The Sword In The Stone: Bedtime Tale

This is a bedtime story about you resting in a hot tub on holiday overlooking a canyon. You drift into a reverie where you dream about sitting by a river, having afternoon tea with Teddy. You watch ducks swimming in the river and find a necklace which turns you into a dragon, you land near a castle, turning into a mouse.

In the castle, you drink some punch, fall into the bowl, and discover you are a turtle in a coral reef. You see an unusual cave, swim into that cave, and find you are a white fox in a vast snowy landscape where you encounter a snow fairy. You find a warm spring in the snowy landscape, wash in the spring, and transform into a gopher, where you encounter a talking sword.

You pull the sword from the stone and find yourself inside the moon, encountering a magician who says they are an ancient alien. Later, you head to bed and drift sleep to Slumberland.

Transcript

So just take a moment to allow your eyes to close and allow yourself to begin to relax and as you begin to comfortably fall asleep.

I don't know whether you'll drift asleep faster to the sound of my voice or whether it'll be to the spaces between my words and as you comfortably fall asleep I'm just gonna tell this bedtime story in the background and in this bedtime story you're staying on holiday in a grand house overlooking a vast Canyon and out the back of the house is a hot tub and you're resting in that hot tub gazing out across the Canyon,

Watching the way the Sun is passing across the sky,

Occasional wispy clouds coming and going,

The feeling of the water bubbling around you,

Perhaps noticing a bird flying high in the sky circling on an updraft.

As you rest there the warm water carefully caressing your body,

Sound of those bubbles,

The smell of the water.

As you carefully drink a tea from a tiny china teacup,

Sound of that teacup against the saucer.

As you lift it up,

Move it to your mouth,

Take a sip of the tea,

Feel that tea passing down through your body before carefully placing that teacup back down on the china saucer,

Just enjoying this holiday,

This breakaway,

Enjoying a sense of peace and calm,

An occasional sense of drifting into a reverie.

While your arms rest on the side of the hot tub and your body relaxes under the water and you just enjoy the serenity of this location,

The silence knowing there's no one else around for many miles and you watch as that sun begins to dip below the horizon and the colours of the sky change from blue to a tinge of red and orange as the air gently cools slightly and you can feel that cool air against your cheeks,

The tops of your arms and yet you continue to sit and rest in that hot tub and while you continue resting in that hot tub,

The sun continues to set and more and more stars become visible in the night sky and once the night sky is an inflamed torches dotted around the garden,

You leave the hot tub,

Feeling the cool air as it wraps around your body and you wrap a warm dressing gown around your body,

That robe with it's soft,

Fluffy material,

Hugging your body,

Bringing warmth to you in the cold night air and you walk over to sit on a chair and you lounge back on that chair,

Gazing up high at the sky,

Watching satellites pass overhead,

Watching the occasional shooting star,

Feeling yourself begin to drift into a reverie,

Your eyes getting heavier and heavier,

Wanting to close,

Your breathing relaxing,

Feeling so cosy and calm and as you drift into that reverie,

You have this sense of lounging back on the bank of a river,

Feeling the grass beneath you,

The texture of the grass under the palms of your hands,

Breathing in the countryside air,

The different scents of wildflowers,

Hearing the rustling of the leaves in the nearby trees,

Hearing the gentle sound of the river flowing past and the soft sound of a family of ducks bobbing their way along that river,

As if the river is the duck superhighway,

Ducks bobbing along and being carried by the current,

Speeding down that river and you start to open your eyes here in this meadow and sit yourself up and see how lush the grass looks,

See the reeds along the riverbank rattling in the breeze,

A swan pushing against the current,

As ducks go speeding past and beside you,

You see your teddy bear,

Just resting there,

Sitting up propped against a bag,

With its own small cup of tea and saucer and you see your cup and saucer and the little stand of cakes and you realize you're enjoying afternoon tea with teddy and you take a scone,

