Tag: Warriors of Light

When the Bird of Night Bookends Your Day #barredowl

On By Alethea KehasIn Animal Messengers, Reflections22 Comments

It was not yet 7:00am in the morning, I had reached over to grasp the teapot, about to fill it with water to brew a cup of chaga, when I looked out my kitchen window and saw the owl staring back at me. It was perched on the lowest branch of the hemlock just beyond the far side of the pool, a couple of yards away. An “Oh my god,” or something close to it, escaped from my mouth is I put down the teapot and grabbed the phone.

My morning visitor, a barred owl on a hemlock

There was no need to panic. The owl had no plans elsewhere, in fact, it was quite content to spend its morning in the copse of hemlocks, peering into my soul window, and occasionally onto the forest floor for a sign of breakfast. Or would that be dinnertime of an owl?

The barred owl casually hunting for a meal

One thing was certain, I had not been expecting a visitor of night to show up at my backdoor that morning. And, for a bird known for its eerie call that sounds an awful lot like “Whooo Looks for Yooouu?” my visitor never made a peep.

The barred owl was silent during the entire visit

For more than an hour, the owl hunted silently the small woods in my backyard, mostly staying in the same hemlock, and quite frequently peering into my soul window directly through into my eyes.

It was a bit unsettling, but felt like a gift

If you have never stared eye-to-eye with an owl, perhaps you will get a feel for what it’s like through these photos. There is a reason why owls have, throughout time, been associated with darkness and magic. A reason why they are associated with wisdom, secrets, and symbols of what is hidden and perhaps needs to be revealed. Every bit of lore associated with owls becomes unsettlingly clear when you stare eye-to-eye with one.

And then it was back

Since my morning visitor (who appeared again at the end of the afternoon), was a barred owl, I found myself starring into eyes blacker than night set inside a tawny white face with a yellow beak. It’s rather like looking into a sky devoid of stars (planets, satellites, and moons), but that doesn’t exist. Hence the feeling of otherworldliness. It is no wonder owls are associated with magic and mystery.

So much magic wrapped into one form

When I looked at my visitor, I saw my dear and departed friend and mentor Sue with her cloak of owl feathers, I saw my maternal grandmother, and I saw Athena encased inside one magnificent form that more than once I felt like hugging.

My visitor definitely had a huggable quality

Let’s face it, owls are rather adorable, albeit imposing figures. I have a tendency to want to hug pretty much any form of wildlife I see and it takes a fair bit of willpower not to. Instead, I settle with filming and taking photos, when possible. Yesterday brought two opportunities to do so, as the owl appeared again late in the afternoon, just after I had settled onto the sofa to work on my manuscript. It was nearly 4:40pm, and after typing a few lines in book three of the Warriors of Light series, in which perhaps not coincidentally, the barred owl makes a reappearance as an important messenger, my friend reappeared. This time, outside my living room window. Like déjà vu I looked out the window to find the same barred owl starring directly into my soul. Forget the crossout, I was now convinced.

A messenger from beyond the day

July 4th: A Pursuit of Happiness…#originstory

On By Alethea KehasIn Reflections, Warriors of Light23 Comments
My friend Irene immersed in my “Happy Place”

A couple of days ago, while gazing through the depths of nature’s canvas that wraps the cove of a lake, I joke with my friend that I married my husband because of this place. “I can see the joy in your face,” she agreed.

Although I did not marry my husband because of this “happy place,” it quickly became a site of refuge for me. It is a place where the soft sentinels of pines hug a summer home with the scent of comfort. Here, nature offers us her unsalted waters in a basin formed by a ring of small mountains. My favorite way to enjoy it is simply to sit and be still. To surround myself with the songs of the kingfisher and loons; the perfume of pine needles and campfire smoke; and a panoramic wrap of New Hampshire’s beauty that allows the wind to spread the sun across my skin in a way that makes me forget about the burn. It is the setting that inspired my Warriors of Light book series.

