Druid's Sleep

Druid’s Sleep

He remembered his dream from last night, the luminescent trees were alive in an ethereal glow, their light unlocking a secret language of the universe for Dadian. He could hear the harmony of whispering trees and the gentle murmuring of the waters. The interconnected dance of life unfolded before him in splendor.

In the morning light Dadian looked across the greenfield and saw his Druid circle gathering outdoors in their sacred grove under the massive oak tree. He, along with other members of the Druid order of priests, Myrrda and Balman, would be officiating at ceremonies this afternoon and in the evening and then after the sun went down. The rituals would be honoring Nature and celebrating the spring equinox with its promise of rebirth. In Druid culture Nature was considered to be divine being and the land was a living entity that generously offered up the magic that it held. Animals and plants, especially trees, were revered and incorporated into the religious practices of Dadian’s Druid society.

This evening bonfires would be lit to honor the sun, drive away evil spirits, and purify the land for the coming growing season. After dark, the community would come together to gather around the sacred flames, dancing and singing with joy and offering up prayers for the blessings of health, prosperity, and a bountiful harvest.

Sitting next to the blazing fire, best friends Amaris and Aglain, both just entering their fourteenth year, regarded one another with looks of bewilderment on their faces. Because their names meant Gifted by God and Born Again, their parents believed they were a perfect match to be married and raise a family thus ensuring the continuation of their Druid way of life.

But Amaris considered herself a Starlight Druid. She was unsure of her place in their circle in Mistwood or in the Druid way of life. Her fondest desire was to return to the night sky. As a mediator between the earth world and the realm of the higher worlds, the priest Dadian could teach her how to facilitate her transformation.

Aglain considered himself a Pythagorean Druid, one who believed in the transmigration of the immortal soul. This lifetime he wished to plant gardens of herbs devoted to growing medicinal plants. He wanted to brew herbal concoctions for healing calling upon the wisdom he had acquired in his former lifetime as Windsong, master of herbs. Aglain knew that Myrdda was a learned priest that conducted divination rituals. He was also a peacekeeper and a diplomat arbitrating opposing ideas between other Druid groups. Aglain would seek his council.

Alban Eilir, Light of the Earth, the spring equinox had finally arrived this year and Mistwood’s festival commenced with the vitality of blooming nature in this verdant season. Some set off on nature rambles to contemplate the cosmos, others sat in meditation chanting the word Awen as inspiration to connect with the blessings of the gods. The beauty of the season caused Dadian’s heart to overflow with joy. He felt blessed to know that Druid’s see everything in the universe as divine energy living in rocks, rivers and springs, plants and trees, animals and birds. All life was sacred and fused with divine spirit. And because spring as well has a living consciousness, it knows when it is time for the earth to be reborn. All the yellow flowers seem to bloom at once, daffodils, dandelions, forsythia.

Hares, bunnies and eggs abound in the grove in the spring. Hares are held in high regard by their community and it is unlawful to kill one except during the spring equinox when they are killed and eaten to share in their blessings of fertility. All animals that provide sustenance are venerated.

And so, it was the renewal of the earth and the promise of earth's bounty that the Druid clan of Mistwood were celebrating. Day and night are of equal length at this time. The sun rises directly east and directly west. The spring equinox is celebrated as the balance point between day and night, outside in nature, and within one’s own soul.

The Druid priest Dadian knew that he was privileged to have the sacred responsibility of guiding the members of his community to a greater awareness and understanding of the immortality of the soul. As a guiding light, Dadian would teach them that reincarnating into life after life opens one up to discovering their true relationship with the Absolute Divine.

Although he felt joyous being outdoors in the sacred grove celebrating the vernal equinox with his Druid circle, Dadian felt an old anxiety arising within again.

A personal quest was needed to further understand his connectedness to all life and to heal a past-life trauma. To access that particular past life in Mesoamerica he would look to the priest-magician Balman to guide him into dreamwalking. Once the portal was opened by Balman, Dadian could easily slip into another dimension in the Other World and knowledge not available to him in his waking life would be revealed in the dreamstate.

On a chosen night after a ritual with Balman, Dadian lay down and drifted off to sleep. He felt excited about dreamwalking in the Other World. All things were possible in dreams. Gracefully Dadian slipped through a portal into an awareness of his new surroundings. Curiously, his eyes scanned the dreamscape. He looked across a dry desert, across a canyon where succulents, shrubs, palms, flowering bushes, and wildflowers all thrived together near rivers close to mountainous terrain. The sky appeared to be an orange sunrise. Where was he?