You slice it open,

You place some cream and jam in that scone,

You munch down on that,

Gazing over at teddy,

Imagining that they're drinking their tea and after eating and drinking,

You stand up and wander over to the edge of the river,

Waddling your feet into the shallow water at the edge of that river,

Feeling the cool water bubbling over your feet,

Listening to the sounds of the ducks,

Seeing some of those ducklings weaving and pushing their way through the reeds,

While the parent ducks loiter along the edge of the reeds,

Keeping an eye on those ducklings,

And then in the water,

You see something glistening and you reach into that water and scoop up that glistening object and as you pull it up out of the water,

You find that it's a necklace,

With a clown hanging from that necklace and the buttons down the front of the clown's clothing appear to be sparkling diamonds,

Catching in the sunlight,

You take a closer look at that necklace,

You place that necklace around your neck,

You project your awareness to your fingertips,

As if looking at the back of your neck,

As you maneuver those fingertips to do up that clasp behind your neck,

And then just very gently pulling on the necklace to feel that the clasp has definitely sealed,

And then releasing your grip on the necklace,

As it hangs down around your neck,

That clown resting on your chest just beneath your chin,

And as you feel a certain weight to that necklace,

You feel like there's something different about it,

A certain warmth starts to form from the necklace,

And that warmth begins to infuse gently within your body,

Weaving its way through your body,

And you hear a low and comfortable rumble,

Like a low hum,

Emanating from the necklace and through your being,

Beginning to stretch out,

Within and around your chest,

Down to your legs,

Down to your arms and your fingertips,

Up to the top of your head,

Down to the tips of your toes,

And then you instinctively feel your arms and your legs thrust outwards,

And your head thrust upwards,

And with that movement,

You feel like you're throwing off a shell,

And at the corner of your eye,

You can see yourself,

And where you could see your arms,

Your body,

Your legs,

You now see yourself,

As a purple dragon,

You can feel the wings on your back,

Flapping,

Keeping you airborne,

You can see a mystical landscape below,

Rounded,

Small mountain shaped hills,

Protruding through a fog,

Each covered in stone and moss and some rough grasses,

Like upturned cups,

Dotted everywhere,

And as you look around,

You find yourself flying,

As instinctively,

As when you walk from A to B without a thought,

And you fly down,

Into the fog,

Feeling that fog against your skin,

Flying down beneath the fog,

Low to the ground,

And you find that this ground,

This landscape,

Is like marshy,

Shallow seas,

Dotted with marshy,

Green land,

Boggy grasses,

And these tall mounds,

Protruding up into the sky,

And you fly and weave around those tall mounds,

Keeping close to the ground and the water,

The tip of your wings occasionally,

Slicing through the surface of the water,

Cutting through the tops of the grasses,

Before launching back up above the fog,

Spiraling around,

