Meeting With The Gods and Spirits

How do I tell you a story without telling you the whole story? I’m good at that “Dare” thing, but not very good at the “Keep Silent” thing. Except that this time I was told to hold some things back. Some of the story I can share, and some I cannot. Maybe its because of the magick that’s still working from last night, and maybe its because not everyone would understand, or maybe its something else entirely. I don’t know. I just know what I was told.

Do you ever wonder if all this magick stuff is real? Do you ever get bogged down in the nay-saying of the rest of the world around you, question whether your past experiences are real, start finding rational explanations for everything, even some rational explanations that stretch credulity themselves? In some ways I’m always on that edge. My worldview holds both the rational and the non-rational together in one place. I see all things as having both kinds of explanations, and I see the spiritual power in the easily explainable. But sometimes, an experience will pull me right off that fine edge and throw me into the wonder of what Gods and Spirits do with us when we are ready to meet them.

I knew that I needed answers and some help, so I set aside time to do deep ritual work. I didn’t have the full plan for the night in my mind, just the initial ceremony which is sacred to me and was taught to me by Spirit. The ceremony is just the beginning, though. I knew when I started that I was opening the door to a night of journey and spiritual questing. I expected the journey to be in my head, in the spirit world, sitting cross-legged on the floor or comfortably in a chair indoors. But I was wrong.

Not long after the opening ceremony, I found myself drawn to Rhyd’s Forest. I wanted to grab my hammock and a blanket and go there for the night, but I knew that my friends would worry about me if I did that, so I stayed put. But the forest kept pulling me. So, at last, I got up, declared that I was going for a walk, and headed out the door. It was raining. I didn’t care.

I walked for about an hour to get to the forest, but it was dark and I couldn’t see the somewhat hidden entrance. I stood on the sidewalk and greeted the forest and asked permission to come in. Immediately, the way became clear. I was a bit scared. Who knows who or what might be in a forest on a rainy night. I pulled my folding knife out of my pocket and held it in my hand, ready to flip it open if need be. The voice of the forest was so clear, and the feeling of the forest reassuring me was so intense, it’s hard to explain it at all. “No. Put that away. You are perfectly safe here. We’ll keep you safe. Don’t worry.” And I knew right away that I was safe, so I slipped the knife back into my pocket.

There were several times in the beginning when I worried that I had lost my way or was about to lose my way. I wanted to turn back, get out of there, get back to my friend’s house and to safety. But each time, the forest reassured me, told me that I was on the right path, that this journey is exactly what I was here for. When I was most afraid, the city light from blocks away bounced off low clouds and shined through the leaves in a way that made parts of the path seem to glow in the dark. When I needed help, the forest gave me what I needed. I laughed out loud at the synchronicities that made my journey through the forest possible.

It wasn’t just the voice of the Forest, or the sense of calm. The forest gave me real, physical help, and I can’t really explain that to you if you don’t believe it or have never experienced such a thing. And yes, I could be more explicit, except that I can’t be. But what I can do is encourage you to seek for yourself. If you are willing to meet the Gods and the Spirits of the land, if you are willing to do the sacred things as you have been taught — whether by a human or by the dreamworld — and if you are willing to heed the Gods and the Spirits even when it’s a bit scary, you will see exactly what I mean.

There is life in everything, and in all life there is intelligence.