The Caterpillar Journey

This journey was created at the time of Samhain, the Celtic New Year, a time of rebirth. It can be used any time you feel in need of a new outlook on life.

Using your inner eye and the gateway to your imagination, visualize yourself lying beneath a very large and ancient apple tree. As you lie beneath the apple tree, look up to see the large, full, red apples among its green leaves.

Apple trees have always represented wisdom, healing, and a new life. In myth, the Old Norse gods ate from a sacred apple tree in their garden, which always restored their youth. On the holy isle of Avalon were sacred apple tree groves, which provided wisdom and healing to all who visited there. King Arthur, when he was dying, was taken by a magical boat to the isle of Avalon to be healed of his wounds. There, on the holy isle of Avalon, King Arthur sleeps until he is to be reawakened at the time he is most needed by the Celtic people and Mother Earth.

Now watch your body slowly become transparent, until it becomes a white mist that sinks into the earth among the roots of the apple tree.

Your old self is dying, fading away into the soil, in order that you can be reborn.

Where your body lay, you now see yellow buds pushing their way through the soil. These yellow buds open to become bright yellow flowers. The bright yellow flowers may be wildflowers, tulips, roses, or whatever yellow flower you wish, for it is your vision.

The yellow flowers represent the new you-bright and full of yellow sunlight. Only the good things about you have survived. Within these flowers are also the new hopes and dreams that you wish to bring into your life. Therefore, the beautiful, yellow flowers represent your brand new life, your rebirth into this world. Please understand that in these wonderful yellow flowers there is no more vice or the negative habits that you may have struggled with during your old life. In these new, yellow flowers of rebirth, there is no more pain, no more sadness, and no more suffering. Your painful past is now dead to you and merged with the soil of Mother Earth, which will be used as mulch for your rebirth. The bright and beautiful yellow flowers now growing at the base of the ancient apple tree are the flowers of your rebirth.

As you gaze at your sunlight-kissed yellow flowers as they dance with the gentle breeze, watch as a yellow caterpillar slowly makes its journey up the ancient tree trunk of the apple tree. That little caterpillar you see inching its way up the tree is you, full of hope and faith as you look forward to your rebirth. Before you know it, you have attached yourself upside down to the tree. As you watch yourself hanging upside down, look up at your feet, and see that you are securely and safely fastened to a branch by thick, white threads.

As I was doing this exercise, I heard a Faery whisper to me that to be reborn, sometimes your life needs to be turned upside down.

Watch the white thread flow easily from your hands as you spin your cozy, caterpillar cocoon bed around you.

Sometimes to be reborn, to reconnect to your spirit and to the Great Spirit and the spirit of Creation, you need to be alone, to get away from the world. Find a peaceful place to spin a safe, nurturing, and cozy cocoon around yourself. A suggestion is that while you are doing this spiritual exercise, you may pull a cozy, semi-transparent blanket over your head, so that you can see the sunlight from within your cocoon. Rest in your safe cocoon as long as you need to.

When you are ready, with your spirit eyes, see your caterpillar cocoon from the outside. Admire its length and smooth lines. Be proud of your skill in weaving such a beautiful cocoon. As you admire your cocoon, it begins to wiggle and stretch. After a few moments, a slit opens in the white, woven fabric. Suddenly, your head pokes out of the opening in the cocoon. Your head is followed by your shoulders and then, from out of the cocoon, emerge the lovely, yellow Monarch Butterfly wings that are attached to your back. Perhaps you emerge naked except for your wings, or maybe, while in your cocoon, you wove yourself some clothes. It doesn't really matter. What is important is that you have just been reborn. Congratulations! There is now a new child in the universe.

You have been transformed from your old self, the yellow caterpillar, composed of only your good traits and your hope and faith in the light-filled dreams that are to come in your future. The one to carry out these light filled dreams is your new self, the one with the butterfly wings on your back.

Take time to enjoy the feeling of freshness, of new hope, and the expectation of a wonderful, shining future that is in store for you. To celebrate this moment, take time to fly with your new wings. Flutter about wherever you wish. You are in a safe world. Take time to enjoy flying among the trees and flowers. As you fly, perhaps your butterfly wings change to feathers? Perhaps your new feathers are those of a hummingbird or an owl or maybe even an eagle. Maybe your yellow butterfly wings change to dragonfly wings or those of a bumblebee. Your beautiful, yellow Monarch wings could even remain just lovely, graceful butterfly wings.

Let your wings be your wings. Do not force the issue. The correct wings for you are the ones chosen by the Great Spirit and by your spirit. Your wings are a message to you from the Great Spirit and from your spirit, which can give you the understanding of how your spirit can fly in this life, instead of crawling.

After your marvelous flight, and when you are ready, find yourself landing in a field. Hanging from your shoulder is a simple cloth bag full of seeds. With your wings held high behind you, walk along the field and cast the seeds from your bag upon the ground. As you cast the seeds, see the type of life that you want in the future, and, if your faith is even as small as an apple seed, it will happen.

Even though our spirit can fly, there are times we need to be grounded enough to take responsibility and action in our lives. As we spread the light-filled seeds upon the ground, we are saying to the Great Spirit and to our own spirit, "I want these seeds to grow, and I believe it will happen."

As we do this, we are also saying to the Great Spirit, "I need your help, so that my seeds will grow; I will be filled with joy; and I will be a blessing to you and to all of Creation."

As you walk along casting your seeds upon the fertile earth, look behind you and see your dreams grow into reality. You can even watch your new self as you participate in your new, wonderful life. That's me, you will say to yourself, as you paint a wonderful masterpiece. That's me, you will say to yourself, as you write a bestseller or become an amazing gardener or musician.

Whatever your dream or dreams are, for there is no limit on dreams, you now can see your future harvest blossoming and growing before your eyes. Give the Great Spirit your love and your apple seed faith, become reborn, and sow your dream seeds for the future. Watch your marvelous dream seeds blossom and turn into dream crops, so that you can feed your spirit and, in turn, feed the hungry spirits of others.

Graphics by Fantasyland Graphics.

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