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"The greatest of journeys begins with a single step." Would this quote be the root of my undoing, or would it be the beginning of another glorious adventure for me to learn from? No sense in dithering about that now. I am standing before the door I must pass through to truly begin.
The theme of this year's Advent Calendar came from an essay written by Eternally Luna about her Journey of the Heart on the Soul Food Silk Road.
Travellers packed at short notice and entered the realm of the Silk Road through Enchanted Doorways. Each individual has had a very special journey and have been keen to preserve their memories. The Advent Calendar will help preserve aspects of the path travelled. Many pages will feature the work of people who have come to call the Silk Road home. Weigh Your Heart An
eye for an eye by Heather Blakey Join a Caravanserai
Over the centuries the padding of human and animal feet and the muffled sounds of their caravans were hard through every valley, village and mosque from the Atlantic shores of Africa and the Iberian Peninsular to the Pacific coast of China, from Zanzibar in the south to the Caucasus and Central Asian in the north. Join a free Caravanserai that will venture forth along unchartered parts of the Silk Road, in the cool of evening tonight. Meet, with your bags packed with the provisions, at the 'Pilgrimage Well' (Lemurian Caravanserai Blogger) tonight. We will be travelling with an assorted collection of donkeys and camels. Animals are waiting for you. As you arrive you will immediately recognise some travellers and you will know the camel that has been allocated to you. You will greet it by name.
We are heading out in the cool of dusk and will arrive at the first Caravanserai in the early hours of the morning. Take the time, before the group departs, to describe the atmosphere at the Pilgrims Well. This modern day caravanserai is heading for a creative Makka. A swift journey from Damascus to Makkah took thirty four days. Hopefully we will find our Makkah by New Year's Eve 2005. One thing is for sure, no traveller will return empty handed. A Note about Provisions. One pilgrim who died enroute in 1705 possessed, a fur-lined cloak (his most expensive item of clothing), two other outer wraps, two shirts, a pair of boots, a coverlet and a napkin. His other equipment consisted of a small basin, four platters, two plates and a drinking cup. He also carried with him a kind of cardboard desk, writing implements and a basket.
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December 1 The Piper's Call
Le Enchanteur, the Piper, is calling you to take a journey of the heart along the Soul Food Silk Road. If you are seeking to reclaim your imagination and warm the stone artist simply respond to the call and pass through an enchanted doorway. You will discover a divine, ancient road, peopled with many travellers. You will discover a road that twists
and winds endlessly and meet L'Enchanteur, the Amazon Queen, Baba
Yaga, a Hermit, a Mystic, Gypsy Travellers, Fortune Tellers, a Bath-house
Madame, Gusari, a Sacred Warrior Knight, the Mistress of the Wardrobe
and many more.
Luna created this Heart Shrine because she believes we all have to recognize and respect the continuous beating of our own personal drum. But it goes deeper. Luna feels that altars help us visually connect with what we may be working on. Luna herself is continually working, refining and smoothing out the rough edges of her battered heart. And to fill this heart with love is the ultimate goal. My journey began long before I knew I was looking for something. One night I received an email asking me if I was ready to embark on a journey. I had no idea where it would go. It started with a list. Tired of carrying the weight of my life, I packed lightly with only what would fit in my little backpack. At daybreak, I meet many travelers who were ready for such a journey as this. I found a hidden door in a tree and was whisked away by a night ride in moonlight. Mysterious gypsies drew me with a silent call in the night. Some kind of enchantment made my dreams deep and meaningful. Before long, I woke each day excited to know what would happen next. The journey to an island brought memories I didn’t know I possessed. Ancient knowledge was revealed to me. How can my life ever be the same now? I learned to proclaim who I am. I am no longer the invisible child! See me! Hear me! Understand my words! Slowly I have come to realize my own truth. That truth is to be free. Unburdened by my own past and my parents past. Just let it go and find what’s around that next corner. I have met celestial beings. I have met wee fairies. I have met warriors of great strength and feminine mystic. I have met talking donkeys and talking dolls. I have met known hell raisers. I have been reintroduced to friends of old who knew me long ago. And now I have learned to be open in a completely new way. My heart feels lighter than I ever remember it being. I have let go of old cryptic ideas. I have found a new road. The Silk Road. It winds through space and time; thoughts and dreams; mystery and magic. Somewhere along the way I met myself. The child, the girl, and the woman I want to be. I was stunned to discover that I needed to make some changes. To hold my own hand and say, “Yes! We can do this.” Brick by brick I had to tear down my own walls and find an inner world rich with ideas waiting to be discovered. At last, I am in an distant land with no water and no road. I have finally come to the last door. The one that was hidden away for safekeeping, so no one would find that brilliant light. The key is the secret that I hid in my own heart. It was a prisoner there that I bound tight. And through my journey the ties loosened. And fell away, until I could feel an ache of joy and freedom coming close. The key that spilled from my lips opened the door and released my spirit. Away I flew with magic wings. I saw a wild fire burning. The fire of my anger, my regret, my invisibility burning, burning, gone! - Luna Eternally. Tasks 1. To mentally prepare yourself to let go and 'journey away from home for three months', in search of the Amazon Queen's Camp, complete the Energy Mountain meditation by Jane Tilton. 2. Cover a visual journal, 'pack your bags' and step through a doorway into the world of your heart. Make the doorway out of coloured paper, find an image of a portal that speaks to you or simply draw it in your sketchbook. 3 Try the Soul Food Rose Meditation and make a Map of Your Heart
4. Find the door to the Cave of the Enchantress and write a piece about the world you walk into. Read about the world on the other side of the door. Scroll to the bottom the page to begin reading. Check out entries from different travellers as they entered the world of the Enchantress.
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