Seeming to almost drag some of that fog up with you,

Creating what looks almost like a tornado,

Following your body up and round into the sky,

As the sun up here,

Burns the tip of that fog off,

And warms your body,

And the warmth of the sun seems to almost infuse with you,

As if it's a warm bath,

And you feel your body warming in the sun,

Your chest and your throat comfortably warming,

And you develop an urge to scream,

Like an excited,

Happy scream,

And when you let out that scream,

A burst of white flame explodes from your mouth,

With a loud roar,

And a rumble through your throat,

And when you stop screaming,

So the flame dissipates,

And you fly above this landscape,

Flying beyond the fog,

Flying away from those large mounds,

The shallow waters,

And above dense meadows of wildflowers,

Seeing deer huddle together in the meadows,

And birds,

Munching on the ground,

Swooping down,

Seeing birds flitting from tree to tree,

Hopping around on the grass,

Bees and butterflies,

Pottering around from plant to plant,

And as you fly,

You see what looks like a castle in the distance,

And you fly to that castle,

As you land in the courtyard of the castle,

So you land so softly and delicately,

And when you go to move towards the castle entrance,

You realize out your peripheral vision,

You no longer look like a dragon,

You seem to have become a mouse,

Walking so daintily through the courtyard,

Your fluffy body slightly frizzy with the moisture in the air,

And you tootle along,

Heading up towards the entrance to that castle,

And while you walk along,

You notice that that necklace is still around your neck,

Only it seems to have resized to match the size you are now as a mouse,

And you head up to that castle,

And there's no way you can knock on this door and be heard,

So you look around the doorway,

And you find a small hole in the corner of the wooden door,

Where the wooden door is beginning to rot slightly,

And you softly squeeze your way through that hole,

Heading into this castle,

And you're unsure what you'll find,

And your feet tap gently across the stone floor as you explore the castle,

And the castle seems deserted,

Almost as if whoever was here,

Disappeared in an instant,

And you climb up a table leg,

And see food still laid out on the table,

And you munch your way through some of that food,

Feeling,

Sense,

Like you want to eat something,

Like you need something satisfying your soul in some way,

Then you head over to a bowl that looks like a punch bowl,

And you scramble up,

Poke your head over the rim,

And begin to drink at some of that drink in the bowl,

And as you drink,

So you stumble and fall in,

And as you fall in,

You give the tiniest of splashes,

But then find something strange,

That you seem to have changed again,

And as you look around,

Under this liquid,

You find that it seems like you're looking around in a coral reef,

In the most beautiful turquoise water,

Seeing corals of all sorts of colors,

Different fish swimming among the coral,

And other sea creatures,

Hearing the sounds of dolphins,

The distant sounds of whales,

And seeing that you've become a turtle,

Almost flying under the water,

With such ease,

And so little effort required.

