She appeared to me floating on one thousand clouds, soaring above in the bluest sky. She was so high up I could not make out her face but recognized her long, sinewy, dove-white hair spilling down to the earth.
I climbed her hair like a long, grey rope, tugging and pulling myself higher. Then, deep in the thick of the billowy clouds, I heard her booming voice pouring into my ears like the warmest honey. She'd had this effect on me since I was a child, a babe, hearing her gentle cooing and humming, calming and lulling me to sleep.
When I finally reached her, she raised her left eyebrow and said, "Child, why are you climbing up? You should be climbing in?" I stopped, stunned and replied, "But you came to me; you summoned me? So, I came." She looked at me then with her all-knowing eye and said, "But did I summon you?" I stood there and shrugged, and she laughed. Then, her eyes began to turn from crystal blue to a cloudy, milky haze, and I knew she was delivering her prophecy:
The journey you are on is mighty, full of trials, caves, and waves — toiling, troubling, boiling, and bubbling over you again and again. You have travelled to the underworld and stripped yourself bare as Inanna before you. You have met the false one that resides in your mind and spins his lies on your mother's tongue. You have faced your demons, dragons, and doves. You have tasted your blood and the salt of the earth.
For this part of your journey, you must walk alone. Through the dank, dirty, and dreadful cave. The one that you have been avoiding like the plague. The one that sits within your womb heart beneath all the chambers and black art. Here you will find the most precious gem of all, the seat of your soul curled up in a shawl.
You were born with all the wisdom you need secured in the cave of your womb heart. Waiting for you to be brave enough to face it and conquer your fears. Now, walk, my love, to the opening of the cave, see how it's shaped like a yoni, just large enough to squeeze yourself through.
I cannot follow where you go now, but I will be with you as I have always been. So go now, and don't let the fear overwhelm you. You have squeezed your way through before, remember, in your mother's womb? So now you must be brave and return to where it all started. Where time and space cease to exist, and you lose track of who and where you are. It is time to initiate yourself, walk this rite of passage, and become the Womb Oracle.
And so, I went because it was Ana: my Ana, my faithful companion, mother in spirit, and trusted guide. It's always been because of Ana, so I did it "for Ana" (Anaphora).
