This excerpted article is from the novel, Sacred Vow (Dragon’s Beard Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-9774271-4-7, paperback, Fiction: Visionary/Metaphysical). There is a rift in the Collective Consciousness because people are not bonding one to another. The Sisterhood of Crones (a description of the order, not their name–as their name is without word) is about to perform a ritual to receive a message from the Collective Consciousness….
Prologue
Choice of the ritual location was dictated by nature just days before. Hundreds of people had roamed hill and field, dowsing for the place possessing the energy necessary for their purpose. The intended process could not take place on one of their customary ceremonial sites, but only the spot identified as radiating the strongest flow of earth energy at the anticipated time of the rite. Three ley lines, channels of the land’s energy, crossed a wooded hillside in a small patch of flat ground. Two ancient hardwood trees, one standing on either side of the rear of the opening, leaned forward before the rocky slope that bordered the backside of the level area. Their leaves filtered what little light could make its way from above. Between the trees, at the base of the slope, there was a large greenish-gray stone. Its jagged face rose some twenty feet in the air. Three small streams, swollen with recent rains, flowed down the slope, marking the perimeter of the flat plot of land in front of the stone, before converging and flowing downward over a small waterfall. The stream-encircled ground was carpeted with a thick, soft moss. Once the location had been identified and verified, the holy women who would use that place and its energy consecrated it. On the appointed evening, shortly after midnight, a ceremonial procession of The Nine—which consisted of the Crone Mother, leader of their mystic order, and eight more of the wisest women of their society—Katerina, understudy to the Crone Mother, and their considerable entourage made their way to the location. For several hours, from their village to the south, those who remained behind could see the winding line of torches, and hear the repetitive chants as the group made their way to the anointed site. Once the group arrived, still in the dark of the night, attendants placed torches around the perimeter of the chosen site. Then they spread seating mats in a large circle on the ground for those who would perform the ritual, with the Crone Mother’s back to the large boulder at the head of the flat ground. Katerina took her position, in the center of the circle, facing the Crone Mother. Once the members of the ceremony were seated, their retinue withdrew some distance from the site, in order not to disrupt the proceedings.
A time of silence then passed among those women remaining on the holy site, Katerina and The Nine. When no more sound of those traveling back down the hill could be heard, The Nine began a unified chant. Katerina remained silent, yielding to the trance induced by their voices. As planned, the light of dawn had just begun to make its way through the canopy of leaves. Within a very short time, the chanting ended, but Katerina was not aware of the change. Where she had gone, The Nine could not follow, could not see what Katerina saw. Their task was now to assist Katerina in a search through her parallel lives, and to wait until she chose to return.
Hours passed as Katerina moved through the many complementary realities surrounding her—now made apparent to her by this expanded awareness—searching more than any of The Nine had anticipated as possible. The light of dawn, noon, and now late evening had filtered through the tree cover above the seated women.
Despite her travels, Katerina remained attuned to every mind and spirit involved in the ritual. She was well aware that several of the wise ones had long been wishing for her to conclude her efforts, worried not for themselves but for Katerina and the conceivable limits of her stamina. Katerina knew they would stay with her as long as she could convey assurance that she was not in any danger.
Being surrounded by the Council of Nine evoked such power and information that it was almost too much for her mortal body to endure. Each of The Nine was unequaled in her individual expertise. And all that power was being focused into a narrow beam, directly at Katerina. Fortunately, the most illuminated teachers in their culture had trained Katerina all her life for such a passage.
The collective life force of The Nine permeated every cell of Katerina’s body, which resonated with an enhanced energy, supporting and shielding her from much of the impact of her transitions. Alone, she would not have been able to investigate so much, so quickly. Conversely, being assailed by their concentrated radiance was having a brutal impact on her physical form. Katerina was always able to enter her parallel lives without the help of The Nine. In fact, she had entered into many parallel lives since being made aware of “him” a few months ago. In those unassisted visits, she could visit only one location per session, and then had to return home, resting for some extended period before traveling again. That process had proven to take far too long. It did, however, have its benefits.
Returning home between visits was necessary for Katerina’s mind and spirit to filter the visited life back into the generally unperceivable background of her unconscious mind. Interim filtering wasn’t happening today. This ritual was allowing Katerina to open up to alternate lives, giving each life predominance in her consciousness, just long enough to allow her to seek out what she needed to know, and then pull away from that place. Full disconnection from these lives would have to take place when she finally returned home at the end of the ritual. Today she pushed herself forward as she never had before. More than just her life and her world depended on the outcome.
CG Walters has written for over twenty years, primarily as a spiritual journey. His works are primarily mystical novels focusing on the multidimensionality of our relationships or love. The first work he has chosen to publish, Sacred Vow is a journey toward our one true love . . . and its infinite expressions . . . bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but of one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness . . . a breach that threatens us all.
Request a free PDF of the first three chapters by contacting kathmandau at cgwalters.com or read online at http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com
This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as it is reprinted in its entirety, along with the by-line.
Have you ever met instantly familiar eyes, realizing an unnerving connection with someone on your first encounter? Were you unable to deny the instinctive familiarity between the two of you, even though open acknowledgement of such a bond might thoroughly disrupt the life and the view of the world that you held and were comfortable with?
