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6. THE VISION
As Freegirl walked toward the entrance of the metallic cave, a gold and blinding light dazzled her.
She stopped short.
The captivating gleam began to quiver into the delicate image of a female. The shimmering female phantom remained partially transparent, and looked more like a soft glow than an actual person.
Freegirl realized she was looking at a spirit. She had seen this same spirit before in her Dreams, though her memory was vague.
The she-spirit, guardian of the Doorway, beckoned to Freegirl. While facing the girl, the spirit flowed backwards, and with long, wide illuminating hands, she scooped the air—a circular motion toward her center, as if she was treading water. She backed slowly away from the young woman, flowed into the wall, then evaporated through it.
Freegirl followed—spellbound—through the same wall as if it wasn’t tangible. The child passed as easily as the spirit—like she walked through solid formations all the time. The mesmerized follower never even reacted, or gave the phenomenon a second thought.
The womanly spirit was smiling. Without moving her mouth—which faded in and out of focus—she resonated these words: The Awakening has begun. There is nothing to Fear. The world seen seldom is. Be still. Be here. Be quiet, and follow me.
Somewhere deep in the mountain, a place she had never been—not even in her Dreams—Freegirl found herself. She was floating while coherent of her sensations.
However, she was also stupefied..
In the distance, behind her luminous guide, a tunnel gradually came into view. Freegirl knew not where she was headed, as the spirit turned her back to the child’s eyes. Streaming into the dark hall ahead of her, the spirit vanished.
When the apparition abruptly disappeared, Freegirl felt a jab of fear and pain at losing the loving guide. During that moment she noticed a placid breeze touch the back of her shoulders — trickles of light, and droplets of air. She immediately sucked life into her lungs, and began breathing again.
The mesmerized young woman recalled her thoughts as to why she had left the Gather. It was because she was getting a map. She wanted to go to the ocean where her father was camped, and discuss travel plans with him. The unexpected breeze on the back of her shoulders intensified, until the child stopped wondering, and focused on deep breathing.
As she breathed, her level of perception was increasing—awareness as clear as glass.
That’s when she saw the little diamond sparkles. The Dreamer forgot her fear and began to laugh.
The tiny diamonds tickled her bones, as if they were nudging her and saying something. She stood in the middle of the infinite light speckles, giggling uncontrollably and having a great time, while a voice began to envelope her.
Its tone had an ethereal, liquid texture, like warm honey upon her aura. The voice was high and smooth, as it filled the entire tunnel with fragile echoes.
Trust. It was laughing with her.
Touch. It was singing to her.
Trust. It was Freegirl’s voice, and then it was the voice of the mountain.
Touch. Soon the young child was being drawn further into the tunnel.
Trust. She floated forward, into the sparkles of the dancing lights.
Touch. She merged into the loving voice, then into herself.
Trust… Touch…
Her body and soul continued speaking to her. The radiant lights carried her into a maze, deep within the tunnel. She floated, feet toward the ground, with no idea as to where she was going, but she did not feel lost. Rather, she had the sense of being found.
Trust… Touch…
Total emptiness. In the faded mirror of her mind, she saw an image of her Self Suspended. Her world was dark but comfortable. She was resting but alert. Then at once she remembered gravity, and wondered why she was not falling.
That was the moment she began to fall. The sudden jolt of the speed and the force shot a scream through her body. She could feel the pressure of her voice straining—unleashing a shriek of sound, but she could hear nothing. Her surroundings were in complete silence. The horror of falling into the unknown, and the anxiety as to where she might land became her primary concern.
Her body started to cramp. Contractions of pain tightened around her being, then released—only to tighten again. She began noticing her atmosphere change to liquid—gushing hot liquid—as if she was in a birth canal contracting in pain to be born; and the center of the mountain was her protective womb.
Exploding, she fell out of her Mother. She shock of being born gave her a yearning, an ache for what she did not know, a craving for knowledge.
At once, the diamond lights struck bright again. The abrupt change hurt her eyes. The lights caught her like magnets. She, too, emitted light, as she floated, plunging no more.
