My Oak Tree
Excerpts from Blogger account post from April 15, 2005
You never really know how many lives you touch as you flow throughout your lifetime. You never really know, because many of those people you never remember seeing. It's the same way when you turn it around too - do you know how many people have touched you? No, exactly how many people have made you smile, just because they were courteous to you? How many times have you read a really thought-provoking book that made you see the world in a different light? You know it's happened. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - a simple smile can make someone's day, and when you've done that, you've effectively touched another life.
I have so many friends, and I am so very thankful for each and every one of them. They've all touched my life in ways that they will never know, and in some cases, ways that I won't know for a long time to come. Some I'm closer to than others, but that's okay, and I have a theory about that - which I'll be getting to in a moment, but first, I want to thank my friends and my family for the exact reason that I just listed - for touching my life - for helping me to grow as I have. Thank you.
Now, there are times in your life that you meet a person -- someone that you've never seen before, but have an instant connection with. You don't know if by chance you've seen them on the street, or if you know someone who looks like them. Maybe they were in a dream that you just couldn't remember. Now, many times, if you get to know these people that you have these instant connections with, it won't take any time at all to feel as if you've known them forever, and indeed, you probably have. These are the people closest to you on your tree.
A long time ago ... I don't remember how old I was, or even who told me. For all I remember, I may have read it in a book somewhere. Where I got this from is not important - that I remember it, is.
A long time ago I was told to think of every soul there ever was as a leaf, and where do leaves belong, but on a tree? So I was told to imagine the largest oak tree I had ever seen, and then to make it bigger. I was told that every one of those leaves on that tree were the souls I had just thought about. I was then told to think about my own little leaf. Where was I among the branches and twigs of my great home? Who were the leaves beside me? I was told that the leaves closest to me were the souls that my own had met the most frequently out of all the other leaves on the tree, just because they were so close. Consequently, our souls would have ample time to recognize one another, no matter what lifetime we happened to be exploring. All of those leaves are connected, and at some point or another, we may meet them all, but because there are so many, we meet them with less frequency than those closest to us. The further out you expand upon the branch and the tree, the less you recognize, but in your little cluster, you know many little leaves, you know many souls.
In my life, I have met several souls that I seem to know very well. I met the first when I was four years old. She and I have been best friends since, and though the miles seperate us, our thoughts never will. I met the second when I was ten. I haven't seen him in almost two years, but I still think of him often and smile. There are others that I recognize, but they are all on my branch, not my little cluster. There are a few I have met at YSU that are of the same branch as well. There was a young man in Georgia I met ... I had never met him before, but I knew him - his face, his voice, his touch. I didn't get to know him very well, but I know that without a doubt his soul is in my cluster as well.
People are scattered about the globe in every lifetime. It is a small world however, and that is how you are able to recognize so many from before.
To some, this idea may not make any sense ... to others, like me, it made perfect sense, and provided a theory by which to better understand the little "I wonder?" bubbles and lights that go off in my head when I meet random people for the first time.
~*~
Her name is Rhiannon, and once she was the one everyone called Princess, and if they didn't call her that, they called her angel. She rode in all the dreams, just out of sight, making sure all was well. It was the role she had chosen for centuries. She had been human before, and she found that there were some things too painful to bear.
However, she found she could not escape the very one that she ran from. She guarded his dreams when he was human along with all her other children, but once, he decided to stay behind. Instead of becoming human for another lifetime, his soul decided to enter the realm of dreams, the realm many call the "Dream World" or "Dream Land." Here, he was a great warrior, protector of all that was good and innocent. He rode a great bay steed of giant proportions, and he wielded a sword of silver, light as a feather, but deadlier than all. He was the King's finest man, and one day, because of that very fact, he was called upon to wed the King's youngest daughter.
