Mudjimba – Day Two

I awoke feeling disoriented and with a mouth that felt as though it were full of sand.   As I came to I realised it was full of sand.  I had been sleeping with my mouth wide open and part of the beach had drifted into it whilst I was oblivious.  I stirred my body and stood up, shaking myself free of all the sand that had invaded every crease and crevice .   Oh how I ached, my legs were so sore and the rest of me was faring little better.   Hang on a minute, I am still on the beach!  How come?   I was led up a mountain last night, well a large tor at least.  I saw the village.  I saw the waterfall.  I danced all night with the women and drank a fair amount of something deliciously and seemingly innocently fruity yet lethal!  My head had the distinct feeling of not being securely attached to my shoulders.  What a night that was.   I am definitely in the midst of a hangover here and what’s more I have no recollection of returning to the beach.   I slumped back down onto the sand.  Everything was as I had arranged it before napping yesterday.  Ti was fast asleep still, not that she was capable of telling me anything anyway.   Oh my feet…they are so sore and blistered – I did not do that dreaming! I looked around me with great care, any swift turn of head could be disastrous resulting in my losing consciousness or so it felt.   Nothing.  Well no-one in sight.  The beach was as it was, surrounded by lush green vegetation, lots of sand stretching some three miles or so before curving away from sight.  Turning gingerly to look behind me I could see large hills in the not so far distance.  This is all very peculiar.  Memories from the day before were coming back.  I was sure I had been told that I would sleep in the house of Katha and Danu today and when night came I would be taken by Tuiren to her weaving shed to see my tapestry.    Perhaps it had all been a dream, I may have been sleep walking hence the blisters, but it was all so real.

I sat, there being nothing more I could do for the moment.  I reached for my bag to get some water and fruit out.  My mouth felt truly disgusting and I was very dehydrated.  I drank most of the contents of the water bottle before thinking better of quaffing the lot.  I ate an apple and a handful of berries.  That would do for the time-being, I had no idea how long I would be on this island and had only bought sparse supplies.   I wandered down to the sea to rinse myself before proceeding.  I figured I had better start exploring as I was not going to work out what had or had not happened by just sitting here pondering.  The sea water was wonderfully refreshing for my feet and legs, hopefully I would discover fresh water further inland where I could clean myself properly.
I gathered up my belongings, putting Ti back into my breast pocket and started on up the beach.  Which way to go?  I could see several openings in the vegetation and decided to pick a path at random.   I had gone no more than a few feet when I could have sworn I heard whistling.  I stopped.  I listened.  Nothing, save for birdsong and the sound of the sea.   Sighing I started off again…there it was again!  Oh for **********!  I was not in the best of moods it has to be said.
I shouted hello.  Nothing.   I shouted again…..a whistle came in response.   Honestly I could have cried with sheer frustration, why the games?   Probably a “lesson” in there somewhere for me eh? Humph!  I was not at all best pleased I can tell you.  In fact I could feel my temper rising rather rapidly.   I stopped.  I looked all around me.  I could see nothing but the vegetation which was very dense so it would have been unlikely that I would see anyone anyway.   I sighed to myself.  Might as well go on I guess.   There was the whistling again.  Right that was it! I screamed at whoever it was to show themselves or shut up.  Honestly, yes, there were a few expletives in there.  I am not proud.  I could hear laughter, chuckling .  Oh yes very funny.  Here I am on an island with no means of getting off as far as I know, feeling like the wrong end of a donkey, lost, tired, frustrated and aching all over and all they can do is giggle at me.  Very sisterly I don’t think.    Ok, I say to myself, calm down now, breathe.   I tried to calm myself as best I could, breathing deeply to try and relax. Underneath my anger there was fear.  I had thought this island would be a gentle place with wise elder women on it who would teach me about my future, not a place of teasing wenches getting their laughs at my expense, that wasn’t the deal at all – I moped.  Oh good grief I was actually moping, pet lip included!   I had to groan at myself.

“Okay”, I yelled, “I get the message”.

Wolf whistles hit the air.    First one, then another showed themselves.  I knew I hadn’t been dreaming.   There were Katha, Danu and Tuiren.    They came up and hugged me hard.     I had questions but now probably wasn’t the time.