And you swim as a turtle,

Down towards the coral,

You weave your way through the coral,

That necklace still hanging around your neck,

And you see something in the distance,

Like a dark patch,

Almost like a tunnel,

Perhaps a cave,

And as you swim closer,

You notice that that cave seems to be triangular,

And you swim closer and closer to the cave,

You pass through the cave,

But as you pass through the cave,

You seem to leave the water,

And as you leave the water,

Going deeper and deeper,

Passing through that cave,

So you hear the rush of wind around you,

And you feel yourself skid to a halt in snow,

You stand up and notice that you're an incredibly fluffy,

White fox,

With a bushy tail,

Thick fur,

And the howling wind just makes your fur flutter,

But you don't feel the cold,

Apart from just slightly on the tip of your nose,

And the sensation of the wind against your eyes,

And the occasional gentle flapping of your ears,

And as you walk through the snow,

Your footsteps are so soft,

So delicate,

Just the slightest crunch with each step,

And this landscape seems so barren,

All you can see in every direction is snow blending into a storm,

And while walking through this snow,

You spy a gentle glow,

A slightly silvery white glow,

You walk towards that glow,

And in the snow,

You see the most beautiful glowing angel,

And as you get closer and closer,

So,

She seems to tingle,

Like the sound of delicate bells,

And she seems so friendly,

And in the softest voice,

She introduces herself as the snow angel,

And with that,

The wind calms down,

And she stood before you,

In a delicate white cape,

Draped down,

Touching the top of the snow,

And the only thing showing behind her,

Are translucent wings,

She explains that the storm is just her cape expanded,

And if she opens her cape,

The storm will return,

And she tells you that you're here on a mission,

A mission of inner discovery,

Of learning something about yourself,

That you'll only know by accessing multiple different aspects of yourself,

And each aspect of yourself,

Is contained within a different being,

And so,

You have to explore each of those aspects of yourself,

To better know yourself,

And get a whole impression of yourself,

And a whole understanding of who you are,

And who you can be,

And what you can achieve,

And she hands you,

A small bar of lavender scented soap,

And tells you that this will be the secret to finding your way from here,

And with that,

She opens her cape,

The storm returns,

And she fades into the distance,

And as this fox,

You continue on,

Walking through this snowy landscape,

And you notice an area where the snow is becoming thinner,

And you can see some dark blue water as you approach,

And you walk towards that water,

And you can see some steam just gently rising from the water,

And you get closer and closer,

And you notice this water seems to be a natural hot spring,

Of the most comfortable temperature,

And so refreshing in this cold landscape,

And you walk into that water,

You rub up that soap,

Lathers up,

You begin to wash that soap over yourself,

Absorbing yourself in the scent of lavender,

That scent of lavender filling your nostrils,

Breathing in through your body,

Tingling at the back of your eyes,

Twitching in the tips of your ears,

Feeling yourself relaxing deeper and deeper,

And your eyes closing,

And as your eyes close,

So you feel the water fade away around you,

And while the water fades away,

You feel that you're resting in a meadow,

On a beautiful summer's day,

You open your eyes,

And you find that you're now a gopher,

And you're exploring this meadow,

And in the middle of this meadow,

Is a large rock,

And sticking in that large rock,

Is a sword,

And that sword is gently humming,

As if it's vibrating a song,

And you bound your way over to that sword,

And as you get near,

The sword begins to talk,

And it asks you to sit down,

Take a moment and listen,

I'm going to tell you a story,

A story about a child called Heather,

And Heather was out one day,

In a pumpkin patch,

And she was gathering up pumpkins for pumpkin pie,

And as she was gathering up those pumpkins,

They got heavier and heavier,

And harder and harder to carry,

But she had to get those pumpkins home,

And she tried to carry that basket of pumpkins,

But the more she walked,

The heavier they felt,

And it felt like so much time was passing,

As she was carrying those pumpkins,

And she could see home,

But it seemed so far away,

As if every step she took towards the house,

She was finding herself two steps further away,

And she walked and walked,

And then,

Someone dressed as a knight,

In silver shining armor,

Appeared before her,

And they offered to help her,

And she accepted that help,

And that knight helped her carry the pumpkins all the way home,

And once home,

She offered them a cup of tea,

And they came in for the cup of tea,

But when they took their helmet off,

She was surprised by what she saw,

Underneath the helmet,

This knight was an octopus,

And they removed their armor,

And flopped to the floor,

And they spoke to her about magic,

And about taking on different forms,

About how they can disguise themselves,

And how they can use their strong arms to shape themselves,

Whether it's filling armor,

Or hiding in a crevice,

And while drinking tea,

They share knowledge,

And Heather sets about cooking pumpkin pie,

And almost as if the scent of pumpkin pie wafting through the land,

Her father appeared at the door,

And he arrived at the door wearing socks and sandals,

Dressed as a bandit,

And he wasn't happy to see a knight's armor lying on the ground,

He worried that there was a knight here in his home,

And he had his stolen items in a sack,

And as he arrived,

The octopus camouflaged itself,

And so he couldn't see the octopus there,

And then slowly the octopus revealed itself,

Explained they're not a knight,

And the father explained why he did what he did,

And about being poor and trying to provide,

And so the octopus took this opportunity to teach something to the father,

He spoke about a story he had heard,

About a monk who'd left his shoes outside a building while he went into the building,

And when he came back,

His shoes were gone,

And the monk's friend said how angry he must be at his shoes going missing,

At whoever stole those shoes,

And the monk explained that whoever took the shoes probably needed them more than he did,

