In Which I Become A Tree

I have existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end.(Khalil Gibran)

With my deities at my back - Hecate of the Crossroads and Anubis of the Threshold - I followed my Ancestor Guides across the little river and onto the plains. Pied Crow perched upon my right shoulder, ruffling his wings now and again, while Panther slunk back and forth on the path before us.

We crossed a huge chasm on a high bridge - for this was somewhere we had not ventured before - and I saw my patrilineal Ancestor turn and smile encouragingly at me. I know who he is, now. My father's father, John Ramsay Anderson Snr., looking not a day over 30. I've had a hard time putting an incarnated name to this guide, but here he is now, my Grandfather. My Mom, of course, needed no seeking out of the incarnated personality to identify herself to me.

On the other side of the abyss, a shortcut to an upper plane. We've been here before, several times. We drift upward and emerge, Panther struggling a little, on grasslands between the sea and the mountains.

Here I sit down, and start to put down roots. They proceed from my tailbone, seeking the nourishment of the rich soil, in which they spread out, wriggling a little. My skin becomes protective bark. My arms suddenly sprout leaves, and I feel the transpiration begin. My unbound hair rises from my back and aureoles around my head, which has become crowned with greenery.

I seek the sun - and there he is, pouring his light chemicals into my waiting stomata, from where they run down the inside of my body to meet the moist growth substance rising from the earth. They meet and mingle at where my heart chakra would be, were I a human.

For many, many years I lift my branches daily to the light, worm my roots down deeper, and...abide. The whole cosmos is moving around me. Some slowly, some much faster than I can think. I witness the motion of spirit through material soul, and am content.

Much later, I begin to hear the recall. My skin softens, my branches withdraw. My hair falls down my back again. I become aware once more of Pied Crow on my human shoulder, and Panther stalking around my legs. I rise, gather my Ancestors and Deities, and together we return to the material plane.

In the darkness of my room I thank the guardians of the quarters, lower the circle boundary, and set my beloved companions free with sincere thanks for their company. Rising, I extinguish the candles. Namaste.

And so the next set of learning begins. Shapeshifting is known as challenging, so perhaps it's best that I start with Being a Tree. Gods know there are many human people around who do this regularly, if not on purpose.