The Heart Fountain

 
The Birthing
The door to the school is closed and locked when I arrive at day’s end.

I raise my hand to knock on the door.
A soft green light rises from the green line around my wrist.

The door opens.
There is no guard here now.

I remember the way.
The lights come on as I enter the small room.

Vala appears a moment later, with another sparkling smile.

“Ready for your next lesson, Neebol?”
“Yes.”

“Tell me, Neebol, what you know about energy bodies.”

“Not much.”
“Just that both of us have energy bodies, but yours is different in some way.”

“Right.”
“This world is a mixture of energy and matter,” she says.

“Your energy body,” she says, “survives physical death.”
“But it can’t stay near this world without a connection to a physical body.”

“Something guides your energy body to a place of pure energy.”

“The energy body of the Gen is different.”
“It can live in this world or in worlds of pure energy.”

“To become Gen, people of flesh transform their energy bodies.”
“We call this, the birthing.”

“You prepare for the birthing.”
“And you transform your energy body during the birthing.”

“But that new energy body is too weak to survive without a first gift of energy.”

“One Gen watches you during the birthing”
“She must give you a part of herself at exactly the right moment.”
“Or your energy body dies.”

“How did the first Gen pass through the birthing without help?” I ask.

“A good question, Neebol.”
“Some say she was unique.”

“But I believe the legends.”
“Energy beings from another world helped the first Gen through the birthing.”

“The world of the seven towers?” I ask.
She nods.

“What are the seven towers?” I ask.

“There are seven centers in the energy bodies of you and the Gen.”
“We call them gateways, or wells.”

“You’ll learn about the wells in your training.”

“Control the energies within the wells.”
“And you control your shape, and the shape of things around you.”

“The seven towers may be connected with the seven wells.”

 
Hands of Power
“Time to stop talking, and start doing.”

“First, I’ll teach you to free the power in your hands.”
“Then you can use that power to free the wells.”

“Your hands are the key to freeing your mind.”
“They represent all your power to bind and change the world.”

“But they are more than a symbol.”
“Your hands channel all the different types of energy that flow through you.”

“Close your eyes.”

“Imagine yourself in the middle of a forest clearing.”
“You’re lying on a soft mat in front of a comfortable fire.”
“Your eyes are closed.”

“A vibration passes through your body.”
“Then a river of energy starts flowing, spinning, faster and faster around your body.
“Most of your body starts to thin, until it is pure light, which has the appearance of crystal.”

“Your hands rise a few feet above your light body, which remains at rest on the ground.”

“Your hands are strong.”
“A powerful river of energy spins at the ends of your free hands, in the area of your wrists.”

“The spinning energy frees your hands from every force that holds them back, or tells them what to do.”
“They are absolutely free now.”

“They rise straight up into the air a thousand feet, at incredible speed.

 
Wells of Light
“Seven new rivers of energy spin in circles around seven crystal bowls in your light body on the ground.”
“Each bowl has a thick liquid of a different color: red through violet.”

“The spinning energy frees the bowls from every force that would hold back the energies within.”
“Feel the spinning energies around and around the bowls of light.”
“Feel every tension, every force slipping away from the bowls.”

“Feel the energy within each bowl, growing brighter and brighter.”
“Feel the energy within each bowl, growing more and more sensitive, more intelligent to the world around it.”

“Look into each bowl,and see that each bowl is a window into a great well, that continues without end.”

“Now!”
“The bowls form a circle and rise into the air, until they stop just underneath your hands.”

“Your hands bathe in each bowl of colored energy, beginning with red.”
“Let the hands rest in each bowl and be cleansed of all weight.”

“See the hands rise from the first bowl, glowing a blinding red.”

“Now repeat the bathing with each bowl, until finally your hands rise from the violet bowl, glowing a blinding violet light.”
“Then let the violet color slip away from your hands”

“Until they are pure light with no color, brighter than the sun, purer, and more powerful.”

“Now these hands return to your body, but stay just beyond it.”
“Whenever you need to act just think of these hands, always near you, but not bound by anything.”

“Now, Neebol, see the hands in this room!”

“Yes, Vala I see them.”

“Now, without thinking, crush the table.”

There is a tremendous flash of light that I see through my closed eyes.

I open my eyes.
The table is gone, replaced by thousands of tiny pieces that lie upon the ground.
I reach with my energy hands, and pull the pieces up toward the ceiling.

The pieces reshape themselves into a glowing, wooden staff, that stands four and a half feet tall.
I take the staff with my physical hands and pound it lightly on the floor.

The staff melts before my eyes, and reforms the table that was.

“The lesson is finished, Neebol.”
“Come again tomorrow at day’s end,” she says, and kisses me on the cheek.

The city seems brighter, and my body seems lighter as I walk home.