PAGAN APARTMENTS

I had a very poor night.  Insomnia hit me hard again and I struggled to grab what little sleep I did.  And finally, after getting up at 6:00, I lay down on the couch to wait until the kettle boiled.  Naturally, now that I wasn't trying, I fell asleep and straight into a dream:

I have just moved in an apartment building that has a large community room.  I think how wonderful it will be to hold Red Tent meetings there, and arrange with a super to do just that.  I tell her that the next one planned will have my friend, Juliana, as the guest speaker and she’ll be doing a workshop on bead crafting.  The super puts me on the schedule and tells me that she too may attend.

After being away for a while (it feels as though I’m working in an office again), I come back home and am afraid that I am too late.  I go by the community room and see that it is occupied but not by the women I expected.  At first I see only one young woman, Brandi, who is doing some sort of acrobatic dancing to the beat of drums.  She twists and turns, drops to the floor and rolls, springing back up by way of a backflip with amazing agility, her dark hair flying wildly as she flips and spins. 

Around this dance, the other people, who were in shadows, emerge.  There is a middle-aged couple, a robust man dressed in a Viking outfit, and a woman who in contrast is very tall and thin.  She’s wearing a turquoise-blue robe, and her long silver hair is done up in a tall pony-tail.  They seem to be the leaders.  There are about a dozen more people, all dressed in various robes and garb, all chanting something deep and resonant.  I long to join them but know I cannot break the Circle, so I back out into the hallway, which is also full of people dressed in robes and garb.  I ask one man, garbed in skins and leathers, and decorated with runes along his forehead, what is happening.  He responds that the two leaders are the embodiment of Deities and the ritual they’re performing is one of Deep Healing. He then informs me that this ritual will be done again in about an hour.

I need to be there, and quickly go up the stairs to my apartment to get changed into my robe.  Along the way, I see the stairs cluttered with all sorts of accessories – belts, pouches, daggers, circlets – as folks, who are also sitting along the steps, are getting ready.  I smile as one man turns to thank me as I hand him his pouch and belt.  I turn to walk down the hallway to my apartment and stop in amazement – each doorway is decorated with wreathes and vines of fresh yellow flowers, and before each door stands a brand new besom, a crystal bowl with a candle and an athame.  These arrangements are that much more vibrant because the electric lights are turned off.  As I slowly make my way to my apartment, I feel as though the entire building has been turned into a temple. 

Inside I’m facing yet another shock – my ex-husband is sitting in the living room.  He’s very tense and upset, wondering what took me so long.  He then demands that I pack my things and move out immediately and can’t seem to understand my reluctance.  I tell him this is where I belong and he can leave anytime he wants, while I go and change into my robes, choosing the green lace one.  As I slip on my emerald circlet, I tell him that I need to attend this ritual, that my soul is crying out for it.  Inside, I’m puzzled over two things – why he’s there in the first place, and where did the green robes come from?

Back out in the stunning hallway, all decorated with Ostara symbols, I make my way to the community hall again.  Making a mental note to contact Juliana and reschedule with her, I take my place in the procession that now winds through the building…