Out here, in the middle of nowhere… well, not really nowhere, but – geesh – all desert and such… I was walking out by the mesa, surrounded by miles of sandstone and sunshine and nothing else, when the ground just opened up in front and below me, like an arroyo. What an incredible place! This is not anything, anywhere, that can be seen otherwise… not even by air, because of the way the cliff overhangs. And there was this incredible greenness… trees, grass, mossy banks… and a small stream that seemed to come from the east out of the rock cliff that was shadowed in green leaves and ivy, cascading and flowing through the center of this place and disappearing under the overhang in the west, as if into a cave of sorts… The temperature was at least 30 degrees cooler as I clambered down the rough footholds to the bottom. Birds chattered away, small fieldmice scurried busily about, a couple of snakes and lizards lazed on flat boulders in the sunlight, and the sounds of so many other life forms filled my ears. Gnomes, and elves, sylphs and other faery friends that tended this place as a haven greeted me. A dragonfly settled on my shirt for a few seconds, acknowledging me. Then I could see under the cliff overhang, a huge opening into the rock. I walked in to the shadowy place to find its luminescence creating some light of its own. There off to the right side was Grandmother at her Loom, weaving. I felt the touch of her thoughts long before I know I was visible to Her. Although I am not a weaver in an overall sense, I do understand the Weave and can repair tears and such in the Web matrix and even walk upon the Strands… so I guess I am a microweaver, whereas She is the macroweaver of time, space, and cool blankets. I respectfully greeted Her, and She answered that it was good to see me again. She told me my Salamander ally was off in the back center playfully keeping the fire lit, keeping the place warm. I told her about the Clan Lodge I was supposed to find, build, and call my kinfolk to, and She just smiled and said, "This is it." Well, now, I just looked around kind of curious like and pondered that. She went on, "There are doorways and gateways and portals all over this place. They lead to your Clansfolk. All of them. So I guess you best get going. Salamander’s got the fire. The Rock Trolls and Dwarves are fashioning the seats and tables. Tell your friends it’s "bring your own food and drink". Oh, and bring some more wool from your sheep, ok?" My sheep??? " Umm… sure." I was very puzzled by all this. I had anticipated, you know, some kind of building or lodge or – well – something… I mean, I was holding expectations and got caught for that. You’d have thought I would’ve learned by now that assumptions can really kick my reality. Anyway, I scuffed over to what looked like a huge piece of black obsidian cut into the sandstone wall. I reached over to touch it, and nearly fell through into… well…the nighttime sky or something. It was space. Stars. The barest current of Spirit whispering my Name. Freaky. I stepped back, and then – being a bit reckless by nature – worked at sitting on the edge, with my legs dangling into nothing, looking out into the traces of galactic airbrushing. It was awesome. And the experience that followed that is another tale. I’ll get back to that later, but I want to say that after leaving the StarPortal, I wandered over to a mossy place and found that if I crawled into the crevice behind the mossy rocks, I ended up on a hillside. Looked like Wales to me; could be wrong. And there I was, among my sheep. Yep! I knew they were mine. I knew I was their shepherd, and the sheep knew it too. It was late spring, very green, with trees scattered sparsely about. It just felt so right. So "home". I knew if I wandered over the hill, that a small cottage would be there, with smoke coming from the chimney and flowers, herbs, and all such healing greenery everywhere around it. But I stayed where I was for the longest while, just inhaling the crisp morning air and grass and sheep and earth. How glorious it all was. I could’ve stayed there all day, I’m sure. I did stay there quite a while, but I also gathered wool for Grandmother by shearing one of the old ones down in the little barn. I knew I could come back whenever I chose. I said Farewell to the sheep, telling them I would return later, and walked over to where the crevice in the rock fence-wall led back to Grandmother’s Cavern Lodge. As I handed her some wool, she told me that I had wandered enough and it was time to get down to a serious Calling of the Clans. And so I did. I’ll keep you all updated as this journey continues…
The Council of Clans
The Council of Animals