I am ready.

I am packed. My bag contains few items, I prefer to travel lightly. I have the gifts from L’Enchanteur in their pouch tied at my waist, along with a small knife, shaped and carved as a fish – a gift from an old, old friend. In my travelling bag I have a few changes of clothes and my essentials – note/sketchbooks, pens and my glasses, without which all is a blur. That is it, everything else I carry within my heart and my mind.

From my standing place I take a tentative step forward – am I sure? – Oh Yes! – One Hundred Per Cent Certain! – I have waited long enough – it is time. The preparation for this journey started, in fact, some twenty years ago. I had been journeying, traversing the multi-faceted realms of ‘otherworlds’ since childhood, yet I had forgotten this.

In adulthood, on reaching my late 20’s early 30’s I began to travel again. For years I was entranced by the flights I took, the dreamworlds I entered. I have always been a seeker.

In my mid-30’s, whilst journeying, I came across images and messages I had avoided before, but this time they were insistent and frankly terrifying. In spite of the fear I knew from previous experience that it was important to listen, that these were all gifts – messages to help me on my way. So I explored further, after seeking help to do so – it was obvious that this was one journey I should not be on alone. That exploration/excavation has taken the best part of the last 20 years – with many haltings and retreatings along the way. Now it is done. That journey is complete and become part of the whole that is me.

So, here I am, 57 this year, an apprentice crone, who is more than ready to begin a new journey. I have been aware for some time that I am at a crossroads, a transition period in my life and have been itching to get going. Aaaah the sweet relief of finding the right scratching post!

I have left my waiting stone and stepped upon all those in front of me, sure in the knowledge I was being led to my portal. By the time I had walked this long, long path it was night. I turned a corner and there ahead of me stood an ancient tree in whose outstretched hand the moon was resting. This was my portal. I came close. A roughly hewn rope ladder had been hung from her trunk, I climbed until I reached her outstretched hand, stepped onto it, breathed deeply and walked into the moon.