Time for a little chaos

I’m on a journey again.  Walking.  Just once I’d like to fly or something…maybe I’ll see if a friend will loan out their feathers or something next time I travel.  I don’t know this part of the forest…Wait.  Forest?  Seriously?  I don’t have a reference of a forest.  Even the spiders live in the swamp.  Just where the hell am I going? Brin steps up beside me as if to reassure me, and it does, because at least I have protection and am not alone.  She seems to know where we are headed because she motions me off the path  towards a small clearing with the tallest damn oak tree I have ever seen in my life.  And yet, it isn’t quite a tree, because it has a door and some sort of wooden sign hanging above it, but I cannot read the language there.  Brin again lets me know that I am to enter, and I think to myself..why does this not surprise me..Everywhere I go, I seem to be entering trees like some damn wood nymph seeking shelter.  As I enter, and take a look around, I see books.  Hundreds of thousands of tomes , some stacked as if they are pillars keeping sentry along the walls, others showing their splines to the world as if they are issuing invitation to peruse their pages.  As I move deeper into the library, for I assumed it was one seeing all the books, I smell herbs…familiar ones that tickle the nose and make my hands itch to work.  What kind of place is this I wondered to myself…some sort of botanica?  Then I see him.  A massive owl perched upon a ledge high above a window.  And being my usual snarky self, the only thing that came to mind was the commercial”how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop”? I giggled to myself at the thought, and then I heard him say “Like I haven’t heard THAT a million times already!” Whoa! Ok, correction.  He isn’t a stuffed owl like I first thought, but a live one…and pretty much  carrying a smart ass attitude.  So…what now?  The owl swoops down and comes in close..almost too close and my surprise must have been clear because Brin inserted herself between us.  “Relax dragon”, said the owl”I am not going to harm your charge”.  I am not sure Brin believed him or not, but she stepped aside to allow me to come face to face with the smart ass bird.  “I don’t know who gave you the keys to Ici, or why you are here, but this is NOT the place for you human”, said the Owl.  “Perhaps, she has earned those keys, and deserves to be here”, said a familiar voice.  I turned and there perched atop one of the pillars of books sits George eating an orange.  The owl turns his attention to George.  “Obviously she earned the keys”, he said “or she would not be allowed to come here, and stop eating on my books”, he screeched.  George simply smiled and popped another section into his mouth.  I laugh and shake my head at him, because I know that to try and MAKE him do anything is a lesson in futility.  “What are you doing here”. asks the owl peering at me.  “I have no idea”, I laugh.  “You are the wise old bird, you tell me”.  “Watch your tongue girl”, screeches the owl.  Brin again picks up her head and looks directly at the bird as if to say he would make a nice meal, and the owl fluffs his feathers and drops the noise level a decibel or two.  “I demand respect”, he says to Brin.  “Respect is earned, not given to one who has done nothing but screech and demand answers that I have no clue about”, I tell him.  The bird peers at me for what seems like an eternity, then he again fluffs feathers as if he is gathering up his cloak and tells Brin,  “Take her down the aisle to the back, I will meet you there”.  Then off he flies.  I look at Brin and she motions that I should follow the owl down a wide aisle, so I do, with George bringing up the rear.  As I move down the aisle, I am  looking left and right at all the collections of bottle there.  Herbs in some, a frog floating in some sort of liquid, even a human eyeball that I could swear was looking at me as I passed.  I think to myself, I feel like I am in some twisted version of Alice in wonderland.  What the fuck did I do to earn the “privilege” to come here?  Soon I come to the end of the aisle where the bird awaits in front of some sort of altar that looks like it is covered in white sand, in which there are nine candles sitting in it waiting to be lit.  I stop in front of the altar, noting that the table itself is beautiful and extremely old with sigils carved into each leg.  “Light the candles” says the owl.  Light them?  with what?  I feel in the pockets of my cloak, but there is nothing there.  Then I remember that in the elsewhere I don’t need the mundane, so I visualize a flame for each candle, lighting them one at a time, taking time to appreciate the beauty and warmth of them.  As they are all lit, I look at the owl, watching and waiting for whatever happens next.  The owl begins to speak, slowly at first, then a little faster as if he is a professor(yes I get the irony) lecturing those who seek his knowledge.  Ici was created for those who have need of what is found within the confines of this space.  Whether it is knowledge, or workings, or conversation with spirit, it can be found within.  Much the same way you go to the swamp for sanctuary, this is a place that has been awarded to you to further your knowledge on the path.  “Are you fucking serious?”, I think to myself, forgetting that all there can read my thoughts.  “Who awarded me this place and what did I do to gain such favor?” The owl sighed(can birds even do that?), as if he was speaking to a simple child, and in my case, it’s highly likely that he was.  “You know who awards things”, he began,”and you gained favor by giving selflessly for others who needed it, sometimes at risk for yourself”.  I nod and have to agree that if I had given any thought to my question, the who would have been easy to come up with…the why not so much since I do what I do without a lot of thought most times.  The owl begins to speak again.  “within the sands of time, there is a vial.  It sits beneath one of the lit candles, but to use it you must decide which one.  choose wisely because you only get one chance to look for it”.  “Great”, I think…”another mind fucking puzzle”.  I look at Brin as if to ask her guidance, but she refuses to catch my eye…”Fine, no help there”, I think.  I look back at George, but he has helped himself to another orange from somewhere and is busy having himself a snack.  “Lovely”, I think to myself.  “Some help I have”.  So I look at the candles sitting now lit in the sand.  “Just how am I supposed to know which candle holds my prize?” “You will never know unless you try”, quips the owl.  “No shit”, I think.  So I stand and look at each candle, then I notice something…each candle is directly over a sigil.  One has a snake, another has wolf, then I see it.  MY candle that sits over the vial of whatever it is I am to receive, is over a sigil resembling a web! I smile to myself and begin to sift in the sand under the candle and pull out a small purple vial filled with liquid.  “You did well” says the owl grudgingly.  I hold the bottle up in the light and see the liquid which seems to swirl and sparkle in time with some soundless tune that I cannot hear.  “So what is this for?” I ask.  The owl cocks his head at me and tells me that I will find out soon enough.  The prize is enough for now.  So I turn with my vial and walk back up the aisle followed by Brin and George/  I place the vial in my cloak folds and am near the entrance when the owl speaks again…”That little vial will be quite useful in your coming workings”, he cackles.  “Just remember that out of chaos also comes responsibility for those who strew it”.  I pull the vial out of my cloak.  “Chaos?  This is what this is? ”  I begin to smile, then chuckle.  “Oh yeah, THIS will be extremely useful”…So I awoke this morning with renewed purpose.  I have plans, lists to make..I know the lure of causing shit to happen..it’s what makes people go mad with power, but I have no need for such things.  This list is for those who have had it coming for awhile, but I’ve been too distracted to take care of such things.  Now I am not.  It is time. And I do believe that this time around I will enjoy the show.  Ya’ll might want to find a good seat, and there will be plenty of popcorn.

DEUCES