The Awakening

by Colleen O'Flaherty-Hilder

  The screen became still. Orla sat quietly for a while trying to comprehend all that she had seen. What a shock to her young system this viewing had been. She realised how lucky she was to have been born on Crystal Island and how her whole life had been so privileged. At that moment, she knew she would do anything to bring this quality of life back to the whole planet.

  Orla’s mentors were very pleased with their little protégé and they knew it was now time for her to go back to Crystal Island – their job was complete – but her work was just beginning. Whale bade farewell to his young student and she mounted Unicorn who led her out of the chamber, along the seabed and eventually back up again from the sea onto the beach of crystal. As they joined the turquoise crystal path Orla was deep in thought as Unicorn carried her on her final journey home. Unicorn could sense that Orla was feeling the burden of the work ahead and he interrupted her thoughts with a little trot to gain her attention and jolt her from her thoughts. She knew he had read her mind and shared her concerns about the future. He reassured her that she would be able to undertake all her responsibilities with ease but that she was not on her own. She would never become a servant to her responsibilities so that they became a burden. Her responsibilities were gifts that had been given to her only because she was able to execute them. Gifts were never bestowed unless the recipient could express them with ease. She would therefore never feel that she was carrying a heavy weight on her young shoulders. The gifts gave her direct access to all her Crystal mentors who she could call on at any time for advice by visiting the Crystal Circle on the island. But, more importantly she would have Finn; he would be at her side at all times, protecting her from anything that might overburden her on any level. He would be her equal in all matters, which gave her a wonderful sense of comfort. She had started to feel slightly isolated in her responsibilities but knowing that she could rely on her best friend and true crystal soul mate at all times dispelled all worries.

  She sighed with relief and then turned her attention to Finn. After the binding ceremony she had left the island quite quickly to start her journey to Crystaland but nearly every night of the seven years that she had been away, she had dreamed of him so it had felt as if there had been no real separation. Through her dreams she had seen how he had grown and developed over the years and had become a super-strong handsome man, which reminded her so much of her father Patrick. Patrick had once been as young and vibrant as Finn and, although he had increased in age and experience, he had lost none of his strength. His hair was still red with no signs of thinning or grey and he was still very much the strong king that he had always been. Patrick and Maeve had made a powerful couple, each complementing the other with their gifts. They too had been promised when they were fourteen and once they had completed their union, they became a very strong unit. Orla had happy memories of growing up with these two special individuals: the respect and love they demonstrated to each other was beautiful and Orla longed to experience that deep relationship with Finn.She also could not wait to find out more about Finn’s initiation into Ruby Crystaland. While she had received an initiation into that world and seen Finn for a short while, he would have spent much longer there; and, because of his male physiology, would have undergone a much more rigorous initiation. The discipline required to master his physical strength and mental ability took much practice, as his mind and body would be honed to a super human level, but he also had to learn to match that with the discernment of Wisdom. Whilst the physical and mental strengths were relatively easy to assimilate, discernment in a strong human brought many conflicting memories to the fore, which had to be transformed before a pupil could complete his initiation of the ruby Crystal world. This took a great deal of effort whereby he would have to undergo many layers of self-examination and scrutiny. The thought of meeting Finn again uplifted her mood and Unicorn picked up speed as they travelled along the crystal path.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Return

  The crystal path began to fade from its deep turquoise into the brilliant diamond crystal from her first journey leading them back to the Diamond Elders who greeted Orla with both warmth and enthusiasm. And she, not feeling a child any more, embraced them with equality. She had now the ability to read the minds of all beings of the Crystal worlds and she could sense that they were delighted with her transformation. They sat her down on a pure diamond crystal chair, which she was able to tolerate now with ease, and asked her what she had thought of planet Earth now that she had witnessed every part of its ugly degeneration.

  She looked at them with a deep intensity and told them that she had seen a beautiful planet with many, many gifts, which had turned into a dustbowl teeming with people who had allowed themselves to revert from intelligent, compassionate, knowing beings into little more than primitives who had developed the intelligence of technology to the detriment of their own development into Wisdom.

  They asked her if she now knew what her future responsibility would be. She did know and was not daunted by the task. The women were pleased. Had they revealed this to her before her initiation – when she was still an innocent child – she would not have understood the gravity of the responsibility required of her, nor would she have had the courage to face it, but they could see that she was now perfectly qualified for that role. She had been awakened to all the Crystal Wisdom and had not only all of its understanding, but also the qualities of protection necessary to identify and navigate the negative mindsets of the fearful, and deflect the dangers of the Shadow.

