I wake up on the branch next to a floating fire. There is a bowl of water next to
me. My mouth is dry. I feel dehydrated. Obviously from all the dancing last night,
but there is no way I’m drinking anything as easily again. I think I’m still coming off
whatever was in the water last night. Floating fire? I look back at the fire and it
drops into a rock bowl in a hole in the bark. I get up and hold onto a branch to
stabilize myself. How the fuck did I get up here this morning? My feet feel
sensitive from all the dancing. I hardly walk bare feet and I never dance, even with
shoes on, so I’m not surprised.
I hear people talking and laughing in the distance. The womb must have blocked
out sound because I couldn’t hear a thing when I was inside. There are multiple
spheres of colors radiating from the treetops. This is a bit too much to take in so
early. Either I’m in a weird virtual reality simulation or I’m still tripping? Either
way I need to get my shit together before I fall out of this tree.
A female voice calls my name. I remember the girl from last night. My heart skips
a beat. I turn toward the sound and across the canopy there are two ladies
waving for me to come to them. The trees are plaited like giant bonsai branches
interwoven to form bridges that connect the trees. The more I look around the
more the treetops take the shape of a treetop city connected by these strange
bridges and opening out to flattened out platforms. Everything is alive and
interconnected. I don’t see any screws, walls or doors. I carefully cross the bridge.
The bark is trodden smooth. They must have found a way to direct their growth
and somehow create all this in a short time, because this would have taken
decades to grow.
A little boy runs towards me, he is naked and has a long braid running down his
spine. He grabs my finger and pulls me towards the lady sitting in what looks like
a swing, but where are the ropes? I look closer. Oh, there they are. She has
bangles on her arms, beads in her hair and a nose ring connected to her left ear
with a chain. She indicates for me to sit down on the pillow in front of her. I sit,
and she starts fiddling with my hair. I pull away because it’s ticklish, and the
children laugh. My hair has grown quickly. It’s past my shoulders. It is the longest
it has been in my life. The other woman kneels next to me and starts plaiting too.
The children run to me and touch my tattoos. “Leo” they point and show the
ladies. They both laugh. They couldn’t have seen a lion in real life, they went
extinct before The Urge. They must have seen it in the stars.
The kids hand me bowl of fruits. I am famished and dig right in. It tastes better
than anything I have ever tasted. The lady with the nose ring could probably see
in my facial expression that I was enjoying it because she laughs as I indulge.
“Gratitude” she nudges me. “Oh, thank you” I spurt out with a mouth full of fruits.
I have almost finished the entire bowl when a girl comes over from across the
platform. I recognize her strong legs and the movement of her hips as she walks
closer. It’s the girl from last night! As she walks towards us her long black hair
swings behind her. She has a big bun tied to the back of her head with a single
dreadlock. She is tightly wrapped in a red cloth that covers her groin and her
breasts. She is voluptuous and sexy. She smiles and her white teeth glow in
contrast with her hazel skin. I must be staring “Shit” I whisper as I wipe my mouth
with my arm. She crosses her legs and sits down in front of me. She has paint on
her face. It looks like wings stretching over her brows with white at the center of
her eyes radiating outward with shades of red at her temples. She has strong
facial features and light brown, almost red colored eyes with a light blue stud
underneath her right eye.
She takes an avocado and slices it in half with her finger. She hands me half. How
the fuck did she just do that? She makes me feel nervous, so I don’t ask. I have
lost my appetite, but eat it anyway.
“Your hair looks nice” she says politely.
“I haven’t seen it yet” I say bluntly. What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I
acting like an idiot?
“All done, we will work on your dreads at tonight’s gathering” the lady behind me
taps my shoulders. I feel my head. It’s braided. The girl jumps up and ties my hair
up in a ponytail.
“I am going to show him around” she thanks the ladies. She nudges her head for
me to follow her, so I get up.
“I didn’t catch your name?” I ask, trying to sound cool.
“Amphi” she says and bows her head slightly.
