Originally Untitled
by Marsha Birkholz
An old witch sat one evening next to an old oak and admired the moon.
While sitting there she began reflecting on her many years of practice in
the craft. In doing so she wondered why she had never found that which she
had most saught through the years...her sacred name.
"Mother?" she whispered into the wind, "my time in this life is short, and
I would make a request of you. What is the name which has eluded me all these
years?
Many names have come and gone as I saw fit, but none seemed absolutely Divine
...one to know just between the gods and me."
Feeling her emotions rise as she began to worry that she would never know,
she began to plea in earnest,"Mother, what is my name?"
Just then the wind rustled through the trees and a gentle laugh could be
heard. The Mother's gentle voice whispered into her ear, in a way that had
become familiar over the years,
"Remember. Oh, my child, remember." With that the wind was gone, as gently
as it came.
"Mother! Why do you not answer that which I seek?" she stubbornly asked,
feeling that surely the mother would answer her this time in her aged years.
"Mother, I have waited patiently for many years, yet you give me the same
answer still."
In confusion she left her quiet spot near the old oak tree and accepted that
maybe she should never know her true name.
A few seasons later the old witch felt a gentle wind caress her cheek and
whisper in her ear, "Come, my child, your time in this world is almost done.
"The old woman let the wind direct her to her quiet spot under the old oak.
There the Mother appeared for the first time before her.
"Mother?" said the woman in a hesitant voice, "what would you have me do?
My body is failing and sometimes my mind is weak. Even my very soul grows
tired."
"Recline here under this tree, and close your eyes," instructed the Lady.
The old witch did so, as she was told. Then she felt the Mother take her hand
and say simply, "You must remember".
The witch began to see all that had been in her life. Her childhood,
motherhood, and craft life. She saw all times the Mother had come to her in
her workings through the years and was grateful. Opening her eyes she dared
to ask yet again, "Mother, what is my sacred name?"
The Lady touched her eyes and again the witch remembered all the times she
asked this question and all the times the only reply was, "My child.
Remember, my child." Sudden realization hit her and she cried, "Mother?"
"Yes," said the Mother as a divine wind gathered about them. "You had the
answer all along." The wind carried them toward a bright light. The old woman
knew her body was left behind, but didn't grieve for it. At the outer edge
of the light they paused. "Your name is very special to me and is the same
for all your brothers and sisters, whether they be like you or four legged
or winged. Even the trees and rocks are known to me as such. None name is
higher to me ...My Child. In realizing that you are a sacred part of the All,
and no matter how different the specie or race, you are all my children.
Therefore, My Child is the most powerful and sacred of names, for it is the
one I gave you...to all my children at their birth." The Lady then gestured
to a vision below them of a young woman laboring in her first birth. "You see,
as each woman becomes a mother she becomes a part of me and calls you that
which I do...My Child. Even daughter and son in all the languages of the
earth, mean the same... My Child. Each time you asked of me what your name
was, I always told you...Remember, My Child.
Realization came over the old witch's face and tears of joy filled her eyes.
Knowing her life was complete, she followed the Mother into the light and
closed her eyes feeling the warmth on her face. She couldn't tell how long
she lingered there in the light nor did she care.
She began to feel strange, her body became more solid and the warmth she had
known became a blast of cold air. Her lungs stung with the pain of a long
awaited breath and she cried out with a loud wail for she could speak no
words.
"Mother!" , she thought frantically, and she heard that gentle
laugh and that familiar voice calling to her saying "my child"... or was it
different this time?
She stopped crying and turned toward the voice. Although she couldn't see
very well she knew that this was the young mother she had seen in the vision.
She had been reborn. As the memories of her earlier life were fading and her
soul, now rested and renewed, settled into the tiny little body, she heard
one last whisper from the Mother, "In each and every life you enter and
leave with the same name...My Child. It has been the same and will remain
the same for all eternity...My Child. The name that is All and brings you
closest to my heart....My Child. This name is what you forever shall
be...My Child."
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From: WindDreamer@webtv.net
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 00:11:24 -0600
To: paglore list
Subject: PAGLORE: My Story
Message from the Author
Thank you!!
I have been overwhelmed with e-mails on my little story and deleted some by
accident [blush]. So I apologize for posting this to the list but so many of
you have asked to pass it on or use it in sites, I just wanted to say Go
ahead!!! Pass it on as you will.
If you please when publishing (print or sites) please add my mundane name:
Marsha Birkholz....As my nick may often change :-)
Bless you all for your kind words to a person who really needed it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wind
