December 22, 2024

 A bit of Norse mythology today. I meditated for 45 minutes and, near the end, I felt a doorway open in my chest and then was standing in the lower level of an ancient temple. The temple had not been built by human hands but rather had grown up organically. The lowest level was dark and damp with rivulets of water pouring down around me, illuminated by golden-green sunlight filtering down from above. Everything was mossy and green. The ‘walls’ of the temple were trees like cypress.


I looked down at my feet and saw the moss and ferns were growing over a floor of gold coins and jewels. Rather than seeming valuable, though, these trappings of material wealth felt just wrong. The temple was reclaiming a place that had been overtaken by materialism, covering it with living plants, fertile soil and warm sunlight. The aura of sacredness pervaded everything. Holiness poured down from above, soaking everything with its radiance. I was brought to tears.


I climbed to the upper level of the temple on stairs of living tree limbs. Above, the center of the place was resplendent with the pure blue of the sky, the gold of sunlight, the green of fresh leaves. A waterfall cascaded down from above, filling a fountain. Birdsong filled the air and the temple thrummed with life.


I was not alone. I turned to the north and saw there was a den-like room filled with shadow. The shadows were so deep and I was standing in sunlight so I couldn’t make out anything inside. I could feel, however, and knew there was an enormous black wolf lying within the den. This was no ordinary wolf and reminded me of the old Norse god, Fenrir. You know, the one that is supposed to set the world on fire and bring about the destruction of everything. Only he/she–its gender seemed fluid–did not seem menacing. I understood that, while one perspective of Fenrir is the destroyer of the world, another way of viewing him is as the savior of nature. By destroying civilization, he is bringing back nature to its rightful place.


More than this, you don’t have to view this as a zero sum game; i.e., it isn’t simply civilization loses and nature wins. Rather, you can view it as bringing the sacred back into its rightful place so that the worst elements of civilization–those that consume, destroy and enslave–end and the holiness of all life becomes central. Humanity discovers its true purpose and comes back into balance. I know it sounds improbable but it is possible, albeit many years away. Beyond my lifetime, certainly.


This place felt like holiness restored and life in harmony. Fenrir, therefore, was appropriate. And the fact that he was black–the ‘color’ of the Absolute–seemed significant. I never actually saw him, only intuited his presence. I did, however, see his cub, a playful bluish-black pup who came pattering over to me and proceeded to lick my face when I knelt down.


I played with the wolf pup for a time, wondering why I’d been summoned here. It felt like home to me, so akin to my original home in the forest far before I ever lived life as a human. Fenrir, I could tell, recognized my origin and I believe it’s the main reason I was invited there. We shared a common ancestry in that way. But there was another reason as well, one that became clear after a while.


I turned and saw a golden idol in the form of a wolf. It was encrusted with jewels but felt completely wrong. Alien. It was a false god, an affront really, although, like the gold coins upon which the temple was ‘built,’ it also made sense. This idol was being reclaimed by moss and lichen which were slowly covering it.


Staring upon the idol, I was drawn within it to a place of utter darkness. In the center of the darkness, though, was a shaft of light illuminating a golden sarcophagus. Upon seeing it, I realized that the soul inside was trapped. Before I understood Fenrir’s benevolent nature, I had briefly wondered if the temple was a beautiful prison, a place to contain him. Now I understood that it was this golden idol and golden sarcophagus that were a prison. A prison for a soul contained within.


I don’t know what her story was. I can guess but my guess is probably wrong. For whatever reason, the soul of the woman was trapped inside the golden sarcophagus, an emblem of materialism and greed, and I was there to free her. I did so by reaching through the sarcophagus. It shattered into nothing, revealing the glowing bluish-white soul contained within. Kneeling, I cradled her in my arms and then straightened, returning to the temple.


Once there, a doorway to the Crossroads opened up and I could see the familiar white trees and snow. The soul, however, wasn’t inclined to leave right away. I got the sense it was important for her to stay. And so I left her with the wolf pup and the implied presence of the dark wolf, Fenrir. The doorway to the Crossroads would stay open until she was ready to go.


***

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