esson 29c: Investiture of the Spear

he days are getting shorter and I must hurry to make up for lost time. I feel in my body the same lethargy, the slowing down, the move towards hibernation, as the garden. I go to see the Spear Queen, who echoes Sovereignty's sentiments about times and seasons, cycles, action and inaction and reaction. The Spear has stopped the blood from flowing, and the time of resting arrives. The Queen shows me a vision of the entombed seed. As dark days approach, as I lie down to rest, ShadowMoon is nowhere to be seen. The Queen gives me an herb and a potion, and sends me on my way.  

   I feel like I am walking through quicksand. As I approach the hill of Spear Six, the sun descends and the flag is lowered. Color fades and everything is shades of gray. Victory is such a momentary glory, and must be tightly grasped and carefully guarded. I find a gray candle with an impossibly short wick, and move on.

   I take shelter in the fort of Spear Seven for the night. The faeries are gone out into the world, but the spirit of memory remains in the silent ruins. I sleep, and dream of initiation. In the morning, I find a black candle standing by the gate--pure, blank, silent.

   As I emerge, I am met by the Green Knight. He has opened the shutters of my house, but now helps me to close them again. But it's okay, because now they are closed from the inside, rather than nailed shut from the outside. They will keep out the cold, and I am blessed with the ability to open and/or shut them at will. He promises to come by again in spring, and help me in case they get stuck.  

   I continue on to the workshop of the Spear King, where he is just finishing the minting of a special gold coin. He hands it to me, smiling, and I see on one side a tall and erect sunflower, with straight stalk and huge blazing head. On the reverse is the head of the flower, petals framing a face--mine! It makes me think of all the sunflower seeds in my head--creative ideas waiting to be born, to fall away into the ground . . .

   Some of the seeds must fall into the river of time, to be carried on its current into the future. As I walk along the stream beside them, I find a green candle, for fertility and growth, which is never instantaneous.

   The stream empties into the sea of the unknown. There are still clouds here at the shoreline, but they no longer block out the sun. I climb to the highest bluff and gaze out over the endless expanse. It's peaceful and calming to me, and I just sit and stare for hours. You can't worry about, or prepare for (or against) the unknown; you just have to take it as it comes. The candle I find here is dark blue, like the sea, hiding deep secrets one can never grasp.  

   Leaving the solitary serenity of the shore, I make my way inland, tiring of the open spaces and longing for comfort, food and shelter. Trudging along, I encounter the Golden Boy on the path. Ah! the vision itself uplifts me! He is wrapped in sunshine like a babe in a fiery, rather than watery, womb. He can hear my growling stomach, sense my weary limbs, and he takes me into his warmth and brings me to the place of health and well-being, fruits and veggies and warm bread, sheepskin beds and feather pillows, bright shiny day and starry night, with a view over woods and fields and a large lake, with snow-capped mountains as a backdrop for it all.
   It is a microcosmic heaven, but after two days, I am bored and restless and impelled to move on. I am grateful for the blessing of renewed energy, and now must put it to use.

take the road to the south, passing the lake, through the foothills and into the mountains. The Spear Castle is the seat and source of the Spear Tribe, and I idly wonder what relation Arthur is to me. Must be on my father's side--a big mystery.
   Anyway, I come to him again, and tell him of all the blessings I have received on this latest part of my journey: the light shining into my subconscious (VII), a greater awareness of cycles (XI), non-linear list making (XI), the ability to open and close my own shutters (XV) and the heavenly blessing of renewable solar energy (XIX). He advises me to be sure to nurture my relationship with Sovereignty--to learn and refine the knowledge of what to plant and what to prune, what to fertilize and what to pull out. Don't let the weeds choke the flowers. This is a weakness of mine, but thankfully the slate is wiped clean every year [at least in the garden, but not in the house!]  

   Since no one can ever be perfect, and I am aware of and willing to work on this flaw, Arthur allows me the honor of enshrining the Spear in the castle. I can't find the words to dedicate myself to the Spear, because I would have to speak my entire existence--it owns me body and soul; words are superfluous. I place the candles around the perimeter of the pattern on the floor, then place the butt of the Spear in the center, and sit with my legs and arms wrapped around it, close my eyes, feeding and being fed by its vibes.  

   And I promise to get my stick back . . .