Gate: Seven of Swords

A Chalk Path

I entered the vision gate and found myself on a path made of pink chalk that stuck to the bottom of my feet. As I moved forward down this path, the chalk shimmered and changed, becoming a natural forest floor with soft green grass. I wiped the chalk from my feet upon this natural sponge and, as I did so, ancient trees appeared on either side of me, marking the edges of an untamed forest.

I approached one of the largest trees whose branches reached invitingly close to the ground and began to climb it. “Ow,” I exclaimed as a long splinter lodged itself in my thumb. “I’m only passing through here, I mean you no harm,” I told the tree. “Please keep your darts from my flesh and I will do my best to move through your branches like a shadow, harmless and temporary.” It seemed to hear me because I experienced no further hindrances in my journey upwards in either additional splinters or lack of branches to climb.

I eventually came to the top of the tree where all of the trees in that timeless place had grown close together and, above the forest, formed a magnificent canopy of green like a cape placed over the rolling hills of the landscape. I received a fleeting revelation from the trees that this blanket not only held the forest together but concealed any sacred or hidden spaces in the woodland from unwelcome visitors.

Above this profusion of growth and interconnected branches, a swarm of monarch butterflies fluttered above the trees. They danced and swirled together, creating beautiful patterns in the sky with their wings and motions. One fluttered in front of my eyes for a moment but then departed to join its fellows in the dance. Before my wondering eyes, the butterflies fused together and became a being shaped like a woman in the sky.

The spirit of the monarch butterflies was very beautiful but hard to perceive because as this woman moved she trailed rainbow lights behind her hands and body so she was surrounded by a perpetual cloud of multi-colored light, the brilliance of which dazzled my sight after my time spent below the woodland branches. After a time, the being of the sky noticed my observing presence.

“Hello, small one,” she said, floating in my direction. “What are you doing here so far from the forest floor?”

Meeting a Goddess

“Spirit of Light and Butterflies, I am here to explore this realm and to discover your true nature,” I replied. “My name is Heidi and if I had known I would find someone as extraordinary as you above the trees perhaps I would have climbed one sooner. That being said, there are many diverse and interesting beings to meet below. Have you ever visited the forest floor?”

The spirit laughed, sending butterflies in every direction across the sky. “Visited the forest floor?” she said. “That is where I am from and where we all begin, Heidi. You are a silly person to not have known that.”

“You started upon the pink chalk path and are now a being made of light in the sky?” I said. “That is quite a transformation. You must tell me how it was accomplished because I know others who may want to do this too.”

“Life takes us where it wills and I’m not certain I can set your feet or others on such a path if it is not meant to be so. But, because you have found me this day, I suspect there is something I can teach you at the very least. I am called Aurora,” said the spirit. “Come with me to my home in the sky and learn my true nature.”

The being gestured towards me and I found myself bathed in the rainbow light from her hands. Under her illuminating light, I effortlessly floated from my perch in the trees and followed Aurora above the forest and through some puffy, white clouds that brushed my face with their cooling mist. The spirit’s rainbow light made her easy to follow though, to my eyes, continuously difficult to perceive in any close detail.

After a journey of some time but zero effort, we arrived at a colorless dwelling in the sky and entered through its cloud and trellis gate. Within the sky spirit’s home, everything was white: walls, chairs, tables and floor. As Aurora moved within her home, it came alive with rainbow colors from the movement of her form and everything sparkled with the brilliance of her inner being. I imagined dark glasses upon my eyes to shield myself from the goddess’ sparkling visage which she saw and seemed to find endlessly amusing.

“No glasses for me, Heidi?” she said as butterflies formed from her mirth and swirled around the interior of the palatial home before exiting through the outer gate to explore the sky outside. I shrugged my shoulders in response which invited further laughter. “Sit here, please,” Aurora said, when her laughter ended. Then, she indicated a chair made of shining white wood and walked deeper into her home. “Would you like a story or a snack?” she asked when I was seated.

“It’ll have to be a story,” I said. “I’m not sure a snack in the sky would sit well or at all in my earthly stomach.”

Aurora’s Tale

“As you will it, Heidi. Here is a story just for you. Once upon a time,” Aurora said. “There was a young woman who was all alone. To keep herself from becoming lonely in her solitude, she told herself stories. One day, as she looked down from above and contemplated her perpetual loneliness despite her best efforts to the contrary, she saw a handsome young man riding on a horse. He was all alone too.”