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blogging101, Creative Writing, Faith and Writing, Fiction & Fantasy, Seeker, Uncategorized, Writing 101
The walk to the mountain range was not as far as it had seemed from the village. Though there was no discernible path, the Seeker had crossed acres and acres of meadows and reached the foothills by noon. In the shade of a large oak tree she lay down her staff, dropped the pack the villagers had given her, and settled on the leaf-strewn ground to sort through its contents. They had been generous with their offerings. In addition to enough food to last for several days and a cup for drinking, there was a blanket and a change of clothes. And buried beneath them a pair of sturdy boots. The Seeker looked longingly at the boots. Her feet had grown sore, then hard and calloused from her walk down to the valley. As much as she would have loved to wear them, the words of the Mother regarding her bare feet still echoed in her mind.
“There are two reasons. First your feet must connect to the earth for it is a living, breathing thing. It will be one of your greatest allies on your journey. Secondly, your bare feet are to remind you that you will always be vulnerable.”
Since there was no reason to add the weight of the heavy boots back to her pack, the Seeker tied the laces together and hung them on a low tree branch where, perchance, someone in need might find them. Then she ate a lunch of bread and cheese and fruit. She wondered if there might be a spring nearby from which to draw some water. Repacking her bag, she retrieved her staff and continued her climb. It was then she noticed what appeared to be an over-grown path leading up into the foothills. Pushing the low bushes aside with her staff she found it could be easily followed. A good sign, she thought. Perhaps she would find water after all.
The Seeker had not gone far when a great marble building loomed in the distance ahead. Excited, she quickened her pace. The building stood in a clearing on a mound of earth. The door was a beautiful archway not unlike the doors of the temple.
“Hello…” she called timidly from the bottom of the stairs. “Is anyone here?”
When there was no answer, she walked up the steps and entered beneath the archway. To her amazement, ten large coins hovered in the middle of a cavernous room, and beyond them a perfect miniature likeness of Mother Earth spun in a misty field of stars and clouds.
Her forehead wrinkled in thought as she studied the coins. Something about them seemed so familiar. No. Not the coins themselves but the shape. And then it came to her. They were in the shape of the Tree of Life from the mystical Qabalistic tradition.
The top five coins, she knew, represented the spiritual realm. The bottom five, the physical aspects of the earth. Thinking of her life so far, the Seeker could see her own history in the tree. Her education in the temple had been concerned only with the inner spiritual disciplines, though she had begun to think of them more as rules and regulations. Her time in the village, on the other hand, had shown a dedication of sharing with one another and tending to the great garden of Earth the Creator had placed in their care.
In that moment the Seeker felt an inner knowing come alive. The sacred TRUTH of the Creator encompassed both traditions, she realized. Neither tradition was entirely right, and neither was entirely wrong. Each left their own lasting legacy. And suddenly she knew that everything the Creator had made had a reason and a purpose for being. Including her. She knew now she had been right to question. She had chosen the correct path. Inside she felt an old cycle end and a new one begin. What, she wondered, would HER legacy be when her time on Mother Earth was at an end?
With that question in mind, the Seeker stepped around the coins and walked toward the world and the clouds and the stars. To her surprise the image was not solid. With her hand stretched before her she found herself walking through the vision as if it were a portal to a new life. A life she had yet to discover. And where, she wondered, should she begin?
© Cheryl D. Carter
Part 12 — Transitions
Part 14 — The Wheel of Time
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Picture Credit — personal (see also www.aeclectic.net)
Impromptu Promptlings 
Barefoot..Earthing 👣👣👣👣
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I really resonated with the need to remain bare of foot. I know my own experience was of being disconnected; I also liked the both/and creating much more. Well done!
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You were very helpful in helping me figure that both/and thing out. I was much more either or when we first started gabbing.
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Reblogged this on and commented:
The Seeker Part 13 – Re-Blogged at Freeing My Muse.
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Jumping up and down clapping! A portal to a new life! How exciting!
