The Path of Change:
A lower-world journey

Sunday June 28, 1998

Decided to journey to the lower world to solidify a change that I believe has happened in my life.  I have spent 14 years being buffeted by the winds of chaos and I've spent the last 10 years running from them.  The running has now stopped.  I have been doing lots of work in the past month with the element of earth to reconnect and strengthen skills and abilities I once had (link to Capricorn rising coming soon).  I have finally extinguished the bonfire that has been raging in my life and I actively intend to replace it with the flame of the hearth fire.

My point of entry is a large redwood tree.  I place my hand on the trunk and an opening appears (the natural split that old redwoods get in their trunks).  I enter and begin to walk down a metal spiral staircase that is in the center of the tree.   There are 21 steps to reach the bottom and I count them off backwards as I descend.   The stairway opens up onto a small stone room.  There is a table and chairs.   A narrow cot along one wall and some cupboards.  I have been here many times before and am comfortable with my surroundings.  As I step off the staircase I notice that there is a backpack and a thermos sitting on the table.  I had asked prior to starting this journey for some symbols or totems I could use to help me make the changes I wanted "to get more organized" and the presence of the backpack told me that I would have to go off on a journey to find them. 

I set off in a Northwesterly direction, which is the direction my compass pointed in.  I felt I should be walking north-east but I decided that the agreement for this journey was that I'd follow the compass. I shouldered my pack and was surprised to find a 5ft oak staff in my hands.  The staff/wand is the tradition symbol of fire and it seemed strange to me that I'd be given a fire symbol to set off on an earth journey.   I was told that I had earned it and it was mine and if I found one in outer reality I should buy it.

I began walking for what seemed to be several miles through a flat grassland.   There where trees in the distance ahead of me but they never seemed to come any closer and my souroundings didn't seem to have what I was looking for.  I began to express frustration that no one and nothing was showing itself, when the image of a snake came to me.  I immediately rejected the snake as not being the animal I wanted.   I've never been comfortable with the imagery of the snake even though I'm quite comfortable around them in outer reality (my college roommate had a snake as a pet). I was also born in the year of the snake  I walked away from the snake and found that I was now standing by the edge of the forest that had seemed so far away a minute ago. 

I asked if I should leave the journey and pull an animal card since it was clear nothing was happening and that's when I was told I was looking for the wrong thing.   I didn't need something that would make me more organized.  I needed something that would let me follow through on my committments.  Organization was just a word and a judgement; follow through and committment was tangible.  I was assured the positive part of this change was that I would be more aware of what I was agreeing to do and more willing to not be whipsawed by other peoples unreasonable expectations.

I was told if I would step on a small flat rock that was on the ground to my right I would be taken back to my stone cottage and could end the journey there.  I did, counted my way back up the stairs and then thanked the redwood for making it possible for me to enter the other world.

After leaving the journey I pulled 3 druid animal cards, the fire dragon, the earth dragon and the snake.  Obviously when I pulled the snake I realized that I had to accept that the snake plays a role in what I'm trying to accomplish.

The fire dragon -- I was surprised by this card.  After all it's fire that I'm trying to move away from or tone down in my life.  I believe the message here was that I can't and shouldn't go over board with what I'm attempting to do.   After all with my Leo moon I'm stuck with fire as a major element in my life.

The earth dragon -- This was one of those "ah, duh.. how stupid can I be" experiences.  About 18 months ago I was working with my dream group and I ended up doing a spontaneous journey to the lower world and meeting the earth dragon in her cave of  labradorite.  I also ended up finding at the rock store a tooth shaped piece of labardorite that has become a permanent part of my shaman's bag.  The answer to my quest then was that I had already met the earth dragon and I was given the labradorite as a talisman piece.

The snake  -- The snake represents a growth process through several sucessive stages.  It can also mean regeneration, the ability to renew your energies and heal yourself, or it may signify change which is necessary, however painful it may prove to be.  The snake has the ability to grow -- to achieve great things through a series of smaller steps

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Šall original material copyright: Freya Owlsdottir, 1986-1998