I Could Hardly Wait To Enter The Magnificent Stone Abbey On The Isle Of Iona, Scotland.
The Heart of Stone
I arrived on the island, easily finding the accomodation where the group was staying. I booked into my room and rested for a time. That evening, I walked along a laneway by the main street where people occasionally passed me on their way to the Abbey. I knew that I had to get to the isle of Iona in order to cleanse myself. The moment I came across the white flowers on the fence, I became lost in my photography. The twilights of Scotland were long and so I was able to walk along the beach before retiring for the evening. While there, I saw a stone in the shape of a heart. The heart shape was the first thing I noticed, even though it was upsidedown in the sand.
The next day, I spent the entire sunny blue morning, walking along a narrow road, almost entirely devoid of people, where I photographed large white sheep, along peaceful and expansive hills, that appeared to sweep up out of the calm ocean, in order touch the summer sky and I collected daisies adrift, that were littered along the road, believing that they had been placed there, by my angels and/ or guides.
On the way back towards the Abbey, wHere I was now headed, I remembered the stone heart on the beach the night before and then I thought, I would like to find a stone heart so that I could give it to Mandy, a group member who appeared to have experienced alot of deep pain, in regards to her relationship with her local church.
On the road where I walked earlier the angels had left me a stone heart.
I gasped, picking it up. They had placed the stone heart in full view of the Abbey.
I spent the next few hours looking around the grounds and buildings of the Abbey. I lit several candles for my deceased relatives and my two dogs and noted the deep blue sea and sky bordered by the stone of the window. I thought about long dark winters on the island and imagined times past, of how cold it must have been. I went into the church where the services were held and sat down on one of the pews. I noticed that on each of the pews was a small piece of cut out paper. I picked one up and turned it over, and on the other side, the angels had left a message for me:
It was beautiful. I showed Denise and she immediately recognised the message as an acknowledgement in regards to Australia and my experiences on the trip. I felt at peace on this island, away from the group only saying hello and falling in with them occasionally. I was told by one of the group over lunch that Dora had made a remark in regards to Jamies treatment of me, 'a cat always falls on his claws'. I found this odd, since I barely related to cats. Maggie then said that I reminded her of a bear.
Feeling dejected, I went window shopping, walking into a small shop, where a woman and I got to talking, when suddenly she said, "Here, I have to give you this." It was a card featuring two polar bears with the words, 'We all need someone to lean on.' I thanked the woman profusely. It was very appropriate and just what I needed. I spent the rest of the day on a quiet and distant beach photographing the coloured stones.
Leaving Iona
On our last hours on the island, Denise made a decision to catch a small boat out to a rock conclave. While away she slipped and fell, splitting her forehead open from the top of her nose to the hairline. She was taken away by air ambulence, but was able to join us again for the evening meal. Because of this accident, she would not be accompanying me to Edinburgh to Greyfriars. The group went off to their rooms to 'do some healing work' on Denise, leaving me at the table my myself. This was very disturbing to me, since I had been smashed between the eyes as a child and I couldn't help but no wonder, if this had not been an accident afterall, since now I would be going to Greyfriars alone. Just after the meal, Jamie had came towards the table from the bar saying' "Coral is not spreading any more of her poison around is she?" With that the group became suddenly silent and Denise said, "We still love you, Jamie." At that they all got up together and left the table, leaving me sitting by myself. Jamie ambled back into the bar to complete his drinking for the evening.
A sense of peace and well being was upon me as I felt myself being drawn towards the church for the evening service. I asked Patricia as they left, "Are you coming to the service tonight?" "No," she snapped. "We aee going off to heal our friend." Whatever was behind this attitude, it no longer mattered to me, since I would not be accompanying the group in the black car again. Once I had left the tour, I had put everything else associated with this particular group of people behind me forever.
I attended the local service that night. It felt good to be walking to a church visited by so many before, among rows of people filling the lanes, heading towards The Abbey in the evening, the summer ocean turning blue to mauve, to match the sky that fell behind it, and each of the people, some alone, some in small groups, locals and visitors, all moving in from pathways, like rivulets of a stream forming into the one great river that flowed towards the Abbey, for hundreds of years this occurring. I knew that did not walk alone.
Inside The Abbey On The Isle Of Iona, Scotland.
The following morning, I remember being surrounded by dozens of Christians who were singing song of praise on their way into the ship at Craignure. I felt sheltered amongst them and their joy was contagious. It was obviously a place of pilgrimage for many Christians and right at this moment, with the sadness in my heart, as The Sacred Isle Of Iona faded back into the skies and waves, it felt good and reassuring to be amongst them. They were each bright stars. Their faces lit by the morning sun and while their singing had ceased once we boarded the ferry to Oban, their hymns continued to comfort my heart of stone, all the way back to mainland Scotland.
Back On The Mainland
We stopped in at the tiny port Oban back on the mainland. Suddenly, it was as if I did not want to return back to Australia. Instead I wanted to hire a car and start driving north, back towards the battlefield of Culloden to go and lay down on it, in order to see where the memory of me having died there was coming from. I figured that I could drive the whole of Scotland within 48 hours, so I tried for around an hour having the Tourist Information Centre call every hire car company there was, but I was continually thwarted in my efforts. I walked up the street where I was told by my guides to go in and get a massage at the place across the road. It was only just over an hour, before the bus left for Edinburgh, but I did what they said to do.
I entered a tiny building and the woman who had the next appointment saw me and simply cancelled, so that I could take her place. As I undressed I looked up and on the wall directly behind me, I saw a large colour picture of Jesus Christ looking down over the massage table. This had suprised me. "That's interesting", I commented, "not many people who do massage are into Jesus." She replied that Jesus was her guiding light, and that she did everything under Him. As she worked, she told me that I was allergic to something, that was attacking all my joints and causing the arthritis. I thanked her, because I felt sure, this was why my angels had lead me here. I left that place, thinking that my life, seemed to be a strange combination, of Christian and pagan signs and symbols at work, in spiritual ways, in the physical world.
The bus back to Edinburgh was warm and its cabin was filled with sleepy people, as it traversed the low lying hills of the highlands in the dull rainy weather of summer. As we got closer to Edinburgh, the inevitable signs started to appear alongside this odd feeling of anticipation, of approaching a situation completely outside my experience, as if I was going to met someone for a secret rendezvous, who held secret knowledge meant for me. I was on my way back to Edinburgh, to have a word with Mackenzie.
Braveheart - A Gift Of Thistle.
This website is part of my personal testimony and has been guided by The Holy Spirit and written in Jesus' name.
