By the Light of the Candle

Three unlikely women were brought together by destiny, coincidence, and by a need they all shared. Months before this meeting, each one of these women experienced some kind of hardship in their lives, ranging from the loss of a loved one, lack of purpose in a career, complete meltdown or a lack of direction and drive.  They all were missing something in their lives. They would come to find later that the very thing they were missing was their connection to each other.

Needing the medicine only Mother Nature could provide, these women were drawn to attend a retreat that promised to nurture their mind, body and souls. They each flew separately from the City of Angels to a speck of land floating in a turquoise sea. This was, for each of them, a solo adventure to reconnect with the soul.

When these three special people met for the first time in the house they were meant to share, sparks flew like they only can when three powerful and enigmatic women encounter each other.

On the third night, when the clouds were full and thundering and the lightning was charging their surroundings, the three women stayed up long after everyone had turned in. They sat around a table in the candlelight talking about their dreams, their successes, their failures, their hopes for their futures, and their love, as they sipped on local red wine. The conversation turned to consciousness, as it always does amongst women who are awake.

They spoke about why there were here, what events lead them to this temporary escape from reality, from the world, from the states. Each with a different reason, they all shared the same purpose. Connection. Rejuvenation. Release. Change.

They ran from what was, leaving no trail behind as they moved forward and subconsciously sought each other. They soon realized this was a beautiful coincidence. An alignment. A situation organized by their collective desire.

The storm was brewing outside and there was a storm of creativity and clarity inside. All their previous woes and obstacles melted away and the women were presented with new hope. Hope for their future, hope for happiness, hope for love, hope for their careers, hope for forging new business ventures and releasing old ones. Hope for change.

“The time is now,” one said, “to stop talking and start creating. We must manifest, harness this energy, and utilize this vibration to make these dreams a reality. We need to set intentions.”

It was time to put their desires on paper and send them into the universe: to create intentions to be manifested.

Separating in different directions, one found paper, the second gathered pens, and the third opened another bottle of wine.

With a timeframe of 60 days, they scribbled their dreams on pieces of torn paper by the dim, flickering light of a candle as rain began to fall outside. These were not just dreams they were writing. These were their deepest desires they were releasing into the wild. They were creating the life they wanted and saw for themselves. The path didn’t matter, neither did the logistics. All that mattered was the end result.

These powerful women were single-handedly designing their futures by the light of the candle.

The storm had reached its tipping point. Blinding lightning struck nearby, illuminating the room with white light for a brief second, followed by a deafening clap of thunder that shook their rib cages and reverberated through their spines. The three women froze, looked up at each other, smiled knowingly and wildly that the universe was listening, and kept writing.

Channeling the power of the divine feminine and utilizing the energy encompassing the room, they wrote.

Their vibrations in-sync, their senses awake, their souls open. The future became crystal clear, the past a murky memory, the now bright and alive.

With another glass of wine and a break in the storm, the women took turns reading their intentions aloud to the circle, to the fire, to the universe, to themselves.

Once the words were spoken aloud, there was no going back. They each realized that this would soon be their reality. The gravity of the words and the power of the intentions resonated deeply and evoked new emotions in each of them immediately.

Next came the burn. The incineration of their desires. The release from this world into the infinite expanse of the universe, all sent up in smoke. The transition from dreams to reality would be strong, but so were these women and they knew they were brave enough to handle the glorious blow.

They moved outside. The rain had stopped and a crescent moon was visible through a momentary break in the engorged, dark clouds. The wind was circling the women and seemed to almost lift them up. They each rolled the pieces of paper containing their futures into long cigars. At once, they thrust the papers into the fire of the candle and watched their desires release into the atmosphere, into the universe, into the control of a higher power, together as one.

As the papers burned and the light grew, they held hands and chanted.

And then, just as the fire had all about extinguished, the clouds burst and released a cleansing and powerful shower on the women and on the embers of their dreams. Yet another reminder that the universal presence was just that: present.

The women lifted their hands and their faces to the rain falling down and smiled, knowing their intentions had been received. They howled with the storm. They sang louder.

As quickly as it came, the rain stopped and the wind dissipated. It was obvious that this was Mother Nature aligning with their intentions and assisting their delivery to the infinite expanse above.

With a single sound of “om” the women sealed the ceremony and embraced; thanking each other and the divine.

They could not have done this without each other. Alone they felt weak, but together they reached a new level of power. They were one.

Morgan Garza