“What happened to me?” I ask as I follow her across the bridge.
“Your mind has been re-rooted” she says and holds onto a vine.
“Am I infected?” I ask confused with her answer.
“If you think freedom is an infection, then yes” she laughs and slides down.
I slide down too.
“Where is Colin?” I ask irritated with these confusing answers.
“Is he your friend?” she asks neutrally.
“Yes!” I almost scream out like it should be obvious.
“I brought you here alone” she says calmly.
“Wait, you brought me here? Where is here?!” I ask angrily.
“Your eyes are dilated, and your skin looks flushed. Why are you angry?” she
looks at me curiously.
I’m not used to being spoken to like that. I break eye contact. I feel very
emotional. She must see that I’m close to breaking point.
“You are in the jungle” she laughs. “Feel free to express your anger, you are safe
here” she reassures me.
I close my eyes to hold back the tears. My emotions are going haywire again.
There is no way I’m crying in front of her.
“Now that you have been reborn you will initially be driven to fulfill your basic
needs. I will show you the Vanavasi Way to satisfy these needs, but you can do as
you feel fit” she says and starts walking into the jungle.
“The Vanavasi way reflects our consciousness” she continues.
“Yeah, hi-tech jungle tribe suites you” I smirk.
“We are fire, and the blue-green spectrum of nature helps keep us balanced” she
nods oblivious to my sarcasm.
“What happened last night?” I ask as we walk past the opening where the festival
was held.
“During the Spring Equinox we dance through ourselves and remove what no
longer serves our growth. At the first sign of light we return from our inner
journey back into to the physical world and sow the seeds for new growth and
give thanks for our experience. The dance floor reflects the cosmos and the
cosmos is the womb” she opens her arms and spins around.
“The womb?” I frown.
“Yes, the dance floor represents Her womb, a safe place where we can journey
inside ourselves” she smiles.
“Like a mother’s womb?” I ask just to be sure.
“I know of no other” she raises her shoulders.
In a strange way all of this makes sense, like I knew this at some point…
“In time you will grow deep roots and strengthen your connection to Her Body. It
will help you feel your way through life. You will learn how to be guided by your
gut and not see your feelings as the enemy, but for your roots to grow deep you
need to learn how to take care of yourself first.”
“I know how to take care of myself, but thanks though” I pout.
“You have been dependent on the system for so long, you have lost your survival
instincts and the ability to think for yourself, so please, open your mind and allow
me to enlighten you” she says firmly.
I step back.
“To enable germination of your true self you need to be self-sufficient, so you can
think clearly and shift your focus from surviving to thriving” she continues
nonchalantly. “You will slowly begin releasing all dependencies, but first you’ll
need food and water to purify and strengthen your body” she says as we walk
along a well-trod path. I can hear rushing water up ahead.
“How will I release my dependency on food?” I ask in disbelief. “Food will be
eaten for the experience of tasting and experiencing that part of yourself and no
longer be a necessity to satisfy hunger. Your biology will change to optimize your
senses, so you can fully experience everything around you instead. So, instead of
numbing your senses you will be enhancing them.
We walk to the river.
“Is it drinkable?” I ask.
“Yes” she scoops a handful and drinks it. I do the same. It tastes great.
“Do you know what happens to a river when you build a dam?” I shake my head
and dry my mouth with my arm.
“It slows down,” she says as she bends down and twirls her finger in a puddle of
water, “and stagnant water like stagnant emotions, rot” she looks at me intently.
Wow, intense.
“Uh, aren’t you afraid it will run out?” I ask a bit nervous.
“You have more than you need, but your fear of not having enough makes you
manifest shortages” she splashes the water in frustration.
“Your light aligns with the things you plant in the dark.”
“Huh?” I choke.
“Your reality reflects your beliefs. If you believe there is lack then you will hoard,
and all the resources in the world won’t be enough. And like I said, stagnant
energy, like stagnant water, rots. Oh, and your ocean is desolate because you
traded your ability to create for money.”
