The Cave Of Cosmic Crystals

In this bedtime story, travel to a remote star system seeking the wisdom of a renowned teacher. You hope to learn the ancient insights of a lost culture, which, once mastered allow sages to bend the energies of the universe. Take a journey of discovery into a mystical cave at the heart of her planet, wherein lie deep, untold truths and wonders. | Key ingredients: Space Opera; Rain sounds, Cosmic meditation
Music: A Glimpse of Avalon by Flouw; Subconscious Waves by Bruce Brus, EpidemicSound

Transcript

Journey into yourself and master sacred cosmic energies in tonight's meditative sleep story.

Sleep in Sorcery is a folklore and fantasy inspired sleep series.

My name is Laurel and I'll be your guide on tonight's fantastical journey.

Sleep in Sorcery is one part bedtime story,

One part guided meditation,

And one part dreamy adventure.

In our story tonight,

You will travel to a remote star system seeking the wisdom of a renowned teacher,

Maura the Wise.

You hope to learn the ancient insights of a lost culture which,

Once mastered,

Allows sages to bend the energies of the universe.

Using Maura's guidance,

You undertake a journey of discovery into a mystical cave at the heart of her planet wherein lie deep,

Untold truths and wonders.

It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.

Where you stumble,

There lies your treasure.

Joseph Campbell.

The jade compass rests,

Its needle still,

Unwavering,

Steadfastly pointing ahead into the dark.

Outside your view window,

The stars are turned to extruded beams of platinum light that pierce the darkness through which you travel.

Within the cockpit of your ship,

There is an uncanny stillness considering you move beyond the speed of light toward your destination.

You muse on what awaits in the system to which the jade compass points.

Until recently,

You believed the Somnia system,

The planet Somnia,

And its lone steward to be nothing more than the stuff of legend.

Now,

As you hurtle through the blackness of space,

Your heart hopes,

But doubt still lingers.

In the myths,

Somnia is usually described as a swamp planet or sometimes a jungle,

Teeming with living things.

Some swim the planet's waters entirely unseen,

Others soar through its canopies or nestle in the hollows of its trees.

Flora and fauna flourish in Somnia,

The likes of which have never been seen outside the remote star system.

Cultivated,

Cared for,

And connected by Mora the Wise.

You long to learn the mysteries of Somnia,

But it's Mora herself whose personage compels you the most.

In the tales,

She's a fascinating,

Benevolent figure.

She reminds you of great wizards,

Spirit guides,

And even tricksters of your culture's folklore.

You've heard so many accounts of Mora,

Ones that either enhance each other or outright contradict each other.

In some versions,

She's a powerful warrior who retreats to a distant star system after fighting a battle to restore order to the galaxy.

In others,

She's more like a god who helped the universe come into existence and taught people to travel through the stars.

In your favorite Mora myth,

She's punished for giving away the secrets of interstellar travel by being transformed into a great turtle and forced to hold the galaxy on her back as it travels throughout the universe.

But you hurtle through the far reaches of the galaxy now,

Aided only by this rudimentary tool,

The Jade Compass,

For one reason in particular.

In every myth,

Legend,

Or tall tale,

Mora is said to be the holder of arcane secrets and the wisest master in the known universe of a power called the One.

You began your journey to become a wielder of the One a year ago today.

Your first lessons were in the martial practices of the Order of the One.

You learned to fight with elegant arms,

Learning the signature fighting styles like an ancient dance.

The One,

A force that binds the lives and energies of the universe together,

Guided and steadied your hand.

But you reached a limit in what your previous master could teach you.

You both sensed that there was more knowledge to seek,

That you could truly learn to channel the One for more noble purposes than just combat.

Together,

You and your master,

Who now looks upon you as an equal,

Undertook a quest to uncover the Jade Compass,

Which now points confidently through the whirlpool of time and space,

Points at your next destination,

At,

Perhaps,

Your destiny.

In a holster at your hip rests the cutlass you crafted yourself at the completion of your initial training.

Or,

More accurately,

The hilt rests there.

When activated,

Its blade shoots outward from the hilt as a brilliant curve of pure,

White light.

You've sworn to only use the cutlass in defense of the innocent.

It's a comfort to carry with you,

But less because you fear attack,

And more because it's a symbol of your ability to make something out of nothing.

You will lay it at the feet of Mora when you finally reach her,

To prove that you are worthy of her training.

After a short while,

You feel a shift in the stillness of the ship,

Which gives way to its barreling motion.

The extruded starlight collapses around you into singular points,

Like holes poked into the darkened veil of sky.

