“Found it, sorry I’m a tad unorganised. Ok, so the next available private meeting we have after the workshop is at 6.30pm in the tepee tent on the beach.”
She barely had time to finish her last word and Scott had said, “Yes, we will take it.”
“Very well,” she replied, and proceeded to write our names down. Scott was just so excited and enthusiastic about the whole weekend that he was coming across rather rude and abrupt, I thought.
Scott did thank the lady in the end for all her help, before we headed off to our campsite to drop off our belongings before making our late entrance to the welcoming ceremony.
I was tired and barely hanging on, standing up was becoming evidently a struggle. Scott noticed my decreasing look of alertness and attitude.
“Letticia are you ok? Do you need rest, food or water?” he asked with concern.
I thought to myself, yes all of the above plus I need your strong Scottish arms wrapped around me, I need your lips upon my lips and I need you to be mine. But instead, I replied, “I’m ok for now. I will just take it slow.”
We could hear the bagpipes playing in the area where the welcoming ceremony had already begun, but we had to head off to our campsite first to drop off our tent. Along the way we also passed five tepees on the beach, assigned for private meetings for people to discuss their chosen Celtic Goddess and learn about the story behind them.
People were here for many different reasons. Some people just had a general interest in Celtic mythology and came for a fun two-day camping trip. Other people, like us, had a personal experience that coincided with what one of the Celtic Goddess Myths represented, and they wanted answers.
I was never much of a spiritual person, in fact, I would go as far as calling myself an atheist, only because I never had a reason to have faith. I always needed hard evidence to prove something to myself. However I could see Scott was the opposite, he was a man who had faith and was open-minded to all things. Shame he wasn't so open-minded towards me, I could be his one and only Australian goddess and make his life complete, I laughed to myself.
We eventually found our site and quickly unloaded our things. Removing my backpack did make me feel slightly more alert and not so weak. I sat for a few minutes and drank half a bottle of water while I watched Scott lay out the tent and put a few pegs in the corners to secure it. He was so my Jamie Fraser, and I was so his Laoghaire Mackenzie I unfortunately, thought, longing for him to love me back. We decided we would put the rest up later and headed off to the welcome ceremony.
Chapter Sixteen
Welcome ceremony
* * *
We arrived at the welcome ceremony just as the bagpipers were in the middle of their set. They were playing a tune called ‘Scotland the Brave’. I knew this because when Scott first heard the bagpipes playing, and as we approached the gathering of people who were attending the welcome ceremony, Scott looked at me wide-eyed and with excitement, and said “This is one of my favourites, it’s called ‘Scotland the Brave’.
* * *
We were two of the last to arrive as we joined the rest of the people there, and we laid out our tartan picnic rug and sat down to be welcomed to the two-day event.
I scanned the area quickly. It was filled with a variety of people sitting on their rugs, of all different ages and ethnicities. Just shows that your faith does not discriminate. Faith is a personal journey for each individual; I was yet to find it though.
* * *
Scott was sitting on the rug, his legs laid out straight in front of him, his feet crossed and his arms supporting the rest of his body behind his back as he lay on his elbows. He was well relaxed, with his foot tapping in time to the bagpipe beats. I leaned over towards him and said, “Bet you wish you were up there playing, don’t you?”
* * *
He replied, “Do I ever, I love this song.”
* * *
He proceeded to explain to me the song’s meaning. “‘Scotland the Brave’ is known by many Scottish people to be the unofficial anthem of Scotland. It touched the hearts and souls of the Scottish people and became hugely popular. If you were a football fan, this is the song that you'd be singing in the stands. ‘Scotland the Brave’ focuses on the merits of Scotland itself, boasting of the people’s bravery and loyalty as well as the country’s natural beauty and strong history.”
* * *
I noticed how passionate Scott was. He spoke with such pride and patriotism that I couldn't help but just continue to fall even more in love with him the more he spoke.
* * *
He continued, “It is a militant song that calls to mind the courage of the Scottish nation and people.”
* * *
I was so drawn to him speaking that I had not realised he had stopped talking and I was still staring at him with a look of admiration. Now a little bit of awkwardness was present, but thankfully it was interrupted by the song ending and a presenter taking to the stage, which was more of a makeshift stage created from pallets that stood at the front of all the gathered people. He held a microphone, at least, and was wearing a kilt showing off a lovely pair of knees.
* * *
“Feashar Math,” he said in Gaelic, then translated it into English. “Good Afternoon and welcome to two days of mythology fun and entertainment, and a whole lot of education.
* * *
“My name is Fletcher and I am Scottish right down to the core. Aye, I complain about the weather and politics or whatever else but at the end of the day, I am fiercely proud to be a Scot and to call Scotland my home. I will defend it with my last breath. On the other hand, I am also known to be a chatty Scot who is not one to shy away from telling a good story or two, especially after a wee dram of whiskey to warm the cockles of one’s heart.
