Sometimes it is the lights that enter our lives that light the shadow wishing to be healed.
Once, beyond time as we know it, a tiny creature shuffled and rearranged the soil around his tiny cave. He and his cave were so small that we humans would not even notice them if we walked by, and our feet might mistakenly step on the creature. But, do not worry, his cave was far from the paths humans walked. Or so he thought.
One morning, he awoke to the loud noise of trees crashing down. Knowing no fear, he stretched and crawled out of his cave. From his perspective, nothing seemed different. But the smell. The smell of earth and soil dug deep from the ground. The smell of fresh earth and the sound of many creatures moving. Some creatures that were as small as he was, some slightly larger, were trying to understand the change in their landscape. He was fast and quickly found the location of the fallen trees. There were worms and numerous types of insects. He could see the trees’ roots and all the broken twigs. He thought some could be handy and tried to figure out how he could take them back to his cave.
While he was burrowing around, he felt someone looking at him. But whenever he turned around, he saw nothing. Eventually, he decided he could carry only one broken twig and returned home. That night, the sounds around felt different, and he stayed up, warmed by his tiny fire.
When morning came and the light came up, he felt warmed by the light coming down at him. What is this? he thought to himself. When he was little, he heard stories about the great ball of light. Coming up in the mornings, disappearing at night. The elders would say its color was like the color of the flames and that its heat could sometimes be too much. That’s why they all lived deep in the forest. This was a long-time tradition he had never questioned.
As the day progressed, the light grew warmer and warmer. He could not look at it. He worked around his cave, shuffling the soil, sometimes feeling someone behind him, watching him. But whenever he looked back, there was no one there. After several such days, he packed a tiny bag and visited some friends who lived close by.
“We heard the forest open,” they told him when he arrived. “Do you think that this is the ball of light the elders talked about when we were children?” they continued. Our little fellow did not know. During the evening, when they sat and warmed themselves by the fire, feasting together, he shared the feeling that he was being followed. “But I don’t think it followed me here,” he added.
They sat quietly. They smoked some pipes. And from the smoke, a cloud was formed and in it appeared an elder. This did not frequently happen, and they were all quietly fascinated, knowing he would be a guide.
“You see, child,” the elder in the cloud of smoke said. “There is no shadow in the forest and your caves. The ball of light is indeed the one we once told you about. Some call it the Sun. Others call it Sol. It is what warms the earth, and its inhabitants care about the lives here very much. When the trees fell and the forest opened, light came in. Light changes everything. Once it touched you, you knew. Do not fear. In the right amount, it helps plants grow and the water sparkle. But if you pay attention, it may also shed light on your own shadow. There is no one watching you but yourself.”
The smoke faded. The sounds of the forest at night again felt cozy to his ears. “Do you think I should find a new place?” our little fellow asked eventually. And as he asked, he also knew his answer. No. He may now know his shadow, but he also knows the light.
Healing stories are a magnificent and fun tool, connecting and bridging worlds.
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