Gate: Strength
I stepped through the vision gate and was standing on a road made of stones. The road began to crumble and fall apart beneath my feet. The rock of the road and I tumbled and fell into the open mouth of a gigantic serpent made of light.
I blinked and found myself sitting in an enormous white flower. The blossom waved and shifted in a light breeze. I peered through the wall of its petals and saw a field of the same kind of flower.
Suddenly, I heard a loud noise and a sound like a giant’s footsteps moving amongst the flora and fauna. A frog, the size of a house, leapt by. He was so enormous his movements shook the field and its attendant flowers.
“I require a guide for this place,” I said and a droplet of water fell from the back of the frog. The water landed in my flower and formed itself into a tiny person.
“Hello,” he said. “Welcome to the Garden of the Gods.”
“Garden of the Gods,” I said, leaning into the white petal wall. “Which gods?”
“All of them,” replied the droplet. Then, he bounced out of my hand and led me to the stem of the flower, which was shaped like a playground slide. The man made of water jumped onto the stem and slid down its smooth surface with his watery arms raised above his head in delight like a child in a park. I sat on the stem and followed suit.
When we reached the bottom, we stood together in a forest of wild flowers. “We have to be larger than we are now to get anywhere,” the water droplet said. “Can you help us grow?”
“Can we grow? Sure…” I replied and envisioned my friend and myself growing larger. Soon, the blossoms became regular-sized compared to my body, but I kept growing and eventually towered above the field of flowers. The water droplet sat in my hand and increased in size with me.
“Too big!” he squeaked. “You’ve overdone it. Take us back to the flowers, please.”
“Oops,” I said and began reducing our size. “Growing just enough is a tricky thing.” Soon, the droplet and I stood in the field in a much more appropriate size.
“There,” observed the man of water. “Much better.”
“Do you think you could take us to meet one of the gods of this place?” I asked.
The droplet immediately jumped from my hand to run through the flowers. “I can take you to a god,” he said. “This way, Heidi!” I followed the watery figure through the field to the edge of a shadowed forest full of trees. I felt a sense of foreboding as we passed beneath their branches.
“Friend,” I said. “If all of the gods are here, could you please take me to one whom I connect with on a deep level?”
“I know just the guy,” said the water, leading me deeper through the trees. “You’ll love Coyote.”
“Coyote? But I don’t know anything about him,” I said.
“What’s there to know? He loves to laugh and so do you.” With those words, the water droplet gestured to a grove of nearby trees and then disappeared into the forest floor.
Strange, manic laughter came from the stand of trees. “Hello?” I called and moved into the thicket. Within, I saw an enormous animal sitting in the dirt and scratching his ear with his hind leg. Then, he changed into a young man with long, black hair.
“Who are you?” he asked, momentarily changing back into a coyote to scratch his ear again.
“My name is Heidi,” I said. “I have come to this place seeking to know its nature and you.”
“You have come to know me?” Coyote asked and smiled. He had a disconcerting grin with far too many pointed and gleaming teeth. I took a step back and Coyote laughed at my discomfort. “Let’s get into some mischief, Badger Spirit,” he said and changed back into his animal form.
“I don’t want to cause any trouble,” I said and found myself changing into the shape of my badger.
“Trouble? I’m not trouble,” Coyote said. “I’m funny.” He grinned again with a mouth that seemed much too large for the animal he was embodying and released another of his insane giggles. “This way!”
I followed Coyote through the trees and soon exited the shadowy forest. We entered a place where I could hear Native American chanting. Before us, there was an enormous bonfire on a dry and dusty plain.
Native Americans sang and danced around a bonfire, upon which, a buffalo carcass cooked, releasing the delicious smell of roasted meat. Coyote broke through the circle of dancers and ran to the buffalo, ripping and tearing the flesh from its sides and consuming it with great bites.
The celebrant crowd stopped dancing and stared at Coyote in some astonishment. Then, their leader, a dignified man with intricate beads wound about his neck as well as strung within his dark braids approached him. “Great Coyote,” he said. “We are honored by your presence but we were calling for your brother, Buffalo, to bring rain to our land.”
Coyote paused in his feast and grinned. “My brother and I can’t bring you rain,” he said and ate another bite of buffalo. “But she can,” he said and nodded in my direction. I found myself being pulled into the circle of dancers where I abruptly changed from a badger back to myself.
I felt the eyes of everyone in the circle upon me and I didn’t relish it. “Who are you?” asked the man who had spoken to Coyote. “And why do you wear the skin of Badger?”
