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Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com
Walking with my Friends
Masochistic Maiden
The beach glistened under the sun, still wet from the
ebbing tide. My friends and I walked along leaving
tracks in the sand. We stopped at a tide pool and
discovered a bunch of sand dollars. The mark of a star
etched in each of the skeletal remains made us think of
the star at the center of the pentagram necklace I wore.
One gently held the necklace in his hand as we talked
about the meaning of each of the points. Earth, Air,
Fire, and Water, and then spirit. We talked how each of
these is a gift from Mother then we walked on.
He ran ahead and found a broken sand dollar with a tiny
mollusk, barely bigger than the head of a pin, inside.
We were amazed that anything so tiny could be alive. It
made us more aware of all the living things we often
overlook. Beneath our feet the ghost shrimp rested in
their tunnels, ocassionally blowing water back from the
many holes that dotted the beach. The larval forms of
life that clung to shells, stones, and settled in the
masses of seaweed thrown up by the surf, each caught our
attention before it was stolen by the gulls and crows
begging for scraps of bread.
Soaring overhead, the wings of the gulls whipped tiny
eddies of air that stirred the whisps of hair that had
escaped my ponytail and lifted the front few strands of
his hair. His eyes reflected the shine of the ocean on
the sand, and his quick voice and ready laughter made me
feel fleet of foot and full or the joy of youth.
After walking the beach we climbed a nature trail
through the woods. We stopped to look at the flowers,
delicate white stars with pink stripes. Again we thought
of the pentagram. We also imagined the Goddess of Spring
with feathers and flowers braided into her hair. A
little further we found a deep puddle with a surface as
smooth as glass. The sky and the trees were reflected
back at us in such precision and perfection that we
talked for a while of what that perfect world beyond the
puddle might be like. We wondered how we could make our
side of the mirror so peaceful and clean looking.
We walked further and came to a tall ancient tree and
wondered what stories it could have told, if we could
but understand. For a moment we could almost see the
native americans stalking deer and gathering herbs. The
tree, covered with a mass of moss as thick as carpeting
neither denied or confirmed our thoughts. Suddenly, with
a smile I thought of the ledgends of Gnomes that live
beneath the trees. This old trees roots held deep dark
holes and the forest litter was not creeping in to cover
them. The arching root looked so much like a roof over
an entry way and the size of the root system above the
ground indicated that a large family of Gnomes could
easily escape human eyes. Just a wink of time and they
could scamper out of sight beneath the undergrowth. We
could hear, if we stopped to listen, the soft sounds of
the wet undergrowth being disturbed. Was it the hurried
movement of little men in peaked caps? Gnomes, weren't
they the creatures of the Elemental Earth? We could
smell the damp earth all about us. This was certainly a
good place for them.
After forest's close embrace, the clearing was sunshine
and sparkles. We saw dandilions growing on the green
hillside. We recognized them as one of springs first
splashes of color and representations of the sun shining
down on us. Carefully gathering several of the golden
heads we carried them to the mouth of the nearby stream
as it lead to the ocean. We threw them into the water,
watching them float down to the sea. With each flower we
sent a wish....no more oil slicks....less
polution...save some of the natural rain forests...each
of us remember to carry away a bit of trash every time
we go for a walk...no more whales beaching...no more
drift nets dragging sea mammals to their deaths...a bit
of nature for every child...and healing for Earth mother
where she has been strip mined. Then we turn to leave,
neither of us really wanting to go.
James isn't three yet, and Scott is only five, but they
were my friends as we walked and they gave me a chance
to share the wonder and beauty of the beach and the
woods. Take time with the young. There is much they can
teach us and give us when we take the time to share
their world.
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