They led me back to the beach and we walked along it towards the east.  Nearing the point where it curved sharply around we veered off into the greenery again.  There was a very definite path.  It opened out into a clearing with huts, ordinary every-day huts.  Nothing fancy just nice little wooden cabins.   My brow furrowed, I was very confused.

“All will be explained”, remarked Tuiren.  “Let’s get some food first”.

We headed towards one of the cabins.  They really looked like the cabins you get in those quasi-rural holiday parks, sort of wooden prefabs with wooden window ledges and the sort of windows that children always draw, complete with tied-back curtains.    We entered and the inside was a bit of a shock.   The door opened into the main room which was very plush in the way it was furnished.   Beautiful stone flooring with tapestry rugs in bright, bright colours.  Two large deep blue sofas which looked like they would swallow you whole – of modern design but obviously built with comfort first and foremost in mind.  These were set around a large fireplace that housed a cast-iron woodstove.  The walls were covered in all sorts of artworks, large and small and there were massive bookshelves either side of the fireplace which must have housed hundreds of books.   What a fabulous room.  It was very warm and inviting, but was not at all what I had expected.     We went through into the kitchen which had a fabulous butchers block table in its centre around which were four ladder-back chairs.  Katha motioned for me to sit down in one of them.  Tuiren sat opposite me whilst Katha and Danu made tea and some food.

“I can see by your face that you are a little perplexed”, smiled Tuiren.
“To say the least”, I replied, “I don’t understand”.

I was given a large mug of tea .   “You drink that and I shall explain”, said Tuiren.      “When women come here, it is often because they want to know what their future holds, or what lesson it is they need to learn, or what they need to do in order to proceed along their chosen path, or even to find out what that path is.”

“Indeed”, I nodded.

“In a way that is exactly what the tapestries are about, but before we take each one to see their tapestry we have to clear their heads of the romantic, idealised notions that they often carry with them.   Is it not the case that what you encountered last night was exactly what you expected, or would have anticipated?  That is a rhetorical question, it needs no answer.   You expected to meet a community of women living an idealised life, in your case, one born out of romantic notions of the past.  That is not to say that what you know and what you would like to see are not true but more that they are one dimensional.  Everyone living in harmony, with communities of women who are the spiritual leaders and who guard the gateways.  A world far removed from the reality of your modern day one.”

I was beginning to feel a little saddened.

“We took you on a journey last night to that very place.  The one in your imagination, complete with the waterfall which we know you are aware was one of the gateways to the otherworld.   We wanted you to experience your own imagination, your own connection to the distant past.   Don’t misunderstand what I am saying.  I am not telling you that what you see is not true, for it is, very much so, but it does not exist in your world any longer.   Do you understand what it is that I am telling you.”

“I think so”, I said, “You are telling me to let go of the past?”

Tuiren smiled such a warm smile at me.  “I am telling you that you cannot find that specific place in your world any longer, but that does not mean it does not exist.  I know this is confusing for you, but you are in danger of spending many years exploring paths of which you already hold a great deal of knowledge, even though you may not be consciously aware of that fact.  In time I think you will indeed be telling the stories of these places and these times, but there are other things you have to do first, that is all.”

I was beginning to understand what it was that she was telling me.

“I think what you are telling me is that what I am wanting to do is to start at the end, to start with the pure rather than getting my feet well and truly dirty by starting at the beginning with this life I am in.  I need to do the groundwork.”

Again that smile.  “Come with me”.

I follow her out of the kitchen door and into the garden at the rear of her cabin.  We follow the path through the vegetable garden, the herb garden and the flowers to the shed at the end.    She stops at the door and turns to me.

“I believe you have something for me?”

I grin and rifle through my bag.  My hand alights on the coral gifted to me by the little boy.   I hand it to Tuiren who literally glows with pleasure at the sight of it.

“Thank you.  Come in.”

She leads me into the weaving shed and there before me is the tapestry.

“This is your tapestry”, she says.  “Sit down and we shall discuss it”.

Mudjimba – Arrival

I walked up onto the beach, glancing over my shoulder for one last look at Gruff as he became a mere dot on the horizon.   I sat down on the warm sand, Ti climbing out of my pocket to go sun herself.

So much had happened since I first arrived through the portal onto Rainbow Beach merely by taking one step after another and now here I was on Mudjimba.   Even though I was so excited to be here I decided to take a nap as I was dog-tired and there was no-one around.  I wanted to be refreshed before I set off to explore the island.