Rhiannon was a beautiful young girl with skin as pale as moonlight, eyes as green as emeralds, and hair as rich as coal with streaks of fire that caught everyone off guard. She was tall, slender, and strong. The King call her his Little Amazon -- little only because she was his youngest daughter. She knew all the magic of the throne holders before her, all the magic of the faeries, the elves, and the nymphs; the mermaids, the beasts of the forrests, and the folks in the village. She was a fine student and every teacher she came upon was thrilled to have her.
When the girl was still young - barely a hundred years into her reign - her father was murdered by his brother in hopes of gaining the throne. The King's favorite warrior however, slew the man in battle, and it was then that the eldest daughter's husband took over the throne. For many centuries however, the people still called the former ruler their King, because he'd been in power for so long.
The elder sister's name was Serena and her husband was Celerian, and he was the Dragon Keeper. After their father died, Rhiannon would spend less and less time within the great castle upon the hill, and spend more and more time with her midnight black pegasus, Demon. No matter the night, she could be seen (especially well on the night's of the full moon) riding skyclad but for her liquid silver pieces and her crystal on the back of Demon through the sky.
With Demon she'd disappear into the forrest for days on end, emerging later only to visit the mermaids in the sparkling oceans. Celerian grew irate at her behaviour.
"You're a princess!" He would shout.
She would always respond, "I am a woman, I am not your property, and I shall do as I please."
He would try to lock her in her room or in the castle with magic, but because of her great training, she would be free the moment he turned his back. He tried to use his dragons to safegaurd her, but she was too charming, and it didn't take long for the dragons to understand her unconditional need for freedom.
It was a year before Celerian sat down with his wife in the great hall. "I've asked the Warrior to come today."
"Why is that?"
"For your sister."
Rhiannon overheard the conversation and raced to Demon's side. She was gone gone for several days.
The Warrior was riding at a break neck pace when he first saw the angel. Her form was framed by her beast's wings and the sliver of the moon at her back. Her hair streamed out behind her as if a stiff breeze had caught a wedding train. He realized then that the girl he was to marry would never have his heart.
She was missing again, this King's Little Amazon, and once again search parties were out scouring for her by day. By night, the Warrior took his frustration at being forced into marriage out on his rides.
Nights later, he saw the angel in the sky, and he slowed his pace next to the Enchanted Circle that served as a portal between the Dream World and the others. His mind reached out for her, and to his great surprise, she glided toward him.
The large black beast stamped and snorted as he neared on foot, and had the very look of the demons that sometimes plagues their world in his black eyes. He stayed fairly still though at the whisperings of his mistress.
"Angel?" He asked gruffly.
"You may call me that, Warrior," she answered.
"I have seen your rides these past nights. You have stolen my heart, Little Witch."
The girl nodded. "And you've mine. I've watched you from afar for sometime." She slid gracefully off the animal's back and he cantered over to join the giant bay (they were a match in size, but for the black's wings).
"This night is ours, Warrior, as nights in lifetimes past have been, and future will be."
This said, the midnight hour and the full moon bathed the lovers in sweet light.
The next day, Rhiannon unwillingly returned to the castle, only to rush again from it, but this time towards battle. There had been an attack moments before her presence was announced, and it was time again that the keepers of Dream World and the Sacred Crystals (of which she was one, the Keeper of the Goddess Crystal) to defend the dreams from being taken over into eternal darkness. When the battle was over days later, Celerian told Rhiannon that her promised husband was slain in the original surprise attack. When she found out that it was her Warrior, she was shocked and heartbroken. Wishing she hadn't been so loathe to return home in the first place, and blaming herself for his death, as it was from her he had been returning when he was attacked, she fled again to the highest mountain top in her world. That night, she wept, and the stars in the velvet heavens have never shown brighter.
There are things in this world that we can't see ... things like Rhiannon and her Warrior ... but they are there, watching us, protecting us ... touching our lives in ways we cannot fathom.
Tonight, I'll dream of the largest oak tree I've ever imagined, and then I'll make it bigger. Tonight, I'll dream of all the little leaves. Tonight, I'll dream about Rhiannon and her Warrior.