This morning, in another town, I sit with technology on my lap inside a home hugged in an acre of hemlocks, oaks, and maples. Here, the sun does not angle beyond the tops of the trees’ canopy to set the water aflame with light before it disappears into the night. Here, Nature’s floor is a patchwork of moss, dandelions, and prunella vulgaris (also known as self-heal or heal-all), instead of the soft throw of pine needles. Yet, it is all a part of Earth’s body.

This morning of July 5th, I find myself thinking about connection as my mind travels back through our shared and divergent origin stories. America’s origin story, for some, began on July 4th. This celebration of independence from another nation. A separation of one group from another in an effort to pursue, “life, liberty, and happiness.” But it did not begin or end here. There is intricate web of light and darkness that weaves back and forth as it goes towards the center and away. If you travel to the furtherest point inward, you get the source of everyone’s collective origin story. The place before separation. Today, we exist somewhere far away, or so we seem to, divided by time and designated spaces formed by different choices and beliefs.

When I think about America’s origin stories, I think of this web. I think about how one group’s pursuit of happiness led to the destruction and enslavement of others. I think about how my happy place is not really mine. Not because it belongs to my mother-in-law, but because long before it was purchased by my husband’s family, it was “Turtle Island.” It was the home of the indigenous peoples before it became this America that is the home where I was born, but not where all of my cells orgininated. I think about a nation made “glorious” with the muscle of enslavement.

And I think about how so often we opt to forget. To make choices that split the web into sectors of partial histories and partial truths. A partial origin story is not whole. There is no wrap of connection. Instead, there are severed lines with polarized ends seeking reunion. Even though our bodies of biology and chemistry, and our essence that abides by the complex, yet simple laws of physics, are constantly trying to remind us that existence is only possible with connection.

There is a reason why joy runs through me in the song of bliss when I sit at the edge of the lake’s body with my feet in the water sunk into the sand. Here, I allow my body to remember the place of its origin. Here, my cells realize that separation is a ruse of defiance as they harmonize to the heartbeat of the mother we all share. And here, my soul expands beyond the orb of Mother Earth to touch its origin, realizing that the origin is already inside of me.

And here, I allow myself to imagine the web repaired and whole, once again.

What’s Happened to the Last Month (Striving for Balance) #writerslife

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, the labyrinth, Warriors of Light23 Comments

April has arrived already promising mischief. This week, the temperature is determined to plummet twenty degrees by mid-week and bring with it snow. Yes, you read this right, snow. The last time we had an April Fool’s snow storm was a quarter of a century ago. I remember that day vividly, as I had to drive my little Honda from Mansfield, MA into Providence, RI to attend my grad school classes and labs. Several feet of snow dumped on my path that day, and I am hoping this storm that is due to strike between Wednesday and Thursday will be kinder.

But I digress. This post was supposed to be about what has happened to this past month and why I am determined to bring balance back to my life. At the end of February, I started a per diem job as a patient care coordinator at a nearby family health center. When I took the job I promised myself it would bring my life more balance. And, in some ways it has. I have increased my income and my interaction with the world beyond my home and screen, but per diem quickly turned into every day, and I am finding it is not so easy for me to make time for writing.

Several days ago my husband asked me how book three in the Warrior’s of Light series is coming along, and I had to tell him “it’s not.” It still isn’t. It’s hovered around fifty pages for months now, and I really don’t have a great excuse as to why. If I have time to watch “All Things Great and Small” on my PBS app in the evenings, I have time to work on my craft.

What I have done, aside from creating semi regular TikTok posts on yoga and books, is to gather up, sign, package, and start distributing my pre-Covid/pre-updated copies of The Labyrinth (book 1) into Little Free Libraries I encounter during my forays out into the world. This has been incredibly satisfying for me, even though I have no idea what happens to the books after I nestle them among their peers in the tiny libraries.

