FLIGHT AND THE GATHERING

Warning - Contains Adult Content:

I woke up at around 4:30 am and had trouble falling back asleep for a while. Eventually, I turn over and feel that wonderful sensation of heaviness and buzzing that heralds the beginning of astral travel. I concentrate my all on leaving my body, and am somewhat startled to hear a chorus of soft voices urging me to "rise, rise and fly". (I was not able to see who those voices belonged to.) After a few attempts, and in order to concentrate better, I keep my eyes closed as I feel myself float upwards. It occurs to me that this is not necessary, since in astral, I am able to see not only in any direction I choose, but all directions at once, and slowly will vision to return to me. 

I am surprised to see that I am not in my own bedroom but in a much larger one, with an ornate ceiling and archway. There is a bay window in front of me, and all this looks very familiar. My bed, when I look back on it, is a very large four-poster unit with fluttery curtains all around it, and beyond them I dimly see myself still snuggled under the thin blanket. 

With the chorus of voices still urging me to "rise, rise and fly", I turn my attention to the bay window, and without any hesitation fly right through the glass - solid matter simply does not exist here! - and find myself in the beautiful cool pre-dawn air. Now I recognize the street and the house - it's the one that I just moved from. This puzzles me, and I wonder what it is that I'm doing here again. But such questionings do not last long, because the important thing is that I'm free, free to fly about in complete abandon and liberation! 

This doesn't last long, because after a few lazy passes up and down the street, I feel a subtle tug, and know I must be off somewhere else. I follow this tug, everything blurs, and I find myself hovering over a large rural estate, ablaze with lights inside. I see two or three people enter and know that this is where I must be too.

I let go of the flight reluctantly, and make myself solid enough to enter the house by more conventional means. Inside, I see the huge living room and kitchen already full of men and women, greeting each other warmly. I sense that there are a number of bedrooms upstairs that are also occupied by people. As I walk around, I suddenly see someone I know, Adrienne, and we are hugging each other fiercely before we could even blink.

Because we are hard-pressed to find a spot to talk privately, we go into a pristine, white, but very old-fashioned bathroom. I put the toilet seat down and sit there while Adrienne sits on the floor with her head on my lap. Thus we stay, speaking of our love for the Goddess, and how She has manifested Herself to us recently, when the door opens and a couple of young men walk in on us. At that moment, I realize that while our eyes tell us we do not know each other, our spirits instantly recognize our true kindred. We all hug and give up the quest for solitude. This is not the time or place for it, and so make our way downstairs again.

From the kitchen the wonderful aroma of homemade soup and bread (gluten-free for Adrienne - how amazing that this came through!), entices all of us. There appears to be no agenda or program; this is merely a gathering of souls that are not able to so meet in the physical world. We eat, laugh, embrace, talk of all that matters to us. Such closeness stimulates intimacy, and it feels like Beltane all over again, with couples doing what couples do in joyful, open manner. 

I walk around and come to a young man with his girl, dark-eyed and raven-haired, pulled on his lap. There is invitation in their eyes for me to join them, and I do, pulling up her skirt to reveal her very ripe and beautiful yoni. She arches her back at this, but what I see there is not sexual, but a doorway to gentle salvation. Her partner and I look at each other, both having realized this at the same time, and suddenly she becomes shy, pulling her skirt down. I leave them, knowing that they need to be alone to fulfill this salvation. 

Going down into the basement, I see that this is where the unpartnered people are, the Crones and Wise Men, and know my place is here, but before I reach them, I stop in surprise to see a man sitting in the alcove in the wall. He is miniature, about two feet tall, with black hair and sharp pointy goatee, reminding me of a fox. He is dressed in blue jeans and a blue checkered shirt, which looks totally odd on him, and he is rude, making all sorts of comments in totally inappropriate and belligerent manner. I cannot help but laugh, because this too is an act, just like his clothes are. I am not fooled by his behavour or appearance, and tell him that it does not become the Wee Folk to act in this way.

I pick him up and put him on my left shoulder as we wander around munching on the many delicacies laid out before us. There is much conversation, and in this conversation much planning - we all feel a sense of urgency. 

Eventually, as I knew it would come, I feel the tug again. Outside it is now light, as I take flight and in a blur, find myself gently sliding back into my body and waking up to sunlight streaming through my window.