The compass never once shivers,

But points continuously straight ahead as you exit light speed.

As you adjust to the change,

You gaze out at the view from the cockpit.

Far off across the vastness of space is a milky multitude of stars smeared across your horizon.

But in the foreground,

Only a short distance away is a small,

Emerald green and midnight blue planet.

Somnia.

It's quite moving to behold from here,

As the swirl of clouds moves across it like the surface of a marble.

For a moment,

You savour your position,

Alone,

Above the stars and clouds and everything,

Looking down upon a world full of little lives.

Then,

Ready to unveil the secrets of the legendary planet,

You begin your descent.

Entering Somnia's atmosphere is uncomplicated,

Almost effortless.

As you near the surface,

Passing through a cascade of clouds,

You find yourself descending through a moderate rain shower.

Droplets of water stream past your view as you enter a cruising altitude,

Following the now active compass to the ideal landing location.

On a first impression,

Albeit shrouded in curtains of rain,

The planet is surely forested.

You soar over the tops of thickets of trees with genuine curiosity as to what lies beneath the canopy.

At last,

The compass finding its truth,

You reach an open clearing which appears to be safe to land.

Steady,

You bring the vessel down for an easy landing and secure the compass around your neck.

As you disembark,

The mossy ground feels spongy beneath your feet,

It's good to be on solid ground again,

Even as you seem to sink softly into the soil with each step.

You survey your surroundings,

Just ahead are a series of marshy lakes surrounded by reeds that whistle an eerie tune in the breezy air.

The quality of light is unusual.

You come from a star system lit by two bright,

Burning suns and are only accustomed to that harshness and,

On the other side of the spectrum,

The blackness of space.

But here there's something in between,

Like a permanent silver twilight.

What was falling as rain on your descent now hangs as mist above the ground,

Obscuring much of the detail around you.

The sounds of unrecognizable animals,

Insects,

And birds interrupt the quiet.

Buzzes,

Chirps,

Croaks,

And whinnies.

You refer to the jade compass once again.

It seems to point directly into a density of trees opposite the marshes.

Moving with purpose to avoid sinking further into the ground,

You head toward the towering trees.

Then once past the tree line,

The light changes again.

It's still hazy and diffuse,

But there's a golden green tint to it rather than a grayish silver.

Wisps of something that glitters float through the air like sand suspended in water.

Beneath the upper limbs of the monumental trees,

You feel enclosed,

Cradled by the space.

Just as in the stories,

It's a vast swamp.

The trunks of the trees seem to stretch endlessly into the sky,

And their roots,

Surely,

Dig deep into the silt beneath the still,

Dark water.

There's a narrow bank about the algae-covered water,

And you begin to traverse it,

Holding tight to jutting branches and hanging vines as you move.

The compass points to the heart of the swamp.

And while you do not yet see any promising sign of more of the wise,

You've trusted the artifact so far.

You see no reason to doubt it now,

As the Somnia of myths and fairy tales unfolds before your eyes.

There is a grand tree ahead,

Growing from the very center of the largest pool of water,

Whose branches are streaming tendrils.

They spill outward from the trunk and rest,

Swaying gently upon the surface of the water.

You have never seen anything like it,

Having spent much of your life in a desert outpost.

In fact,

The entire impression of Somnia is wholly beyond your imagination.

You remember your uncle telling you the legend of Mora and describing the swamps and forests of Somnia with a gleam in his eye.

He said that long ago,

Your home planet was green and lush with rainforests and swamps and rivers,

That it was very like Somnia in its ecology,

Until its resources were harvested beyond what it could sustain.

Other members of older generations spoke with that same wistfulness of the plentiful water and fecund soil your home once knew.

You,

However,

Had nothing to compare the desert to.

Now in the presence of fertile ground and plentiful water,

You feel as though something inside you has come unlocked,

As if your perspective has shifted to accommodate an entirely new worldview.

Continuing to make your way around the perimeter of the water,

You look up to find yourself staring into a pair of blue eyes.

Before you is a truly whimsical creature.

It stands on impossibly narrow legs,

The feet of which are hidden under the water.

Its feathers are shades of brown and moss green,

So that it near perfectly blends in with its surroundings,

Save for the bright orange bill protruding from its face.

Its nor brown and greenish plumage extend from the top of its head like an earthen crown.

Despite at first thinking,

The bird looks rather funny.

On further observation,

And as you watch it move slowly through the shallowest part of the water,

You reflect that it's really quite elegant.

You watch,

Mesmerized,

As it plunges its head into the water and re-emerges holding a silver blue fish in its bill.

