Arriving and taking stock

Oh! I can’t believe I am here! How did Enchanteur know that this is the landscape I must explore before I can do my work in the Alluvial Mines? Nothing has changed. Everything has changed. I feel the thrill of connection – my bare feet on this rocky soil. I begin to twirl and my skirt flares out. I feel joy. JOY! This feeling that often remains inaccessible to me is here with me. I wonder what else I have in my medicine bag?

Hmmmh…I have a packet of dream seeds. I love seeds. I keep all my seeds in alphabetical order. Of course I separate flowers from vegetables. Sometimes it is hard to categorize seeds. Would you put nasturtiums in the flower category? I often do. But I always plant them in my vegetable garden because I love the peppery taste that the flowers add to a summer salad. I also further categorize my seeds by “tolerates frost”, “prefers warmth”, and finally “sulks unless the night temperatures remain above 50.” I always place myself in that last category.

Yet these dream seeds – as I look at them – they are all different shapes and sizes. Are they fruits? vegetables? flowers? or something entirely unknown? I prefer to trust the latter. These seeds of dreams to come will thrive where they are planted and will pay no attention to the vagaries of my internal or external weather. Wow! what a great find.

What else is in the bag? These look like a pair of glasses. I pick them up and put them on. Wrapping them around my ears. Feeling their weight on the bridge of my nose. Briefly wondering if I look silly. I suspect they have magic lenses. When I put them on, and focus, images from the past come together and rearrange themselves into beautiful collages. If I slide them down my nose, I can see the world around me and then by glancing down, I see these scrapbook images. Very useful indeed! I will set these aside for later.

Reaching in, I feel the cool metal of a candlestick. No candle though. Interesting. I have made several of these descents – with no flashlight or candle to light my way. Enchanteur surely knows why I will need this on my journey, so I will hold onto it.

Oooh. Look at this, a tiny anchor! I laugh aloud! An anchor. tee hee tee hee ho HO HO HA HA HA! Do you have any idea the big ANCHOR I had to leave behind so that I could begin this journey. This is too funny! Enchanteur has a sense of humor. What a laugh for my belly! Ho ho ho!

Next my fingers find a medallion. A unicorn. Just as I am about to say I don’t have an immediate affinity for unicorns, an image comes up of a world, far away, where once a prince laid in bed with a princess and read her to sleep each night. I swear the story was called “The Last Unicorn.” Is there such a book I wonder? Perhaps I will find a library on this trip. If so, I will check their holdings or ask a librarian. To honor this unicorn, I shall wear her around my neck. I tuck her into my shirt and reach back into the bag.

Wings! These are really cool. What an interesting fabric. Translucent, but very strong. I can tell this is going to be fun! Wait! Fun? Joy? What type of journey is this? Most of my journeys are fraught with fear discomfort – doubts and insecurities. From whence does this ELATION come from? Must be that Enchanteur. She has powerful medicine.

I am counting on it.

On towards Owl Creek Valley
By Soulwright