This little story just had to get out of my head, and it is not meant to be self-aggrandizing or self-promoting. I hope each one who reads this can walk with me, and take a little bit away with them to start the new year. Big massive hugs that make you feel loved to all. On Christmas day in the heat, with cafe rompope (coffee with eggnog!), and new friends. Denny is delivering stuffing to where we are going for dinner on his motorcycle. Hilarious!
Mother Earth
I was awoken early this morning by a noise outside the window. It was still dark but the moon was full. The streets were clear and the mist swirled around, a combination of clouds and rain that offered both anonymity and security.
A voice, no more than a whisper, came through the darkness to me from below my window.
‘Come with me’, it said. ‘It is time.’
I couldn’t tell if it was in English or Spanish, for it could have come from inside me. I jumped out of bed and quickly dressed, grabbed my shoes and went outside to see who I may have heard.
When I was on the street, I saw, through the fog, a figure, garbed in a black robe, neither woman nor man. It beckoned to me and set out down the street towards the surrounding mountains.
The mist helped clear my muddled brain and I was filled with a sense of clarity, for I know that this was the time that I had waited for.
As I followed, the sun began to peak from behind the mountain. It was dawn, and the colours of the land around me were suffused with brightness. The fog was lifting, and I could see that I was being led along a path now, the town lights and buildings far behind me.
I know not how long I walked, but I did not become tired. I felt clear with purpose, watching the figure ahead of me. I was joined by a dog, a small creature with a slight limp, light brown, well fed. With tail wagging, we made our acquaintance and continued along the path.
As we climbed into the side of the mountain, I passed a coffee plantation. Entering into the jungle beyond, it once again began to darken, and the mist from the clouds in the forest enveloped me, lightly covering my skin with wet warmth, soothing and comforting. The trail narrowed and we forded a couple of streams, my shoes finding the stones as though my feet were guided above the water. I stopped to drink, cupping my hands and tasting the water. It seemed sweet, filled with pureness and even light. I was invigorated.
As time passed, the foliage around me became darker, for we were climbing even higher. The air chilled slightly, but just enough to offset the exertion that propelled me forward. The figure ahead stopped and pointed to a small opening next to the trail.
I once again heard a voice.
‘Purify yourself now. The tree beckons you.’
I turned down a small winding trail, filled with decaying leaves and small shoots of life. The canopy of trees enveloped me, and welcomed me, and as I descended down a hill, I saw my magic tree. I had been here before.
My strangler fig, the banyan of Hindu meditation, my place of truth. The rain began now, drops falling around me, yet for some reason, I was not soaked. I stood within the base, among the roots and the trunks and looked up into the latticework of the tree.
The dog lay down, watching me, and I heard an audible sigh. The wind lessened and I was driven to climb.
And climb I did, for the vines formed perfect handholds and footholds for me, the human. The tree guided me up, and gently allowed me to be part of its perfection. I climbed and pulled myself higher, passing portals and flowers and leaves as I rose in the canopy.
The rain stopped, and light passed through the canopy and illuminated the inside of the tree. Finding more holds, I went higher. As the passage narrowed, my back was supported by the vines, and I felt supported in a calm embrace.
Reaching the apex, there was a small opening and a natural seat, made just for me. I peered out onto the world below, and marveled at the height I had attained.
My mind cleared, and thoughts ran towards my life until now. I reflected upon my choices and the circumstances that had brought me here to this place. I felt freed from the chains of my past misdeeds and asked for forgiveness for those who I had harmed in any way.
I thanked those who help me, both in my actual life, and those who guide me from beyond the shadows.
My life flashed before me, times of sadness but mostly of joy, friends and family, faces from the past and some I was yet to meet. I was heartened by this glimpse into my future.
I felt like I was floating over the forest, and watching the plants grow and the birds fly. That’s when the raven came.
This magnificent creature perched itself next to me, high in the sky, and stared at me. Its eyes were black as night, so large and foreboding. I felt one with my surroundings, a belonging, and connected to this being. The raven protected me from fear.
It was though this tree, and this bird, were showing me their world. But it was also my world.
It was peaceful and calm and beautiful. I was enthralled. I looked down and the dog had been joined by other animals. Monkeys, raccoons, coatis, a jaguar, squirrels and many others. Smaller creatures I could not see, but I felt their presence.
