copyright 2002, all rights reserved.
first performed 8/21/02
With your eyes closed, all around you is blackness. Now begin to notice a dim light. As you look around you, you notice that you are standing in a path under a thick canopy of trees. This is a place which is strangely familiar to you.
The light continues to get brighter and you realize it is mid-morning here. You look ahead on your path, but see that it only continues further into the trees and toward a mountain range in the distance. You begin walking toward the mountains, drawn by something ahead of you.
The morning animals gradually make their voices heard as they begin another day. Perhaps an animal joins you on your journey: perhaps an animal spirit with which you are familiar.
The path continues deeper into the woods. The trees begin to form an archway, covering the sky with a dark green ceiling. But the bushes and grasses thin a bit, leaving the way very open and not confining at all.
The path continues very easily up and down small hills and through the woods, getting closer to the rocky mountainside ahead. Closer you get to the mountain… Closer still…
The sound of the birdsong, and the chittering of the other small animals makes a melodious song for your journey, as you travel ever closer to that which calls you. Perhaps a babbling brook is nearby, adding its voice to the song in the woods.
The wall of rock is much closer now and you can see that the trees thin a bit and then stop just before you reach the mountain.
You arrive at the edge of the forest, where you can see the rockface clearly…
In the side of the mountain ahead there is a large cave opening surrounded by a doorway hewn into the mountainside. The stone carvings in the archway are old and many of them have crumbled to dust centuries ago. You can almost make out some of the ancient symbols, but there is very little left of them to be sure.
You enter the cave.
It is very dark in here, lit only by the light coming in from the doorway behind you and a single torch on the wall nearby. The torch will be necessary in the darkness beyond, so you grab it and carry it with you in this dark and silent place.
A sound can be heard gently ahead. For just an instant a drop of water strikes a rocky surface. Then it is silent again as before.
Deeper you go, and deeper still into the rocky womb. It is warm here, not cold and drafty at all. The warmth seems to come from the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. And you can make out a faint glow in the cavern ahead…
Reaching the large room before you, you can barely make out the walls with your torch, but there is a glowing object near the center of the room. The object is very small. It looks like a glowing ring. You stop to examine this ring and see that it has ancient writings around the band. Perhaps these writings look familiar to you. Perhaps you have seen them before, if only briefly.
Another sound breaks the silence. Perhaps it is another drop of water caressing the stoneface. Perhaps it is a long-forgotten creature muttering about something "precious"…
In any case, the ring gently begs you to wear it. It is not a commanding tone the ring bears, rather it is a gentle, small voice. It is a warm voice. Again it asks to ride on your finger. You feel the ring will gladly accept "no" for an answer should you decline. And therefore you feel that the ring may well be trustworthy.
So you gently slip the ring on your finger and the world changes. The cavern is no longer dark: the ring lights its walls well. The floor looks as gold, and the walls look as silver. But there are many colors here as well, and the song in the forest can be heard gently sung here as well…
Now, as you look around you, you see those who have walked to this place with you. And we each bear a similar ring. And there is a small silvery cord connecting our rings together, and to yours.
Looking upward the ceiling of the cavern is gone, and the green ceiling of the forest resides in its place. You see the birds and the small scurrying animals singing their song. And each animal also bears a ring, and a silvery cord connected to your ring. And as you look you see that the trees also share this connection, each connected by a small silvery thread.
Now gently reach forward with the finger of your other hand and gently tap the thread that binds us. Notice how you feel the strength and the harmony of the trees, the bushes, the flowers. Notice how you feel their stationary nature, moving and growing every so slowly, and coexisting with the animals in a symbiotic relationship. Creating oxygen. Holding firm the soil. Producing fruit for the animals to eat. Providing pollen for the insects to consume and utilize. Feel the song of the plant world…
Again, gently tap the thread. Now feel the strength of the animals. Living to find food. Living to eat. Living to reproduce. Feel the need to produce carbon dioxide for the plants. Feel the sharing of the fruits of the plants. Feel the carefree life of simply living without worries or schedules. Simply existing and doing the necessary things to live. Feel the song of the animals…
Now tap the thread one last time. And feel the energy of humanity. Feel our joys and our concerns. Feel our hopes and our fears. Feel our loves and our pains. Feel that we reason, and don't simply respond to our emotions as our animal brothers do. And feel the terrible responsibility of humanity: for we have the power to nurture the world and the power to destroy much of it. Understand that we have often misused our power in our own short-sightedness. And try to remember the bigger picture you see now before you…
Now, looking down, you remove the ring from your finger and leave it as you found it, for it should be left to be found again. The vision fades and you are again in a dark cavern lit only by your torch. You may leave offering, or a blessing, here as you choose.
Now turn back the way you came, toward the distant light of the archway in the side of the mountain. Moving ahead, the archway becomes larger. Larger still. Until you finally reach the entrance to the cave. You return the torch to its place in the wall, noticing that it has not burned away, even an inch, from where it was when you found it. It looks exactly the same.
You now leave the cave and head again toward the path. Walking away from the mountain the song of the forest again comes alive to your ears. And it now seems to have a more familiar ring.
Passing deeper into the woods the canopy arches above you in a thick green ceiling. The bushes and grasses begin to grow wilder as you approach your familiar place. At last you arrive in the dark place where you began, just as the sunlight begins to fade away.
The light leaves and you are again in darkness.
Created by Guides Chandonn, Hypatia X, and Sophia X Pharou
Last modified: 06/20/2009