This surely will not be the last surprise the swamp has in store for you.

Once you've made your way around the bank to the midpoint of the body of water,

You realize that the compass is pointing toward the strange,

Wispy tree at the center.

And looking closer,

Indeed,

There's a faint,

Glowing light somewhere at the heart of the tree,

Which you can perceive as the tendrils part briefly.

And the question is,

How are you to make your way across the water?

Does Mora live there,

In the heart of that great tree?

You search the area with your eyes,

Hoping to reveal a long,

Sturdy vine on which to swing across the water,

But no such thing exists nearby.

You scan around the bank for a bridge or a series of stones to hop along even.

You can't be expected to swim,

Can you?

You take a deep breath and close your eyes.

A child of the desert,

Preparing to plunge into unknown waters.

What have you gotten yourself into?

Then eyes still closed,

You feel something like a cool breeze on the back of your neck,

A tautening of the atmosphere around you.

You feel your own edges start to blur slightly,

As though they're reaching out to all the other living things around you and interlocking with their edges.

It's the very sensation your master described when teaching you about the cosmic energy known as the One.

It must be very strong,

Very powerful in this place.

When you open your eyes,

You see the surface of the water bubbling before you as a smooth stone emerges from the depths near the bank.

Then another surfaces behind it closer to the great tree.

Then another.

Then another.

They rise slowly one by one in perfect sequence until they reach the weeping tendrils of the tree.

You are astonished.

Never have you touched the One to such powerful results.

You've only moved through it,

Alongside it,

As you learned the martial practice.

But there will be time for questions,

You think,

As you hurry to cross the bridge of stones.

You're not sure how long it will remain intact.

You leap from stone to stone,

Calling on your training to maintain your balance.

Finally,

You reach the center of the water and you part the tree's weeping branches like a curtain or a veil.

Beyond the wisps,

You reveal an island with a solid ground of soil,

Root systems,

And stones.

More surprising,

The trunk of that great weeping tree,

Its width that of four or more of the enormous trees lining the swamp,

Emits a golden glow.

A small door and tiny windows are carved into its surface,

And the light from inside its hollow flickers.

The compass seems to tug gently at its chain around your neck,

As though here,

At the doorstep,

It's all the more eager to return home.

You take a step forward and knock at the little door.

When it opens,

The soft light from inside frames the silhouette of the inhabitant.

You have to squint at first to make out her features.

She's unexpectedly small,

No more than half your height.

Age has carved deep grooves in her skin.

An impish smile brightens her face and eyes.

Wisps of white hair stick out from beneath a brown kerchief.

She clutches a small,

Crooked cane in one hand,

Leaning most of her weight upon it.

She speaks your name into the ambience and tells you she has awaited your arrival most anxiously.

She beckons you inside.

When she turns to retreat into the hollow tree,

You are amazed to see that on her back rests the hard,

Notched shell of a tortoise.

So this is Maura the Wise,

You think.

She's hardly what you expected.

A renowned warrior,

Benefactor,

And master of the cosmic energies of the universe.

But she's ancient and undeniably attuned.

The aura around her seems to sparkle or tingle in the air.

The ghost of the sensation of the one which raised the rocks from the swamp still lingers around you.

You follow Maura into what looks like a kitchen,

Hardly observing the surprising spaciousness of the hollowed out hovel and reach for the hilt of your cutlass.

You begin to introduce yourself,

Gesturing to lay the hilt at Maura's feet as was your plan.

But she laughs.

She already knows who you are and why you're here.

And supper is almost ready.

So have a seat.

On her back you protest,

For your journey to reach her has been so long.

You wish to begin your training right away,

Without a moment to waste.

You describe how you were able to raise the stones to reach the island,

Hoping it's an impressive example of your existing powers.

But Maura just chuckles again.

This time she's chuckling because as she explains,

She sensed your arrival and she was the one who raised the rocks to build you a bridge.

You only felt the connection to the one because she was wielding it.

She gestures emphatically to a little chair at the table.

Somewhat disappointed,

You sit.

Maura stirs something fragrant in a pot.

Against your wishes you feel a pang of hunger and enjoy the scent of herbs and citrus wafting from the meal.

Maura hums to herself and urges patience.

There is time to eat.

You break bread with Maura,

Calming your urge to get started right away with a delicious home-cooked meal.

It tastes unlike anything you've had before,

But it's strangely comforting.

You hadn't realized how hungry you were.

Outside,

Beyond the trees cascading branches,

A heavy rain begins to fall,

Muffling the lively sounds of the swamp.

