We, human beings, are touched by the sword of Peace many, many times. Sometimes as a gentle stroke to which we respond harmoniously, other times (despite us thinking we are well-prepared) it can be a decisive strike, an almost unbearably sudden and quick vibration which leaves us in disarray, very unsettled. Sometimes an illness results to bring us back into equilibrium, if at all possible.
The sword is of Peace, and it’s purpose and intention is to bring about peace, inner peace – but first a journey has to be undertaken over and through a sea of chaos.
The sword of Peace struck this human being seven times. Each time came as a complete surprise, a complete mystery. The first occurred during the night, during a deep sleep, and the personality was suddenly awake, deeply alarmed by an intense but beautiful power radiating into the heart. Was this a heart attack? Should one call an ambulance? After some time the impression subsided and the personality was left wondering ……
Over the next few days an experience of grieving began, a sense of deep loss, as if the sword stroke had taken away something vital. The sense of grieving continued to ebb and flow.
During the next several weeks the sword of peace struck twice more in the heart, always at night but now causing less alarm. A warm glow surrounding the heart and the body and encompassing it in a deep sense of peace. A very profound process began. During waking hours a sense of being at odds with the world, with people, with society, a difference in vibration. A very odd sensation. Everyday life continued on, the personality continued to do as life required – but something had changed.
Over following months three more strokes of the sword of peace presented themselves – in the deep of night a sudden awakening but now it was different. An inner calmness. And this time all three strokes were directed at the head, no longer at the heart. The sensation was of being struck by a very high and serene energy. In subsequent weeks the personality likened this to being struck by lightning, with consequent repercussions. The nervous system felt jangled, deeply disturbed, and the body set up a process of rejection – something alien had entered the system and needed fighting off. This went on for many months, perhaps even years. Many old memories, forgotten experiences, surfaced spontaneously. There was the sense that something had been torn open and the contents were spilling out.
A glimpse of freedom
Many responses developed – a deep sense of sadness, of inwardly dying, but also at other times of joy, of inner and outer freedom. Brief glimpses of the latter at first. A developing sense of living in two worlds, fleetingly at first, then more profoundly. One world, the outer world that was so familiar interspersed with another world, an inner world, that was essentially unknown, yet nevertheless present. Not knowing, feeling uncertain, confused. Yet inwardly a growing calmness, a peacefulness. A deep sense of needing to let go, to surrender, to go within.
The response of the immune system to its supposed alien attacker moved throughout the body, from organ to organ, as if nothing could be left unprotected. Strange physical symptoms developed – chest pains (a heart attack?), sensations in the head (a stroke?), various tensions not unlike a panic attack, digestive disorders, visual disturbances. Visits to doctors and many tests revealed nothing, no answers other than the expected effects of ageing. Indeed a mystery which the personality strove to understand.
And then one morning on awakening, another touch, a distinctly soft stroke. A sense of something new, almost like a new-born infant, slipping sideways into the heart and remaining there. Something to be nurtured, listened to, acknowledged. A life companion, living within. A new consciousness of its presence, its existence but also of the many opportunities and temptations to ignore it. Gradually the old world, the familiar world became less binding, at times almost unbearable to endure, making the process both harder and easier but there was always the knowing from within to allow this process to continue. A life experience.
And then another sensation, but this time not another stroke originating from somewhere unknown – this time the source was from within. Initially a sense of panic, early in the morning when this sensation occurred, but after repeated occurrences an inner understanding and experiencing that it was the same serene power but now coming from within. Again directed to the heart, the head, the bodily organs. The panic response, initially overpowering, gradually subsided and slowly diminished and could be displaced always by focussing on the new inner being. A sense of a new beginning, a turning point, tentative and not entirely known, but now an inner calmness and confidence that all is well. A distinct connectedness with the world and humanity, a spiritual connectedness. An inner power that belongs to all.