She was, once again, suspended, this time seeing the walls of her new world—for the sparkling diamonds gave her sight.
The room was multi-sided, with many different walls. All the walls were golden, and she realized she was still in the mountain. She could feel the nearness of her family, but knew not where they were.
Gently, she continued floating downward, amazed at the walls gleaming. These golden walls were filled with every size and shape of diamond imaginable. She had always been taught the interior of Mount Gold was so sacred, most humans could not reach it—not even in their Dreams. She could not believe she was actually within its realm.
Amidst the twinkles of the diamonds, steadily floating downward to an unknown landing, Freegirl heard the air speak. “We have been waiting for you,” it said. “We have been here the entire time. You will no longer turn away, for we need you. What you have imagined all these years is true. The Inevitable Change is coming.”
She heard a thunderous explosion, and saw the ground split. The soil tumbled before her—the ground was in upheaval. The planet appeared to be fighting a powerful force, but for all her concentration, Freegirl could not tell what. She saw people die in front of her, and the devastation was unbearable.
The mountain itself began to roar. “In your time, there will be an apocalypse. It is the Mother’s way of awakening her Children. All of the mountains are going to erupt and cause wild fires, with lava burning. Tremors, stronger than anything ever witnessed by humans, will shake the interior of the planet, forcing inner rock and magma up the chimneys of the volcanoes—even the dormant ones. These quakes will be tremendous, lasting longer than an ordinary tremor, and will rock the oceans into tidal waves of unbelievable proportions.”
Freegirl watched the disaster continue before her eyes. The unfathomable—the unreal. She tightened her eyelids and screamed, “No! No!” she screamed. “No!”
Not the Nightmare.
She struggled and gasped out of breath, for her nightmare was huge and encasing her—seeing the destruction as if watching a living theatre.
“No!” Panic began to overwhelm her, until she felt she was not breathing. Still the picture would not leave. The oceans rose in violence and attacked the land, shredding everything in its path.
“NOOO!” she screamed at the onslaught, lashing at the vision, while suspended helplessly in the air.
The scene continued. The mountains, hundreds of them, spewed lava in anger, like creatures expelling sickness. Hot melted rock flooded the villages, killing all in its wake.
The devastation raged.
The lands trembled, split—swallowed and ruined. The catastrophic wreckage—the impossible massacre of her life and home—struck mercilessly. “NOOO!” She shook uncontrollably.
She had to wake up! Flattening her palms hard against her face, she mumbled rapidly, “This is not happening…this is not happening…this is not happening…” The vision thrashed deep inside her. The vision splayed itself before her. She became the vision and devoured life indiscriminately. “No, please, no,” she whined softly, whimpering.
But the vision would not stop. And the relentless voice continued. “The Children of the Glimpse have been engrossed with themselves, and with their Dreams for so long, they've forgotten about the Material World. They've forgotten about the planet, their bodies, their hands—the warmth of their hands—and they've forgotten about each other. They've forgotten about the Human Touch, and their Emotions. They Dream, and they Dream, and they Dream. They Dream more than they Love. They meet in the Dreamscape more than they meet on land, and consequently, they’ve been ignoring human connections—making themselves distant, and cold to each other. They are detached from the Material World and have forgotten how to Feel. They've forgotten how to Touch. They've forgotten how to Trust.
As Freegirl maintained her slow fall into emptiness, she listened, but did not believe a word. How could paradise turn catastrophic? How could peaceful, loving people be ignoring their Emotions? Ignoring Touch? And not feeling? What about their sharing, and the Full Moon Gathers? What about their endless love and devotion to evolving— and to growing? What about their heartfelt music and art?
Well…she hesitated her questioning, and began thinking more deeply, with less resistance. Most of time upon Photopia was spent in discipline, study, and Contemplation. It was a common goal for Children of the Glimpse to strive to enter the Spirit World—for Dreaming—and for learning, and for playing. They did this through astral projection, where their consciousness left their bodies in the Material World and traveled in the Dreamscape.
