Once upon a time there was a traveler from the lands below.
Lived in a cottage in the mountains all alone.
The only company he had were the animals and the trees.
Though company they were none the less spoke in language only the soul hears.
Songs of days passed they sang just like the ancient bards in the land of Britain.
On a small wooden bench, he would sit under the old oak and think of the old days.
Days when the gods walked the earth and when men shone like the sun above.
When there was no difference between one and the other
They all were in one another, connected by the heartbeat of the mother.
A crow came to him on that day and landed on his shoulders.
Tagged his jacket of fur and pulled gently ahead.
“Come follow me, traveler I have secrets to tell and lands to show”
“Why don’t you just show me like you always do?” He asked
“Because this one is special” the crow replied and flew away
The man rose and followed the white bird through the forests of the mountain.
Long he walked between the trees, paths he saw he never knew of.
Animals he greeted yet not once he stopped to rest.
The crow he followed bravely through this unknown for him world.
After days of walk he sat on a rock to rest his tired feet and looked ahead.
They had reached the beginning of a peak that rose high above the clouds.
“is what you want to show me up there crow?” he asked
The crow didn’t reply just continued his flight up in the sky.
The man arose and continued walking, it seemed to important to waste time.
Three times they walked around the mountain peak almost as if the crow wanted him to be lost.
“Why don’t we just go straight up crow, why do we keep spinning around the peak?”
“because the path to the top has many obstacles and it mustn’t be revealed to them who don’t see”
When the third spin around the peak passed the man saw the crow standing on the ground.
Behind her a cave entrance heading up the peak, though dark as the night it was.
“come hurry, follow me” the bird of wisdom whispered and flew in the cave.
Even though they had no light the entire hallway was bright enough to see.
Around them on the walls drawings and symbols from the one’s before us.
The meaning he knew in his heart, yet his mind was doubtful.
“Don’t think with your mind, see with your eye. Than all the old one’s will reveal themselves.”
As the crow said it she flew higher up the tunnels.
Long they walked in the humid mountain caves until they reached a crossroad.
“Which way now crow?” he asked.
“the only way” she replied and flew straight through the walls.
He closed his eyes to open them and followed the bird.
A world was revealed that only a few knew about.
A paradise hidden within the mountain filled with tropical wonders.
Birds singing and flowers with the sweetest smell.
“Not there yet wise one” the bird said “Don’t be distracted by beauty, be distracted by wisdom”
It was very hard to not be, the world in front of them was beyond human.
Though wise and strong he was and walked straight through it without stopping.
Test it was to prove one’s self worthy of that which is beyond the eyes.
Behind the paradise of the senses there was another tunnel filled with mud.
Water leaked from above and molded the walls.
There was no light and no symbols.
Rats criss crossed between his legs, snakes hissed around his head.
Yet now as well he continued to walk and didn’t allow fear to cloud his goal.
For 6 days and 6 nights they journeyed to the top.
On the morning of the 7th day they exited the tunnels and arrived on the peak.
In front of him a temple made of pure gold.
Couples made of the bluest jewels.
No gates around no fences no doors. Only the clouds protecting this shrine.
Around the temple a river circled, no bridge above just water.
“cross the waters and join me inside” the crow said. “though be careful to not be pulled by the stream”
With eye on the temple only the traveler crossed the stream and enter the temple of the gods.
Full of excitement he stepped in the lobby though nothing was there at all.
Just as he was getting disappointed an old man approached him.
Beard white and long to his feet, just a small light he held in his hand.
“Good day old man. Please tell me where is everything and who are you? What is this shrine?”
The old man laughed cheekily and made a notion to walk with him.
Without a word they crossed the lobby and walked to a wall.
On the wall a rose engraved in the stone. The center of the rose he pressed.
In front of him just like that the wall vanished and they were in a garden within the temple.
In that garden a tree, roots reaching deep within the earth, crown high in the heavens.
Under the tree a man sat silently, with eyes closed and spirit soaring.
Anxiously the traveler stepped to that man and to his surprise he knew that man.
All that he had known came rushing back, all that he was, was visible again.
He and the man were one and the same.
In the lap of the man there was a bowl with 36 white feathers.
The old man pointed to take them without saying a word again.
As the traveled took the bowl a shower of golden rays fell upon him from the sky.
One feather for each life, one for each soul he helped, one for each time he returned.
He silently walked out and sat on the grounds in front of the temple.
No words could describe the fullness of his mind and freedom of his spirit.
“Come on traveler we must return. You are needed there. When your bowl is empty you can come here again and never return. But for now you must”
As she flew down the road ahead had turned golden and the sky bluer than the ocean.
Back into the world he went, to share the feathers with the men.
