes.
I found a dark cloak and clothing with Hecate’s sigil upon it beneath the couch and gave Hero some privacy to dress himself as he emerged from the silver tub.
“How did you do this, Heidi?” he asked, looking at his healed body and touching his single face. “Are you sure you came from my mother to this time and place, and not somewhere or of someone else?”
“I am a servant of the Creator of All, Prince, and really did come from your mother’s presence to this moment. There is power, Hero, in acceptance of who you really are,” I said. “Your boundaries are so much larger than the walls of this space. Your abilities are more than just powerful illusions and levitating fruit. You must go forth and live your life in this knowledge, allowing those around you to benefit from all of the experiences you have had in your timeless existence. I am trying to do the same.”
Hero touched my cheek, the coolness of his fingertips in stark contrast to the fiery energy I felt zipping around in my spirit. “I do not forget a kindness, Heidi,” he said. “Thank you for imagining a larger existence for me. I do not know how I will repay you for this newly realized freedom, but I will remember it and honor my debt if I ever can.”
“There are no debts between us, Hero,” I said. “Your mother healed you through her eternal love and imagination. I am merely her messenger and student.”
“Then, let me at least buy you a drink,” Hero said. “Healing of the spiritual and physical variety is thirsty work.”
Together, we left the hidden room, moved down the hallway and threw open the door to the main chamber of the inn. The spirits within cheered at the appearance of Hero and rushed to greet him in a welcoming crowd. “Orpheus, Orpheus,” they cried, some with tears streaming down their cheeks in gladness. “You have come back from the dead!”
The young women crowded around and kissed Hero’s cheeks and hands, worshipping him with their attention. “We have missed you so,” one of them sighed. “Why did you stay away so long?”
An older man pressed a flagon of beer into Hero’s hands, another gave him a shining harp. “You must tell us of your exploits!”
“But first,” said the innkeeper from behind the bar. “Sing us a song, Orpheus. It has been far too long since you shared your talents with us.”
Hero, revealed now as Orpheus, grinned and pressed the flagon of beer into my own hands before taking a seat next to the fire. The crowd gathered closely around the musician as the moon shone through the windows of the inn, gleaming off of the harp and Orpheus’ blonde, curling hair.
I felt the boundaries of the inn disappearing as the god strummed his harp and I partook of the vintage of the Triple Moon. After a melodic introduction, Orpheus began to sing:
Look for me beneath the moon, shining bright and free.
Look for me within the notes that rise upon the sea.
So fair, so young, so bright, so true,
The Hero’s quest begins.
There are always songs to sing,
Among one’s loving friends.
The song continued stanza upon stanza and the room was enthralled, wrapped in the unique magic of a master musician and illusionist. I smiled at Orpheus as I drank the dregs from my cup, then blinked, and found myself outside of the inn.
I was once again embodying the giant woman who was looking down upon the Inn of the Triple Moon and the puddle that shined outside its door. The tunnel of light created by the raging storm still glowed close to me, and my hair and robes were swept by the energy pouring from it. I leaned away from the beckoning path to put my ear to the window of the inn so that I could hear more of Orpheus’ triumphant return from the lands of the dead.
“Sing, Hero,” I whispered into the night air. “Please sing me back to life too.”
There, my vision ended.
The Light Congress 
Wonderful ♥️
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