The 14th Path, Daleth, The Empress

The Luminous Intelligence

Warm sunlight streams down upon your body and you awake on a bed of soft green grass carpeted with violets that extend around you like a quilt hugging the earth.

Stretching, you sense how much work you have done both physically and spiritually. How tired you once were on your quest to wholeness. You realize you have slept deeply, and this great expanse of lawn and flowers was created from the threads woven by the Infinite from your prayers and dreams.

You are now refreshed. A soft breeze touches your skin and you stand. You feel like dancing or shouting for joy for being alive on such a perfect day, so you spin around you as you did as a child. For the first time, you feel completely safe, all anxiety removed. You thank Mother Earth for bringing you from the deep sleep in which you previously lived your life.

A soft fluttering of wings brush against your ear. A hummingbird hovers near you and the prismatic greens and dinks of its body and wings sparkle in thee sun. The bird speaks to you in a woman’s voice that makes you fall to your knees, for it is She, the Holy Mother, who has come to meet you.

You are now in my sacred sphere. You have left the cage of bondage. Follow me to find what you may claim of my creation. What you ask for will be given, so clarity and purity of heart is demanded. Seek for the Son before all things and cast the seeds that you find in His light.

She flies to the east. Though she is quickly out of sight, you follow. The ground slopes down to where a creek has cut a chasm. A small wooden bridge spans the gap. When you step on the planks, the grass behind you disappears. You see nothing of what may be on the other side.

As much as you live the spring day, you know your evolution depends on going into the unknown place that looms before you. The babbling water comforts you; this is the Living Stream whose source comes from Divinity that gave birth to all. With this thought, you find you’ve already come halfway across. At your feet is a small gift box tied with an emerald colored ribbon.

You pick it up and see a note with your name on one side and a message on the other:Take what is inside and dream again.

As you untie the ribbon, you say a prayer to be able to clearly see what your dream should be. Lifting the lid, your prayer is answered. You know what to visualize, for you have absolute clarity of what is best for your body and spirit.

The box is full of seeds of various shapes, colors, and sizes. You pour them into a cupped hand and imagine your future self, knowing that the variety of seeds will ensure a bountiful harvest for your life’s work.

You breathe deeply and wait while your intention builds until you feel grounded. You know you have no need to rush. You have waited all of your life to come to this place.

When you are ready, when thoughts and emotions are one, you throw the seeds and watch them scatter beyond the far end of the bridge.

A wheat field rises with a golden sun overhead, and you run the rest of the way across the bridge until the sea of grain surrounds you. The wind ripples through the stalks. Your body sway with them, as though you are liquid.

A newborn baby’s cry rises from the earth. You stir from your reverie. The field you stand in is so immense, stretching as far as you can see. How could you possibly find where the sound is coming from?

You search urgently through the wheat. The cries become louder. Though you feel you must be near where the child lies, you are unable to find the place.

Finally, you stop and ask the Divine Mother for guidance. The crying ceases and the same feeling of peace that you awoke with in the grass comes back to you.

The rush of hummingbird wings whir and you hear:Remember it is you who created the field. The bird hovers in front of you, then darts quickly away and vanishes.

And there He is at your feet in a cradle woven from the fibers of the plants that surround you. His small body is swaddled in a soft linen wrap decorated with fleur-di-lis lovingly embroidered with golden thread. Trembling, you gently pickup the Divine Child and hold Him close to your heart, knowing you have found the greatest treasure imaginable.

With Him in your arms, you become certain that any direction you choose will take you back to the Source. His presence already comforts you. A new space filled with beauty and hope has been created in the universe. For a moment, you cannot move and stand in the midst of the wheat with tears brimming your eyes. Another revelation comes to you: this new creation also rests inside you.

An inner compass has been formed by the love filling your heart, a beacon that will always be yours to follow. Carrying the Child, you finally come to the end of this world that was born from the seeds you cast. An emerald door arcs at the edge of the field. Just as on the bridge, you see nothing behind it, and it stands like a portal into an invisible house.

The design of a dove is inlaid with mother-of-pearl on a panel of the door and the word ABBA is written on its threshold. The doorknob is in the shape of a golden heart. You look down at the babe in your arms, and He looks at your with limitless love.

You turn the knob and walk through to the other side. The desire of your heart waits for you there, for in your arms you carry the Sacred Promise that God has given the world.