“My name is Heidi,” I said by way of introduction. “I walk between the worlds and Badger is one of my closest friends.”
“Can you bring the rain?” asked the tribal elder. He reached down to the dirt and let it run through his fingers. “It has been too long since we have had water. We suffer, the animals suffer, the plants feel its sting too. Could you help us?”
“I don’t know if I can make it rain,” I replied. “But Love can do anything.” I reached into my pocket and drew forth the grail then held it above my head. Within moments, fat drops of rain fell from the sky and the hungry ground began to absorb the moisture.
“You are a goddess!” the man exclaimed and all of the Native Americans prostrated themselves upon the ground.
“No, I’m just Heidi,” I said. “Love brought the rain.” Coyote began to laugh at my predicament.
“You are what they say you are,” he said, holding his sides in mirth. “Now come, you have opened the portal to Buffalo’s realm. Let’s pay a visit to my brother and see what he has to say today.”
The rain had put out the bonfire with its smoking, roasted buffalo. Where the fire had once burned, a door with stairs led downwards into the ground.
One of the raindrops falling from the sky landed on my shoulder and turned into my watery guide from the floral fields. He pulled my earlobe and gestured to the door as if he wished to pass through.
Before I took the new gate, I tried to speak with the Native Americans once more. “What I did to call the rain, you all could also do,” I said. “I am what you are.” But, no one looked up at me from their position on the ground or acknowledged my words. So, carrying the droplet on my shoulder, I followed Coyote into the smoking doorway.
Within, everything was shadowy and misty. I could hear Coyote’s laughter but could see nothing else. Then, a deep voice came out of the furthest shadows. “Coyote,” the voice boomed. “Leave this place. You are not welcome here.”
The mists cleared and I saw Coyote, in his human form, standing before a strong, well-muscled man with horns growing from the sides of his head.
Coyote laughed in the man’s face. “The tribe called you but you didn’t have the power to answer their prayers,” he said. “With Badger Spirit’s help, I brought the rain. You can’t keep me from the gathering this time. I’ve earned my place.” He pointed at me, changed back into a giant coyote, and gleefully ran away into the mists.
The horned man came towards me with fire in his eyes. “Who are you?” he asked, flickering between his human form and the shape of an enormous buffalo.
“My name is Heidi,” I said and the guardian water droplet on my shoulder clung to my ear, hanging like a shining earring from my left lobe. “I did not mean to trespass in your world. I’ve come to know your nature and wisdom.”
“Prove your words,” said Buffalo. “Because Coyote lies and I do not know you. He said you brought rain to my people. Show me.”
I gathered the water droplet from my ear and tossed him to Buffalo. “This fell from the sky with the other rain,” I said.
Buffalo swallowed the droplet with one gulp. Then, the mist cleared and we were gazing at a miniature version of the scene that had just taken place in the world above. I saw myself standing beside the bonfire and raising a cup over my head. Rain fell from the clouds and the vision vanished back into the mists from whence it came.
“You did my people a great favor,” said Buffalo gently and without the anger that had been in his voice before. “I will repay this service.” The shadows cleared again and I was standing in the midst of an enormous herd of buffalo.
“Come with me. It is time for the gathering.” The voice of Buffalo came from all of the members of his herd. They stampeded across the plain and I found myself swept along with them, borne above their heads in a spirit form by the power and wind of their passage.
The herd of buffalo ran and ran, across plains and over rivers, jumping ravines in one smooth motion- a powerful, unstoppable force of nature. Then, as suddenly as they had begun their trek, the herd stopped.
Ahead, around another bonfire, a curious collection of lords and ladies gathered who shared some characteristics of animals but who also were, undoubtedly, human.
I saw a man with a beak and piercing black eyes. When he glanced at me, I saw a raven and then his face again. Gathered near this man, there were other bird people. I caught glimpses of a vulture, hawk, and eagle.
As I viewed this varied crowd of animal spirits, I could hear the laughter of Coyote but I couldn’t see him. Then, I saw a man with a cobra’s hood rising from the crown of his head and a split tongue that went in and out between his lips.
Standing near to the cobra, I beheld a fox man with pointed ears and a bristly tail, a bear man with spiky claws and a furry back, and a horse spirit who stood upon two legs one moment and four legs the next.
Every animal of the western plains of the Americas was represented there even the ones I couldn’t see clearly but I could feel their powerful presence all the same. I took the size of the crowd in at a glance as all eyes turned to Buffalo and I as we arrived at the bonfire. The spirited conversation of the gathering ceased.
