Darius.

He strode confidently through the tall grass. It was the height of summer and the grasses now reached to above his knees. He loved it when it was like this. The sun shone brightly and he had to shield his eyes from it with his hand in order to see across the plain. It was his first day of training and he was on his way to the cursus to meet his teacher and fellow students for the first time. He felt as many novices do on their first day: privileged, nervous and excited. He could see his teacher and the rest of the students waiting patiently for him beside the cursus. They were all dressed in thigh-length woollen garments, tied at the waist with a red cotton cord, the colour of a neophyte.

Darius had looked forward to this moment, from the very first time his mother had told him that he had been chosen to train as an initiate of the Mysteries. His whole life had been geared towards it. He could still hear his mothers words ‘Darius, this is your destiny, you were chosen by the Goddess, on the day of your birth, to serve her. Not many can say the same thing”. She had repeated this many times, making sure that he really knew it.

He knew he was privileged to be chosen for this training although he still wasn’t quite sure why.  The priests had followed his development with interest. They could see the light in him and knew, that one day, he would make a great Healer of the Worlds. As much as they recognised his light they also saw his weakness; he believed he was capable of anything, after all he had heard it his whole life. There was nothing he could not achieve. The Elder priests knew that over-confidence in one’s own abilities, coupled with great power, could topple civilisations, so they knew that this trait would have to be watched and honed so that the confidence would not become egotistical.

 

His father and younger sister watched him as he walked towards his new family. They both felt a sense of pride and envy watching him striding through the tall grass. Aine, his younger sister by three years, decided that she too wished to be chosen by the Goddess to be a server and hopefully would one day follow Darius into training. The priests had told her mother that Aine showed potential, but only time would tell whether she had the gifts.

Cahan, Darius’ father remembered the night that Darius had been born. Eithne, his wife, had had a difficult pregnancy and it was not certain whether she would come to term. Her labour had been long and exhausting and she had very little energy left to birth him. A Greek traveller had been staying at their settlement. He was making a pilgrimage to the Sacred Stones and needed a place to stay overnight. He worked with herbs and so Cahan sent for him to see if he could help his wife.

The Greek helped birth the child. He gave Eithne a weak brew of raspberry leaf to help with her contractions and spoke to the soul of the child, reassuring it that there was nothing to fear in coming into this world. The baby was born, tired but alive, and Eithne was allowed to rest. She slept for hours afterwards. The Greek’s name was Darius and, with immense gratitude, they called the baby after him. He was honoured to have served and so accepted the gift of the naming. Little did they know at the time that Darius would live to be one of the greatest healers their world had ever known.

 

As they stood there, Cahan with his arm around Aine’s shoulder, they watched until Darius had joined his group. Then, when they were ready to leave him, they turned towards home. It would be some time before they saw him again and when they did he would be changed, but it was an honour to have a Server of the Goddess in their family and so they were grateful and sad, all at once. Aine looked back one more time at her older brother and then headed off towards home. She was beginning to miss him already.

 

Darius reached his group. He was as yet unaware of the tests that lay ahead of him but, as with all youth, he confidently thought that he wouldn’t have many problems.

The tests and trials of this training would prove him, however, one way or the other, and by the time he was finished here he would know the true meaning of strength and humility. His teacher also hoped that he would learn to know his true abilities, and use them with heart.

 

As he approached his teacher and his group he noticed that the teacher was dressed differently to the students. He wore a long creamy-white robe made of linen tied with a purple sash. He introduced himself as Diarmiud and told them that his speciality was working with the elementals. This was to be their first level of training, he explained and, as with all spiritual training, emotional healing was also part and parcel. You could not do one without the other. Compared to that working with the elementals would be easy!

Diarmiud explained to them how they would be expected to work. They would spend this first year preparing for initiation. This meant honing the body and emotions so that the energy body would be strong and prepared.

They would be closely guided and mentored to ensure that the gifts they held were not used too soon but that they would be slowly opened. This was as much for the student’s benefit as everyone else’s. The fusion of the soul with the personality had to be done slowly and with care otherwise the mind might not be able to handle it and the student would become unbalanced. By the end of the first year each student was expected to understand the basic principles of emotional exploration, right diet and exercise and respect for their fellow students. Only the most capable of the group, those who showed the ability to learn and grow, would join the ranks of the Great Ones to serve the rest of the people.

This was Darius’ goal. He knew, somewhere inside of him, what he needed to accomplish and yet his body and mind were young even as his soul was old and he knew that this task would take time. But time he had, even if he didn’t know it yet!

