by Berenice Andrews
Silence fills the sacred grove. The listeners sit attentively. The teacher begins.
Long, long ago, the last remaining life forms in our village of Global were vaporized in the Nucleocaust that ended the wars. Afterward, thousands upon thousands of seasons went by. Even the tallest ruins crumbled into dust. There were no creatures of the land, air or water. There were no people. The once-blooming village had become the wasteland foretold by the seers of the 20th century.
Hold this in your heart space. (The listeners nod and wait.)
Then … in a springtime … into the village of Global came the Holy One stooped under the weight of a sack of saplings. At a touch, the dry ground opened and water bubbled up.
Quickly it shaped itself into a deep, clear lake. Around its perimeter, the Holy One planted the saplings. There were many different kinds. And some were marked with a tiny (+) and some with a tiny (-). Each sapling was gently settled into the moist soil, with sufficient space between them for growth, yet connection.
While the Holy One tarried, the saplings sent down their roots. Quickly their trunks, branches and leaves began to grow. Each root formation sought nourishment, yet shared with those on either side. Each set of branches stretched high, yet gently touched the others. Then, seeing that it was “good,” the Holy One departed.
But there remained a Presence. An invisible substance surrounded each newly emerging tree, while Life poured up from its roots to its topmost branches, Light permeated its waves and particles, Love shaped its entirety and Law guided its development.
And every tree joined with the seasonal cycles of beginnings, growth and endings. With each cycle, new inner growth surrounded the old and “remembered” it. The trees became taller and thicker. Then each produced seeds which the winds scattered far and wide. Wherever the seeds fell, they found receptive soil. New trees appeared. Always the Presence surrounded them and Life, Light, Love and Law in-formed them. The pure waters nourished their roots, the gentle sunlight fed their leaves and the clean winds whispered through their branches.
Hold this in your heart space. (The listeners nod and wait.)
More seasons went by. Then, in some of the trees …those marked with the tiny (+) or (-) … there slowly appeared a moving “form,” like a human embryo morphing into a caduceus. The embryo was indistinct. But in the caduceus, the side channels for the masculine and feminine energies inherent in all living things were clearly visible, while along the central channel there were seven dimly discernible vibrating orbs.
Something was gestating!
Meanwhile, some new forms of land, air and water creatures had appeared in the village of Global. Then, with the ongoing seasons, many more new life forms arrived.
(The listeners inhale deeply and wait.)
Many, many seasons went by. Within the trees marked with the tiny (+) or (-) the morphing “forms” became distinct. There, indeed, was a human fetus. In the caduceus, the masculine and feminine energies now poured through the side channels. Each orb along the main channel now pulsated and glowed.
Each was the generative center of an emerging human consciousness.
Slowly, these trees developed the “knowing” that in them there was a Power … the “I-AM” of the Holy One … and that their outer environment of peace and purity was prompting them to become what their Creator had intended. Thus, they gradually awakened to their own “i-am” and to the other creative forces at work within them. And still the seasons went by.
Then … in a new springtime … these trees were finally ready. They swayed toward and eagerly embraced each other. In that instant, they were androgynous human beings … male and female.
In that same instant, the Holy One reappeared and spoke:
“Dear ones, welcome back to the village of Global. Know this … that because you are made in my image and likeness … out of my creative energies … your human “nature” is holiness. Know this also … that in your wholeness … your soul structures of physicality and non-physicality … you live, move and have your being in me. Dear ones, embrace your own holiness and wholeness. Go forth: live with each other and with all my creation in the ways of peace. You are ready: learn to be wise. Make this village the paradise that humanity has always craved. And I will be with you always.”
(The listeners sigh and the teacher smiles.)
From thenceforth, the new human beings of the village of Global remembered and carried this message. They have done so even unto this day. And you who are hearing this account are their descendents and the inheritors of their great truth.
Forever hold this in your heart space.
(The listeners reply: “Amen.”)
Author’s note: Mankind’s myths, the great stories that contain the world’s wisdom teachings—the seeds of the world’s religions—have reflected the human desire to know who we are, why we are here and how we are to relate to the Spirit. Throughout many cultures and centuries, there have been myths about how people and trees were analogous. In the mystery religions of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, linkages were made among the Tree of Life aka the Cosmic Tree or the Holy Tree, the shamanic axis mundi, and the chakras; our generative energy centers of consciousness. This modern myth reflects that spiritual legacy. The caduceus, the familiar logo of the medical profession, is an ancient symbol of both the healer’s craft and the human energy system; the main energy channel (sushumma) with the interactive masculine (pingala) and the feminine (ida) energy channels coiled around it. “Paradise” is an ancient Persian word meaning “garden of spirituality.” “Amen” (the Aramaic spelling is “Ameyn”) has been translated by Neil Douglas-Klotz as “truly—power to these statements—may they be the ground from which all my actions grow.” (Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus, page 37.)
Berenice Andrews, Now in her 80th year, continues to follow her bliss as a shamanic teacher/healer. To learn more about her teaching and to become her student, consult her book Rebirthing Into Androgyny: Your Quest for Wholeness, And Afterward and her website thestonecircleclassroom.com.