* * *
“I am not one for pretences or fake-ness so come up, introduce yourselves to me sometime over the next two days and let’s rejoice and have a good time. Last but not least, I am a Scot who is very superstitious, sentimental and spiritual. I have a strong belief in the mythical and psychic worlds, thank goodness otherwise I’m not too sure why I would be he.” He laughed.
* * *
“And I wouldn't be a Scot without a full head of glorious red hair,” he added as he took off his Tam-O-Shanter and took a bow while his red hair was let loose blowing in the wind.
* * *
“Right, with that all said and done let’s get this weekend started. I will be the one to come to if anyone is needing any advice or help during the next two days of self-discovery. Make sure to get involved in all the extra activities and entertainment we have happening also. I highly recommend you try out the Damanhur Spiral we have recreated by using natural materials we have found along this beautiful one-mile beach coastline.
* * *
“Please ensure only one person at a time is to walk into the spiral. The second person may only enter when the first person is walking back from visiting the crystal in the centre of the spiral. The crystal you will discover in the middle of the Spiral was carried in by yours truly. The crystal has been charged with joy and positive thoughts. The spiral formation invites us to always enter deeper into our own self and thoughts, to search for the inner room that holds the responses to our most spirituals questions we wanted answered.
* * *
“Once you arrive at the crystal in the middle of the spiral, stop and sit for a few minutes. Feel the energy of the crystal and the spiral and let it lead you on your spiritual way, for inspiration, and for your dreaming. When you feel ready, walk back through the spiral the way you came.
* * *
A few more rules apply. It is very important that people do not step across the lines of the spiral ever, because it will then become deactivated. Everybody must leave the spiral if this occurs and wait for five minutes before the spiral reactivates itself. The spiral represents positive energy and thoughts so embrace it and let it guide you on your journey.”
* * *
* * *
Fletcher reminded us to keep our programs handy so we wouldn’t miss out on the times of each particular workshop and private-one on-one session that was happening. Scott looked at the timetable and noticed the workshops were kicking off straight away. We were attending the Caer Ibormeith , the Celtic Goddess of Dreams’, scheduled to take place at 4.30pm. In few hours from now. I guess just enough time to pitch our tent and, if Scott had his own way, we would be trying out this so-called Damanhur Spiral, I thought to myself while being very closed minded indeed.
* * *
“Aye, well with that all said and done,” Fletcher concluded, “may you all go off and enjoy some much-needed spiritual awareness, and hopefully you find what you are searching for.”
* * *
I took another quick peek at Scott's well-defined face and saw what I had expected. A very enthusiastic and excited Scottish man who looked like he was getting completely and utterly wrapped up in all this make-believe airy-fairy rubbish. I could feel my mind closing even more. It was time to open my mind up and keep to my word.
* * *
“So, Scott, let’s go give this Damanhur Spiral a whirl, shall we?”
* * *
Scott looked just as shocked as I did, the words just come flying out of my mouth with not much knowledge that they were even in there to start with.
* * *
“Aye lass, you took the words right out of my mouth,” Scott said.
* * *
Well obviously,, that’s where I got the words from then because they didn’t come from me in the slightest, I thought to myself. Sadly I didn’t get the words in a practical way that involved my tongue and lips sucking them out of Scott's mouth. Well, at least now my mind was opening up, just not in the way I had promised it would to Scott. I decided to really focus from here on in and take myself on that so-called spiritual journey Fletcher had talked about.
Chapter Seventeen
Finding my spiritual self
The tent was now fully pitched, and Scott was now leading me off towards all the fun and games. The spiritual playground, as I liked to think of it.
Scott had a look of freshness and calmness to him, apart from being excited about the spiritual endeavours he was about to embark on. He looked like he was where he belonged. Not a stress line could be seen on him. Which only made him look even more irresistible; I also only just noticed that mole beside his ear that Brysen had told me about.
My observations were interrupted as I heard the most enchanting sounds coming from just ahead of us. Scott grabbed my hand and said, “Oh you will love these Letticia.” And he proceeded to pull me towards whatever was making the magnificent tunes.
As we approached there was already a crowd gathered around, listening and taking in the sounds. Scott explained to me what they were. “These are called singing bowls,” he said excitedly. They were indeed making the most magical and powerful effects of sound and vibration. There were six quartz crystal bowls laid out in front of the lady who was playing them. She was circling the rim of the bowls using what looked to be a suede mallet of some kind.
