Beckoning the women once again to Ina’s side, Martha shared, ‘Ina has lost many pieces of her soul to evil. I’m going now to retrieve them for her. Stay by her side and minister to her as only her beloved friends can.’ With that, she disappeared into the night.
In silence, Estelle held Ina as Hazel ministered to her wounds. Rita tended to the fire. At length, Hazel could bear it no more and collapsed into tears. ‘Hazel!’ Rita called running to her side. ‘Hazel, dear sweet woman!’ Hazel fell into Rita’s arms, weeping uncontrollably, Rita gently rocking and whispering love to her. Estelle sat holding Ina and watching, then spoke.
‘Hazel, darling girl.’ she said. ‘Look at me.’
Hazel peaked out from Rita’s arms, fearful of the woman with the intimidating, commanding presence. Taken aback, she saw a tender, graceful crone, eyes filled with grace, radiating love. ‘Hazel,’ Estelle repeated. Overwhelmed by the love, Hazel fell again into Rita’s arms.
‘I don’t understand!’ she cried. ‘How could there be such evil? Why would it hurt Ina? What did she ever do to deserve that?!’ Her sorrow growing into anger, ‘It is wrong! It is so wrong!’ she cried uncontrollably. Estelle moved to her side and held the sobbing woman closely. Hazel snuggled into her arms while Rita ministered to Ina.
When finally the tears subsided and Hazel nestled exhausted in Estelle’s arms, Estelle ventured, ‘You have never seen evil before, have you child?’ Shuddering, Hazel cried, ‘No! I never imagined such a horrible thing?! How can it be? It can’t be real; but I saw it with my own eyes! I saw it try to kill Ina!’
Weighing her words, Estelle responded, ‘Yes child, evil can dwell in the hearts of humankind. And it can befall even the innocent. I have seen it, many times. It took my dear Loveworthy.’
‘But why?! I don’t understand! Why? What is this thing, evil? Where does it come from? Why does it exist?’ The unfathomable scene played over and again in Hazel’s mind and questions streamed from her shattered heart into the silence of the cave.
‘I don’t have the answers, child,’ Estelle stated. ‘But I have some ideas.’ ‘Please tell me!’ Hazel cried.
Quietly, ‘I believe that fear can strike a person’s soul so profoundly that it gets lodged there. Then, it becomes the lens through which the person views life. But the lens twists everything, creating more and more fear. The person, caught up in the fear, moves to protect themselves…and that is where blame, hate, greed…all of it, is born. They are all ways that the soul tries to protect itself.’
Rita, holding Ina, added, ‘It’s like a pot of food left out in the heat. What was once nutritious putrefies into a rancid, toxic mush.’ ‘Yes,’ Estelle agreed. ‘And that toxic mush poisons the heart and soul.’
‘That’s horrible!’ cried Hazel, pulling ever more deeply into Estelle’s arms.
Just then, the light reappeared in the cave and transformed into Martha. She was holding a crystal close to her heart. Kneeling next to Ina, she placed the crystal over Ina’s heart. Light shone around them, and Martha blew through the crystal into Ina’s heart. Light flowed into Ina’s body.
Moving now to her head, Martha blew again through the crystal into the Crown Chakra. White light filled Ina’s head and flowed through her body. The cave warmed. Then Martha was shaking a rattle around Ina’s body, head bowed reverently. And once again, she was gone.
Ina stirred in Rita’s arms, her breath regular and soft. The light moving through the broken body healed it from the inside out. Estelle and Hazel watched, mystified.
‘And that,’ noted Estelle, ‘is the breath of life.’ Hazel held her breath, watching Ina’s chest rise and fall. Rita smiled and hugged Ina gently. ‘You see, Hazel,’ Estelle continued, ‘it actually is very simple. There is love and there is fear, one gifts life, the other steals life. All else flows from those two emotions.’
‘Hate flows from fear,’ Rita added. ‘Yes,’ Estelle agreed. ‘Hate moves with haste, decimating everything in its path. It is pernicious and lethal.’
‘But,’ Hazel offered timidly, ‘look what happened when it encountered light and love.’
Estelle smiled, encouraging Hazel to follow her thoughts. ‘Could it be,’ asked Hazel, ‘that fear cannot stand up to love?’ Pausing momentarily, ‘It almost killed Ina. I get that it is lethal and we should never underestimate it.’ Pausing again to witness the epiphany settling into her soul, ‘But, eventually it succumbed to the light.’ Looking to the women, light bursting from her eyes, she exclaimed, ‘We all saw it! Love and light can overcome the fear!!’
Estelle was overcome with pride watching Hazel’s spirit grow. Yet an age-old grief tugged at her heart...Loveworthy. A tear of happiness and sorrow trickled to her chin. Hazel blew onto the tear and another rainbow swept across the cave.
Thrice Martha returned with soul parts and blew them into Ina, who received them as a mother welcomes a lost child. With each new soul part, Ina’s lifeforce grew stronger until she sat again next to her friends and sisters, Rita, Estelle and Hazel.
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