Honestly, it doesn’t really matter. I like to play with wonder when I release the book into the world. I take joy in gripping the dragon pen my husband spontaneously gifted me (to match the dragon theme of book 2), opening the uncracked covers, and spreading words of light across the title page, before I wrap the book with an elastic attached to a soapstone animal that matches the character whose page I have bookmarked.

I like to image a labyrinth of light spreading across the land with each deposit into the libraries. A seed of hope implanted into the heart of a young reader. A thread of promise.

Some of the little libraries where The Labyrinth and its Warriors of Light have found homes.

Not Your Ordinary Love Story #KeystotheHeart #lovestories

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, the labyrinth, Warriors of Light20 Comments

A few months ago, I came across an article that said middle-grade and YA readers are now seeking stories about strong friendships rather than romance. Perfect, I thought, because the bond of friendship threads through my middle-grade Warriors of Light series. It is, you could say, a rather non-traditional love story. The six young protagonists are driven by their philial love for one another, as well as their filial love, and their love for Earth.

A giant in the land that helped to inspire the character Albion in Keys to the Heart. Photo taken at Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park in 2018

A year after visiting Arbor Low, I journeyed back to England for another weekend of Silent Eye adventures, and to partake in my graduation ceremony. “You need to come to this one,” Sue had urged me. “It’s all about the ley lines and the hexagram star.” Once again, while exploring the ancient landscapes of England, I would discover more insights about the stories that had been whispering their secrets onto my pages.

These sacred waters were the site of my graduation rites

We spent a very busy day following the ley lines (aka dragon lines) in the pattern of a hexagram star, hopping from church to church to feel into their energy. Many of the ley lines/dragon lines in Earth follow geometric patterns and connect to sacred sites. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, churches were frequently, and probably not coincidentally, erected atop ancient sacred sites and dragon lines (it makes one wonder about religious images of dragons being slain or “tamed” in paintings and church windows). Truthfully, the day for me was mostly unsettling. To me, the energy of the land beneath these religious edifices feels not so much sacred, but deadened in an attempt to exert power and control. 

Sue standing beside one of the churches we visited that is situated on a hexagram of ley lines

So when we journeyed away from the churches to visit ancient sites that still feel alive in the landscape, I felt much more at home. One of our stops was to visit the chalk giant embedded into a hillside in the Cerne Valley. Legends tell that the Cerne Abbas Giant, with his erect phallus, was a fertility god of sorts. Couples would (and perhaps still do, although it is now fenced in) flock to the hillside to make love in the hope to conceive.

The fertility giant in the background of a “Hardy” sign.

But I was more interested in the idea of a love story about the land itself. The carne giant, as well as a giant I saw a month later in the landscape of Acadia National Park (see above photo), helped inspire me to created the character Albion (whose name is derived from an old name for Great Britain) who appears in book two of the Warriors of Light series. The giant Albion, whose body is comprised of the British Isles, holds within him the heart of Earth. So Albion became part of the love story I was writing. A giant whose body is a part of the body of Earth. The two, like the yin and yang energy that exist inside all of us, cannot live without each other. Keys to the Heart is not the love story of romance novels, but about the love that threads the life into the veins of Earth and all of her children.

The Story of a Water Dragon, a Fire Dragon and a Circle of Stones #dragonlines #dragons #leylines #alchemy #arborlow #fantasyseries

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, Travel Adventures, Warriors of Light5 Comments

On the front cover of my metaphysical fantasy book Keys to the Heart, a fire dragon descends to meet a rising water dragon over a hexagram filled with the alchemy of their union.

The front cover of Keys to the Heart, designed by Sierra Wheeler

On the back cover of the book, a blurb appears inside a circle of stones. The stones, if you look closely, resemble the heads of dragons. Out of the circle, the tails of the water and fire dragons emerge. The scene wrapping the book tells its origin story.

The back cover of Keys to the Heart, designed by Sierra Wheeler

A story inspired, in many ways, by my visit to Arbor Low in Derbyshire, England nearly seven years ago with Sue, Stuart, Deb, and Nick during a Silent Eye outing. Arbor low is a Neolithic henge monument complete with a crown of stones that sits atop a hill that is now owned by a farmer. I sometimes wonder if the caretaker, who charges a mere one pound/person to visit the ancient site, knows how lucky he is to live amongst the dragon stones.

