Lunar Doe; Solar Stag

…a Marigold?

Why am I seeing a Marigold?

Oh yeah… because I ate mushrooms. More precisely, it’s because I’m participating in a Sacred Healing Ceremony facilitated by a Mazatec Priestess. Her name is María, and I can’t even begin to explain how we met.

I could have sworn I was in a sweat lodge just a moment ago, but now I’m in an open field. I see a gold ingot on the ground but it turns into a Marigold as I approach it. As I reach down to pluck it, it transforms yet again, this time into a Golden Key. I hold it up to the Sun and it shines in the golden rays, radiating its own light as if it had itself become a miniature sun; now gleaming within my upraised hands. I place it within my left breast pocket for safekeeping.

Now, as I walk along the path I find myself on, I sink into silent admiration for the Beauty which surrounds me: rolling hills softly blanketed with an endless succession of emerald waves of wind-shaken grass under a sapphire sky. I breathe in deeply through my nostrils, and even my sinuses expand as the sweet scent of barley grass gently caresses my pituitary gland. I dissolve into a waft of ecstasy, and the scenery around me becomes a blur of bright light…

As my eyes refocus, I observe the Great Armada of Cumulus Clouds as they drift patiently along their level plane. They must be on their way to God-Knows-Where. I long to follow them. Better yet, I would that they take me onboard as one of their crew. Oh, that I might embark upon their Flagship Vessel, saluting their Noble Colors as I pass their insurmountable Threshold.

Suddenly a Nimbus Cloud blots out the Sun. I look towards it, and see that its edges flash with an array of rainbow-colored brilliance. I place my right hand over my heart and whisper, “AUM-Ah-Ha; Shan-GREE-Lah OM.” It is the first time I have ever heard these syllables. I do not know what they mean, or where they even come from. Yet, as I utter them, I feel my heart expanding in my chest, as if it were breaking through the prison of my rib cage.

I sublimate into a vaporous mist and once again drift away on a blur of orgasmic bliss. This time it carries me straight towards the Nimbus Cloud, looming black as soot. As I approach, I feel intimidated; yet, I feel a reassuring sense of welcome, as if being embraced by a Powerful Ally.

I enter into it and view the world below; the broad shadow drifting steadily along the swiftly passing scenery, temporarily darkening the land as it offers merciful showers of nourishing rain. I feel a mighty rumble as it sends down an occasional bolt of lightning to shake things out of complacency. I sense a sudden chill and am sucked into a ball of ice as it coagulates. Then, as if the ground were falling away beneath my feet, I am thrust downward in a hailstorm of fellow companions. I feel butterflies as I accelerate towards the ground.

Fortunately, I hit the ground without an ounce of pain. I now find myself by a gentle mountain stream. As I look up, I see a Doe on the opposite bank. I must have startled her while she was drinking, because she is now staring at me wide-eyed with her ears perked up. She has a look of fright in her eyes.

“Why are you afraid of me?” I ask her. “I mean you no harm.”

I fold my hands in prayer position over my heart and bow deeply. She relaxes her eyes and ears, bows back, and takes one last sip of water before continuing on her way downstream to God-Knows-Where. Oh, that I could follow her close behind. Better yet, that I could ride upon her back as my Faithful Steed.

I see a glimmer in the water where she had drank, so I hop across a few stones to the other side of the stream. I take a closer look and see a small pebble shining with the cold, luminous hues of tarnished silver. I reach down, breaking the fluidic crystal surface of the water, and clasp the stone between my thumb and forefinger. As I lift it out of the water, it transforms in my hand into a Silver Key.

As the now-setting Sun emblazons the clouds above in a glorious array of warm, glowing colors, I see the nearly-full Moon rising over the opposite horizon. I hold the Key up to the dusky moonlight. It glows in cool tones, adding a sparkle of twilight to the darkling sky. I place it in my pocket with the Golden Key, carefully crossing them at center-shaft.

I feel a splitting migraine rapidly onset in both hemispheres of my brain, and I double over in pain. I reach for the ground with my arms, but see that they have become cloven hooves. I rear up on my hind legs, let out a wild cry, and send a yawning spread of antlers out from my scalp, with six points on each side. This release transforms the pain into pleasure, which then shoots up and out through the points of my antlers. It rises above me in a whirling vortex motion, and the subtle chanting of treefrogs crescendos into a mighty chorus with which the Whole Forest joins in rapturous harmony. I turn upstream, and prance off in search of the Source of this bubbling Mountain Spring.