Tonight, I'll dream and I will weep.
You never really know how many lives you touch as you flow throughout your lifetime. You never really know, because many of those people you never remember seeing. It's the same way when you turn it around too - do you know how many people have touched you? No, exactly how many people have made you smile, just because they were courteous to you? How many times have you read a really thought-provoking book that made you see the world in a different light? You know it's happened. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - a simple smile can make someone's day, and when you've done that, you've effectively touched another life.
I have so many friends, and I am so very thankful for each and every one of them. They've all touched my life in ways that they will never know, and in some cases, ways that I won't know for a long time to come. Some I'm closer to than others, but that's okay, and I have a theory about that - which I'll be getting to in a moment, but first, I want to thank my friends and my family for the exact reason that I just listed - for touching my life - for helping me to grow as I have. Thank you.
Now, there are times in your life that you meet a person -- someone that you've never seen before, but have an instant connection with. You don't know if by chance you've seen them on the street, or if you know someone who looks like them. Maybe they were in a dream that you just couldn't remember. Now, many times, if you get to know these people that you have these instant connections with, it won't take any time at all to feel as if you've known them forever, and indeed, you probably have. These are the people closest to you on your tree.
A long time ago ... I don't remember how old I was, or even who told me. For all I remember, I may have read it in a book somewhere. Where I got this from is not important - that I remember it, is.
A long time ago I was told to think of every soul there ever was as a leaf, and where do leaves belong, but on a tree? So I was told to imagine the largest oak tree I had ever seen, and then to make it bigger. I was told that every one of those leaves on that tree were the souls I had just thought about. I was then told to think about my own little leaf. Where was I among the branches and twigs of my great home? Who were the leaves beside me? I was told that the leaves closest to me were the souls that my own had met the most frequently out of all the other leaves on the tree, just because they were so close. Consequently, our souls would have ample time to recognize one another, no matter what lifetime we happened to be exploring. All of those leaves are connected, and at some point or another, we may meet them all, but because there are so many, we meet them with less frequency than those closest to us. The further out you expand upon the branch and the tree, the less you recognize, but in your little cluster, you know many little leaves, you know many souls.
In my life, I have met several souls that I seem to know very well. I met the first when I was four years old. She and I have been best friends since, and though the miles seperate us, our thoughts never will. I met the second when I was ten. I haven't seen him in almost two years, but I still think of him often and smile. There are others that I recognize, but they are all on my branch, not my little cluster. There are a few I have met at YSU that are of the same branch as well. There was a young man in Georgia I met ... I had never met him before, but I knew him - his face, his voice, his touch. I didn't get to know him very well, but I know that without a doubt his soul is in my cluster as well.
People are scattered about the globe in every lifetime. It is a small world however, and that is how you are able to recognize so many from before.
To some, this idea may not make any sense ... to others, like me, it made perfect sense, and provided a theory by which to better understand the little "I wonder?" bubbles and lights that go off in my head when I meet random people for the first time.
~*~
Her name is Rhiannon, and once she was the one everyone called Princess, and if they didn't call her that, they called her angel. She rode in all the dreams, just out of sight, making sure all was well. It was the role she had chosen for centuries. She had been human before, and she found that there were some things too painful to bear.
However, she found she could not escape the very one that she ran from. She guarded his dreams when he was human along with all her other children, but once, he decided to stay behind. Instead of becoming human for another lifetime, his soul decided to enter the realm of dreams, the realm many call the "Dream World" or "Dream Land." Here, he was a great warrior, protector of all that was good and innocent. He rode a great bay steed of giant proportions, and he wielded a sword of silver, light as a feather, but deadlier than all. He was the King's finest man, and one day, because of that very fact, he was called upon to wed the King's youngest daughter.