As soon as I exited the car in the lot below the mound, I felt the pull of the stones even though I could not yet see them. Deb and I helped Nick up the crest of the hill, but when we reached the top, I released him to Sue and Stuart. Sue understood how the energy magic consumes me when I visit the ancient landscapes, and here, before me, was a scene of absolute wonder. On the edge of the mound, I stood at the gateway, letting it fill my cells with memories as time slipped through space.

The stones at Arbor low are arranged in a recumbent circle, with two recumbent stones in the center. Some people think the stones once stood, and I saw the center stones as pillars; a doorway to the stars, while the ones on the ring rose up from the mound watching, protecting. The heads like dragons in wait for the Fire and Water to reunite to seed light back into the sacred womb of Earth.

I chose my path by the pull of my cells, taking each turn between the stones as though I were walking through time. “Like a clock.” When I completed the circle of the face, I was filled with a vision of magic that felt so alive I could not contain it. I felt like a lost soul finding home, once again, in the vast sea of the universe.

It was here, in Arbor Low, where I found the essence of the narrative that had been weaving its labyrinth inside of me.

As a writer, I am often asked about my process. Usually I keep the answer simple, “I am not a plotter, I let the story guide me.” The truth is, quite often I cannot explain what I write until I experience it for myself. Images and names will come to me, and sometimes entire scenes, and I will put them on the page only to discover later, why.

Standing at Arbor Low, nearly seven years ago, my body was re-awakened to the alchemical energy of the universe. Here, I experienced the magic of natural forces concentrated in the land. An energy so strong it transcended time and space. Arbor Low, like other ancient sacred sites, is a place where the complex theories of physics and math make sense. It is a place where magic is tangible and achievable without fantasy.

By the end of the day, I understood why I was so driven to write a story about six thirteen-year-olds who were drawn into a mysterious hexagram filled with broken lines of light to save a broken planet and a broken mother. By the end of the day, during which I visited three ancient sites with the Silent Eye group, I felt the wholeness of reunion in away I had never experienced in this lifetime. Inside of me joy danced with sorrow like I had finally come home.

So while I may have written two books, with a third in process, that are in the genre of fantasy, their essence is the magic of life through the lens of my own experiences. I have a feeling this is how many stories arise through us. We may doubt their origins, but the seeds they sow thread truth in an attempt to bring us home to ourselves.

“I Will Send You Birds” #lifeafterdeath #signsfromspirit

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, Animal Messengers, Reflections, the labyrinth, Warriors of Light28 Comments
A robin nesting in a lilac outside my window. I did not take photos of the robins two days ago. I just watched them in wonder, flying and gathering on the holly bush outside my window. Too many to count.

There were many moments after Sue Vincent passed away when I allowed myself to slip into the agony of the mundane. You might think agony is a strong word to use for the mundane, but let me try to explain why I chose this descriptor.

I believe we are birthed opening our eyes to wonder. We leave the vast infinite expanse of connection to experience individuality, but with the hope of holding onto the magic of being. We are not simply cells collected into a body to experience a finite existence, we are being itself. The most basic laws of physics tell us that our energy cannot be destroyed, yet how often do we allow ourselves to slip into the agony of the mundane doubting the magic of our infinite existence?

There are many things that remind me of this slip. Facebook’s algorithm pops up old photos and quotes from the years when I was wrapped in the magic of wonder. Blog posts reappear on my sidebar reminding me that the magic of life I recorded received more likes than the agony of the mundane. And, most importantly, the constriction of the cells within my body remind me that I am a body of wonder waiting to be expressed, again. Over and over again.

This is life.