The Raven fixed his unblinking eyes upon us. “This one isn’t animal spirit,” he cawed in a surprisingly high voice. “What have you done, Buffalo, bringing a human child to this place. She does not belong.”
Buffalo answered in his deep baritone, “She has earned a place here, Raven. She brought rain to my people and created a gate through fire to my realm.”
“I will vouch for her,” he continued. “For she walks with the spirit of the Badger, who will speak for her.” There was movement within the group of animals and my friend, Badger, came walking from among their number, in his human form, with his black and white mohawk jutting atop his head.
He moved to stand beside me, taking my hand. Snake walked with him and stood at my other side. “We will speak for Heidi,” Badger said. “We are her heart animals and boon companions.”
Raven snorted and rolled his eyes. “Let her speak for herself, Badger,” he said. “Your unquestioning loyalty isn’t enough proof of belonging for me.”
Badger changed into his animal form and prepared to rush at the bird but I stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. “Don’t be angry with Raven,” I said. “I will prove my worth.” Once again, I pulled the cup from my pocket. “Love herself will speak for me.”
The grail was filled to the brim with its perpetually flowing waters and I moved in a circle about the fire, pouring out the water so that there was a patch of wet earth between the animal spirits and the encroaching flames. After the circle was complete, I walked into the bonfire and stood facing Raven.
Murmurs began to rise from the observing crowd. “She walks in the fire and isn’t burned…” they said, pointing and whispering.
Salamanders formed in the flames and danced along my arms and legs. From the water I poured outside the bonfire, undines leapt from the earth and grabbed the tails of the salamanders. As I continued to stand in the flames, the spirits of fire and water began to hiss, and leap, and dance all over my body.
Sylphs of the air appeared, darting among the flames and fanning the fire so it grew and all of the animal spirits were forced to take a step back from the heat. Then, the earth itself began to dance beneath my feet as the gnomes rose from the dust and twirled the bonfire on its axis. I remained still for a timeless moment, allowing the four elements to wrap me in their natural beauty.
Raven and the other lords and ladies marveled at the display. “She may dwell with us,” he decreed. “Nature herself has spoken.” At his words, all of the elementals vanished and I stepped from the fire into the waiting arms of my badger.
From out of the crowd, a lion prowled towards me with stately steps. He changed into a man with long golden hair and blue eyes.
“Jorman?” I said. “Is that you? What on earth are you doing in the Americas?”
“How very good to see you,” he said. “Never expected to see you again. Well done on the elemental dance, by the way.”
“Why are all the animal spirits gathered in this place at this time?” I asked. “What or who are they waiting for?”
“We are here to speak with my mother,” said Jorman as he changed into a lion and raced away. All of the animals began to follow.
I found myself lifted from the ground in the arms of the strongest and largest man I had yet seen. “Elephant will carry you hence. Do not be afraid,” Badger said. The elephant man winked as he sat me on his enormous shoulder. Then, we were off with the crowd of noisy, running animal spirits.
We ran into a blanket of mist. Sound began to fade. It became so dark, I could no longer see Badger and Snake. Soon, it was just Elephant and myself, moving ever onward into the shadows. Then, with a tremendous effort, Elephant took me from his shoulder and threw me high into the air. I hung suspended in the mist and all became silent.
Suddenly, I became aware of movement and an enormous green lady emerged from a darkness as full as the night sky. Her starlit eyes were what I perceived first. Then, I saw green skin, and a green smile, and green hair growing in a profusion of ivy. This being saw me in return and I felt the recognition of my identity shining in her eyes.
“I would speak with you, Heidi,” she said. “But you are too small.”
“I can grow if required,” I said and began to expand. I grew and grew, far larger than I had ever imagined myself to be before. After some time, I was the size of the Green Lady. She had ivy hair so long that it formed meadows and valleys of green hair like the canopy of a rainforest. When the lady looked at me in my new form, I felt she saw through me to my very soul.
“I am Gaia,” the goddess said. “I am so pleased to see you again.”
Then, the lady reached forth her hand and I felt Venus’ cup fly from my spirit to her. She took a long drink and threw the grail back into my spirit from where she had pulled it.
“No one has brought me a Drought of Love for some time,” she said, licking her lips. Her hair grew even longer from the cup’s moisture. It expanded outward and began to grow upwards as well.
I couldn’t move in the presence of this exalted personage but my spirit vibrated with the tremendous energy contained within the world herself. I discovered I couldn’t even move my lips so I spoke to the goddess with my mind only.
“Gaia,” I said. “I would know you better, if you would allow me to do so.”
