Journey to the Garden of the Goddess
By Gaia Woolf-Nightingall
Let us to gravitate into the inner realms of our divine hearts and enter into the garden of the Goddess, the divine wellspring within, to dance to the cadence of She who is of Infinite Skies, to the God Herself.
Find for yourself a comfortable,warm position seated or lying down, closing your eyes, take deep cleansing breath in and release. Now take in another gentle cleansing breath in and again release.
Bring your attention to your forehead, to the point above the bridge of your nose. Sometimes called the third eye, sometimes called the witches eye. Then begin to imagine, begin to visualize a glowing circle of light forming, growing, pulsating here at your third eye, your witches eye.
With every gentle breath that you take into your body allow this circle of light to grow, energized by mana, the energy that threads though all that is, that flows throughout the multiverse, energy that spins and weaves through the air and courses through your breath like a warm radiant current, energy, life force that feeds your physical and spiritual body.
Allow this energy to infuse into your circle of light and let it grow in your minds eye, in your third eye, becoming larger and brighter and more vivid with every breath that you take in. This orb of light which holds your awareness, your attention, make it as real as possible in your minds eye, your witches eye.
And then begin to imagine this circle of light descending downwards through the centre of mind.
With every breath you take into your body, see, feel this orb of light to floating down,descending down, down your neck to the top of your spine, traveling slowly down past your shoulders, floating down breath by breath, coming to rest for a moment in your heart.
Breath deep and observe for a moment how it feels to have your awareness here in your heart, the well spring of love and compassion.
Breathing gently once more see this circle of light float further downwards, descending until it reaches your centre, your lower Dan Tian, the point just two inches below your navel, the place of vital creative energy.
Breath deep and observe how it feels to have your awareness at your centre, at your creative hearth.
And now with this orb of light at your centre, begin to imagine, to visualize a haven, a place of sanctuary that exists within you, within this circle of light which now resides at your centre. A place outside of the mundane realm, that is your own personal temple, a safe, sacred and beautiful realm.
Out of the circle of light within this sanctuary you begin to see appearing in front of you a path, a winding path. A path of earth surrounded on either side by tall magnificent trees, which sway in the steady breeze. You look and see how it winds away into the distance.
Breath deep and step onto the path. Steadily you now begin to walk down this dirt road surrounded by the tall beautiful trees, you can smell their fragrance scent, hear the sounds of the branches as they creak and sway in the breeze, feel the soft squelch of the earth beneath your feet, hear the glorious singing of the birds revelling in the comfort of their arms.
On the road ahead just visible on the horizon appears the outline of a doorway. Around the doorway are swirling eddies of cloud. As you draw closer to this doorway you can see that is painted with bright translucent colours: red, white, and black, the colours of the Goddess.
You draw closer still, and as you do, you see that the colours morph and change form as you observe them, they become intelligible, and you notice that they are the names of the Goddess of God herself.
You become acutely aware of one of the names in the doorway, one name in particular, that calls to you, you move closer to the doorway and as you do your recognize the name, it is your very own name.
You speak your name three times, and as you do the door way opens.
Breath deep and step through the doorway.
At first it is difficult to see your surroundings, the air is thick, warm and hazy. The light is bright, a silvery hue clings to every concentrated shaft of light. You immediately feel relaxed, safe, at home.
As your eyes search slowly around you, they ajust to the light and you begin to view all that lies before you.
You find yourself in the most beautiful garden you have ever beheld. Lush and vibrant, overflowing with life, abundant and filled with a kaleidoscope of colour, an enchanted landscape, you have entered the garden of the Goddess.
Breath deep listen, look around you. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel and sense?
Here in the Garden of the Goddess you are comforted, accepted, take time to linger, here in her resplendent beauty, in your own resplendent beauty.
You feel yourself called to the far corner of the garden, where you notice a magnificent shrine dedicated to the Goddess, you walk towards it and as you do you hear the soft tinkling flow of water.
As you approach the shrine you notice a pool of deep still water at at its base. The sparkling waters surface is shrouded in mists, you slip your hands into the mists and as you do they begin to swirl and eddy, slowly the mists part. You look into the deep reflective waters of the pool.
Breath deep. What do you see in her depths, in your own, deep well? What voice do you hear? What do you feel? What do you sense?
Take this time to listen to her, to God herself, listen to her heart.
The mundane realm begins to call to you, your physical body begins to call to you.
You look up and notice that at the side of the pool a gift has been left for you. You pick up this gift, you receive it and with deep gratitude you thank the Goddess, the divine mother.
What is the gift she has blessed you with? Embrace this gift, it is your inheritance, your birth right, your heritage.
With great joy, gratitude, and the fondest of farewells, you begin to walk back towards the gateway though which you entered the garden. You turn to cloak yourself in the feast of sights and sounds once more. Is there a devotional offering you would like to make to her in this moment? You breath deep, turn and step though the gateway by which you entered the great garden and as you do so it closes behind you.
Once again you find yourself on the earthen pathway and you begin to walk buoyant and relaxed back towards your sanctuary, your own personnel temple. You stride between the tall trees feeling refreshed and some how lighter than before you set out on your journey, aware that you are carrying your gift from the Goddess with you.
You near the end of the path and begin to see the glowing orb of light before you.
Breath deep and allow yourself to step back into this circle of light.
Allow the image of your circle of light to become clearer and clearer, as real as possible, gently breathing in energy, life force.
Now with one more deep breath in and out, release this circle of light, release your awareness, let it go and allow it to to go to where ever you want your awareness to be centred at this moment. Where ever you wish your minds eye to reside in your body in this moment.
Open your eyes, stretch, say your name three times. Journal all that you have experienced. Drink and feast in her honour.
Blessed be.
Gaia Woolf-Nightingall is a British born witch of the Reclaiming Feri tradition. Gaia walks the Earth with gentle feet, mindful of the sacred nature of all life. Gaia is also a plant whisperer, artist, mother and student of life. You can view her website at http://gaiawoolfnightingall.weebly.com.