Sue was, in many ways, a gateway to wonder for me. We met through wonder. I dreamt of the cosmic eye, and then she appeared. Soon after, I saw a vision of a hexagram, and it was Sue who nudged the opening of its magic. Sue came into my life at just the right moment. I needed a teacher and a guide to help me open to the labyrinth of light that threads through life, and together we traveled through time to find that connection. Sue was, literally, a gateway to magic. And when she passed, I mourned her with a fierceness I had not expected. I didn’t want to let that magic go.

And, of course, I didn’t have to. 

When I was working on the first chapters of Keys to the Heart I sent a passage to Sue for her input. The only thing she suggested I change was the use of the phrase, “of course.” I heeded her advice and erased the phrase each time I had used it, and made sure I omitted the impulse when it arose as I continued to write the book after her passing. With one exception, the dedication page.

“For Sue, of course.”

I can see her smiling. I can see that wrap of feathers she wore lifted into wings. I can see the wren, and the owl. The raven and the kite. And, two days ago, when I revealed the cover of my new book, I saw robins. Dozens of them. The most I have ever seen gathered together. In the middle of January. Outside my window. All day. Robins. The bird of birth and spring. It could not have been more fitting.

“I will send you birds.”

After Sue passed, and I began to question whether the thread of our connection still existed, Sue appeared to me during meditation. “I will send you birds,” she told me.

And so she has.

Of course.

The Hexagram Star as a Labyrinth of Connection #labyrinth #hexagram #fantasyseries #warriorsoflight

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, the labyrinth, Warriors of Light13 Comments

The star and the labyrinth have been worldwide symbols throughout history (and most likely, prehistory), but they are not commonly combined. So why did I choose to merge the two in my metaphysical fantasy series, Warriors of Light?

To answer this, we need to explore the metaphysical origins of both. Let’s start with the star, and why I chose a hexagram.

Typically stars, when used in the realms of magic, contain five or six points. Five pointed stars are often associated with witchcraft or sorcery, and although my series is filled with “magic,” it is not the type of magic that comes from spells and wands. Instead, I wanted to explore the magic of creation. The magic that that feeds and threads through all life. And, I wanted my readers to explore their own journeys of connection. Therefore, I needed to use a six pointed star.

Otherwise known as the hexagram.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay This image illustrates the balancing of yin and yang, or masculine and feminine energies that are explored in the series.

The hexagram star is widely known and utilized as a symbol for both secular and nonsecular purposes. I was particularly interested in the hexagram as a symbol that predates religion. I wanted to explore it in its “magical” elemental form. To examine its individual components (in particular, the elements that overlap and join into one). I wanted to break down the whole into the essence to form the whole again. Herein lies the origin of the labyrinth as a hexagram.

Image by Mauistik from Pixabay Commonly known as the “Star of David,” the hexagram has origins that thread throughout the world. I was particularly interested in the components of balance it offers.

Sound confusing?

Let me try to explain by switching for a bit to the labyrinth as a symbol. A labyrinth is often defined as a maze-like structure, but in the metaphysical world the maze becomes a pathway the individual takes to learn about the inner self. It is, in essence, and a journey that begins on the outside and leads to the inner core. One travels upon it to gain spiritual insight and clarity, as well as a sense of connection to Life.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay Not quite the labyrinth that is commonly used for spiritual exploration, but similar…

According to the Labyrinth Society, the labyrinth as a spiritual symbol has been around for at least 4,000 years. It has a defined structure that resembles more or less ordered pathways that lead from the outer to the inner, rather than a maze intended to confuse and disorient. The labyrinth as a maze looks more like this:

Image by DigitalShards from Pixabay Labyrinth as a maze.

For the purposes of my series, I chose to combine the maze of confusion with the labyrinth as spiritual pathway. I wanted it to be both a journey that could trap and disorient, as well as a means to reach the central core of Life. To be more like everyone’s journey. Most of us don’t find balance and connection without a fair amount of setbacks (or traps in the case of my characters), as well as a great deal of mucking through the darkness of the shadow self.