The tree branches began to sway gently, as hundreds of species of birds came to roost. All colours of the rainbow, they gathered and paid homage to the tree of truth.
The normal noise of the forest ceased. All were waiting. All were silent. I was just part of this tableau of life, another visitor to the tree of truth.
The message came abruptly and strongly.
The words were few.
‘You are our world. You must be who you have always been, but be as one. Live fully. Respect each other and the land and flourish.’
I was in awe. The sun streamed through the leaves, the insects played along the bark and the flowers even up this high seemed to bloom in seconds. I closed my eyes and felt all those around me and sensed their power and their clarity and their purpose.
Then as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. I was somehow on the ground, the dog licking my face and my head clear and pure. The animals and birds and insects and flowers and trees and even the rocks lived with and within me.
I looked around and spied my guide, patiently waiting up the hill, gently motioning me to follow. I looked at the dog, wanting him to walk with me, but felt rather than heard that he was living his own life and this was only for me, the next step. I was not sad, and thanked him for his companionship along the path. I watched him bound along the path away from me, his limp gone.
Back to the trail and back to the forest, jumping over rocks and climbing up hills, grasping saplings when I needed them to pull me forward, my shoes making hardly a sound in the early morning dew and the decaying plants on the forest floor. The raven watching me from the trees above.
The trees became blacker and misshapen, the trellis of the forest forming an eternal joining of the plants above my head. The blooms on the flowers were everywhere, colours that created a kaleidoscope of beauty. The stones beneath my feet were covered with moss, and I spied lizards skittering around, seemingly oblivious to me, yet as they stopped and I looked at them, I felt a joining.
I then realized that the rocks and the grass and the trees and the water were all part of me and I part of them. We were all part of the world and we were connected. We were there to support each other and to provide each other with sustenance – food and shelter and cooperation, companionship and purpose.
I was heartened and my step quickened. My guide was still ahead, neither rushing me or allowing me pause. My stride was strong, and I sensed that my journey in life would be this way from now on – strong and guided and pure.
After yet another period of time, for time had no bearing on this journey, I was greeted by the sound of rushing water. My energy was high, my steps brisk. My breathing was effortless. I forded yet another small river, using stepping stones and logs that had fallen in a mosaic of texture. Up a steep hill, suddenly realizing that I was alone. The raven had flow away.
The moss on the trees became thicker and the feeling of a force filled my heart. As I sensed my destination was near, I did not see my guide, and I blindly moved forward, now trusting that I was where I needed to be. The rain has stopped and the sun shone down, stalactites of energy passing through the canopy of trees overhead.
The waterfall came into view. Cutting straight into a high cliff, the ribbon of cascading whiteness thundering to the pool below. The delicate mist thrown by the force swirled around me. The cliffs were bare of green, a womb of majesty that surrounded the waterfall pool. The path was treacherous, but my feet found the perfect nooks as I moved down the side of the cliff into the small clearing below.
The rock I chose to sit on was flat, and large, and covered in moisture, and as the mist enveloped me, I was neither cold nor wet. I was bathed in light, and water, and felt calmness and a serenity unlike anything I had ever felt. I was reborn.
I sat, cross legged and stretched my arms up to the water, holding the spray in my arms, becoming one with the peace being gifted to me. I was taken to another level, on in which I could now feel the water and the plants, the animals, my guides, my friends, my family. I become life.
When the voice came to me, I was not sure if it was from within or from all around me. It resonated with my heart. The past is not relevant. Emotions are strength. Wisdom is within you. Energy was radiating around me and inside me.
The words were simple.
‘Tell your stories. Encourage others to live their passion.’
So I am. And I will.
When I opened my eyes, I was in my bed, and the roosters were crowing and the sun was shining into the room. My thoughts went to family and friends, for it was now Christmas morning, and I felt the joy of opened presents and love and smelled the food and echoed the thankfulness. I wish everyone in the world the peace I had felt, and the clarity of purpose to make a difference, and the means and the courage to accomplish their dreams.
Landon Jones, Costa Rica, 2011.
(an alternate ending involved meeting a thin white haired man on a rock by the waterfall, tired looking from being out all night, having burned off many calories by sliding up and down chimneys, surrounded by reindeer swimming and elves washing them down – my six year old inside loves this but the grown-up felt it was not apropos to the tone)