“Know me?” she said, smiling. Her green eyes began to fill my vision. “You know me, Heidi. Don’t you?” I began to see glimpses of the Earth in quick, flashing succession.
I saw fields full of grass and wildflowers. I saw deserts with blowing sand dunes and rich oases. I saw skies filled with clouds, rain, and lightning. I saw a mountain range and found myself standing on the slopes of Everest with its majestic peak reaching up into the sky. I saw a pond with raindrops falling onto its mossy surface.
All that and more filled my mind and I cried out at the impossible abundance of it all. I blinked and saw Gaia’s eyes once more. “I am sorry, little one,” she said. “I forget your mind can only hold so much of me.”
“You have not injured me, Lady,” I said, but still could not move and trembled in the raw power of Gaia’s presence. “Would you consent to teach me? I wish to know endless lessons about the nature of yourself and the beings who dwell with you.”
The Green Lady raised her arm again and a water droplet flew out of my spirit into her waiting hand. “Tell me, Heidi, what is the difference between a tear and a diamond?” Gaia held the droplet aloft and it hung between us in the air.
“A tear is made of water and comes from the eyes and soul,” I replied. “A diamond is made of the Earth’s materials and comes from deep within her surface.”
Gaia looked at me and wept a single tear. It fell from her eyes and hung beside my water droplet in the air. Her tear was a perfectly shaped diamond spirit. “For me,” she explained. “There is no difference between your tears and mine.”
“The pressures that combine in the human body to force the tears from the eyes are the same types of forces that combine within my body to form diamonds,” she continued. More tears flowed from Gaia’s eyes and soon I was surrounded by a sparkling cloud of diamonds shaped like rain drops.
Then, the goddess raised her hands and rubies, sapphires, emeralds, all of the precious stones of the Earth flew from her body and floated around me. Oils exploded from beneath her feet and I was floating on the surface of a pond of fossil fuels and assorted mineral oils.
“All of the abundance of the Earth, I give to humanity. Through my gifts, I show the love that I bear for your race- a great love for an extraordinary species,” she said. “May they use these resources for the good and benefit of all.”
“To you, Heidi, I give one other gift,” she said. The original tear Gaia had shed turned into a beating heart made of diamond. It came towards me and was absorbed into my heart center. “I give you my love and send you back with my message of love. For all who dwell with me and within me, I send my love. For all, little one, do not forget.”
Gaia reached into the long, green tresses of her hair and began to comb through it. She withdrew white flowers from the strands and piled them into my unmoving hands. “Take these for the animal spirits,” she said. “My blessings upon them especially. I’m so glad you came because none of them can speak to me as directly as you were able to. They don’t have the strength of your kinsfolk.”
I began to shrink but the Green Lady’s flowers remained the same enormous size.
Then, I was falling through the air with the huge white flowers, precious jewels, and minerals- all of the abundance of the natural world. “I love you… love you… love you…” The voice of Gaia echoed in the air as I fell down into the mist and waiting shadows.
One of the flowers gathered itself beneath me and I found myself wrapped in its petals. We hit the ground suddenly and Badger appeared in the blossom beside me.
“What did she say?” he asked, his eyes wide at the spectacle of the flowers and gemstones continuing to fall from the sky.
“She sends her love and blessings,” I said, and lay back on the flower, exhausted by the tremendous energy of Gaia but able to move freely again at last.
Cries of delight came from around us as the shower of flowers landed on and enveloped all of the animal spirits. Water gushed from the ground and soon, the blossoms were floating like lotus flowers on the surface of an enormous lake, with animal spirits cocooned within each. Badger, in his animal form, wrapped his bulk behind my head and put his head in my lap. We fell asleep together, floating on the water in the mist.
When I opened my eyes, I was still within the flower blossom, but my Badger was gone. A stem had appeared on this flower like the slide from before. I climbed onto the stem and slid to the ground. Coyote was waiting for me patiently at the base of the slide.
“Did Gaia have a message for me?” he asked, looking at me sideways and without his trademark smile. “I haven’t gone to the gathering in ages and no blossoms have fallen for me for a very long time. Did she mention me at all? Do I stand worthy of her blessing any longer?”
I opened my hands and found that I was holding one last flower in my palm. “The Green Lady says she loves you,” I said and the bloom flew out of my hands and placed itself behind Coyote’s ear. He smiled, gave his manic laughter once more, and disappeared into the mist.
A giant serpent slid beneath the floating spirit flowers in the pond of the Garden of the Gods. His mouth opened wide and swallowed me. There my vision ended.
The Light Congress 