May 15, 2012

Red Thread

Moving is a bitch. But when it's done, it's done, and you slowly can go thorough the motions of unpacking and settling in. I awake every morning to the sounds of the trains and the many birds. The ravens, the woodpeckers. The old house brings memories to the tasks before me. I have been bound to this house since I was a child, and its creature comforts.

I took Little M to see 'Cats' after the May Crowning and we had a great time. My own mischievous cats have been exploring the new digs, and breaking several things in the process. They knocked down nearly everything from my vanity and broke a little tea cup that I keep baubles in, along a little wooden box. The lid had come off and the contents had spilled out. This was a box I kept little bits of magic treasure in over the years, and one of the things I noticed on the floor was a wad of red thread. Ah yes, I had forgotten about this bit of magically infused thread. I silently thanked the feline intervention for bringing this matter to my attention.

I set the thread back on my vanity while I took a few days to think and dream about the proper words to release it. This was a bit of thread that came to me in a magical moment of fate, and symbolized a bond that no longer existed, yet persisted — a tie that had been broken, yet lingered. It must be returned to the element from which it came to me — to the wind.

When I awoke this morning, I knew I had the right magical words in mind to finally release this thread, to sever the bond forever. And even if the words were not right, they were right enough, and the time was overdue. And so surrounded by the trains and the birds, I broke the spell, and cast the thread to the wind.

It was only later as I searched for an image under the search terms "red thread' that I discovered that "red thread" symbolizes "fate" according to the Chinese, and those bound by the red thread are bound as if in marriage. It is similar to the Western concept of soul mates.


My life has reflected soul mates that come and go, but are not "life long" partners, as Hollywood would like, and I might fancy when swept into a romantic mood. But for now, my soul is again free, bound to no one and grounded again in my own life, my family, and all that I will. Nothing has every brought me more peace than that in my 40 years.



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