I am walking through the forest. My feet are bare as is the rest of my body. I am walking free and wild, one with this sacred space. With every step I place on the earth, ripples of golden light radiate from my feet, expanding their elegant waves out through the entire earth beneath me. The wind softly picking up my hair as it caresses my naked body with its cool touch. The birds perch themselves on the lower branches to witness the ceremony that is about to take place. Both land animals and creatures of the air begin to gather and there is an essence of excitement that fills the entire forest, emitting vibrations as far out to the depths of the infinite. Animals of the forest have joined me at my flanks, and are closing in behind me as I make my way through the forest gently and carefully. Gracefully stepping over ancient knots and roots protruding from the earth, tenderly brushing my hands over the magnificent trunks of the trees that seem as if they shudder under my fingertips.
I find myself on the edge of a clearing, where the trees have formed a spectacular circle around the opening of this space. The sun is beaming down filling this opening in the forest with warmth and a golden glow. In the center of the clearing is a huge snake that has coiled itself. The snake is so big that its girth stands far taller than me. With no fear I step into the clearing towards the snake. From a distance, it appears to be black but as I get closer to it, I can see that the colour of its skin is one I have not ever seen before. It appears to be black only because it is forever moving. The colours constantly mixing and moving within themselves. In one moment, there is a flash of green, then blue, then pink, then purple. So fast they move it seems as though I may have only imagined that I had seen it. As I make my way closer still to the snake, the animals who had accompanied make their way around the snake and I to form a circle inside the circle of the trees. I can see that birds of all shapes and sizes have filled the branches of the trees, and there are animals that I have not ever seen before who have taken their place in the circle around me. The hair all over my body is standing as tingles vibrate through my whole being. My breath is moving in and out of my body with a depth and purpose. I come to a stop when I am only arms reach away from the snake and I slowly reach out to place my hand on its scales that look like a galaxy all of its own. As soon as the palm of my hand touches the snake, the sun disappears and in its place the full moon glistens from directly above. The snake slowly and gracefully begins to uncoil itself and as it does, reveals a woman who had been asleep in the center of this serpents slumber. The woman walks towards me and I am consumed by the power that emanates from her. She is dressed in a glorious back gown that stretches far behind her, the same black as the snake. As she gets closer I can see it is not truly black, but the same ever moving and shifting colour of the snake that had been coiled around her moments ago. Her eyes, her hair, her lips, her nails, all the same too, as if she were really a part of this gigantic snake that is now behind her. She continues to approach me with her eyes unwavering on mine as she makes her way toward me with elegance and sophistication. She stops only a meter away from me and I can not help but fall to my knees in honour and worship of this woman who has come to meet with me. I begin to speak in tongues and tears flow freely down my cheeks on to the earth beneath me. There is silence all around us and she allows me to honour her with my tears and prayers and she waits in silence for me to be complete. When I finish making her my offering, under the light of the full moon and with the creatures of the forest baring witness, I raise my head off the earth to look up at the Queen who stands before me. She is not just any Queen though. She looks down at me with her piercing galactic black eyes, her chin still elevated elegantly, poised in its position of her influence, her lips in a soft yet intentional smile. I hear her voice for the first time, though not spoken through her lips. “Rise young maiden.” I hear her say in my heart, cutting through the silence of my breath. Her voice like nothing that I have ever heard before, as if it could not ever be heard in the plane of planet earth. I stand before her and can feel my body shaking in her presence, her power beyond anything I have experienced before. I rise to meet her and her smile deepens, her eyes soften, yet her head still held high. Her royal posture demonstrating her true devotion to the responsibility she carries with such poise and grace. I am humbled even more to be standing before her, knowing that she is who has called me in to meet her. She stares into my eyes for what feels like an eternity, and I hold her eyes back, not daring to look away even for a second in case she may disappear before me. It is as if she is seeing if I am willing to go with her, or if I will cave and look away. But I am here, and I dare not look away. I allow her to peer into my soul and notice the tingling in my body, as if it were changing shape right here right now. Still I hold her gaze, allowing the alchemy of this exchange to be as it needs to be. Finally, she extends a hand out to me and I place mine in hers with eager curiosity. For the first time, she looks away from me and turns to look back at the snake behind her who is starting to move its self into the shape of a koru. She gracefully guides me to follow her as we walk towards the snakes mouth. As we begin to move, so too do the animals who had followed me on this journey, to witness and participate in this ceremony of evolution. As we walk slowly and elegantly, the animals begin to form a line behind me so that from the heavens we would all look like the formation of a magnificent koru moving in place with each other. The snake has settled in its place now and as we make our way to stand just in front of its mouth, the animals and birds all fall in their place behind me. Still holding my hand, I hear her voice piercing through my heart again and she says “do you vow to step into the belly of the unknown with me, to be of service in devotion to the unknown with me, to embrace that you can no longer be of the known of you?” “I vow it with my whole being, my Queen, Queen of Alchemy.” She smiles at me, her shifting black eyes unwavering in the depths they look into mine and she turns to look into the eyes of the snake before us. The snake stretches open its mouth and I gasp slightly at the stars in the distance that I can see down its open throat. She lifts up my hand still held softly in hers and together we step in to the open mouth of the snake before us. Together we walk in, further, deeper, into the mouth of the snake before us. One by one, the animals and creatures of the forest, the fragments of my maiden self, step into the mouth of the snake before us. We walk into the belly of the snake for what feels like an eternity. The Queen Alchemist with her eyes fixed intently before her as she guides me through this ceremony of my evolution. Even when I turn to look in awe at her, her eyes unwavering on the journey ahead. Onward we walk into the unknown of my vow to be devoted to the unknown. Finally I see a spark of light off in the distance. I turn to look at the Queen Alchemist again and although she does not return a glance towards me, I can see a smile on her face. We have been walking through the shifting black for so long I almost want to run towards the spark of light. But I do not. I hold my pace with the Queen Alchemist and notice that my walk has morphed to match hers. I notice that I too carry the posture and grace of she and am steadfast in my gaze upon the unknown before us. Closer and closer still we make our way towards the spark of light that expands with ease and grace as we draw nearer. We get to the edge of the light and together we stop. We turn to face each other and for the first time the Queen Alchemist leans in to embrace me. We fold in to each other and I notice that she has merged with my own body. I turn towards the doorway of light now and with ease and grace step through it. I see the snake is uncoiling itself from around me where I lay on the ground as if asleep this whole time. The snake unravels and reveals to me a naked maiden standing with her hand still outstretched from where she had just touched the snake. I smile as I see the circle of animals inside the circle of trees, and as I rise, I look behind me to see the shifting black gown trailing behind me. I turn to face the maiden as I walk towards her and stare into her eyes with unwavering recognition as she falls to her knees before me.