Sacred Swing

When I moved to South Carolina almost 2 years ago; I took 6  months off from work to listen to the Voice of the Goddess and discern the path that She was leading me on. Blessed I am to live in an apartment complex that is in walking distance of the Lake and that has a Gazebo on one of the coves. I spent many mornings, afternoons and evening meditating and listening while sitting on the swing. This became known to me as the Sacred Swing.

This place was rich with the Voice of Gaia! Goddess spoke to me in ways I had never experienced before and I could hear Her in the movement of the water, the blowing of the air currents, the singing of the birds and the buzzing of the bees. I could see Her in the gentle gliding motion of the birds and the playfulness of the squirrels. This was a most Sacred Place and I grew and I healed and I made my total dedication to the Goddess here on the Sacred Swing.

But one day I arrived at the Lake and realized that the Swing was gone. I hurried to the apartment office and asked where the swing was. The manager told me that it had been stolen! Stolen! The Sacred Swing at the Lake was stolen! She said it would be replaced but by something else. I found it difficult to stay at the Lake and commune with Goddess without the swing there. The energy was dark and foreboding. Two weeks later the swing was replaced.

I was mortified and could hear Goddess weeping. The wooden swing was replaced with a metal glider but what was more disturbing was that it was chained to the wooden posts around it with a big thick yellow chain. The energy was stifling! I could barely breathe. I felt like I was smothering as the gazebo became a place of coldness and bondage and mistrust and power and control! I tried, I tell you I tried, to sit on this glider and to hear the Voice of Gaia, but there was nothing but silence.

And so my walks every day always took me to the Lake, but I couldn't go to the gazebo and sit like I did the first summer I lived here. Oh I would walk down and get close to the Lake and as I did I realized that graffiti had been painted on the walls and one of the picnic tables had been broken up and turned into fire wood. What had happened to this lovely place, this place where I felt safe and where I actually felt I was in a holy place?

And in my pondering over the past year, Goddess began to show me how quickly human beings can change the energy of a place. She had me stop and realize that after the swing was stolen, the management decided to show they had more power and control than did the people who stole the swing in the first place. But they went a step further and showed their power by chaining up that which was there for pleasure.

And I went home and this is what I wrote:

Sadness at the Lake

There was a Sadness as I approached the Lake.

Grandmother Tree waited for me to pause and greet her with a hug. I gazed up and smiled at the beautiful green leaves adorning her sky-reaching branches.

But there was a Sad Energy about.

As I approached the Lake the Sadness became like a thick fog and even with the cool breeze, the air was stagnant.

The Sacred Swing had been stolen weeks ago and now the Replacement had arrived. A cherry yellow metal Glider was in Her place along with a picnic table. “Why the Sadness?” I asked. “Come closer,” the cherry yellow Glider said.

Before I got there I looked out at the Lake and saw a Stillness like never before. The Sadness coming from the Water was unexpected until I saw the oil and gasoline from the boats floating on the top. There was no bottom, barely a reflection, just Sadness.

I walked quickly, wanting to try out the new glider, but as I approached I could hear a gentle cry and the Sadness enveloped me like a glove. “Why the Sadness?” I asked again. “Look closely,” said the Glider and I saw the chains. The Glider and Table were chained together and to the railing with a bright thick yellow Chain.

I sat on the Glider telling Her it would be OK; telling her that I would make this Sacred Space. But as I sat there I imagined all the things, all the people, all the doctrines and dogmas that had kept me in bondage for so long.

I grieved that we have to chain our things, our thoughts, our loved ones in order to keep them safe. I grieved the message. I grieved the purpose.

This is Sacred Space. All of our Bondage, our Pain and our Sadness is Sacred Space. I could choose to not go back, but then I would acknowledge that the Sadness won and that it had all the power.

Instead, I will return with Sage in hand, prayers on my lips and in spite of the symbols of Bondage, I will open the way for the Cherry Yellow Glider to be a blessing in the midst of Her Captivity.

And so may it be for us all!

But unfortunately the Sadness never left~~~~~~~ until Today!

Much to my surprise as I stopped by Grandmother Tree, I noticed a change in the Energy of the Place! I looked and there were two new wooden swings in the Gazebo and the Yellow Glider was gone. I literally ran down and realized that the graffiti had been painted over, the trash all picked up and I rejoiced! I sat on the swing and thanked Goddess for restoring this Sacred Place.

We are all in bondage somewhere in our lives. And sometimes we have our peace stolen from us by another or even by ourselves. And for a time we are lost and sad. But then just a small change comes into our lives by another or even by our own doing and we are free again! It is like the Turning of the Wheel!

I love that they placed two swings here in this Place! I can imagine friends sitting across from one another enjoying each others company or children swinging as their parents cook hamburgers on the small grill. Or for me; I imagine sitting in one and talking to Goddess who will be swinging in the other. The Wheel Turns!

Blessed be!