EA#25:
Read From the Beginning or the start of Trial Two or Three or Four
The Mountain in the Clouds, Part Twenty-Eight
“
“You say that you must sacrifice yourself for years to make money, to reclaim your father’s legacy, and to make the land prosperous again?” I asked the king. He nodded.
“And I say this,” I said with some trepidation. For what I was saying did not seem like me. It felt as though I were being spoken through. And in many ways I was doubting what was coming.
“I say that you are not trusting,” I continued. “You are not trusting in the powers of the universe to conspire with you. You are not trusting in your own abilities to connect with this power. You are relying on brute force, as it were. You believe you must work hard, strive, push, persevere to get what you wish to see. You believe that is what your father did. And you believe that is the only way for you to do so. And we say again, you are not trusting.”
The sound of my voice filled the banquet hall and it was magnificent to hear. I was impressed by the reverberations of it myself. And those before me were equally awed.
“I told you!” the king exclaimed. “You doubted me, Gareth, I know you did. But the one sitting here with us is indeed a Magi. Hear how he speaks for all the Nine. Hear how he speaks as a ‘we.’ Oh, ho, if my father could see this day.”
“I will admit,” Gareth spoke, “at first I was not quite sure. But the words that he spoke, the way that they came through… I cannot deny the power behind what I have just witnessed.”
“Bless the Nine,” Queen Ishabelle rejoiced. “Lord Magi, I promise you, you will not be forgotten. You will be honored and revered in the land. The sanctums will show your visage proudly. And all will know your power in full. I promise you this.”
I was beginning to have more of my own doubts about this. Were they really being so engrossed in this show I was putting on? I wasn’t even convinced of it myself. I was just hoping that it would help in the ways that it could. And there was more…
“My friends, you have no need for such solemnity. For years the voltar peoples, all the races of man and elf and elsewise have spent time praying to and honoring the Magi. But that is not what the Magi ask. We are not seeking approval. And we do not want to be remembered in form. Do not show my face as a symbol of the Magi. For by doing so you detract from the oneness that we truly are. You count us as Nine for we hold our energies in ways that you perceive: earth, air, fire, water, life, death, good, evil and order. But these are just ways to understand All That Is. These are aspects of the world in which you live. And they are, at the root, all part of the oneness from which all springs forth. So do not honour us in any way, in any shape or form, other than as we are. And that is as everything. And that includes you. You, too, are part of the all. We are all one. And so when we speak of trust and your own purview in creating your world, we mean just that. You have the power within you to do what need be done. You do not need another to do it. You do not need a Magi or some god or other to work on your behalf. You work on your own behalf. By trusting in that. By trusting in the power of All That Is. Which is you as well. You asked me earlier if I understood your plight. And I ask you now, do you understand the words that I offer you?”
I could tell by the faces of the people before me that they were in an uncomfortable place. Certainly the words themselves must well have been comprehended. But the information provided to them about who and what they are… I could tell that they hesitated to believe. In fact I wondered even in my own mind whether the words I just spoke could be true. And I asked myself, could this be?
Yes. Was the reply by the voice I was growing to know so well. These words are true. Do not doubt. Trust.
“Trust,” I repeated aloud. “The most important thing you must remember is trust. Even if all of what I just spoke does not make sense or resonate for you, remember this one thing. You must trust in the universe to offer what you need as you believe in it. That is a key. For to stand before the doorway and not believe that there is something on the other side simply precludes you from the experience of stepping into the new room. The doorway will not be opened and the room will not be seen. And in time the doorway will fade from memory and what will be left is simply the wall that is keeping you from the new place. Do you understand this?”
“Yes,” Garamund began to come out of the daze he appeared to be in. “Yes, Lord Magi, I do believe I understand. At least, to an extent. I get that you are saying there may be possibilities beyond the doorway, but that I will not know them until I take that step. And that it is about trust. I must trust that what is on the other side of the door will be of benefit to me. And that it will not bite me. Is that correct?”
“You speak truth,” I answered with the assistance of my guides. “Trusting in the universe to support you will give you that experience. But expecting the dog to bite might well give you that experience as well. So many of you live your lives in fear. You live thinking that the next moment will take everything from you. Your very fear of death epitomizes this. And this is not trust. If you could trust that even death is not the end, would you fear it?”
“I suppose I would not,” said Garamund. “Is death not the end?”
“It is only the end of this life as you know it now,” I answered. “But there is no end to eternity. Do you understand?”
“I do,” said the king. “And it comforts me more than you know. So, Lord Magi, am I but to trust that things will work out for my kingdom? If I sit and trust, will the money pour in? Is trust what my father had?”
“Your father did trust,” I said. It puzzled me to say this with such knowing, as I had never met his father. “That is how he built his empire of allies. He trusted them all and he trusted things to work out. And when he passed his trust to you, as well, to his son, to take the lead and bring continued prosperity in the ways that you can… he trusted that you could. And you must trust that this may not be the same as it was for him. And we will say one more thing. Your fear that this cannot be so will be the only thing that will keep you from knowing your own greatness. You may say, ‘I will sit and trust that this will work out, that the money will come.’ But if you do not believe it, if you fear the end is still near, you will get that instead. For that will be the prevailing thought. You must trust with all your heart that everything is always working out for you. That is your lesson. That will be YOUR legacy. Trust, and it will come.”
The silence that followed my voice was as deafening a sound as though a thunderous booming resounded throughout the banquet hall.
