Chimera
CHIMERA
Chimera....a ghost, specter or spirit. Illusory and insubstantial. Can something like this have any real value? Can something not real bring joy, pleasure and passion? I guess the answer lies in each person’s set of values. I had mine tested recently. I believe that I know the answer. Or at least as for me.
I was on a sabbatical to Ireland studying ancient Celtic styles of building. I was visiting various sites that had their roots in antiquity. Stonehenge was a future project compared to the mounds that I was excavating. I had made good progress and uncovered an ancient altar. It consisted of a stone table and several items that appeared to be of a personal nature. Items that could have been old combs, torqs and even a brazier. I could almost visualize the priestess as she conducted ritual. Possibly to Gaia or He with no name. Rituals shrouded with meaning that have been lost in time. There may have been bloody human sacrifice here. But I found no signs of the altar being made to accept human sacrifice. Instead I found old cloth and skins and leather. There were remains of plants and vegetables. I believe that the offers made to the Goddess here were the Goddesses share of successful harvest, and even the ritual for a successful crop each spring. These were fertility rituals.
I remember the date well. It was the first day of spring, Vernal Equinox. This is a day that the ancients held in high reverence. A day of rebirth and life. A day to celebrate the Blessings of the Goddess with food, with drink, with dancing, and with lovemaking. I was alone at the altar site studying a fragment of cloth that I thought was the remains of an old ritual cloak. It had been found with other items of bone and iron. I was working under the lights and lost track of the time.
But at last I completed my observation notes and stretched. As I looked around I noticed that the moon was full and a crystal like silver. I stepped out of the ring of the work lights and walked around the hillside to a point overlooking the forest below. It was a beautiful night and I could hear the sounds of the nearby stream and the small insects of the night. It was calm and peaceful. I was lost in my imagination trying to visualize what this placed looked like 1500 or more years ago.
I saw a small mist cloud rise from a swale and slowly grow. In growing it expanded to my seat on the hillside. It wasn't particularly thick or even clammy. As I sat there and savored the peace I could see a shimmering inside the cloud like fireflies. Slowly they danced and played through the cloud. But then they began to coalesce into a single glow. I had never seen anything like this and continued to watch, afraid that movement would frighten and scatter this swarm.
But the swarm began to take on a more substantial aspect and grew. As it grew it took on a faintly ghostlike quality. This quality continued and took on more substance until it lost the mystical quality and began to take on a human form. As it continued to grow it became a woman’s form. A woman of striking bearing, elegance and presence. She was no ghost. She was a regal personage with a bearing that could only come from royal lineage. Her hair changed slowly from silver white mist to deep warm red. She was tall and her body was lithe and athletic. Her skin was fair and without imperfection. Her eyes of faint but penetrating blue. Her gown was a high waisted bodice and long flowing hem. She wore a crown of vines and a torq of gold.
She stood regarding me for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes. And then she walked to my place on the hillside and sat beside me. When she spoke her voice was a deep throaty woman’s voice. Not a giggly and faint-hearted maiden. But a woman who has seen much of life and has made her peace with its hardships and its pleasures. She asked my name and I found it the most natural thing in the world to answer. From that point we shared small talk. I can't even remember the things we talked about, but I do remember the feeling of importance she gave me in just talking to me.
I was totally entranced by her. I knew that I had to be imagining all this. But I didn't care. The feeling of being the center of a power that I could not explain had a fascination so overpowering that I could not resist. Finally our conversation trickled to a halt. We sat for a moment and just enjoyed the scene of the land before us. But then she reached out to me and touched my hand.
I felt a coolness there that I can not explain. Not bad. Just different. The coolness of running spring water on a hot day. Refreshing and energizing. But I also found that I could not reach out to her. I just sat there unmoving as she moved her hand from mine up my arm and over my shoulder. She placed her hand behind my head and slowly pulled my face and lips to hers. As her hands were coolness, her lips were warmth and moist temptation. We kissed and I felt a longing and desire that I have never known before or since.
The kiss lasted for a long time. But finally broke. I began to breathe again and felt her hand slip from me. She stood and stepped in front of me. Her hands began to undo the belt at her waistline and unwrap it from her. The long flowing gown billowed out and brushed against my face. I smelled a sweet fragrance of meadow flowers and spring breezes. But the most beautiful was her smile as she slipped it over her shoulders and let it slip over her body to the ground at her feet. My chest felt like it was caught in a vise. I could hardly breath. Her body was perfect. Her breasts were firm and full. The nipples were the pink of an English rose. Her pelvic bush was red also, but a fiery red not the deep smoldering dark red of her hair. Her legs were long and perfectly formed in thigh, calf and ankle. Here feet were slender and delicate. Her body also spoke of an underlying power and strength.
Slowly she kneeled down until her breasts were even with my eyes. And then she sat back on her legs. We were looking deep into each other’s eyes. I could feel a dreamlike quality begin to creep over me. But I was captivated by those pale blue eyes. I could feel here drawing from me through those eyes. But I was not afraid. There was no harm for me here.
She then came to me and took me in her arms. My arms came up to her and we fell to the soft earth in a passionate embrace. Our bodies entertwined and drove together. I don't know how, but the next thing I can remember is that I was as naked as she. Her perfect body is pressing hard against me. She is demanding from me as a Queen would demand from her servant. And I wanted nothing more in my entire life than to please her. Our kisses were deep and long. I could feel the power flow into me from those kisses. A return of power that she drew from me with her eyes.
At long last we coupled in a flash of ethereal radiance that blinded me momentarily. But then became a part of me and me a part of it. We were on fire and rising above the earth. We streaked beyond the crystal moon towards the distant star of our sun. We fell into the core of its heat but were not harmed. But I could feel the heat penetrate into my soul and sear it.
At long last we passed out of the core of the sun and streaked back to our earth. As we returned we shed the power of the sun over the forested land below us. The power of life and new creation. And the forest absorbed it as a sponge would. I could almost feel the birth of new life stimulated by our gift.
And then I was back on my hillside. I shook my head and my mind slowly cleared. I felt as if I was drained and devoid of any energy. Slowly I recovered and gathered my clothes. Of the lady, there was no sign. At least not in the forest, or on my hillside. But the next day as I was showering I noticed a small mark on my hip. It was a stylized Celtic sign for the Goddess. I have never had a tattoo or a brand. This was neither. It appeared to be a natural birthmark. But I have never had a birth mark either.
I retain the mark of the lady on my hip. But the mark on my soul and my heart is greater than any mark that may be seen by the world. Yes, I believe that something that has no worldly substance can have more value than all the wealth of Croesus. The wealth of passion and the love I felt that night are greater than any amount of gold or silver that I could ever gather the rest of my life.
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Posted on Nov 18, 2003 by cobaltblu
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