N'aarat and the Tree of Life

Chapter 9: Sacred Dreams

'N'aarat, have you awoken?'

It was dark. The voice echoed around me like an impatient bird circling the room, touching the walls with its feathers.

'N'aarat, your time has come.'

I tried to realise whether it was still too dark to see or my eyelids had been glued together and had thus remained closed. Then I saw a light as bright as a star upon my forehead.

A knock on the door.

'N'aarat, have you awoken?'

It was the woman who had held my hand.

'It is time now, N'aarat. Come with me into the day.'

Khálana was the woman's name, I instantly remembered. I rose and joined her through the darkness. The houses were white enough to guide us through the night. We climbed the hill and got to the Temple. She stopped in front of it and I stopped by her side, observing. She saluted the Tree by pressing the back of her hand onto her forehead, so that the part between her thumb and index, on one side, and her wrist, on the other, was positioned right at the centre of her forehead, above her eyebrows. Her fingers, except the thumb, which was loosely curved towards the centre of her palm, all pointed towards the sky in a natural arch.

'I greet You, Mother Goddess, and bless the eyes that look upon You.'

There was something deep in her reverence, something that felt right, incredibly majestic and humble at the same time. When she looked at me, I knew it was time to imitate her, which I did, hurriedly.

She smiled, saying, 'Take your time to feel the connection, N'aarat. You are not in a race against anyone.'

I repeated the salute and the words came out differently this time, as if in the voice of my soul. I bowed, and with me, the sky moved and kissed the earth.

We closed our eyes and, as we were sitting there in front of the Tree, a light, so bright that even my shut eyelids could not conceal, appeared before us. Inside of it was revealed a woman in an electric blue dress, its colour barely noticeable because of the light around Her, which had dashed from behind and which was propelling her forward.

'You are blessed and blessed are all those you shall bless in My name.'

She touched our foreheads and rose into the sky. It was day. And it felt good.

'Walk with me, N'aarat,' said Khálana. 'I want to show you something.'

We entered the forest. The soil was so soft that our feet sank slightly into it. I felt earth rolling over my toes. As we were advancing, I saw dew sparkling on the leaves and I couldn't resist touching them, which cast a glittering shower into the air. Khálana observed and smiled to herself, but she didn't stop. We arrived at a glade through which a small river was running mildly, barely three feet wide, barely a vein in the forest, making its way freely around the moss and the grey stones.

'When we bless a river in Kythlion, all the waters of Neen Th'al receive the blessing.'

She saluted the river the same way we had saluted the tree—eyes closed, thumb and the index side of the back of her right hand pressed gently onto her forehead. She leaned forward and, without opening her eyes, lowered her hand until it touched the water, where she remained silently, her open palm on the surface. Perhaps it was just my imagination, yet it seemed to me that her entire being was moving, from the earth under her feet to her fingertips, dipping into all the waters of the worlds.

As my body is strongly connected to water, I immediately felt her blessing, as you would feel a warm current after having swum in a cold one. The morning sun was pleasant, strong and warm through the branches.