The virgin, pleasant whispers
Of shifting color and soft
Wooden sighs, she shimmers
But she is not indecisive.
Her children spill from her
Summer skirts, holding hands
Already they journey through
A fragrant and foreign land.
I went to San Luis, Colorado looking for Mary but not certain what I would find. I had seen an online ad for a little coffee shop called “Café Rosa Mystica” and in a day where I had nowhere to go, I thought the café as good a place to start as any. So off I went, leaving my husband on his mountain, ready to embark on his own journey. Armed with my journal, my sketchbook, colored pencils, a camera and wearing my heart on my sleeve I took off, knowing at the very least I would have access to coffee and some quiet moments away from everything familiar. A rare chance to steep myself in the sacred space of the unknown.
When I first found out Daniel and I would be taking a quick trip out to Colorado and that I would have a full day and night to myself, I started calling this time alone my “Mary” journey or my “Magdalene” journey. “Mother Mary” had come to me in a vision several months ago and imprinted herself on my heart. This journey was initiated within the folds of that vision. That particular vision also included visits by Quan Yin and Aphrodite. I was interested in this mix of female deities and with a little “Google” research; I found that they culminate into what some call the “Magdalene”. “Mary Magdalene was and is Isis, the Alpha and the Omega. She is Sophia who is Wisdom who is Spirit who is the Divine Feminine who is Shakti who is God manifest—she is the Goddess. As God is Source itself, the Goddess is the Emanation or the Play of God—in other words, the Dance of Creation. The Goddess is the World.” http://www.thesecretmagdalene.com/mariamne.html
So what is a Mary journey? I don’t really know other than it is a kind of burning inside my heart to push myself into the best of who I can be in this life. I have always been open to growing and changing but starting with this new year and the death of my beloved maternal grandmother the openness I had always had and cultivated started to turn into a burning desire to grow, change and surrender to spirit. It borders on desperation, and my heart is not unlike my little woodland herb garden, where each of the herbs strain toward the filtered sun, so that the whole garden seems to tilt as the tender plants reach with all their might towards the light that feeds them. It is holy desperation to leave behind what I have been in order to embrace what I truly am.
As I drive up to the café I get goose bumps. It is in the shadow of a hill that twists and turns up to a monastery. As the path winds up the hill, the 12 positions of the cross are depicted. It is quite a sight and I am enchanted ~ strangely, it seems like exactly the right place to be. Entering the shop, I can’t control the tears as they rise in my eyes. All around me are home-made altars to Mary. I am on the right path, using only intuition and luck ~ it is hard to explain but my head sings as my heart hums. Even if this is the only place the journey leads to I feel content. I curl up at a table and sip my coffee as I journal and sketch.
I take time to visit each of the small altars and admire the love and care taken to build them. As I peruse I find a small wooden table covered with local flyers. Among them is a flyer for “Mother Mary’s Garden” – a sweet, graceful wooden statue of the Mother Mary surrounded by a non-denominational healing garden. I know this is where I am bound and I gather up my things for a 5 mile journey south.
Typical, I take the wrong turn as I try to find the garden and end up instead at a small lake. I back track a bit and eventually find the garden. If every time I got lost on a journey, I quit, I would have never gotten anywhere! Quiet, no one else is around. I park and read the sign stating that the garden is still under construction but that visitors are welcome from sunrise to sunset. I gather up some rose water, 4 shells I have brought from home, my camera and a small statue of the Mother Mary I had purchased from Café Rosa Mystica. It is perfectly pristine and peaceful as I walk toward the statue. As I approach, two labyrinth gardens unfold on either side of me. And multiple small gardens abound, a Stone Henge garden, a Star of David garden. It is healing here and I let the good energy enter my bones.
Mary stands among flowers, well-love and well-tended. She is tall, over 10 feet, with the sweetest carved face, she reminds me very much of Mother Theresa. I take the shells I have brought and lay them at her feet then sprinkle them with the rose water. I go and sit on one of the nearby benches soaking in the beauty of the day and of the Mary Garden. As I sit, a car approaches and I start to gather up my things thinking it is time to leave. A man and woman get out of the car and come into the garden. The woman asks, “How did you hear about us?” and I told her about the brochure I had found. She introduced herself as Susan and told me her story, her own encounter with Mary that had touched her heart and led her to creating this healing garden where people from anywhere and everywhere can come for physical, spiritual and emotional healing. You can find Susan and Milt’s story at http://www.casadesantamaria.org/
As Susan and I chat while Milt weeds the garden, a rainbow appears in the sky. It reaches down, arching over Mary’s head and nestles into a nearby mountain. Susan notes that this is the first rainbow she has seen here, in the Mary Garden. She looks at me and says, “It must be for you.” And in that moment, it does seem as if it is for me and I take some time to walk through the gardens. Meditating on the rainbow and letting love permeate my being. The rainbow lasts for about 10 minutes, gaining in strength and intensity then slowly it fades away. As it fades, I feel it is time for me to journey back to Fort Garland and my motel bed. I go to say goodbye to Susan and Milt and thank them for following spirit and building this sacred space. As I leave, Susan calls out to me, “Rae, are you a healer?”
Am I a healer? My whole life I have been called. I have felt the urging in my heart ever since I was a small child. I am training now, as a curandera, I can feel I have the raw potential to be a healer (we all do) and as I train I hope to open my gift so I can share it with the world. I tell Susan that I am on the path to becoming a healer. And then the most miraculous thing happens. She invites me to return to “The Mary Garden”. They will be building a “casa” on this land, behind the Mary totem. It will be open to all, a place to come for healing. She has invited me to return, to offer my loving service at the casa and work as a healer for those that come. She says that I can come for a 2 week stay, stay at that casa and tend to the garden and those that come. I am moved beyond speech. My heart opens so wide, it feels as though it begins to crack and I know this is the culmination of my Mary Journey. A journey to healing – for myself, for others, for the world.
I drive away from “Mother Mary's Garden” with tears streaming down my face. My heart is full of love and I can feel my beloved Grandmother sitting beside me. The journey continues, every day the moment I find myself in is the destination. I am full of rainbow gratitude and humbled beyond words by the miracles that unfold around me. So I say, "hush and let your heart be at peace". Come with gentle step to the Mary Garden, sit with me for a moment, hold my hand in quiet air as we journey to the place where we can remember who we are.