I laugh aloud. She frowns.
“The few who tap into Her creative power are the few creators among the citizens
and the lifeless ocean surrounding Light City reflects your severed connection to
Her creative flow.”
“That’s bullshit” I laugh.
“Your fear will dissipate in time” she smiles and hops along. I follow her. I don’t
hop.
“Where is the room I was in?” I ask.
“You were in the womb to be re-rooted.” Hmm, re-root? Yoo mentioned
something about that.
“So, the white room was a womb too?” I ask confused.
“Yes” she smiles impressed at my savvy.
“It is was a safe place to release your old conditioning. It reflected the fear based,
over-controlling consciousness within Light City from where you came. You were
stuck in a square cage.”
“So, I created the room?” I hesitate.
“Your mind was the room.”
Wow, mindfuck.
“Yeah, I remember the walls becoming malleable as I released my old beliefs” I
think aloud. “And the fighting in the cell? That doesn’t seem like a safe place at
all?” I frown.
“That was the scenario Yoo created to help you bypass your conditioning” she
explains.
“You mean to say that I did that to myself?” I ask surprised, but then I recall their
faces…my faces.
“Yoo did” she nods. I don’t want to ask if she meant that with a double ‘o’. I feel
wheezy.
“I think I’m going to be sick” I say and lean against a tree.
“It must be…” I cough and bend over “all the fruit.” She laughs and sits down
across from me.
“You are having trouble digesting everything I just told you.”
“Yeah, whatever” I puke behind the tree.
“Like I said, it will take time” she laughs at me puking. “If you walk into the jungle
in any direction you will find food in many shapes and tastes. Whatever you need
will be provided. Sometimes you might not even be aware that you need
something, so leave room for magic. In time you will learn the delicacies of the
jungle, but it is in your best interest to not take more than you need. Food, just
like fresh water is provided in abundance, if you believe there is not enough all
the food in the world won’t be able to satisfy you, so get used to getting what you
need, when you need it, and not giving it any thought beforehand.”
“So, you get everything you want?” I ask as I stand upright and take a deep
breath.
“We get everything we need” she corrects me. “The Whole expands in all
directions simultaneously to meet everyone’s needs for the benefit of the Whole,
therefore ensuring infinite growth and abundance, or the opposite for those who
work against the flow. The Vanavasi Way reflects red energy’s ability drive you to
turn your dreams into reality by balancing the inner fire. We have access to
whatever we need for spiritual growth and expanding our awareness” she points
to a bunch of bananas and shakes her hand to and fro. A few falls to the ground.
She hands me one.
“A banana will help me experience a new part of myself, how?” I look at the
banana in disbelief.
“It’s what the banana represents that reflects your consciousness back to you.
Whether you crave animal meat or fresh fruit tells you of your state of mind.
Different foods have different effects on your thoughts and feelings. If you are in
tune with Her you will feel light and joyful most of the time and become very
sensitive to what you filter through your body and your mind. Your thoughts will
become powerful wishes that will manifest in whatever direction you choose to
think or develop yourself, that’s the Vanavasi Way” she says as she bites into a
banana. She offers me some, but I decline.
“We have been given this world to experience different parts of ourselves
through our senses. The cosmos is the womb and the fertile soil of our dark minds
in which we sow the seeds for tomorrow’s harvest. Our dark mind is vast and
unpredictable and when you haven’t discovered that part of yourself yet, it can be
quite scary when you do, especially if you come from an over-controlling world,
like you do. Your dark mind shows you things you have suppressed or hid away
from the light” she continues as she chews.
“Wait, dark mind, the light? So, it’s like the angel and devil on my shoulders?” I
ask sarcastically.
“Try thinking complementary instead of opposites. If you believe that a part of
you is evil, then a seal is an angel and a shark is the devil.”
“What does that have to do with the dark mind and the light?” I try to make sense
of all this. ‘Make sense’, I laugh at the expression.
“The light is what you see when you open your eyes and your dark mind is where
you create your light, your reality.”
