Sylvia's Awakening

Sylvia would escape to the woods when time allowed, sometimes when it didn't. Admiring the village Wisdom, she wanted to also be one with the Mother and enter the realms of Wisdom at the High Tower.

Sylvia was already aware of the Mother and how She influenced the day to day lives of the small village she lived in. Her father, being a dairy farmer was heavily reliant on the Mother for turning the seasons, safe delivery of the annual calves, the success of the cottage garden, indeed, the general over all health of the family. Often times, where others saw butterflies, Sylvia would observe the fairy folk darting amongst their business. She was certain that through her love of all things natural, she had succeeded in encouraging flowers to bloom when they would have otherwise dried as a bud. When she was alone in the woods, bird life and wild creatures would visit in their abundance, including a Barn Owl who would always sit in the lower branches of the sighing trees and observe her endeavours in regal silence.

However, despite this awareness, Sylvia wanted to learn how to listen to the Mother and be able to work with Her natural forces, to be able to manipulate events, heal, advise, grow beyond the boundaries of the village and explore the continent.

So Sylvia would go to the woods to listen to the Mother and try to be at one with Her Nature.

Loralee, Sylvia's eldest sister was fast approaching her time to deliver her first baby. Having married the Baker's son a year previously, it was to be an auspicious birth, the first baby due this Spring in the village and a highly anticipated event. With the extremely low rate of births in the district, pregnancies were highly valued and the expectant mothers were treated like royalty. The village Wisdom would visit Loralee at least once a week to monitor her progress and well being, Sylvia would ensure she was always present at these visits to observe the Wisdom at her work.

"You have gained little weight this past week but the baby has grown, see your measurements from the last visit to today." Said the Wisdom to Loralee, after much poking and shoving of her belly. "The Mother tells me you are still expecting a boy" She added.

"How do you know?" demanded Sylvia of the Wisdom.

"The baby is being carried high and to the front, little weight has been gained by your sister, she consumes greater amounts of protein than sweets and her aura is heavy with male undertones. Open your eyes child and see Loralee. Grasp the Mother with your inner being and allow Her to show you all of Loralee."

Sylvia closed her eyes, "No, you must open your eyes, reach out to the Mother and see Loralee" said the Wisdom.

On previous occasions, Sylvia felt she managed to connect with the Mother through extending her awareness as though she was growing her nerves beyond her body. Through allowing her eyes to relax, she could see differences, such as auras, magical folk, wild things living as well as observe their approaching death. By relaxing her eyes and extending her mind beyond her body, Sylvia felt she was shifting into an alternate realm, where her sister appeared to be less defined as a body but become more of a brilliant shadow, swirling in every colour of the rainbow and beyond.

"What do you observe?" asked the Wisdom.

"I see light, yellows, violets, pale greens and pinks. There are blues, indigos, and darker greens where Loralee's core is." said Sylvia.

"Then you too can see the boy child your sister carries"

"A boy for the Village!" said Loralee, "Are you certain?"

"Your sister is close with the Mother and has been blessed with a sighting." said the Wisdom. "With further training she will make a great Wisdom herself. Indeed, I foresee that not long after the arrival of your babe, Sylvia will be selected by the Wisdom Seekers to travel with them to the High Tower for training."

"I think I have already been observed by the Seekers," said Sylvia a little timidly. "In the woods I am watched over by a Barn Owl, she always visits when I try to reach out to the Mother".

"Let the Mother allow it." said the Wisdom crossing her hands.

A few weeks later, after having helped her Mother harvest peas from the garden and deliver a basket of fresh vegetables to Loralee, Sylvia felt an overwhelming desire to go to the woods. It was a bright Spring day, the sun was warm in the sky and the blossom was fat in their buds ready to explode into flower. On arriving at her favourite clearing, Sylvia seated herself on a small tree which had been blown over yet still grew. A rustling in the overhead branches alerted her to the arrival of the ever present Barn Owl.

"What will the Mother show me today?" she asked aloud.

Sylvia took off her boots and wriggling her toes into the dirt, she extended her awareness into the surrounding woods. A small breeze ruffled her hair, and whilst keeping her eyes open, she relaxed them until she was close to going cross eyed.

Fairies flitted across her vision, playing with bees and butterflies, small animals such as a family of hedgehogs, a wombat and a kangaroo came to sit on the edge of the clearing. A multitude of lights flashed in between the trees and undergrowth. Sylvia felt at one with the Mother but asked, "What does it all mean?" She felt peaceful and joyous, delighting in the warm air of the woods and the company of the nearby creatures. She felt a bubble of expectancy grow within her core along with a physical ache in her womb and the small of her back. "The baby is coming." she announced to her audience. With that she pulled on her boots and headed back to the village to find her sister.

When she arrived at Loralee's cottage, behind the bakery, Sylvia was surprised to see her sister busily hanging clothes out to air in the courtyard.

"You should be labouring!" Sylvia greeted her sister.

"I am... "beamed Loralee.

Sylvia helped her hang the rest of the clothes out in the sunshine but despite the warmth of the day, Sylvia could not help but feel something was not quite right.

"I'm going to fetch the Wisdom", said Sylvia.

"No, not yet." Loralee protested. "I've a ways to go yet!"

"All the same, I feel the Wisdom should be here."

