The Celestial Sea Voyages

This is a big story that I shall release in bite-sized morsels. I shall begin with the precis of the whole series to date:

Oh, Playful Sprite of the silver fern,

My Smiling Minstrel, Prince of Elves,

How blessed are we to sail upon this Celestial Sea?

In thought and deed and desire,

Such rare and joyful harmony.

Should we be afraid to travel, just ourselves,

To heavenly realms where we can be free?

Deep in embrace, all of you and all of me,

Softly – Gently - Quietly.

Dipping the crest of each wave as it rolls,

Pure Spirit alive and lighting our way.

Side by side with our swords beside Angels we’ll stand,

To alight upon shores of a beloved, known land.

Let us pray.

The Craftsman pauses in his work. Something is stirring, something new, something expected. He lays down his tools, interested. Ah, it is a destiny event, the beginning of a happening. He fills a pipe and turns his attention to the scene below. In a school building, gazing out of a window, stands a woman - lovely. He watches her carefully, catching her drifting thoughts. Their content draws a soft smile to his lips. “At last,” he murmurs.

In the summer of 2005, a woman known as ‘Mouse’ in her mid-forties, with her husband and three children, leaves the comfort of home in the South of England for a new life in the Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand. What sets out to be a two-year chapter catapults them into a six-year adventure with lifelong repercussions. She is driven by artistic endeavour and spiritual learning, her husband by vocational teaching, laced with a boisterous and bullish ego. Carrying a powerful, somewhat royal command, he has never been easy to live with, preferring to bounce off others rather than relax into a deep and emotional connection with his wife. But she happily stands beside him. In all honesty, her lively imagination has created their romantic connection, although they manage a positive scenario on some levels.

Building up to this big decision to leave for New Zealand, the trials and exhausting rounds of parenthood progress as usual; domestic routines never change. But the true nature of her person, and his personality, are gradually being laid bare — the cracks in their marriage are deepening. Mouse adopts a brave face and trails along behind, tossed about in her husband’s regal wake, realising he uses her as a surfboard, rather than cherishing any safe harbour. Of course they are close in their own way, albeit simple, their three children a powerful tie, but the depth of connection she needs is lacking. They do not sing from the same hymn sheet. She always presumed they did.

As disrespectful comments begin to eat into their marriage, Mouse gradually realizes what lies ahead. Her husband’s scathing words about her alternative leanings, and his unpredictable moods, (especially when they are alone as a couple, or as a family), dampen any joy she had originally felt — and that is when they leave the Northern Hemisphere for another of his ego boosting adventures. They are excited about the opportunities ahead, and in her ever optimistic and sincere tendency she hopes they might achieve a new footing in a new hemisphere.

Mouse has her faults too: a sanguine eagerness to smooth over any difficulty and provide anything her husband wants without question. Marriage and motherhood have turned her into a willing servant, allowing bullying behaviour to reign unchecked. She was unwell for three years after the birth of their first child; a mystery ailment akin to Chronic Fatigue, which didn’t help their relationship, and she is a stickler for detail, which annoys her husband’s gung-ho nature. Stubborn too, refusing to relinquish a project once a course is set. How she yearns for artistic and deeply connected Love. In its place the holistic world of Alternative Education offers beauty and nourishment, the teaching philosophy she finds provides a spiritual avenue, which inspires the establishment of her successful Playgroup and Kindergarten in Hampshire. The only reason she agrees to a new life abroad is the presence of an alternative school following the same principals in the town where her husband has found a teaching position in a state school. While he and their eldest son step into regular Kiwi schooling, she and their two younger children settle into the life-giving and inspirational environment of Holistic, Artistic Education.

And that is where she meets Adrian – an attractive New Zealander nine years her junior – a teacher infused in the arts: woodworker, musician, and pioneer farmer — a fellow spiritual seeker who captures her mind, body, and soul over three intense years of a twin-flame connection they cannot deny. As the family settles into a completely new and exciting life in the Southern Hemisphere, Mouse and Adrian are brought into daily connection. And what a connection! Mouse hardly believes what is happening as the dynamic alchemy begins to spin a crystalline web around them. They never expect to fall seriously in love, or to become literary collaborators through their mobile telephones – but that is what happens. Their combined artistry ignites the embers of a long forgotten, or newly remembered, blaze of magical creativity, overwhelming their clandestine liaison and rendering a knife edge to everything they manifest and experience. Extraordinary timings and strange coincidences litter their path; “surely these things only happen in storybooks, never in real life?” They are truly amazed.

As life unfolds in unexpected ways, the two friends begin to inhabit a tantalizing, mystical world. Intoxicating beyond the parameters of a regular existence, they access a depth of soul that thrills them both. Imbibing divinity cannot easily be expressed in words, although they give it their visionary best. Sacred intimacy offers exquisite sustenance: once tasted, a refusal of the Holy Elixir is out of the question. How can they possibly come together without devastating those they walk beside?

Regular correspondence is the only way, and goodness, how they write! As the months progress, their reams of poetic script, (diligently recorded by Mouse), unveil a surprising and thought-provoking story. They have no idea that their daily text messages hold the potential for creative content. Until one day it dawns upon Mouse: “we are the unwitting protagonists of our own destiny-driven adventure! The paragraphs are appearing every time we message each other: ‘A sacred romance and moral quest’. The prose should be formatted into a cohesive tale,” she decides. “I’ll write the Craftsman’s pieces and the synopsis,’” Adrian agrees.

From week to week they have no knowledge of the next chapter’s revelation, and day by day through the complex wrangles and sincere truth-seeking, (choreographed by the Godhead figure of The Craftsman), the image of a hallowed vessel appears; a metaphor for all they hope to achieve and attain: ‘The Celestial Sea’ — the most beautiful boat you can imagine. Where will she take them? Will they ever sail her one day, for real?

Wave Slicer, Watery Dancer, long and deep. And shapely in curve and line; full-bellied sails to sense the air and use the winds to their full potential, harnessing the driving power of each gust.

Needless to say, disaster and shipwreck lie on the near horizon. Mouse’s husband is understandably outraged by her absurd request to be ‘allowed’ this longed-for Love. He has always been generous, but this is a step too far. She naively presumes his disinterest in their marriage, exacerbated by the limitless playground of New Zealand, stems from his vocation and attention elsewhere. Ludicrously optimistic in her soul aspiration, is she infatuated, or driven by something more profound? Whatever it is, a tenacious grip on the possibility remains undeterred. What none of them realize until months later is that her husband harbours serious bipolar, mental ill-health. Cushioning it for their entire marriage, she must have been subconsciously aware. Why else would a sensible, devout partner of twenty-five years welcome the arms of another without an ounce of regret? Unfortunately, her betrayal exacerbates the mental imbalance into a monstrous, manipulative tyrant who not only banishes Adrian forever, but serves her with finalized divorce papers without her knowledge or agreement.