Circling Her Head

As I climbed the steps to Renee's room, a riot of color danced in quick little movements on the porch railing.  I laughed as I saw the parrots finishing up the seed Renee had left out this morning.

Hot China tea and cranberry biscotti were waiting on the table.  Yummy!  As I sank into the thick cushions to wait for her return, I noticed a journal under the canister of birdseed.  The feel of soft leather and pages of faded, purple ink caligraphy was immediately mesmerizing.

This was the story of Turquoise Goddess or Changing Woman, who changes with the seasons.  She is change.  She is transition.

Remember to always walk in the pollen path of peace and blessing.

Be still within yourselves and know that the trail is beautiful.

Changing Woman reminded me of my childhood and I remembered two things.  The first was being in water and struggling to keep my head in the air.  But I found that if I relaxed and let it lift me up, I could float on the surface, bouyed up and held between the soft liquid bed and the blue sky above me.  And then I lost my fear.

The second thing was riding a gently galloping horse.  I could feel my body move with the animal beneath me.  There was no saddle and no bridle, just the animal and I, together.  I began to laugh and held my arms straight out, embracing the wind with my hair flying out behind me.  I knew that the horse and I were one, and I lost my fear.

And this is the knowledge that we had all forgotten, that we are all one being.

Changing Woman tells me of the truths that come from our storytellers and balladeers.  They sing of ancient knowledge and point the way.  She is showing me a new path.

We are Stardust.  We are Golden.

We are billion years old carbon.

And we need to get ourselves back to the garden.

(Joni Mitchel)

On the wings of an eagle, I soared past our ancestor stars.  All the chemical elements that make up all things came from here, forged by nuclear fusion to evolve in different ways.

The giant red star under us contains the same hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon now on earth.  Ahead is Rigel, the hot, blue white star made of silicon and calcium.  Far off in the vastness of the galaxy, the biggest supernovas explode the heavy metals into space that will gather and form new worlds.  Nickel, copper, silver, gold, mercury, lead and every atom that form our bodies, are all made of stardust under pressure.

We are change.  We are transition.  This is not the final form of our being.

We are Stardust.  We are Golden.

We are billion years old carbon.

And we need to get ourselves back to the garden.

I awakened with a start.  Had I been dreaming?  Renee had just poured a steaming cup of tea.  She smiled across the table and tilted her head to check the birdfeeder.

An eagle feather glistened in her hair.