Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Vision


In January I posted the following middle-of-the-night experience on the dream forum that is a main feature of Robert Moss's online dream classes:

I think this is on the fringes of what this forum concerns itself with, but it came to me in the night, in between dreams. Night before last I was lying awake in the night a lot, and I kept thinking about how to make wooden handles for the drawers and cupboard doors on my new cabinets, but that was nothing strange, because I was thinking about that before I went to sleep. What is somewhat strange is that I started thinking about making a labyrinth of lilac bushes on my place, thinking of how big it would have to be and how many bushes that would require and how much that would cost at the rate for hedge lilacs, &c. I figured it should occupy at least a whole acre, and I wish I could walk around well enough to go out scouting for a good place. I have over 100 acres here, so I could do it. Hmmm. How big are the ancient labyrinths? It seems like somebody on the dream forum is likely to know a lot more about labyrinths than I do, their design, their use, their significance. Would a labyrinth of lilac bushes make sense?
If anybody can tell me or point me in the right direction for finding out, I'd appreciate it. If I can manage, I think I might really do it.

I got enthusiastic responses encouraging me to do it. One of the people on the dream forum is a certified labyrinth facilitator, and partly just by my own blundering searches, partly by help from her and others, I found out something about labyrinths. I began to check out sources of lilac bushes, and found a place through which I could order 200 fit to use for hedges at a price of $2 each. So I ordered 200 of them, and paid for them.

Then I called a guy I know who has a bulldozer. He came, bringing with him another man who has a machine called a mulcher which grinds wood up into chips. He said that machine would be more suitable than just the dozer, and I guess it would. The place I think of making it was cut over not long before I bought this place and has brush and stumps and scrubby small trees. After examining it, they said it would cost about $4oo to clear the road and then it would take 4 or 5 hours at $150 per hour for that machine to chew up the stumps and brush. So I am looking at $1000 to $1200 or so for clearing.

I was inclined to tell them to go ahead, but when my daughter heard of it she had strong objections. If I suddenly needed more money than I had, say for car repairs, she would feel obliged to help me. But if the reason I didn't have it was because I'd spent my savings on something I didn't really need, such as the labyrinth, she would be pretty unhappy with me. She does have an important point there, so I told the equipment operators to hold off til I had another way to finance it.

People on the dream forum began offering me donations and a couple of them advised me to spend nothing but donations on the project. I am doubtful about that, but after stewing over it, I have decided I will accept donations, if anybody wants to give them. I really don't want to be one of the millions of voices crying for people's money, but if anybody really would like to be part of this creation, I guess I should welcome them.

I make wooden spoons and other articles of natural wood, which I sell at markets and craft fairs and I was recently given the wood of a lilac bush. I have decided that everything I make out of that lilac will go to support construction of the lilac labyrinth. I will put all the money for the labyrinth into a bank account I will use or nothing else, until I have enough to pay for it.

I live in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, a place that has kept to old-fashioned ways longer than most in this country, and some things that are more "new age" have taken much longer to catch on here, but I have found there is one labyrinth 15 miles or so away. I hope to meet more people who are interested. If I am lucky, a few of them will come to help me plant it. Maybe some will bring some of the side shoots from old lilac bushes, which can be dug up and transplanted to make new bushes.

I have been thinking of making an 11 circuit labyrinth, which means, at the size of path I need to make and the amount of space a lilac bush takes up, it will occupy 1.26 acres and require over 800 lilac bushes. But I could change my plans and make a smaller one. Whatever I do, it can't help but be large as labyrinths go.

I put this blog here at the urging of some of my friends from the dream forum, for a place they can advise people to go to see what I want to do, because the dream forum itself is only for people who have signed up for that class.

What do you think?

2 comments:

  1. Awesome idea Terron! You will see interest grow. I'll send some funds to help when I can. You might want to post an address for us to send the money to?

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  2. Hi Jeni, It took me a while even to find the comments on here and even longer to figure out how to answer them, but I think I've done that now. There is now an address posted for me. I deposited the first 2 donations on Friday. I am sometimes a little bit intimidated by the possibility of interest growing very large, but it would also make me feel that it is something worthwhile doing.

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