Rhiannon was a beautiful young girl with skin as pale as moonlight, eyes as green as emeralds, and hair as rich as coal with streaks of fire that caught everyone off guard. She was tall, slender, and strong. The King call her his Little Amazon -- little only because she was his youngest daughter. She knew all the magic of the throne holders before her, all the magic of the faeries, the elves, and the nymphs; the mermaids, the beasts of the forrests, and the folks in the village. She was a fine student and every teacher she came upon was thrilled to have her.
When the girl was still young - barely a hundred years into her reign - her father was murdered by his brother in hopes of gaining the throne. The King's favorite warrior however, slew the man in battle, and it was then that the eldest daughter's husband took over the throne. For many centuries however, the people still called the former ruler their King, because he'd been in power for so long.
The elder sister's name was Serena and her husband was Celerian, and he was the Dragon Keeper. After their father died, Rhiannon would spend less and less time within the great castle upon the hill, and spend more and more time with her midnight black pegasus, Demon. No matter the night, she could be seen (especially well on the night's of the full moon) riding skyclad but for her liquid silver pieces and her crystal on the back of Demon through the sky.
With Demon she'd disappear into the forrest for days on end, emerging later only to visit the mermaids in the sparkling oceans. Celerian grew irate at her behaviour.
"You're a princess!" He would shout.
She would always respond, "I am a woman, I am not your property, and I shall do as I please."
He would try to lock her in her room or in the castle with magic, but because of her great training, she would be free the moment he turned his back. He tried to use his dragons to safegaurd her, but she was too charming, and it didn't take long for the dragons to understand her unconditional need for freedom.
It was a year before Celerian sat down with his wife in the great hall. "I've asked the Warrior to come today."
"Why is that?"
"For your sister."
Rhiannon overheard the conversation and raced to Demon's side. She was gone gone for several days.
The Warrior was riding at a break neck pace when he first saw the angel. Her form was framed by her beast's wings and the sliver of the moon at her back. Her hair streamed out behind her as if a stiff breeze had caught a wedding train. He realized then that the girl he was to marry would never have his heart.
She was missing again, this King's Little Amazon, and once again search parties were out scouring for her by day. By night, the Warrior took his frustration at being forced into marriage out on his rides.
Nights later, he saw the angel in the sky, and he slowed his pace next to the Enchanted Circle that served as a portal between the Dream World and the others. His mind reached out for her, and to his great surprise, she glided toward him.
The large black beast stamped and snorted as he neared on foot, and had the very look of the demons that sometimes plagues their world in his black eyes. He stayed fairly still though at the whisperings of his mistress.
"Angel?" He asked gruffly.
"You may call me that, Warrior," she answered.
"I have seen your rides these past nights. You have stolen my heart, Little Witch."
The girl nodded. "And you've mine. I've watched you from afar for sometime." She slid gracefully off the animal's back and he cantered over to join the giant bay (they were a match in size, but for the black's wings).
"This night is ours, Warrior, as nights in lifetimes past have been, and future will be."
This said, the midnight hour and the full moon bathed the lovers in sweet light.
The next day, Rhiannon unwillingly returned to the castle, only to rush again from it, but this time towards battle. There had been an attack moments before her presence was announced, and it was time again that the keepers of Dream World and the Sacred Crystals (of which she was one, the Keeper of the Goddess Crystal) to defend the dreams from being taken over into eternal darkness. When the battle was over days later, Celerian told Rhiannon that her promised husband was slain in the original surprise attack. When she found out that it was her Warrior, she was shocked and heartbroken. Wishing she hadn't been so loathe to return home in the first place, and blaming herself for his death, as it was from her he had been returning when he was attacked, she fled again to the highest mountain top in her world. That night, she wept, and the stars in the velvet heavens have never shown brighter.
There are things in this world that we can't see ... things like Rhiannon and her Warrior ... but they are there, watching us, protecting us ... touching our lives in ways we cannot fathom.
Tonight, I'll dream of the largest oak tree I've ever imagined, and then I'll make it bigger. Tonight, I'll dream of all the little leaves. Tonight, I'll dream about Rhiannon and her Warrior.
Tonight, I'll dream and I will weep.