December 2, 2024

 Today, I found myself in a woods filled with young trees. It was misty and I could only see the slim trunks of the trees. They had veins of gold running through them and shone with a soft light. Nearby was a glade and in the center was a mound of white earth, a grave. I approached and sat down by the grave, sensing into it. I could ‘see’ the buried bones of a man’s body. They were so delicate that they were no more than chalk. Barely more than an impression of the body remained. Acting on inspiration, I lay down over the grave. Somehow I knew that if I disinterred the body, it would crumble; however, if I lay down and offered my body to him, he might possess me and thereby regain a form.


Soon, he had entered me and we were two existing in the same soul body. I stood and looked up; the gray mist overhead gave way and golden light poured down. Several angels descended, jubilant and offering their greetings to the man inside me. Something immense and black appeared, hovering in the air among them, and I realized it was a carriage pulled by black stallions. It was midnight black and encrusted with jewels; a sort of funeral carriage.


It alighted on the ground before us, the horses snorting and stamping their hooves. I knew we were meant to climb inside and so we did. As soon as the door closed, though, darkness engulfed us and I knew we were now inside a tomb. This was the tomb of the man inside me.


Tears overwhelmed me and I cried. As I did so, the man separated from me, falling down into my arms. He was quite dead and wrapped in a shroud. I cried and cried because I feel his loneliness and desperation at being consumed by darkness after his death. I wanted to try to make it better somehow, to reassure him that I knew and I cared. I heard a stern voice reprimanding me, though, as I thought this. It was the Woman in White. She said, “Bring him now. Don’t waste any time. Come now!”


I didn’t know what the urgency was and so I lingered, feeling the grief pour over me. She kept calling out to me, though, urging, “Bring him! Bring him now!”


I finally gave in and, lifting his body, carried him out of the tomb. There was a telltale soft, white light ahead. I knew it was the light of the Crossroads and, sure enough, I exited the tomb to find myself standing in the white wood. 


The Woman in White was waiting for me and she was the most displeased I’ve ever seen her. “When I call you, you come,” she said sterny. “Don’t waste time. This is not your grief. This is not your life. Don’t take what isn’t yours.”


Chastened, I handed the man’s body over to her and she accepted. She softened a little as she took him. She is a being of compassion after all. How could she be angry for long? I could feel her sympathy for me and also her desire for me to learn what doesn’t belong to me. “This is important,” she said before turning to leave. “Don’t forget it.”


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