The Dreamscape is where they gathered their Magic—their ability to place mind over matter. With the tools collected in the Dreamscape, people from Photopia were able to control the weather, levitate, move objects kinetically, create fire with their hands, have phenomenal physical strength, see past lives, and see the future.
Even though they visited the Dreamscape daily, they were very careful and respectful not to manipulate their environment —or each other. They lived their lives in simplicity, and used their hands and backs as much as possible—rather than using the power of their minds for day to day survival. Mind over matter was for knowledge, and healing and playing— it was never used for domination.
The catastrophic idea spoken by the voice was absurd, yet she knew in her heart it was all true. How many times had her own father ignored her pleas, ignored her emotional need to leave home? How many times had he not touched upon the sincerity of her pleas? How many times had he not been with her and her mother—for his solo work in the Dreamscape, to which he was so devoted, always took precedence. He practically lived in the Dreamscape!
True, he was an understanding and patient soul, but he did not hear Freegirl. He seemed incapable of reading her needs, and appeared to have no empathy.
Then she thought of the Dreamscape, a realm still very new to her young years. It was a highly charged emotional place, full of expression and feelings indefinable.
Then the voice began to speak again. “Indeed, the Dreamscape is an emotional experience, and a necessary place to attend. But in Dreaming, the spirit leaves the body, and the body’s temperature drops. The emotions and the body need warmth— they have a stronger connection when they are warm.
"We are all webs of the organs, the muscles, the nerves, the bones, the blood, and the skin. These entities are highly sensitive creatures. When the emotions are allowed to resonate through these body parts, it is rejuvenating. By contrast, when the individual spends too much time in the Dreamscape—as Children do, as if they had no bodies at all—the body gets chilled and lonely. Little by little, the body loses its natural urge to live, and cannot heal.”
This concept was mind-boggling for Freegirl. For millenniums, the Children of the Glimpse had lived in paradise peacefully, and now a godly voice from the mountain was telling her it was about to end.
But she had seen the trouble with her own eyes. Natural human healing was being interrupted.
Since she was a child, she had sensed doom coming—a disturbance more compelling than life itself. As sad as she was at this knowledge, she was relieved to know she had not been alone in seeing the impossible sickness. Many members of her tribe had also witnessed the degenerating force.
The vision, her old Nightmare, began to rise again. “No…” she said weakly. “This will not happen.”
“You are in the Age of Frigidity. You must warn the people, Freegirl,” said the voice. “You must tell them to get into their presence, get into their bodies, get into their emotions, dance more, sing more, play more, and use their Hands more! They must rekindle the human touch! For if they do not, Mother Nature is going to give them an awakening which will force them to change, even if She has to kill them to do it.”
Freegirl was tiring. “Why me?” she whimpered. “Why me?”
You made this choice long ago, Freegirl, because you are unafraid of Change. Change is Challenge —and you thrive on Challenge. Change is Logic—and you thrive on Logic. You know without Change there is no Growth.
You, child—you are the One Daughter.”
“No, I won’t do it,” stated Freegirl. “I want to go back to see my father now. He’s been hurt.”
“Your father is fine,” calmed the voice.
“My mother is probably very concerned about me. I’m supposed to be at the Gather. I was going to find my father and see if he is better. He needs my help.” The child sobbed with tears.
The voice chuckled gently. In the presence of this master of the Mountain, Freegirl felt a chill enter her stomach.
“You were not going to find him to help him; you were going to find him to discuss your journey.” The voice laughed kindly. “Be honest with your feelings, and you will always know Truth. You will always know your Self.”
“Maybe I’d better wait to go to the Lore Halls,” said Freegirl. “I miss my family.”
The voice really started laughing now. “Since when?"
“I don’t feel well. I want to go home.”
“You cannot go home, my child. The Images await you.”
Freegirl screamed angrily at the voice, “I will not do it!”
Then she heard a multitude of laughing voices surrounding her, high, gentle laughter that filled infinity. “It’s already been done, Freegirl. This is just a review.”
The child continued to cry hot tears. Amidst her sobs, she heard a new voice. “I knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” it said.
“Do you think she can handle it?” whispered yet another voice.