“So, the light is my conscious mind and the dark is my subconscious mind?” I
rephrase.
“Whatever floats your boat wise guy” she winks.
“In the old world the dark mind was suppressed for a long time and in Light City
most citizens have completely lost the ability to create anything new. Some of
them don’t even dream when they sleep” she looks concerned.
“Nobody dreams in Light City, it is a symptom of the onset of The Urge” I confess.
“Citizens don’t dream anymore?” she asks shocked.
“No, does it matter?” I shrug.
“When you enter the womb to sleep your body rests and restores itself. Your
mind does the same thing in dreams state. Your daily experiences are uploaded
more rapidly as your mind is clear and no longer fragmented. The state of your
consciousness and your desires will be reflected back to you faster as you process
and analyze your present more effectively.”
“What the fuck? Are you saying we upload our experiences?” I ask surprised.
“Yes, like computers send data to the cloud” she says, and smiles like it’s the most
obvious thing in the world, which, come to think of it, makes so much sense now.
“I think I’m going to be sick again” I bend over and place my hands on my knees.
“Then you are” she laughs as she gets up and continues walking, unfazed by my
puking. We go deeper into the jungle. At first glance there is no order. Everything
is alive and growing in all directions simultaneously, just like she said. Layers upon
layers of life, interconnected and ever changing, beautiful chaos in perfect
balance. I gasp for air as my heart feels like it is expanding in my chest.
“When you align yourself with red energy and become one with Her Body you
will required less sleep to heal and rest your physical body.”
I recall the red vortex I saw during the festival. “What is red energy?” I ask.
“When we followed The Urge, it guided us to the red energy center to heal, but
there are different energy centers depending on the imbalance you suffered prior
to The Urge. When you are disconnected from Her Body you lose red energy and
your fire fizzles out. So, you fail to live out your dreams. Your roots are weak, so
you fall over easily and can’t grow into your highest expression” she looks up at
the canopy. I look up too. The greens and the browns, the fresh air and the animal
sounds relax me.
“So, a lack of red energy results in lack of fire?” I ask interested.
“Yes, without red energy you merely day dream of escaping into fantasy worlds”
she nods.
“Like this?” I joke.
She raises her eyebrow with a pout and continues, “People who are disconnected
from Her tend to abuse Her Body” she strokes the tree trunks as she walks.
“By Her Body you mean the earth?” I frown.
She smiles.
“Okay, but how did you adapt so quickly?”
“We are constantly evolving. Our minds and bodies adapt to new environments,
people and challenges even when we’re not aware of it.”
“I get that, but how did your physical appearance and abilities change so quickly?”
I specify.
“Evolution sets in rapidly under extreme environmental pressure and in higher
vibrational energy fields. When we arrived, we entered the womb and began re-
rooting our minds. Initial evolution was very rapid due to the energy deficit
between the people arriving here who followed The Urge, and the red energy
frequency at the energy center. As more individual energies joined the more
powerful the energy pulsated. Once the energetic threshold was reached the
scales tilted towards a higher normal state and a new equilibrium was set at a
higher vibrational frequency. The energy increase altered our genetic code by
activated our ‘junk DNA’” she laughs as she emphasizes ‘junk,’ “and powers that
have lain dormant for an aeon started appearing and our manifesting abilities
became stronger” she explains.
“Holy shit, so how does Light City’s ‘normal’ compare to your ‘normal?’”
“In Her Body the higher frequency manifests as Venus and Jupiter.”
“Uuuh?” she leaves me hanging.
“Love, harmony, balance and expansion amongst the people.”
“Wow” I’m impressed.
“Red energy increases your fighting response, and when you don’t know where to
direct the volatile emotions that come up for healing, you can hurt yourself and
others. That’s why we help twiceborn, like yourself, to focus your energies on
proper self-care to make balancing your inner fire a natural part of your being”
she continues. We pass so many different plants and strange insects it’s hard for
me to not scream once and a while, but she seems chilled about it, so I try to stay
focused on the conversation.