Scott continued to explain to me about these so-called singing bowls. I, however, was more focused on the fact that he was still holding my hand for some reason, and was also intrigued as to how on earth they managed to carry these crystal bowls in without breaking them, all the way from Blairmore car park. However, this thought would have to wait as before I knew what was happening the lady had picked us out from the crowd to have a go at playing the singing bowls.
That’s what you get when you are gifted with such an attractive face as Scott had. You get chosen first for everything. My hand was still tightly held within Scott’s as he steered me up towards the singing bowls. The lady handed us both a suede mallet and said, “Just circle the rims and let the rest guide you.”
There was silence all around us, the only sound that could be heard was the sounds Scott and I were producing. It was a pure, clear, healing sound. It reminded me of running streams, birds singing, and leaves rustling in the woods. All sounds that people no longer stopped to appreciate these days.
I was finally starting to relax and understand why Scott was so caught up in all this stuff. As we slowly stopped playing the lady started speaking to us along with everybody else that was still gathered around.
“These crystal singing bowls have the ability to produce strong vibrational energy, these tones the bowls are making affect our brain wave activity and create a state of deep relaxation. It is thought that while listening to these sounds, hormones and neurochemicals are released that have the ability to suppress pain and strengthen willpower and creativity, along with overcoming addiction.”
Maybe I will overcome my Scott addiction then, I thought to myself and gave a little giggle. Scott looked over at me, unsure as to why I was giggling.
The lady continued, “Overall these singing bowls have a peaceful effect on people, which after all isn’t that what everybody is chasing in their life? A little bit of peace?”
Or chasing a little bit of Scottish lush which comes in the form of Scott, I thought to myself and once again I let out a little giggle which resulted in Scott giving me a look of ‘where is this so-called, keeping an open mind that you promised, Letticia?’
I read him completely and proceeded to look as if I was indeed keeping an open mind - from now on, anyway.
The lady ended the session by saying “I hope the singing bowls have taken you all on a magical journey into a world of peace, harmony, and balance.”
It had in fact taken me on a journey, whether I wanted to admit it or not. But I was still confused as to how this weekend of partaking in these activities and workshops was going to give Scott and I the answers we were searching for. I guess as they say, time will tell.
We thanked the lady for giving us the opportunity to play the singing bowls. Really, I should have been thanking Scott’s parents’ DNA for creating such a handsome, well-proportioned son who had the ability to make women weak at the knees, causing Scott to be picked out from crowds to experience many great opportunities that would otherwise not be given to the mere mortals of today’s world. However, today we were thanking the singing bowl lady.
I reminded myself that if I ever did meet Scott's parents that I would then thank them for putting Scott on this earth, and hopefully into my arms one day.
We headed off down a track towards the sand dunes where the Damanhur Spiral was located. Scott glanced quickly at his watch, “almost 4 pm, if it’s not too busy with people doing their spiritual spiral walk,” he laughed, “we might get a go before we have to head off to our workshop.”
That was the first time I had heard Scott joke about this whole situation. So I replied, “spiritual spiral walk sounds like some sort of dance move.”
“Yeah, it goes something like this,” Scott said then proceeded to do the moonwalk in a spiral direction.
The sight of him doing this so-called spiritual spiral walk made me even weaker at the knees. Tears were coming out of my eyes I was laughing that much. I decided to give it a go myself, but became dizzy within the second turn and lost my balance. I fell straight into Scott, causing him to lose his footing and knocking him straight on to his back with me onto top of him.
Our eyes meet for a second, and if I was not mistaken I noticed Scott move his face towards mine, our lips only centimetres apart until he soon realised what he was doing and pulled away, gently rolling me off him. He got to his feet first and put out his hand to help pull me up as if nothing had happened.
“Right, let’s get our spiral walk on shall we?” he joked.
We reached the Damanhur Spiral and, to our surpris
e, there was only one person in front of us waiting their turn. His friend was in the middle, yet to start exiting the spiral and allowing the person in front of us to enter. He was taking his time with the crystal, self reflecting and visualising his personal goals, values, needs and wants.
A minute or two later he started his journey out of the spiral, allowing his friend to enter in. When it came to my turn, Scott said, “Lassies first,” and allowed me to enter the spiral first, leaving him to wait his turn until I made my way out from the centre of the spiral. The spiral was about six layers deep. I was a little over walking after the trek we had made just hours ago from Blairmore car park, but I was determined to keep an open mind and feel this so-called energy that was present from the crystal.
Once I arrived at the centre of the spiral and it was just myself and this crystal, I put my hands on it. It was stone cold. It felt refreshing in a strange sort of way. I felt a strong pull towards it. In that moment all my insecurities and judgmental feelings towards this weekend vanished. I shut my eyes and relaxed. I was forced to have a positive thought somehow. My eyes were gently shut, and my breathing started to relax too. I felt tired, in my mind and my body.
Dreamlander Page 10