         ****

 

 

 

When all the students had gathered around their teacher and he had memorised all their names he introduced them to the first part of the training.

“Each one of you is now a candidate of the Mysteries. You are each called to explore the mysteries of the mind and of the emotions. In order to join the Great Ones you will need to understand certain facets of learning. This is what is expected of you and we hope you will learn to the best of your ability.”

Diarmiud paused for a moment, looking at each student’s face, then continued. “Each level is succeeded by another. As you each succeed and move through each level the colour of your energy field is recognised. We can then gauge how much further you need to travel in a certain area of development before you are ready to proceed to the next level. As you move through the levels you are mentored by a teacher who has gained the necessary proficiency to teach at that level. You will initially be mentored as a group and later you will each have a personal mentor as your training will reach different levels for each of you. Only you can gauge how much of this you want to accept. We cannot do that for you. So be aware, at all times, of your emotional reactions to events and people and you will learn to recognise your patterns, the patterns which hold you back and the patterns you will need to reinforce. Do you understand?

Each one of the students nodded slowly, thoughtfully. They half understood but could only really understand when they had experienced what they needed to learn. Some felt a measure of excitement and others, fear, but each one was committed to attempting the journey.

“Good” Diarmiud said, smiling. “Then we will proceed. Before we begin we need to dedicate ourselves to both the Journey and to the Old Ones. It is they who first devised this training, many, many years ago and it is to them that we dedicate our intentions and purpose.”

A ripple of excitement ran through the students. They had heard of the Old Ones and knew what an honour it was to be dedicated to them.

 Diarmiud turned away from the cursus, the Sacred Stone Circle now behind him, and he began to lead the students past the Sacred Spring and into the woods beyond. They chattered excitedly as they followed him but Darius was quiet. He felt the sacredness of what they were about to do and knew that he needed to enter the sacred Grove with an attitude of reverence. The others were too busy chatting to notice but Diarmiud noticed and silently approved. This reverence would be something that all would one day respect and value, he thought as he led his new group into the clearing, into the Sacred Grove.

The students fell silent and Darius could feel it as they entered, a sense of being in a different time, a different space. His senses became heightened and he could feel the Spirits of the Trees and the Ancestors all around him.

“Welcome.” He heard it in his mind and body. It was like a wind, rustling through the trees, talking to him, deep and slow. He looked around him in surprise. No one else seemed to have heard it. He looked at this teacher, frowning, puzzled, but Diarmiud just smiled a knowing smile at him and Darius relaxed. He wasn’t imagining it! He looked at Diarmiud, questioningly and Diarmiud gestured with his eyes and a nod of his head, towards a very old and large beech tree. As Darius looked at it the tree seemed to shudder with recognition, all of its leaves and branches moving, trembling. Then it became calm.

“This tree is the Guardian of this place.” Diarmiud explained when the group had stopped and were gathered around him again. “He protects it with his energy and consciousness and all who wish to come here need first to gain access by asking his permission.”

“How do we do that?” one of the other students asked. He was a short, red-haired boy with freckles and a mischievous look.

“You ask with your mind and heart, Dearg” Diarmiud answered. “You stop all other thoughts and you focus on the spirit of the tree. Then, with respect, you ask if you may enter the Sacred Space.”

The students had heard of speaking trees but thought it was just a childhood story, told by parents to keep their children from getting lost in the woods!

“Do all Spaces have a spirit tree?” another student asked.

“No, some have a spirit stone and some a spirit elemental. You will get to know all, in time.”

Emer, who had asked the question, looked at Darius and nodded, more to herself than to him. He raised his eyebrows and smiled and she realised that she was looking at him. She smiled back, suddenly a little embarrassed and then looked to her teacher again. He was explaining to the group what they needed to do next.

“Together we stand and focus our attention on the tree. It knows we are here as some of you are already aware.” He looked at Darius and smiled. Darius felt pleased and proud. “Together we must send our petition to the Spirit Guardian, on a beam of light from our heart so that the Guardian knows our heart’s intention.”

A couple of the students shifted uncomfortably, what if their intention wasn’t the right intention?

Diarmiud smiled at them, ”Don’t worry, the Guardian knows why you are here.”

The students were relieved, they didn’t want to be rejected because their intentions were not pure.

“Now, focus your attention on the Tree, feeling your connection to the heart, and silently ask for permission to enter the sacred Grove.” Diarmiud instructed.