“What was the sex about last night?” I ask slightly embarrassed, something I
never feel.
“Sexuality is natural and holy in Her Body. Sex is the archetypal creative act and
the essence of our being.”
“Uuuh?”
“We are sexually liberal. When we unite bodies, we share ourselves. The sacred
union unites opposites and is our great right to creation” she explains.
“In the old-world sex was not socially acceptable, but I believe it has become less
so in Light City?” she looks at me in anticipation.
“We have sex, yeah, but many citizens still think it’s dirty and shameful” I confess.
“I can only imagine what new sexual diseases they have conjured up by now” she
mutters to herself.
I’ve never thought of it like that.
“Wait a second, you remember the old world? That was before The Urge twenty-
seven years ago, and you look my age?” I ask shocked.
She starts laughing. “What’s so funny?” I ask.
“Newborns are always fixating about time and age. I was 26 when I experienced
the Purple Pulse. I am 53, if you count like the citizens, but in Vanavasi terms I am
twiceborn. All Vanavasi are born twice, their initial birth as a baby and their
rebirth after the Purple Pulse when they get their true name and spirit animal.” I
remember seeing animals dance around the drummers during the festival, but
she continues before I can ask about it.
“You age depending on how you walk your path. If you cross back and forth on
the same path it will form a deep ingrained path that you walk with your eyes
closed and shut out new experiences. In other words, you fall asleep and lose
time. If you believe a number represents your rate of aging and you remind
yourself of it frequently, your body listens and acts accordingly, remember your
beliefs are powerful wishes.”
“So why do some people look older quicker then?” I ask intrigued.
“Because they have old thoughts and replay them over and over again while
resisting new life-enhancing thoughts, subsequently they manifest their old
thoughts on their body.”
“And disease?”
“Recurring thoughts, suppressed emotions that become volatile, and fear
manifest accordingly too. Many people believe they are defined by the
environment that they are born into and limited to the genes they inherited. This
is an outdated belief and it had its place as a unique experience of life, but when
we know better we can do better. The Vanavasi Way is that of expressing and
developing our own unique energy through self-love and soul-expression.”
“Is that why everyone has tattoos and piercings?”
“Body adornment, piercings, tattoos, hair wraps and unique clothing, are but a
few of the many ways we express ourselves. As we balanced our energies and
were left to our own devices we came up with very creative ways to use our inner
fire for self-expression and betterment of the Whole” she says proudly.
“So, you basically do whatever you want?”
“Yes, we do activities and create objects to project our consciousness through,
music and dance being the most popular form as you have seen.”
We walk for a long time and the jungle noises silence my mind. We eventually
reach the giants plaited trees stage from the festival. Below the giant trees there
are smaller trees plaited around each other too. They have grown in peculiar
directions. “What is this place?” I look around in awe.
“This is the root. We gather here to feast and connect.”
“Why are the trees bent?” I point up to the natural bridges formed by the
branches.
“They have grown like this for us.”
“How is that even possible?” I ask in disbelief.
“By setting clear intentions we are able to create anything for the benefit of the
Whole.”
“So basically, you told the tree how to grow?” I laugh.
“More like envisioned the final root centre and the joyful experiences that we
could share as a people, and the trees took to their own devices. Their growth
reflects our unity and growth as a collective energy.”
“This tops the trippy shit chart “I say completely blown away.
She laughs and strokes the giant tree trunk.
“These things have probably been here for centuries? Are you sure they weren’t
here when you got here?” I ask in disbelief. She laughs off my uncertainty. I like
her.
“When we arrived at the energy center after following The Urge the trees grew
faster as more people gathered together. A tree is a connection from the body to
the mind, from the darkness to the light, from that which is formless to that which
is fixed. She bends down and touches the soil, “From Her” and looks up at the sky
“to Him.”
We walk underneath giant tree roots that shoot out of the Earth like snakes
sailing through the soil. I stroke the root as I pass it.
“If your roots are deep you will not fall over, just like th