And the person that took the shoes has given him this gift,

This gift of learning and exploring,

Kindness and compassion,

Exploring forgiveness,

Exploring acceptance,

But if the person hadn't taken those shoes,

There are lessons he would never learn,

There are feelings he'd never experience,

And the friend didn't fully understand,

But the monk was just sharing,

And the octopus continued on teaching,

And one of the items the bandit had taken was that talking sword,

And the octopus told the bandit,

You need to place that sword in the stone in the pumpkin patch,

And it will stay there,

Until someone comes along,

Who's capable of removing that sword,

And when that occurs,

They'll bring a new understanding through time,

A new wave of good fortune,

And like a ripple through time,

Like a stone in a pool of water,

That'll spread through time,

And it'll follow the path back,

Through everyone who's touched that sword,

And the sword's tail,

Will bring peace and new understanding,

And you'll no longer be poor,

But you'll be rich in a very specific kind of way,

But that way of being rich,

Will allow you to have what you need,

And it'll allow you to release what you want,

And the octopus then climbs back into the armor,

And the bandit takes the sword out to the stone,

The octopus follows,

And once the sword is in the stone,

So the octopus,

Rests an arm on the bandit's head,

And says,

I'm the keeper of dreams,

And passes a dream to the bandit,

And the bandit's eyes close,

They become very still,

They drift into a deep and powerful reverie,

Going through an experience much like the one you're going through,

Now,

As if their brain has been reprogrammed,

Like taking a chunk of the old out and replacing it with something new,

When they release that bandit's brain,

And the bandit returns back to themselves,

And they find the fields full of lush crops,

They go and eat Heather's pumpkin pie,

And the octopus in that suit jumps in the air,

And as the suit falls to the ground,

So there's an explosion of sand from within the suit,

That dissipates with a thick breeze,

Wafting on the winds of peace and harmony,

And so the sword continues telling the story,

And says that you,

As a gopher here,

Is the one who's destined to remove the sword from the stone,

And as a gopher,

You question whether you'd be able to remove that sword from the stone,

They say you're not called a gopher for nothing,

You're going to go far,

But to go far,

You need to remove that sword,

And the gopher climbs up on the stone,

And as this gopher,

You take hold of the sword,

And so easily and effortlessly manage to lift it out of the stone,

The sound of that sword sliding its way through that stone,

Humming as it stretches into the air,

Like a lightning bolt sparking from the tip of the sword up into the sky,

Arcing overhead,

Like that lightning is dancing from cloud to cloud,

Back down to the earth again,

And finding yourself stood there tall and proud,

No longer looking like a gopher,

And as you gaze up and around,

And look back in front of you,

You find your landscape has changed again,

You're stood in a large,

Empty room,

A room that's pitch black and so large,

You can't see the sides,

And a man in a purple cape,

Is stood in the shadows,

And he explains that he's a magician of sorts,

He's the observer,

He watches over everything,

And he creates transformational experiences,

Like this one,

And he gestures for you to follow him,

And carrying that sword,

You follow him on a long walk through this dark room,

An almost soundless room,

Just the most delicate spatial hum,

And after a long walk,

You notice some windows,

And you walk over to those windows,

And stand next to the magician at the window,

And you look out of the window,

And below you can see the earth,

And he says that for millennia,

People have gazed up at the night sky,

Watched the moon pass overhead,

Unaware the moon is an ancient alien spaceship,

And that we're the aliens,

We're here observing,

Watching,

Transforming lives from afar,

He gestures and points and says,

Down there,

You're sleeping,

Resting on a comfortable chair,

And thinking you're drifting and dreaming,

Unaware,

I've been inside your mind,

Helping to reprogram things and help make some changes,

Almost like granting wishes,

And in a moment,

You're going to look at me,

You're going to look into my eyes,

I'm going to count from three to one,

And on the count of one,

You're going to think I fade away,

But actually,

You're the one fading away from here,

Back to the you there,

And you'll wake up,

Thinking this was all a dream,

Three,

Two,

That's it,

All the way,

Deeper and deeper,

One,

That's it,

And as the experience seems to fade like a dream,

You find yourself waking on that chair,

Nighttime,

Deepening,

And you head into the building,

You head to your bed,

And it's the most comfortable,

Most perfect bed,

The ideal mattress,

The most comfortable pillow,

And it takes no time at all for your head to hit the pillow,

And your eyes to close,

And your mind to drift deeply and comfortably asleep into slumberland.