“Come on, Sojourner, let’s find your new home.”
I glance down, startled at the feel of Sageflower’s hand in mine. Her eyes sparkle like the sun glinting off the ocean. She is already walking away, dragging me with her.
I turn back to find Morgha and Renwick Ravenwood talking quietly, heads close to each other. Bear Dreamer and Wolf have already headed down the path through the village. I pick up my pace to keep up with Sageflower.
“What’s your favorite color?” she asks me.
I don’t answer right away. I need to think about it. “Why is that important?” I ask instead.
“Well, don’t you think your home should be filled with the colors of your soul?”
The colors of my soul? What does that mean? I shake my head in confusion.
Sageflower sighs in exasperation. “Let’s try something else. Do you prefer to be in the forest, at the ocean, in the desert or in a meadow of flowers?”
“I enjoy all those places?” I say.
“I guess you would,” she says with a nod and a pursing of her lips. “After all, you are an Earth Warrior. Okay, let’s try this, sit on that stump over there,” she says pointing to a worn and cracked circle of a tree trunk. When I’m seated she sits cross-legged before me and looks up with wide-opened eyes. “Look into my eyes, Sojourner, and hold my gaze. I’m going to take you on a short journey. Focus on your breathing and don’t look away. “
I take a few breaths, a little nervous about what is about to happen, but I stare into her sea-green eyes and feel myself drifting away, not asleep, but sort of separating from my body. Suddenly I’m in an endless green meadow of wildflowers. The sun is bright and warm and makes the colors around me pop. There are bright yellow buttercups on leggy stalks, blood red poppies, and purple and pink cosmos waving in the breeze. A lilac bush releases its sweet scent into the air. Bluebells gather around the base of a clump of white birch trees. Vibrant colors that make me feel full of life. Pastel colors that soothe. So much color!
Before I can get comfortable with this explosion on my senses, the meadow and flowers are gone and I am at the ocean. I recognize this place from when I went to the Caribbean once. White sand meets turquoise water. Puffy white clouds float in an azure sky. I want to just sit beside these peaceful waters and let them heal things I didn’t know needed healing.
But, the image drifts away and I find myself in a landscape of orange, red and brown. Stark, hot and dry. Sandstone arches and grainy dunes surround me. Hot power surges through my body. This place is about survival and strength. I don’t even know how I feel about this place. It’s wild, hot beauty is compelling but…
Instantly I’m standing on a mossy bank beside a gently flowing stream in the middle of the forest. Shades of green and brown surround and fill me. I feel a sense of grounding and peace growing within. Earthy smells are released from ancient trees, giant ferns and mushrooms and fungi growing in small kingdoms on decaying stumps. My spirit relaxes at the sight and sound of clear water trickling down and around small boulders in the brook. Sunlight from a clear sky shines through the canopy in magical rays like golden swords. Birds sing cheerful songs. In the distance, the bark of a fox makes me smile. Maybe she has kits to protect. I look up through the green leaves of the shaggy old maple tree beside me and feel myself lifted…
“Well,” Sageflower says to me and I realize I’m back in the Hollow, sitting on the stump. “Which one of those places felt the most comfortable to you? At the end of a hard day of being an Earth Warrior, which one would you want to come home to?”
She gives me time to think about the question. Which one? Inspiring colors? Healing colors? Energetic and passionate colors? Or, grounding colors? I close my eyes and an image appears. When I open them, I am sitting in front of a huge maple tree whose many branches extend out to support a tree house. I look around, thinking I’ve been transported somewhere, but no, I am still in Moss Hollow. Morgha’s cabin is not far away. Bear Dreamers wigwam is right where I last saw it. This tree house seems to have just been added to the village. I look to Sageflower who laughs at what must be a look of shock on my face. I am shocked!
“Well, you must have a place to stay while you’re here. Might as well make it one that feeds your soul. Let’s go up and explore your new home.”
We race up the fully formed stairs to a balcony that encircles the house. Leafy Maple branches sway gently in the breeze. I walk through the door and find a large room, furnished with all the comforts of my own home. A puffy sofa, a chair, small writing desk where an old leather journal and pen sit waiting to record my thoughts and learning, and a cozy bed with a colorful handmade quilt spread over the top. Simple furnishings but all that is necessary for my comfort and shelter. Cutout windows all around allow constant sight of the forest. Looking out I realize that the color of my soul must be green, for green is everywhere in the hardwoods, evergreens, ferns, moss covered stones. Even the light filtering down through the canopy of the forest seems tinged with green.
I look around my home again. “What about food?” I ask when I don’t see a stove, fireplace or anything to cook with.
“We eat most of our meals together in the common longhouse. You can cook there anytime you like, but there are villagers who donate their time to cooking meals for us and for Sojourners. Morgha and Ren usually have a pot of something cooking in their cabins. Bear Dreamer makes good campfire bread. Trust me, you won’t go hungry.”
This is all like a dream. My every need met so that I can focus on becoming an Earth Warrior.
“I need to leave now, Sojourner. You must have a lot to think about. Please join us at the longhouse for our evening meal when the sun is near to setting.”
“Thank you, Sageflower, for helping me find my soul home.”
Her eyes sparkle and she giggles. “You’re welcome. It was fun. See you at supper.”
When she leaves, zipping down the stairs with youthful grace, I wander around the tree house, still in awe of the magic that created it. I stand on the balcony and listen to the tree song created by a light breeze through the thousands of branches and leaves around me. Inspiration fills me and I pick up the journal and begin to write:
Soul needs a home. Each soul has its own color. An Earth Warrior creates a home built on the colors of its soul.
My soul’s home is in a high mountain valley. There is a lake surrounded by forested land. The setting’s colors are greens, blues, and purples. On the shore of the lake there is a log cabin with a porch across the front. Rocking chairs line the porch. In one of them sits the One whom I call God. While the cabin is my home, I find God on that front porch much of the time. I wish I could tell you what God looks like, but I can’t, not even if God is “he” or a “she”. I suppose the best description is that some God is embodied love.
Your soul home sounds beautiful and I agree totally that God is the embodiment of love. Maybe we’ll rock on your porch one day and spend some time in conversation with God. Be well.