I do wonder if she will need the boots later. They must have been in the pack for a reason. She was brave to leave them behind. I love how she tied them up so someone who needed them could use them. Maybe she will meet them along the way and find out how they changed someone else’s life. Although we never know all the people we touch throughout our lives.
I never would wear shoes as a kid. Only to church or to a public place where they were required.
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I’m struggling with how to proceed. Whether to stay true to the charcters on the cards or introduce other characters. The spiritual journey is one we each have to make alone. I’m going to pull out Hannah Hurnard’s HINDS FEET ON HIGH PLACES and reread a bit of it. Much Afraid had to make her journey alone in that book. Ever read it?
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No, never heard of it. Is it fiction?
That is a good question whether to stay true to the cards or introduce other characters. It seems to me (IMHO) that this is your story and if you feel other characters coming in, perhaps they belong.
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I forgot to answer your question. Yes, it’s fiction/fantasy. It’s an allegory about wanting to find God. Much Afraid wants to climb the mountain to get to the high place where the Chief Shepherd lives. She has two companions on her journey, Sorrow and Suffering. It’s about how Much Afraid overcomes her fears to get to the loving Shepherd. It’s about her spiritual journey.
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This made me think back on my old days when I did a lot of hiking. My boots were always so important to me. The mystical quality of walking barefoot makes for an interesting concept in this piece of writing. Don’t we all long for that moment of great insight that draws us forward? Nicely written.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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I hear you about the boots. I can’t think of anything that makes me feel much more vulnerable than going barefoot these days. I watch the kids next door run back and forth across the street to the neighbor’s house with no shoes on and think, did I EVER do that??? Staying open and vulnerable… A spiritual experience in itself. Thanks so much for stopping by, Arlee. I appreciate your comments. 🙂
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Wow, this gave me shivers! The bit about the boots, and the instruction and reason to remain bare foot almost brought me to tears, and the whole tone is so tangibly sacred. I see this is part 13, so now I think I need to start at the beginning! Are you going to turn this series of posts into a book when it’s complete? …though the tone suggests it’s full of a wisdom that knows nothing is ever really complete 😉 Love and gratitude, Harula xxx
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You’d laugh, Harula, if I explained what I was doing. 😀 Let’s just say the Seeker and I are on this journey together and if it gels and makes sense all the way through, THEN I’ll decide what to do with it. It’s kind of hard to write a story, I’m finding, where there really is NO antagonist.
I appreciate your comments. They made me feel tons better because this was the first piece of the story I’ve done that wasn’t based in some kind of personal experience. I’m doing this cold turkey with NO plot outline from here. 🙂
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Amazing – that makes it all the more impressive, and intriguing. Sounds very much like you’re in service to the story rather that being the writer, director, one in control…and that’s an exciting place to be, and quite something to sustain! Hat off to you my friend 😉 I very much look forward to following the journey, wherever it ends up going… Blessings, Harula xxx
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You know, I never would have thought of it that way, but that’s exactly right. I’m actually being LED somewhere. Thank you for that observation! 😀
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Interesting! I recognised the Tree of Life as soon as I saw it 🙂 You know there’s a connection to the chakra system too ? Carolyn Myss has a done a really interesting piece of research that connects the different spiritual traditions, overlaying them. It shows far more similarities than it does differences.her book “Anatomy of the Spirit”goes into it in extensive detail. Edgar Cayce has some interesting things to say too. His take on the Book of Revelations is that the common understanding of it being about the end of the world is not accurate. Rather, it is a mystical template for spiritual growth based on the seven major chakras.
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Hm… Edgar Cayce’s thing about Revelation sounds interesting. My dad loved reading about him. When I’m done with this I may have to check that out! I guess I’m committed to this now. I got in a cabin for Camp NaNoWriNo yesterday. So maybe by the end of the month I’ll have it finished. Maybe! There are still 68 cards to draw.
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My, you’re going to be busy! Did you know that there is an Edgar Cayce Foundation that has transcripts of all his works. Have fun at camp. Is it a literal camp ‘camp’ or a virtual one ?
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Virtual. Just google Camp NaNoWriMo and it should take you to it.
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