My rapt audience—King Garamund the Second, Queen Ishabelle, the advisor named Gareth, as well as a small handful of servants from the kitchen and a couple of guards—sat awestruck and drop-jawed before me. I stared blankly at them, having nothing more to say and not sure what to do next. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. I’m quite certain we were all in a sort of shock from the experience.
At last the king broke through the quiet, “Well, Lord Magi… It’s been a rather impressive evening with you as our guest. I have learned much from you in these past few moments.” He paused and crinkled his brow quizzically. “Yet, while I understand what you have said to me, I suppose I am left clueless as to what it truly means for me. What must I do? How shall I save my kingdom? Cannot you simply use your power to fill our coffers yet again? To feed my kingdom and provide for us all we need? Have we so dishonored you in our lack of faith that you cannot show us some kindness, some answer to our prayers?”
“King Garamund,” I intoned one final time with the power of All That Is, “you have asked for our help, and you have received it. Do not presume to know how the power of the universe works. We do not answer prayers that you beg today by giving you all you need this moment. Because you do not truly believe that you can have it in this moment. If you did believe, perhaps it would be yours now. But then we wouldn’t be here, having this conversation. We have instructed you to trust and that is what you must do. And that will provide the answers to all of your questions. As long as you keep trusting, you will know what to do. You will know how to save your kingdom, as you put it. You will find your coffers filling, your kingdom will feast, and you will have all you need. There is nothing you could ever do to dishonor yourselves from having what you need. It is only in your lack of trust that you do not call it to you. You must stare the darkness in the eye and know that you will see through it. But if you succumb to the fear, the darkness will continue to swallow you up. Do you understand?”
“I do, certainly,” the king answered. “I do just wish there were some easier way, a quicker solution. You are telling me that I must figure it out, yes? I cannot expect you to solve my troubles for me?”
“On this you are correct,” I replied. “I cannot solve your troubles for you. But I can lend you what aid I may. In fact, I just have. And I will continue to hope and pray for your kingdom to be well. But remember that the universe conspires with you in miraculous ways to produce what you will call to you, if you trust that it may.”
“Wonderful,” Queen Ishabelle said. “Lord Magi, I am duly impressed. You have offered us great wisdom and insight. While we all hoped that there may be a quick fix, I suppose that is not the way of things. Things take time to grow. But we will do as you instruct. We will trust that things may work out in our favor. We will follow our own guidance and trust what may come as we meet it day to day. This is the teaching, correct?”
“Indeed,” I nodded to the queen.
“If I may add,” Gareth spoke up. “It is as though planting a seed in the soil and trusting that it will grow to produce crop. One does not force it to breach the ground with harvest. One only has to give it time, tend to it mindfully, and reap the benefit of the plant’s own self-creative powers.”
“Wisely put,” I smiled at the advisor. “You are willing and quick-witted students. You have even taught me some things.”
I stood up in the next moment, much to everyone’s surprise. “Now,” I said, “if you will beg my pardon, I believe my work here is done. I must be going. I have much ahead of me yet to do.”
“Of course you must,” Queen Ishabelle said. “Please, let us not keep you from your great tasks. We are eternally grateful to you that you even spent this time with us tonight. Thank you, thank you, from the bottoms of our hearts.”
“Yes, thank you, Lord Magi,” King Garamund added. “It has certainly been a blessing to have you here at all. Please do not let me seem ungrateful if I asked for more. You have given much already. May the Nine always prosper.”
“May the Nine always prosper,” Ishabelle and Gareth chorused together.
“Now,” I said, “there is one last thing I must ask of you.” I looked at the king. “If you are willing to take your lesson in trust further, I will present you a test, of a sort. Will you go with me?”
“Yes,” the king answered with a hint of hesitation. “If it will help me, if it will help us all, then I say yes. I will go. Will it be long?” He asked, looking with concern towards his wife.
“It will be as long as it need be,” I told him. “As long as you make it. Do not worry. Trust. Trust that she will be fine,” I said, gesturing towards the queen. “Trust that your kingdom will be fine. Will you go now?”
“Now?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Ok,” the king answered.
Without a moment’s hesitation King Garamund the Second and I were hurtling through a spiraling vortex of energy. We landed moments later in a black void. We stood upon a stone slab, reddish hued rock of a slightly porous nature. Two blue corded ropes hanging from one end to an unknown tether in the air above.
“Where are we?” the king begged of me.
“This is your lesson in trust,” I told him, shoving him off the ledge.
He called out in terror as he fell and his voice receded into the nothingness below me until I heard no more.
Then I caught hold of his voice from above, followed by a hard thump as he landed back on the stone slab.
“What is this?” the king demanded of me, seeming enraged. “Why have you thrown me? Are you trying to kill me?”
“You are not dead,” I said. “I would not have you do other than I have already done. Trust me. You will learn. Good luck.”
With that, I disappeared into my own private portal out of that black void. As I transitioned through the dimensions I could make out King Garamund’s face writhing with livid frustration at being left there like that. He seemed to be pounding in the air at me as if upon a solid door, but I was no longer there and there was nothing for him to hit. He fell to his knees, looking as though he might weep.
Gods help him, I thought. I do hope he figures it out. And soon.
“
Thus ends the Fourth Trial of The Mountain in the Clouds.
Thanks so much for reading.
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Blessings to you,
Matthew