  They reassured her that she would not be on her own. She and Finn would very quickly activate others on Crystal Island. The inhabitants of her island would be the first candidates as they were already programmed to a higher level than people from other lands. When she was a little older she would travel to other countries totally guarded by Finn’s protection field and therefore would not be affected by the degeneration around her. Although her vibration had increased almost to the level of the Crystalanders, her human side would allow her to walk unharmed on this planet that had become, in the 22nd century, toxic on all levels. She could not be persecuted, punished or enslaved because she had awakened the ability to use her mind to outwit people who feared the change she would bring – and there would be many. She was protected from the Shadow because she had no doubt or fear to which they could attach themselves and, because of her ability to see beyond the third dimension, they would be exposed to her at all times. There was no hiding place for the Shadow from this young Crystal Warrior.

  The Diamond Elders knew that in the next few years the planet would reach breaking point and Crystal Island would be asked for help. Orla’s initial responsibility would be to identify people who were candidates for reawakening; people who had a certain degree of prominent Crystaland programming. She would be able to scan the world from her island and identify the few leaders who had this ability. She would approach them with her mind whilst they were sleeping which would activate in them the first stage of awakening and they would then seek her out; it was they who had to make the initial contact, as they needed to feel in total control at that stage. One by one, she would awaken a handful of people and there would only be a handful – seven in fact – which would be all it would take to turn the tides of the planet. Those leaders would ask her to identify and awaken more people who could support them and she would then bring in her team from Crystal Island who could work with them, bringing them into their full awakening.

  The Elders warned that many power-people would want to be chosen as candidates and would try to mould themselves into the necessary selection criteria – the human quick fix idea – as they would perceive this as another opportunity to flex their power muscle. However, there was one clear way of detecting whether an individual was a true candidate. It was to be found in their voice: the tone of a person’s voice could not be manipulated. If they had prominent Crystal memory then they had their own personal song encrypted into their
words and Crystal knowledge allowed the initiated to see the colour and form of the sound that people produced when they spoke. The tone of an individual who had less fear was very different from that of someone with dominant primitive programming. Once those authentic candidates had been identified and reprogrammed, the Shadow attachments would shrivel and retreat and eventually be forced to leave Earth. This would be the dawn of the rebirth. The Earth was dying and it had requested one more chance to be reborn – the future of the planet and its solar system was dependent on the awakening of just a handful of people… but, as always, just a few pure crystals is all it takes to begin a new process of transformation.

  And so Orla bade farewell to the Diamond Elders and walked back along the white diamond crystal path with her faithful unicorn to where her travelling vessel had been waiting for the past years. Such was her transformation that it was not necessary to go through the energy portal to return home; she was now able to travel seamlessly between the different levels of Earth and the various Crystal worlds. Unicorn silently reflected on this special girl’s future. He knew she had been successfully prepared to undertake all her responsibilities but he knew that she had many challenges to face. She would face such opposition from the power leaders on one hand and then the Shadow would gather all their hatred and direct it towards her. They would ramp up the hatred dial in their hosts bodies and would then use every opportunity to outwit, tempt, bribe and generally distract her, and the people close to her, from her path. He knew that she would be successful but it would be a challenging journey. He wished he could have gone with her to make her journey just a little easier but it was impossible, he knew that he would never have survived on Earth. He also knew that at times she would be nearly emotionally depleted by the work that she had to do even with the forceful protection of Finn, and it was at those times that she would need to return to Crystaland. Orla turned to Unicorn and hugged his neck tightly not wanting to let go. She wanted to show her appreciation for all that he had been to her over these years – she had been gone from home for seven Earth years. He had been her friend, her guide, her mentor and most of all her trusted companion.

  Unicorn reassured her that she now had free access to the travelling vessel and she could come back to Crystaland at any time. She could move freely between the two realms without creating damage to her physical body. She was both reassured and delighted as the fascination of the Crystal worlds would always be a strong attraction for her. He told her that she would also need to come back at various times in her life to recalibrate her crystal side and, not wanting to give her any indication of the dangers of the roads she would travel, whenever she returned he would always be there waiting for her to accompany her.