They each saw or felt the beam of light move from their heart to the heart of the tree and connect there. Then their thoughts expanded all around the tree and their desire to enter the Sacred Space was asked.

After a few moments they each saw the line of light from their heart vibrate and become an iridescent rainbow energy. They began to feel a little different, bigger somehow, yet lighter.

“Permission is granted.” They heard Diarmiud’s voice say. “Now open your eyes.”

As they each opened their eyes they were amazed. Everything looked subtly different, the light was different somehow and they felt different. Although each of them felt it to different degrees they had each gotten it.

“Remember this feeling as this is the feeling of YES. Each time we go to a Sacred Space we will repeat this exercise until you know without, even thinking, what the answer is, and it will become second nature to always ask. You will also learn what a ‘No’ answer feels like as it not always right that you enter a Sacred Space.”

With the permission of the tree guardian granted Diarmiud led the group into the centre of the sacred grove. This sacred space was a small clearing in the woods and was delineated by a henge, a circular bank and ditch. The bank was gleaming white. White showed that it was a holy place and the bank acted as both a physical and energetic ‘boundary’. When they had all entered he instructed them to stand in a circle and to quieten their thoughts.

“I want you now to project a line of light, from the base of your spine, into the centre of the earth. At first you might find this difficult but do your best.” “Next”, he continued, “send that same line of light up through your spine, out the top of your head and allow it to connect to the sun.”

Diarmiud watched them all with his inner eye to see that they had been able to do this. Some were struggling but others did it easily. When he was satisfied that they had all connected he explained the importance of this simple exercise.

“As you are all in training to be channels for Solar energy it is vital that you all feel your connection with the Mother, the earth. This will keep you grounded while you access the Solar frequencies and bring them into your body. Do you understand?”

The students nodded, keeping their eyes closed and focused on Diarmiud’s words. He began to call the Old Ones. To Darius it sounded like a poem, and then a song and yet he had not heard it with his ears but within his head. It made all the hair on his body stand on end as some part of him recognised the refrain. His heart began to pound and he began to feel breathless. Somehow, after an initial moment of panic, he knew that all he had to do was to breathe into his stomach. After a few minutes he felt himself returning to normal. His heart was still pounding but he didn’t feel quite so overwhelmed.

Emer’s hand was in his and he felt it tighten quickly so he knew that she had felt it too. She began to sway backwards so he focussed his mind on steadying her with his thought energy. He imagined himself ‘sharing’ his energy with her so he could use it to stabilise her energy field. After a few moments he felt her respond and her hand loosened its grip.

Darius had no conscious idea of what he was doing but he trusted his impulses and they seemed to work! He had a strong mind, that was for sure, and one day he would accomplish great things with it. But, for now, he was unaware of it and so would continue to use it in the way which was natural for him to.

Diarmiud finished his invocation to the Old Ones. He had spoken to them and offered each of his students to them, in dedication. Each was accepted and entered a level of development which they would really only understand at the end of it. For now they were dedicants and their training could begin in earnest. This time next year they would all return and, if successful, would enter the first gate of the Star-gate, their first Soul initiation of the Way.

 

Later, as they walked back down to the cursus Emer spoke.

“Thank you”. She said to Darius.

“What for?” he asked, surprised.

“For helping me back there” she replied. “I thought I was going to faint. All the blood rushed to my head and then, just as I thought I was going I heard your voice calling me back. It was so strange, like I was in a dream.” “But,” she laughed “It brought me back to earth”.

Darius looked at her in amazement “You could feel that?” he asked.

She looked at him. “Yes I did. I could feel your spirit somehow, holding me in the present. It kept me there.” She paused, squinting her eyes and cocking her head when she saw him looking back at her in surprise “ You don’t know how you did it, do you?” she said in amazement, then adding with a laugh. “Boy, have you got a lot to learn”.

“I suppose I do,” he responded, trying to grasp it.

“Well, I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it”, she continued “You have all year and by then you’ll know all about it”.

“I sure hope so”, he answered, laughing “Too much of that and I’ll think I’m going mad”.

She took his arm. “Not to worry, it comes with the territory”! she said lightly, “Ooh, come on, we’re falling behind”.

They ran to catch up with the others. Diarmiud was assigning the students to their houses. The young women were given the round house closest to the water and the young men were assigned the house nearest the food storage hut and animals. The houses were within sight of each other but far enough away for privacy. They would spend all year living and working together and this formed part of their training. They would learn to sort out their personal differences and learn to respect each other during that time. Not all of the training would be obvious!