Which brings me back to the hexagram star and the “key of balance” (that comes more into play in book two of the series, yet to be released). In the Warriors of Light there are six warriors on the cusp of adolescence, at the age of thirteen when the child self dies to make way for the adult. These six warriors must not only walk individual outer paths to get to a deeper and more mature (or wiser) understanding of themselves, they must also intersect their pathways to heal the origins of Life itself.

Therefore, I needed a symbol of balance with six starting points for each of my six warriors. I needed a star with six points (of light) that joined and overlapped. A hexagram star.

The hexagram as labyrinth as used in Warriors of Light

The hexagram as a spiritual symbol, like the labyrinth, predates organized religion. Although it seems unclear exactly where its origins lie, or for how long this symbol has been used, the hexagram has a history across the globe. And, as a magical symbol, represents harmony and balance. Two equilateral triangles overlap to form a star. One pointing above, one pointing below. In elemental terms they are often viewed as representing water and fire (and sometimes combined with earth and air). A balance of yin with yang. Masculine and feminine energies merging into one.

My six warriors are not only a mix of “males” and “females,” within each of them is a predominance of one or more elements, as well as ethnicities. And, as a group, there is a balance of yin and yang energies that don’t necessarily follow societal norms. Together, they are tasked with a mission to restore balance to the world. A balance that has been broken by the impacts of the human race. To restore this balance, they must navigate the broken pathways of the labyrinth as a hexagram and restore the light of connection. And so, therein lies a story of the hexagram as a labyrinth.

The Dream of a Life #lifegoal #aspirations

On By Alethea KehasIn Dreams, the labyrinth, Warriors of Light18 Comments
To help build my vision into reality, I enjoy taking photos of “Wild Wonders.”

If you could dream anything into being what would it be? We all harbor secret longings and aspirations. There’s that needling, persistent urge inside of each of us that won’t let us go. Or maybe you have followed that needling and somehow brought your dream into reality. Whatever the story might be, I’d love to hear about it. Share it in the comments, send me it as a guest post, whatever pulls your heart toward joy…I’d love to hear about it. Let’s share those secret, or not so secret, longings that sometimes keep us up at night with all their wonderful “what ifs.”

My middle grade character Aponi is able to shape-shift into a monarch butterfly

My secret longings have changed over the years, but there have been some constants. There has always been a pull inside of me to help bring more beauty into the world to erase some of the darkness… These days there’s a nagging dream that follows me while I walk in the woods. It seeps into my dreams and shows me the full beauty of its wonderment. I don’t know if it will ever be realized, but maybe, just maybe someday I will see it transform into the daylight. When I envision it, it makes my heart sing. Isn’t that what all dreams without the nightmare are meant to do?

I have become particularly enraptured by the “Winged Wonders” around me.

I’m sharing my dream with you in the hopes that you will share yours too. That perhaps it will spark a light that grows a little stronger as we find the courage to find a home for each of our secret longings.

Here is the “dream” that fills me with the Wild Wonder of What-If:

Imagine a place, if you will, where people can go to find their own wild wonder. Where we are moved to step outside the confines of structure and conformity to find that home inside the heart where we realize we are a part of everything that surrounds us. It is a place where nature runs wild and free and where we are reminded of home. That we are not separated from, but a part of the whole, and the natural world that surrounds us.

This winged beauty reminds me of Sue, who seems to be ever-present as I “dream.”

In my dream there are “centers” where people can explore wild wonder and what it means to them. They are places where the inner child opens to joy and finds home inside the self and all that surrounds it. Perhaps that center offers classes and workshops, or maybe it is simply a gateway to nature. The only rules are kindness and compassion. Both for the self, and for our surroundings.

Winged Joy

It is perhaps a movement, more than a place. A reconnection to our roots. The knowing that we are not just of the Earth and all that exists, but a part of it.