Sylvia took off towards the edge of the village aiming for the common where the Wisdom's cottage was. As she quickly walked, she tried to extend her awareness to the Mother to try and find the source of her unease. Amongst the buzzing insects, there were no faeries to be seen. There appeared to be no bird in the sky and the lights of living things seemed to be muted.

"It is time." The Wisdom stated, greeting Sylvia at her door.

"Something is wrong." Said Sylvia.

"'I suspected as much." said the Wisdom. "For the last two years I have felt there to be a taint around new birth, human and animal. It's as if there is some force trying to prevent new life from occurring. It does not come from the Mother, rather it acts against Her as though this force is anti life. My Sisters and I have named it the Blight. Come child, we must hurry to your sister and keep the Blight at bay. Your youth will discourage it."

So to Loralee's they hurried, Sylvia was even more aware of the muted light and noticed there was an unnatural grey mist starting to form around new things such as the Spring flowers, the cottage gardens though abundant with vegetables and herbs yet to be picked seemed to be leaning towards rot and decay.

Loralee had retired back into her house by the time Sylvia and the Wisdom arrived. Her dark hair was hanging messily down her back, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling. The Wisdom indicated for her to get up on the bed where she then lifted Loralee's skirts. First she checked on her bulging stomach, noting with satisfaction that the baby had dropped and was indeed ready for the laborious task of coming earth side. The Wisdom then checked Loralee's lady parts cackling with glee over how far the baby's exit had spread. She then grew serious.

"Loralee, the Blight is coming." Loralee gasped and clutched her belly protectively. "I will need you to focus all of your energies on light, joyful and happy thoughts. I will ask the Mother to intervene and young Sylvia here, well, she is young and bright and already has developed a strong affinity with the Mother. Her youth is a natural deterrent to the Blight, together we shall focus on the light and I will draw on the Mother's healing energies to deter the Blight."

As the Wisdom was speaking, Sylvia was aware of a fluttering and banging coming from the next door room. She went through the alcove to investigate and saw a Barn Owl fluttering against a closed window. Sylvia reached out towards it using her awareness and gasped at the aura surrounding the noble bird. It's aura was the colour of nature, greens, blues and browns and it's shape was humanoid.

"I am a Wisdom Seeker" said a calm and pleasant voice in Sylvia's mind and she knew it came from the Barn Owl. She hurried over to the window, opened it and in flew the Owl, landing on Sylvia's shoulder.

Together, they hurried in to Loralee's room where her labour had increased to the pushing stage. Sylvia noticed the light in the room was supernaturally dim, the grey fog she had witnessed in the gardens earlier appeared to be collecting in the corners of the room with tendrils reaching towards Loralee.

As the Wisdom sought for Sylvia's hand, the Barn Owl fluttered to the bed head to observe.

"Focus on those happy thoughts, Loralee." The Wisdom advised. "Sylvia, I need you to now more than ever reach out to the Mother and use your will to push away the Blight. I will be assisting your sister."

Sylvia let go of the Wisdom's hand and went to sit on a footstool. She removed her boots and firmly placed her feet on the wooden floor boards. "Mother!" she cried out, not knowing if it was aloud or in her mind. She willed herself to become one with Nature, to feel the force of the Mother drown her senses, adding it's force to her own natural being. Letting her eyes relax, she focused on feeding her awareness to intensify the aura of her sister and unborn child. Her peripheral vision caught the Blight as it sent out more tendrils towards Loralee.

"You need to feed your sister's light and will back the Blight," called out the Wisdom. "I will feed you my light"

Sylvia saw a rainbow of light tentatively reach out from the Wisdom towards her, using her mind's eye, she reached out her hand to catch it. In wonder, she also noticed an arch of light reaching out from the Barn Owl towards her which she caught with her other hand. Sylvia imagined herself to be an empty vessel, drinking in the light sources before extending it towards her sister, forming the light into a shield around her body, preventing the Blight from reaching her.

The Wisdom was by then kneeling between Loralee's out stretched legs, Loralee was keening in time to her contractions, pushing with all her might when she was able to.

The Blight seemed to be renewing its' efforts to reach Loralee with its' foggy tendrils but with Sylvia protecting her with the shield of light, it was not going anywhere near her.

Simultaneously, the Wisdom shouted, Loralee emitted a piercing scream, the Owl hooted and Sylvia felt the light shield suddenly give. The light in the room intensified and throbbed against the Blight which, with a hiss, disappeared from the room.

There was a baby's cry and Sylvia felt an extraordinary connection to the women in the room and profound joy in seeing her nephew, the first baby to be born in the district in over a year.

Once the baby was wrapped and settled at his Mother's breast, the natural light in the room again intensified and with a rustle of feathers, the Barn Owl fluttered to the floor and morphed into a female figure.

''I am Nimwe, a Wisdom Seeker." She announced. "Sylvia, we have been watching you since you hit puberty, your ability to connect with the Mother has come to our attention via the village faeries. I have been watching you in the Woods and your abilities displayed today in fending of the Blight indicate you are to be a strong Wisdom in your time. Will you come with me to be a Novice at the High Tower?"

"Gladly Nimwe!" Exclaimed Sylvia.

"Don't give it much thought will you?'' joked Loralee.