Nature Altars and a Fairy TaleOnce upon a time in a place called the Cave of the Heart there lived a tiny, elfish girl. She lived surrounded by her Shadow Sisters. These were not her real sisters, since she was an only child, but rather these were Sisters in spirit who had attached themselves to living with the little girl.
Sister Worrywart sat in the corner biting her nails and muttering. Sister Shy hid behind the curtains and only stammered when spoken directly to. Sister Romantic sat in the rocking chair, her nose buried in a book and Sister Lonely stared out the window, sighing heavily every now and again. Sister Envy was busy making a list of all the things she wished she had that other people seemed to have, and every once in awhile she would tally it off, waving her hands in the air. Sister Inadequate was busy in the kitchen trying to make a meal, and when it came time to sit down to eat she put it on the table, wringing her hands and muttering “oh, I hope it’s OK, I’m not a real cook you know, I’ve never been trained and I really don’t know what I’m doing.....” Sister Ugly was known to spend days going through the closets, trying things on, staring in the mirror and then stuffing everything back in the closets again moaning that there was “nothing to wear” that looked good on her.
One day there was a knock on the door of the Cave. Sister Romantic looked up from her book, sighed heavily “oh that Edward he is sooo mysterious and delish”, and got up to answer the door.
“Good Morning” said a tall, beautiful woman, “I’m looking for the little girl that lives here.” The beautiful woman smiled a warm smile. She was dressed in a pale blue silk dress, with a yellow silk shawl. She had long grey hair, and the most beautiful and deep blue eyes that Sister Romantic had ever seen. In her arms she was holding a big, wicker basket.
The little girl stepped out from behind Sister Romantic. “Good day” she said softly, “won’t you come in.” The little girl knew that this woman was a very Wise Woman and she bowed to her reverently as she stepped into the Cave.
“Thank you”, said the Wise Woman, “I have brought a gift for you.” And she handed the little girl the wicker basket.
“Careful, don’t take gifts from strangers!” barked Sister Worrywart, and then she went back to biting her nails.
“It’s Ok”, said the little girl as she took the basket, “It’ll be alright” she said soothingly.
“What is this?” she asked the Wise Woman.
“This basket contains the gifts of your soul. These are the gifts that you have to offer the world - your spirituality, your creativity, your friendship, your presence.....they are all here. And they are all unique to you - no one else has these gifts. They have been kept for you by your Soul Sisters and it is time for you to share these gifts with the world. You can nurture them here in the Cave of the Heart, but in order for them to grow you need to take them out and use them. No one can take them away from you - they are yours. Your Soul Sisters are waiting for you to come out into the world, and they will support you when you need it.”
The little girl took each of the gifts carefully out of the basket and looked them over, one by one, marveling at how they glowed.
“Oh no, we can’t possibly share these” exclaimed Sister Inadequate, “we’re not ready for them, we’d break them or something.”
“Besides” said Sister Envy, “they’re not as good as others gifts, why I know a little girl who has much better gifts than these.”
The little girl thought she should give the basket back to the Wise Woman, but the Wise Woman bent down, touched her cheek and said softly, “You know I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the Shadow Sisters. They are bound to get a little bit jealous from time to time, but they’ll quiet down.” She stood up and smiled at Sister Envy.
“Oh, there’s one more thing. These are for you.” The Wise Woman handed the little girl a beautiful set of wings that looked like monarch butterfly wings. The little girl put them on, and twirled around and around.
“Oh they are so beautiful, just like a fairy!” sighed Sister Romantic.
“Careful, you’ll break them!” shouted Sister Worrywart.
Sister Envy was about to say something, but one sharp look from the Wise Woman stopped her dead.
“It’s time for you to leave the Cave of the Heart, spread your wings and fly” she told the little girl and with that she took her hand and led her out the door.
It is said, that from time to time the little girl returns to the Cave of the Heart and visits with the Shadow Sisters - they are, a part of her after all. And when she is there, she also spends time going through her basket of gifts given to her so lovingly by the Soul Sisters, and restored and renewed she spreads her wings and heads back out to the world.
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Way of the Monk - Week Five
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