So as well as learning about sacred places in the last Priestess Path meeting, we also did a meditation to venture off to our own individual inner sacred space. I repeated this meditation outside of the meeting so that I could discover more details about my space and have included those here too.
We aren't all the same person (we're not identical clones) so we didn't have the same inner space. But it was very interesting to discover my own space for the first time.
This space is very much an "imagined" space and may not actually be a physical place I will ever visit in this realm. What is interesting about this place is how much it might inspire my outer sacred places and how it might reflect on my own identity.
I started off with where the path to my space might be and found it to be on sandy soil with grass on either side, while the path wound along without any grass in it towards a forest. The path was also near cliffs (but not so near that I felt a danger of falling over the edge).
There was a slight breeze that was not cold but pleasant, with the cries of Red Kites being carried towards me. I could see mountains in the distance behind the trees too.
As I walked along the path, near the forest, I came upon a wooden gate. It was carved and beautiful although not a particularly ornate gate. It stood as high as my shoulders, alowing me to see the other side, which was just more grass and the forest. The gate also had a seemingly natural stone wall running off to each side. There was a keyhole within the gate, which also wasn't ornate but it was of old, burnished silver.
I put my hand into my pocket to find a heavy, shiny silver key with a crescent moon for the handle. Soundlessly, the lock and gate opened and I stepped through into a kind of glade within an "old-fashioned" stone wall that was interspersed with standing stones. The back of the gate was much more ornate and filled with carvings of animals, runes and other symbols that I couldn't make out either time I ventured there.
The wall was close but not small although I couldn't see the true size of the area I had encountered. It could have been a circular space as there were some small, white, five-petalled flowers carpeting the floor but some of the flowers appeared to not be open and gave the floor a sense of being a living embodiment of the phase of the moon (which lit the whole area). A herd of deer also roamed in the distance.
The first time I came upon this place, there was no breeze or sound of any form, while the second time I travelled there, a gentle breeze caressed my skin and brought the scent of a light perfume as well as pan-pipe music. The first kind of stillness wasn't harsh but comforting.
As I looked around the space, there was a rowan or an oak near the centre which had vines that were unexpectedly soft to touch hanging to form a natural hammock. The whole area felt like it was my soul's home and the first time I was there, I heard and felt a female voice that was full of power say, "Welcome home, daughter".
During my second foray into this place, I found myself sitting in the hammock and looking up into the tree and wondering what secrets it held. In answer to my unvoiced musing, I again heard the same female voice as before, only this time she said, "Soon, daughter". This quieted my curiosity at the time while also confirming that there are other things within the upper branches that I am not yet ready to discover. I could also hear the sounds of a softly bubbling stream nearby, despite not actually seeing it.
Both times, I felt as if I had come home to my true sanctuary and I know that I can revisit it whenever I have need of that feeling, although I was loath to leave it each time.
What I find particularly interesting is that from the other side of the gate, the plainer side, I could not see the space. It was only after I had gone through the gate and shut it behind me that the area became visible. It was very much like travelling to Narnia or the door in Alice in Wonderland, or a mixture of the two - a very disconcerting, yet at the same time, natural feeling.
I am definitely intrigued to return in the future and learn more about the space as well as find out who the voice belongs to (I'm thinking either my mum or the goddess Diana, although her sacred tree is Cypress not oak).
I hope this inspires you to journey within and find your own sacred spaces that you can return to time and time again.
Love and peace to all!!
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