Once upon a soul time a shiny, successful, hard working soul tumbled into the underworld – through no fault of her own. She awoke to battle demons, dragons, unwanted loss, betrayal, grief, and a world that wanted her to be quiet, small, and well-behaved.
As she climbed out of her cave of despair and realized that she stood all alone in the dark forest, searching for any familiar sights; where were the stones on the path she had followed; success, family, friends, fame, power, purpose, spirituality and love?
As she looked into the dark night she began to panic: Who moved her boulders? What happened to the easy breeze in the meadow of her life? Where were the towering pillars of pines, the anchors of her dreams? What happened to that mountain that she had already conquered? She began to wail and cry one of those ugly cries: how will I ever find home again?
Suddenly, a radiant golden orb appeared and lit up long silken strands floating over her head – she could *almost* touch one if she tried hard enough… the strands seemed to rise and float for several stories straight up. As the golden light grew she could see that it was a spider’s web, a web that spread for miles up and around – and in and out of the trees. It surprisingly had a hole right at its center – where the middle of the web should have been.
Drying her tears, curiosity took hold, and she began to hear this magic portal- calling me, whispering my name in the breeze.
NARRATOR:
What adventures await her?
Will she stay stuck and see only the deep dark forest, and not climb toward the magic ahead?
Will she turn from the wildness and go back to the familiarity of the underworld?
Or, will she accept the invitation to step into the unknown and become her own courageous heroine?
WHOA! Cliffhanger! Keep reading for the continuation of this story….
As she reached for one of the silk strands and her fingertips almost took hold, it would move and sway just out of reach. She stretched and jumped and looked for something to climb or jump on, and then she could feel it….her pockets were filled with rocks. The shoes on her feet were as heavy as boulders, and the tightness in her shoulders wouldn’t let her reach her arms all the way overhead.
So she had a choice- turn back around or let go of what was weighing her down.
It was time to surrender all the things she carried that no longer served her: being over-scheduled and over-busy, living up to others’ expectations, turning the other cheek so she could get slapped there too, being a chameleon and a martyr, pretending she don’t “know”, and taking on all the responsibilities so that no one would be disappointed and so that nothing would fall through the cracks.
It was also time to let go of squishy boundaries, numbing her feelings, anyone and anything that made her feel “hard to love” and all the guilt and shame and unattainable ideals that got shoved down her throat by advertising, religion, comparison, the patriarchy, and being told she needed to worry about “what other people think”.
She dropped those boulders, kicked those ill-fitting shoes off, and began to stretch and move her body in ways that felt like joy. And lo and behold, the silken strands wove together and created a ladder to the center.
She climbed up that ladder, crossing her fingers and her toes, wishing on stars, calling to her guardian angels and guides and praying to all the divine beings that no more danger awaited, and that a new path would arise to meet her.
She peeked her head into that dark void, pulled her body through and…
Stood looking at a reflection of me.
I was that person.
I was looking into a mirror, but one filled with magic – my reflection was surrounded by flowers and gardens and magical beings. A riot of color and depth, filled with beings and flowers of every shape, color and size. It was a garden created by curiosity, experimentation, delight, wonder, chaos, wonky decisions, desire, patience and faith in co-creating a life from the void of all divine creation.
My personal Heroine’s invitation is toward desire, purpose, meaning, wholeness, contribution, community and sovereign divinity. It is about reclamation, mystery, adventure, curiosity, and finding unexpected treasures that can only be found by stepping over the threshold and into the garden of my own soul’s knowing.
This story is a wish granted. This spiderweb was created on my porch one summer day, and its story was a step on the path of my soul’s calling.
Are you ready to recognize your invitations too?
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