Then Dadian looked down to see that he was dressed as a Mayan warrior. The warrior wore a headdress fashioned as a jaguar’s head. He wore earspools and gold and jade necklaces. His body was painted in iridescent colors announcing his wealth, status, and his power.

Dadian walked toward the warrior and an Indian woman holding a baby in her arms. Angrily the man spoke to the crying woman and grabbed the baby out of her arms. “No!” she screamed aware of the impending fate of her tiny girl.

“She’s not mine!” the man bellowed. “You’re an impure woman and this is your fate!” He walked over to a flat stone platform beside a thorny cactus. The man placed the baby on the platform in a sacrificial position, picked up a nearby rock and smashed the baby’s head. Her mother winced and then fainted.

Damian recognized himself as the Mayan warrior in this dream. He felt aggrieved that he had possessed such a dark heart and wondered if he might have committed other violent atrocities during this incarnation.

And to soothe his troubled heart, his spirit guide Hind appeared. Perhaps the female red deer could offer perspectives providing potential for resolving Danian’s karmic debt. Through the possibilities of imaginative dreamwalking, concerns could be resolved.

"Head cracking was not uncommon as punishment in cultures at the time of your past life. Burial grounds attest to this." Damian and Hind walked on as she spoke to him. "At the behest of the lords of karma the warrior must rectify this karmic debt with you in your present lifetime. In a way that is beneficial for all."

Danian was confused. Hind shared her wisdom with him. "Because through your actions as the warrior you caused harm, pain, and suffering to yourself and to others, you as the warrior incurred a karmic debt. Yet across many lifetimes you learned many soul lessons and in harmony with your many positive actions including your present lifetime as a Druid priest, good karma has been earned. The lords of karma now smile on you."

Dreamwalking, Danian became fully aware that he was in a dream. He understood that he was protected and that this was a deeply significant experience, one specially designed for his healing. His guide Hind then spoke to him “Forgive yourself, forgive the woman and the warrior. His/your higher consciousness had not yet developed in that lifetime.”

This seemed like an initiation for Danian. The god within spoke to him revealing that he was in a higher consciousness in his present lifetime and as a Druid priest he should act accordingly. With his abilities as a leader and his many gifts as a seer, scientist, astrologist, philosopher, teacher and healer, in his dream Danian saw himself walking confidently toward the warrior and the woman. He placed their hands one on top of the other. “The child was yours’s,” Danian intuitively spoke with a knowing authority to the man. Danian’s heart brimmed with gratitude when he saw a look of forgiveness in the eyes of the parents as they faced one other. The three embraced and Danian spoke, “I forgive you both and I forgive myself.”

Damian felt the sorrow lift up from his heart and float away into the loving, interconnected universe. He knew that his outstanding karma from that lifetime had been burned off in a holy fire. Although resolved, it had been revealed to Damian that as a way to balance the scales a debt was owed to him in his present lifetime. What might that be?

Continuing the dreamwalk with Hind he thanked her for her service as his spirit guide. They bid one another good-bye. In this Other World three blackbirds sang in the World Tree. Their songs testified to the mystic secrets that had been imparted to the priest. His dream was of divine origin and when he returned to the waking state he would have wisdom to impart to his Druid circle.

Newly transformed, Dadian arranged a meeting with Amaris. Her longing to return to the stars, he told her, could be achieved not by physically leaving this world but by soul travel. Sitting in meditation and looking within she could chant her secret word to access all the wonders of creation. With practice she could return to the stars any time her heart desired. Danian gave Amaris her secret word.

Meeting in their secret grove one day with Myrdda, they discussed Aglain's request to establish a magical garden of herbs in Mistwood. For the benefit of their community and its potential for the creation of medicinal potions, it was agreed that a portion of land in a forest clearing would be given to Aglain for growing herbs and other plants including sacred mistletoe. Members of their circle would serve as planters and guardians of the gardens.

Following his dreamwalk, Dadian contemplated the wisdom he now felt he had earned. His dreamwalk had inspired a new outlook on life. As the spring equinox had renewed the world, so had Dadian's dream for his life been reborn.

His newly awakened state was felt by the tribe. Mistwood began to flourish. Crops began to grow in abundance, houses were being built out of sacred oak forests, members of the community married and had children. And one day as he saw fellow priest Myrdda with his new family, Damian realized that the debt that he was owed in this lifetime was a daughter.

Caroline Woodruff_1848 words