  She moved towards the open door of the travelling sphere and waved goodbye as the door closed. She sat down on the crystal seat and miraculously was able to enter the correct code on the dimpled panel. In anticipation of her return to Earth, she removed her golden slippers and put on her normal day shoes. She sat back, closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to run unhindered through her mind. Within minutes she had landed and the door of the vessel opened. She was home and felt an overwhelming sense of delayed homesickness, a feeling that had not occurred in all the time that she had been away as she had been preoccupied with so much information that had suffused every cell of her body and mind. Now that she was back, she began to realise all that she had missed and wondered if life would be different now that she had completed her initiation. She stepped out of the vessel and walked apprehensively through the opening of the tree. She was back again in the Secret Garden. She initially thought that nothing would have changed, but as soon as she stepped into the garden, within a split second she was overwhelmed by sounds. The cacophony in her head forced her to put her hands to her ears and squeeze her eyes shut as her eyes were also playing tricks on her and her head began to swim with what she was seeing. She gradually opened her eyes, took a deep breath in, exhaled and, finding herself more balanced, observed her environment. She was amazed at what she was seeing. The gardeners were working away as always; the plants and flowers were growing happily but she could see the communication between the plants and the gardeners; she was able to see the ‘sounds’ that they were making to each other by reading the ripples passing through the space between them which changed colour with the changing of the octaves. She gradually removed her hands from her ears, one at a time, and was able to identify the many sounds that were coming from everything around her and the colours that were coming from the sounds. It was as if each plant had its own signature tune and gradually she was able to make sense of the jumbled onslaught on all her senses, and was able to discern and focus on each plant individually. Each plant gave her information about its qualities and the space that it occupied in the garden. She knelt down and gently stroked the delicate petal of a rose and immediately felt the tingling of information pass into her fingers from the whole rose bush.

  Her senses had been blown wide open on Crystaland giving her the ability to read everything in her environment visible and invisible to the uninitiated eye. This was a skill that would be vital to her later when she had to identify people in positions of authority in the world who were suitable for the Crystaland transformation process. She gazed over at the grove of trees and they smiled to her in approval, she was now aware of the qualities of each tree that her grandmother had originally explained to her and, to her amazement, she was able to communicate with them as an equal. The trees nodded their welcome with their branches as she walked along the grove touching each tree in turn feeling the information from the trees pass through her body via all her senses. She stood still, soaking in the feeling of being in communion with all the plants, trees and the gardeners. It was an intoxicating and glorious feeling making her deeply thankful and grateful for that privilege.

  Her mother was eagerly waiting for her in the garden. She had sensed when Orla would be returning and had made her way to the garden full of excitement as she had missed her beloved daughter but, more importantly, she was excited to discover how she had matured. The two women greeted each other with a huge embrace and Maeve observed all the changes in her daughter. Yes, she was seven year older and she had matured on many levels, but her physiology had made several shifts of change. Her skin and eyes had the telltale luminosity of Crystaland, which her mother identified immediately, together with the strands of white speckled through her hair. After each princess had returned from Crystaland, they all had the same look about them; it was as if light bounced off their skin radiating back into the environment. But, most of all Maeve observed her child’s Crystal maturity. This was not just the maturity that seven years would have given; this was the inner majesty that she projected from every cell of her body which took Maeve’s breath away with pride. She knew that within that majesty was the most important understanding of the humility of responsibility and Orla wore that mantle with ease.

  The two women linked arms and walked back through the Secret Garden to the palace in silence. There was no need for words. Both knew exactly what had transpired and what would happen next. Thus it was for the women of the Crystaland royal bloodline.

  Orla stop speaking and looked down at her sleeping children, her gaze drinking in every detail of their faces that were reflecting the changes brought about by adolescence. She knew that this was as far as she could go with the story. She would have to wait until they were a few years older before she could embark on Part Two. In the quietness of the room she reflected on the years between her returning from Crystaland and the rollercoaster of events that followed, where the Earth was grabbed from the jaws of a dystopian future to the privileged place it now occupied. Her role and that of Finn’s was pivotal to the planet’s transformation and their reward had been their twins. She looked down at them with a deep tenderness and love, a love that sometimes overwhelmed her, but she knew that they too had an important destiny, they too carried the bloodline o
f the royal family, and they, like her, had a responsibility to perpetuate Crystal Wisdom. She also knew that this was probably the biggest challenge yet to be placed at the feet of royal children. As a mother, she wanted to totally protect them but, as a princess, she knew that they had a responsibility and duty to fulfill. They both had unique gifts and abilities, and the entire future of all the universes would eventually rest firmly and confidently on their shoulders.