Gate: Three of Cups

I stepped through the vision gate onto a black, shiny surface like rock made of polished glass. I attempted to walk forward but my feet were held to the ground by a power I could not see and I began to sink through the shadowy substance. Pulled by an unknown force, I fell through the unnatural ground into further darkness.

When I could perceive my surroundings again, a pulsing glow which beat like the rhythm of a giant heart appeared within my sight. The shifting light was calling my name and compelling me towards it. “Heidi, Heidi, Heidi…” said the light. “Come to me. Come to me.”

“I am here,” I said. “Who calls me?” Rather than reply in words, the light traced a path with its brightness through the gathering shadows which I could follow with my limited sight. As I drew ever closer to the voice and the light that accompanied the sound, I saw a cave of stone that had shining vines of starlight and mist concealing the entrance. I moved those gently aside and entered a glowing cavern filled with more hanging vines made of light.

“Heidi, come to me,” whispered the voice through the lighted vines.

“I approach as quickly as I am able,” I said. “But I require a guide for I can’t see much beyond the cave.” Immediately, a small flower blossom popped up from the cavern floor next to my feet. She had sticks for feet and arms made of flower stems and was filled with the light from the cave and vines. The flower began to energetically run in circles around me, tracing a pattern only she knew. “Hello, Cave Flower,” I said as she rushed past. “My name is Heidi. Who are you?”

“I am Daisy, Daisy, Daisy,” my guide sang as she continued her manic movements about me.

“You move so quickly for a flower, that I find it hard to believe you truly are one,” I said. “Appearances aside, Daisy, where am I?”

“The Womb of the Mother,” the flower replied. “She calls you, don’t you hear? We better go as fast as our stems can carry us.”

“Yes, I hear her voice but I can’t see the way forward,” I said. “Would you take me to her, please? We’re losing time as I stumble through the shadows.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Come with me!” Daisy said and took off, running down the path that suddenly appeared before her and sped further into the cave. I followed as quickly as I could but there was no matching the extraordinary speed of the flower. I was quite a ways behind her when she turned to me with a smile. “We are here!” she declared as I passed through another cave entrance into a huge, echoing cavern.

On the floor of the cavern, crowds of living flowers like Daisy ran around with ceaseless energy. They congregated at a point of pulsing light in the center of the cave and then moved outwards again, back and forth endlessly like waves upon a shore.

At the very center of the cavern, I beheld a glowing figure with the appearance of a giant queen bee who towered over the flowers. The mammoth spirit was producing eggs shaped like squares or building blocks of light. The flowers rubbed their blossoms on the side of the bee, replacing the queen’s flagging energy with their own through their touch and presence, and removed the eggs as quickly as they were produced. The movement was infinite, quick, but soothing in some manner that felt familiar to me while at the same time being brand new.

“Heidi, come to me,” the voice said, coming from the queen bee herself. I rose above the floor of the cavern and began to float towards her head which jutted up into the heights of the cave. “Come to me, come to me now.”

“Mother, I am here,” I said. “I’m sorry for my lateness. I passed through shadow following in the footsteps of Daisy to find you but I was not as lightning quick as she. What do you require of me?” Up and up I traveled until I was at the level of the queen’s compound eyes.

All of the various eyes focused upon me. “Do not apologize for time spent in seeking me,” the Divine Mother said. “I walked with you as you did so and therefore no time was ever wasted. Be welcome into my presence.” Then, I was pulled by her summoning energy towards her physical form, shrinking in size until I found myself absorbed into her head and my vision dissolved into light.

Within the mind of the Divine Mother, I saw myself as an infant in a womb of light with a glowing cord connecting me to the infinite. “Be welcome into my world,” said the Divine Mother. I quickly grew from a baby into the woman that I am now and my vision dissolved once more.

“Be welcome into my time,” said the Divine Mother from the formless void my consciousness now existed in.

When I could perceive my surroundings again, I discovered the Divine Mother standing next to me in the void of space. She was in the shape of a woman made of light with long trailing hair. The goddess wore a sparkling garment woven of the night sky with patterns of stars that dragged on the ground behind her, forming something tangible out of the nothingness of the void with her mere presence.

“Be welcome into my space. Walk with me, Heidi,” she said and began to move forward. I tried to follow the goddess but I kept falling into separate molecules of presence and couldn’t keep pace with her steps while holding my form together. “If you follow me on my cloak, you will find this journey easier,” she said when she noticed I was struggling. “I will provide you with form through the formless.”

“Thank you for your help, Mother,” I said. “I’m sorry I keep falling into light and shadow.” The shining cloak that fell from the Divine Mother’s shoulders elongated and formed a stable path for me through the void. By treading upon her garment, we were finally able to walk together for a little while without my sudden disappearance from her reality.

“I have a gift for you, Formless One,” the goddess said. “For consenting to walk with me in a place beyond duality.” We stopped suddenly and she reached into the air of the void about us. A tree appeared and she plucked a large, round fruit from its branches. “Take and eat of the fruit of my tree as you did so long ago,” she said, handing me a pomegranate which she split open with her own hands.

• Chapter 38: Joining the Unconditional Love of the Formless Ones
• Chapter 37: The Giants of the Inner Realms and Transmuting Mercury’s Tears
• Chapter 36: When Love went to War with Her Shadow
• Chapter 35: The Revelation of the Rainbow Bridge and the Return to Shambhala
• Chapter 34: A Life’s Purpose Remembered and Returning to the Mother’s Garden