The next thing I knew I was surrounded by women chanting, their voices rich and sonorous, resonating deep within the earth.  We were walking uphill – I looked up and saw that the incline we were on was almost vertical, I wasn’t sure my legs would hold up but as we were taking a circulatory route I hoped the climb would be gentler than it looked.  We were surrounded by lush and verdant undergrowth, plants I had never seen before with the most wonderful brightly coloured leaves, some with spikes, some with flowers and others with what I assumed were fruits.   It was as if each one were trying to outdo the other in their splendour.   I was amazed they could grow so well from what appeared to be rock underfoot.  It was difficult to take it all in, the women, the scents, at once earthy, yet spicy and fruity, the sounds of their singing, the bird calls, the insect noises and so much colour – a total assault on the senses.  The women themselves were like the plant life in that they were many and varied in size, shape and hue although in terms of age they seemed to all be elderwomen.  No-one was speaking, not to me, not to each other…there was only the singing and the sounds of nature all around us.  In the distance I could hear the sea but closer to there was a roaring and whooshing that was clearly water and probably heralded a waterfall.  I wondered if that was where we were heading.

On and on we went, round and round, up and up…the roaring getting louder and louder.  To be perfectly honest I was getting a bit hacked off what with all the singing and no-one speaking to me but thought I had better keep my own counsel for the time-being, after all I had no idea what was in store for me.  I didn’t have long to wait.  We rounded a corner and came upon a large outcropping which overhung the path we were on almost obliterating the view ahead.  I watched as the women in front of me slipped into single file and had to flatten themselves to the ground to get through the small gap left by the rock…I followed suit as did those now behind me, we were like a string of snakes sliding through, although I suspect nowhere near as graceful.  No easy escape then should the need arise!

The waterfall was now before me, rising hundreds of feet into the sky – a magnificent sight.   At the base of the fall was a large lake from which, in turn, flowed a stream that I could see now meandered down the hill we had just climbed.   How odd that I had not noticed it on the way up, perhaps the plant life hid it.    The lake itself was surrounded by steps of land reaching up into the rock face either side of the waterfall.  Clearly these were cultivated in part, crops were visible on the far side of the lake.  On this side were what I assumed were dwellings, their homes.  There were many of them scattered over the meadow in front of me and on the steps behind. They were all of them round, somewhat like traditional hogans although nowhere near as big and looked to be woven from reeds or plants of some description, although I would have to get closer to be sure.  They would each accommodate two people at most I would think and those closest to the falls were sheltered from the spray by shrubs which had obviously been planted deliberately for the purpose, the leaves of which were enormous and acted as natural umbrellas.

Everyone was now through the natural gateway, or slither-way as seemed a more apt description and we wound our way into the village.  Still no-one spoke…this was becoming tedious, my impatience poking through my skin again – even in the midst of such an adventure I was still capable of being a pedant!  I chuckled, raising my eyebrows at myself.   As we approached a cluster of houses I could see there was a small group of  half a dozen or so women sat together on small stool-like affairs, the welcoming committee perhaps?   The singing gradually slowed to silence as we came close to these women, those around me receding leaving me standing alone in front of them.  I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, bow, curtsey, genuflect…I had no idea, so I simply smiled.   The women before me were older than those that had accompanied me who were nearer my own age I guessed, although it is never easy to tell and at this precise moment I felt to be a child of about seven, a little anxious and shuffling of feet!  I wondered if these were perhaps the elders of the village, the old women from whom the island gets its name.    They smiled back at me, standing now, peering into my eyes as just about everyone I had met so far had done so before them.   They were certainly a mixed bunch, but it was obvious that theirs had been lives of hard work and learning, that much was clearly etched into their fabulous faces.

“You are mine”, so said the third one from the left.  “My name is Tuiren, I am your weaver and tomorrow I will take you to your tapestry.  Now it is time to welcome you.  All is prepared, tonight we shall feast and make merry until the moon disappears and the sun returns.  You will then rest, waking once the moon rises again into the sky when I shall take you to the weaving sheds.   All here are friends so go and enjoy yourself. “

The women seated themselves again and a couple  from the group that accompanied me on the climb took me by the hand, “We will show you where you are to stay”.  I bowed my head to the elders, thanked them and turned to go with these women.  “I am Kathla and this is Danu.  You will share our home for this part of your stay – we will have great fun tonight.”