Because I’m writing a middle grade book series that very much centers around this concept, my dream includes the heroes of my books and their passions. At the centers I envision:

  • Sula’s Library of Wonderful Reads
  • Aponi’s Field of Pollinator Delights
  • Shesha’s Meditation & Mindfulness Maze
  • Lupe’s Local Eats Organic Cafe
  • Dell’s Fantastic Fairy Gardens & Pools
  • Ari’s Adventure Walks in the Woods

And so much more…

It’s fun to dream about what we want to create, but creating can be a challenge. I am trying to bring my vision forth in steps. Writing the book series is one of them. My husband and I talk about where we might live someday when our kids are out of college, and I can envision the first center perhaps beginning at that place. After all, my ideas for the centers arose out of a walk I took with him on the 4th of July. Somehow we landed at a place that perfectly suited this vision. It had, already, all the foundations of the elements I saw in the vision. The property, though, was not for sale. That’s okay, we’re not ready to move.

“World Gone Good” Episode 88: “Alethea Gone Good” #podcasts #writing #healing

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, Memoir, Warriors of Light, yoga8 Comments

Episode 88 of “World Gone Good”

My journey into the world of podcasting continues with episode 88 of Steve Silverman’s “World Gone Good” podcast. I had a wonderful time chatting with Steve about healing, writing, reiki, yoga, and following your joy. Some of the highlights include our Jodie Foster stories, how we healed our stomach aliments through mindfulness, and how we channel our inner truth through writing.

It was a genuine honor and pleasure being on “World Gone Good.” If you have thirty minutes to listen to episode 88, you can find it here. Better yet, start following Steve’s awesome podcast!

The Transformative Effects of Kindness and Why I Have Made a Vow to Write Non-Violent Books #bethechange #kindness #middlegradebooks

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, the labyrinth, Warriors of Light16 Comments
Book 1 in the Warriors of Light Middle-Grade Fantasy Series

“Warriors of Light: The Labyrinth, was a great story to read with my daughter. From a young age, she was aware of the suffering of humans and our disconnection from Mother Earth. Recently, it has been more palpable as we had to leave our beloved homestead because our water was contaminated by application of forever chemical (PFAS) filled sludge on our neighbor’s farm. When I asked her if I should have shielded her better from what is going on in our broken relationship with Earth, she told me that she was grateful that I talked about these things with her and what we do to be transformation because she could plainly see that the relationship with Earth is out of harmony. Initiation is a personal path that leads to the universal story, and seeing that there are guides and paths to healing, it is not an easy or straightforward journey. It takes grace, forgiveness, acceptance, courage, honesty, bravery… There is power, too, in that we are not the only ones on the paths of the labyrinth, but others are making their way and our stories interconnect.“

When I showed these words to a friend of mine, she told me she wished there we more dads in the world like this one. I replied, “If there were, the world would be a vastly different place.”

After I read the email from the father of a young reader, my heart filled with hope, and my eyes, tears. We are living in a world of extremes as we individually and collectively struggle to control the chaos that we have co-created. The irony is that, for the most part, we seem to have forgotten that we have, indeed, created the hatred, violence, anger, injustice, and degradation of life that we so desperately are trying to find a way out of. Instead of kindness, compassion, and empathy, we too often point the finger in blame. We rage. We fight. We struggle for control.

And, we and all life on the planet suffer because of our actions (and inactions), including the living planet itself. Our struggles to be right. To hold onto limiting belief systems and ways of living are inhibiting us from living in harmony with life. How telling it is that a 9-yr-old child knows this innately, but somehow the vast majority of us have forgotten this Truth.

What we reap, we sow. Years ago, I made a vow to “find the light behind the story.” We are all bodies of stories, and together we share the stories of our history. We are long over-due to change the narratives. Read the words of the father in quotes once more. Feel them in your bones. What are they saying to you?

For me, they are a reminder of why I write what I do. The only way to change the narrative is to rewrite it. By rewriting it, we Do Not erase. Instead, we dig into our shadowland and find the light, and the light is what we grow. Our very lives depend upon it. If you are in doubt, ask a child who has not yet forgotten.