“She has to,” replied still another. “She is the One Daughter!”
“You mean there is only ONE?” questioned one of the voices with surprise? “WITH ALL THIS KNOWLEDGE?”
“Of course,” came the simple answer. “One is everything, and everything is One. There is but one universe, and one infinity, and we are all a part of that ONE. Two daughters would have created Division. This is not about Division—this is about One.”
Freegirl could not believe her mind. It only takes ONE, she thought. ONE human to walk the new path. ONE human to believe. ONE human to make the change. ONE human to be brave. The others will eventually follow.
Suddenly, she felt something touch the bottoms of her feet. It was the ground—the surreal floating toward gravity had stopped. When she looked down, she saw she was consumed in diamonds. Diamonds covered the floor, and diamonds covered the high reaching walls. The sensation was more dramatic than the golden walls of her home had ever been. The sparkles were stunning enough to make the air gasp.
The floor upon which she landed was about twenty feet in diameter. She looked at her feet and noticed near her ringed toes a pool of glistening liquid. She realized it was not water, but something similar to metal. Something otherworldly. The entire place seemed to be made of two elements—the electrical energy of Gold, and the ecstatic light of Diamonds.
Liquid falls, pouring from the walls, ran through the chamber, and into where the metallic pool oozed. These trickles of shimmering, melted minerals came through the cracks within the many chunks of diamonds.
The effects of her surroundings were mind-boggling. Even the magical caves of her golden home did not have power like this.
The child could not move. She stood mesmerized by the awesome Silence. The cavern had a low hum, a vibrating tone that soothed. It was lit no brighter than a candle would light a room—the diamonds being the source of the soft illumination.
Freegirl sniffed a huge dose of air which was pure and refreshing. It was not dank the way the inside of a cave would ordinarily be. She wondered from where the fresh air was coming.
As she began to consider how she would get out of this deep world, she noticed another sparkle lying near her left foot. It was a small golden chain of hearts, lying on top of the diamonds. Automatically, she picked it up and fastened it to her left wrist. Suddenly, an echo of a thousand voices rang through the cave—a symphony of spiritual voices singing.
Then, as if waiting for this moment, the voice began to speak again. “The golden chain of hearts is yours, Freegirl. It was created by an Angel, for the One Daughter. In it, power has been placed. On your journey through life, you will use the strength of your spirit, and it is advised. However, if if you lose your composure, you need only to put your mind into the golden hearts around your wrist, and you will gain power. If you do not listen closely to the voice—your voice—the chain will remind you by becoming heated. If you still turn from the voice of your soul, the chain will burn your skin.”
It momentarily became quiet inside Freegirl’s head. Then she heard the word Heart. “Your name is Heart,” the voice resumed speaking. “You have always been Heart. You are the prophet who chose a very difficult path. There is no path harder than the one you are traveling, for it is a solo journey. No other person in this world will share your trail, though you will find followers as you go. You are Heart, your name is Heart, your vision lives in your Heart—and you know the truth.”
The Voice was silent, but Freegirl could still feel its presence—it was the presence of an Angel, and she knew it did not lie. For once in her life, she had no questions. No rebuttal. She understood and was not afraid, for Trust was everywhere.
She stood transfixed, and then looked at the golden chain upon her wrist. She could not remember fastening it to herself. “My name is Heart.” She looked around at the amazing inhuman world in which she was standing, and realized she was tired. Sitting down on the bed of diamonds, near the metallic pool, she began to cry again—soft, overflowing tears that oozed gently out of her eyes and nose.
She was no longer anxious and apprehensive. The undertone of constant worry had lifted and dissipated. It was relief that brought the tears from her soul. Life had meaning, and she had purpose. Heart. She would warn the human race of the coming catastrophe—Mother Nature’s Awakening —and remind them to get in touch with their Bodies, get in touch with their Hands, and get in touch with their Emotions. She would guide those who listened out of the Dreamscape, and back to reality—back to the land, and back to the family. She would remind them of the awesome power of the Human Touch.
Trust…all is as it should be.
Touch…open your hands.
Heart…the knowledge beats in you.
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