Gate: Ace of Swords

I stepped through the vision gate and found myself on a dark, watery surface. Stars shone down into this realm from far above, but they were not reflected in the water as they are in the realm of the Divine Mother. “Where am I?” I mused as I stood upon this surface, ripples moving out from where my feet touched the shadowy ocean.

After some time spent observing the darkness and many ripples in their repeating and predictable patterns upon the seas, marble knight statues dressed in armor and bearing long swords rose out of the water. These statues emerged from the right and left, creating a path through the darkness and nothingness of the void. As I passed between them, levitating upon the water, they dropped their swords behind me, closing the passage.

I fought the urge to run because I had a fleeting thought that the swords would fall on me, but since there was nothing I could do about the guardians of this realm and they spoke not a single word to me, I continued on at a moderate pace, comforting myself that if this was to be my end then at least I would die with my feet upon the appointed path. The swords continued to fall as I pushed forward, fighting shadows both in and outside of my heart.

As I moved deeper into the void, I beheld a bright light ahead, shining in the darkness like a star on the distant horizon. I followed this light until I reached the end of the guarded path and found a shining, white flower floating upon the surface of the waters. It turned upon its axis, displaying lovely silken petals that shone with their own light.

“Why are you here?” came a voice from the flower. “The guardians must know.”

“I have come to this far place in pursuit of knowledge and wisdom of the mysteries of creation,” I said. “I also wish to know your true nature. My name is Heidi.”

“For what purpose do you seek this hidden wisdom?” said the lotus. “You long for material comforts and dominion over others I suppose like some of those who have walked this path before you.” As the flower spoke, I saw myself draped in earthly treasures of various types, viewing the world and everyone in it as if from a great height. The shadow I cast from this high spot covered the world in a darkness without end.

“No, Servants of Love do not desire to give the earth to their shadows,” I said and the vision faded from my sight. “Though abundance is the birthright of all beings, that is not what drives me. Here is my motivation, unconditional love.”

I allowed the emotion to move through me and pulled a glowing spark from my heart, the embodiment in that dark place of my love. “I use this feeling like fuel and it ignites my curiosity about the worlds and moves me forward down the paths that will benefit all,” I said. “I do not know what to do with this energy of love other than to journey inward and discover more about both reality and myself. I wish to use this information to serve the Creator of All and to find my place in the songs and patterns of creation.”

The lotus flower reached forth its leaves and deep roots, and took the spark of my heart’s energy from my hand. Then, it dropped the light into the center of its blossom and exploded outward in a burst of primal energy. When the flower stopped growing and the light faded, I found myself looking into my own face. The plant person born from my heart was a mirror image of me except she had a white flower growing from her spirit which emerged from the top of her head like a hat.

Suddenly, a powerful roar came from the deep shadows of the void in the unguarded space outside of the paired knights’ path behind us. A whirling tornado of growth, like a living, moving storm made of thorns, swirled towards us rapidly. The emerging spirit was so fast, malevolent, and dark that I could hardly make it out against the backdrop of the abyss.

“Who is that!” I cried, an ancient fear entering my heart.

“You see before you the presence of those who seek this place for reasons other than your own,” my mirror image said. “We call them, The Dark Congress, and they exist here, protecting the path but also their own interests to the detriment of all else. Come, Heidi, we must return to the light or else join them in the abyss outside of the influence of those who share your love for all in creation.”

The living lotus took my hand and led me back down the path of guardian statues. As we went past them, the knights again dropped their swords behind me, but this time it felt like a protective gesture rather than a threatening one because the living thorns could not follow in my footsteps. The storm was left spinning and growling in the dark and shadows at the furthest edge of the void that I had yet braved.

“Who are you?” I asked the flower as we moved across the surface of the water. “And what are you doing here?”

“I am you, Heidi,” the flower said. “I represent a piece of your spirit which dwells permanently in this place near the abyss and is also connected to nature and all growing and evolving beings. Let me remove a shadow from your eyes so that you may see the truth.” She waved her arm in a sweeping gesture and suddenly we were walking in a sea of lotus blossoms that appeared like her, before we had shared my heart’s energy. Then, she motioned again and the flowers vanished from the surface of the water.

“Those who visit this place leave a part of themselves behind,” the lotus said. “That part remains here with those who are like them in spirit and whispers wisdom to the part of the visitors that go back to the world they know and from which they emerged. This is true for both the light and the shadow.”

Finally, the flower and I reached the end of the guarded path and, in this new place, I saw a large, glowing crowd of nature spirits whose forms were composed of brilliant, diamond light. They were so bright in that dark place that it took some time for my eyes to adjust to their glow.

“Behold, Heidi, the Light Congress!” my guide said. “Be welcome to the company of light. Long have you walked in shadowed places. We rejoice at your arrival at long last.”