After traveling through light speed and traversing the unsteady banks of the swamp,

You finally let the sensation of stillness,

Of solid ground sink in.

You let your body and mind catch up to each other and slow down deliberately.

Maura pours a cup of tea.

The puckish grin rarely leaves her face as she asks you questions about your desire to study the one.

She appears to know much about you already,

And it's as though the questions she asks are only a formality,

As though she's already made the decision of whether or not to let you enter training.

You answer them thoughtfully though,

Hoping to surprise or impress her with your curiosity and desire to learn.

The rain,

A curtain of sound around you,

Maura stares into your eyes.

She's kind,

If mischievous,

You think.

She's the trickster and the wise woman of the myths.

Perhaps the warrior still lives somewhere behind her dark eyes.

Breaking along silence,

Maura tells you that she'll allow you to train with her so long as you demonstrate patience and deepest commitment.

Once again,

You reach for the hilt of your cutlass,

And without breaking eye contact,

You rest it on the table between you and Maura.

You pledge yourself to the study of the sacred cosmic energies that surround and bind the universe.

Night falls on the swamp.

The rain ceases,

And through the gaps in the canopy,

Somnia's bright moon casts beams of blue-white light upon branches,

Banks,

And blue-black water.

Maura leads you from the cozy hollow to the edge of the water on the far side of her tiny island.

Your training will begin tonight,

Should you accept the terms.

You affirm that you'll do whatever Maura asks.

The trunks and branches of the trees,

The surface of the water and the sky,

These things,

Maura explains,

Are what you can see,

That they are only part of the whole.

The life,

The identity of Somnia reaches not only upward and outward,

But downward and inward.

Beneath the surface of the swamp lies an entirely separate world,

Another piece of an interconnected ecosystem.

To know Somnia,

You must know what lies beneath as well as what lies above.

Just as to know a person,

Or to know oneself,

You must know the inside as well as the outside.

This is your first test.

Beneath the water,

Maura says,

You'll find the mouth of a cave.

In that cave,

If you are devoted to learning the ways of the One,

You'll receive a message that's vital to your continued study.

For the first time since deciding to seek out Maura and complete your training,

You hesitate.

You must plunge into the water and discover the mouth of the cave wherein lies the unknown.

But you feel deep resolve spark in your heart.

You have the courage.

Maura says she'll wait for you here as long as it takes.

Slowing down your breath,

You silently tell yourself that you are capable.

You can do impossible things.

The cool breeze again at the back of your neck,

The tautness in the air,

The blurring of your edges.

Is it Maura again?

Or are you doing this with deepest commitment?

You dive into the water.

It's murky and difficult to see,

But you push forward with your arms and legs.

Then to your surprise,

A greenish glow appears before you.

It's the jade compass,

Bright and beaming,

Tugging at its chain and pointing down and ahead.

You kick your legs to follow its direction.

Only moments later,

You take in a breath of fresh air emerging into an underground cove.

It's strange,

You think,

Turning over the mechanics in your mind.

It seems like you've entered another world entirely.

Perhaps that's it,

The meaning of Maura's cryptic preamble to the test.

Another world lies beneath the surface of Somnia.

Remember the situation,

The jade compass still glows faintly around your neck.

You clasp it gently,

Gratefully.

You hoist yourself onto the rocks and behold the mouth of an enormous cave.

You've come to the right place.

Taking deep,

Delicious breaths in the cool air,

You walk inside.

There's a light source ahead,

Deep inside and downward.

You step lightly and carefully on the rocky floor of the cavern.

The path descends gradually.

You travel deep,

Deep into the core of the planet.

With every step,

You move deeper,

Deeper down,

Down another level,

Deeper.

Feeling the glimmer of light that appears to be drawing closer but remains just out of reach for some time.

You go deeper down,

Further down into the cave until at last you reach its deepest depths,

The heart of the cave.

The light source itself is impossible to identify for it reflects endlessly off countless shining surfaces.

The facets and flaws of millions of crystals of all shapes,

Sizes and colors.

They cover the walls and ceilings even erupt from the floor of the cave like little flowers and seem to sing with color.

Pink and purple and blue and green and gold and pure white.

It's dazzling to behold.

You find yourself lost in the shifting shimmering colors for a length of time you couldn't say.

You're almost hypnotized by the changes.

You reach out,

Eyes gleaming to touch one of the larger crystals which shifts between magenta and indigo.

But at the slightest touch of your fingertips it crumbles as if into sand.

Where the powder lands on the floor of the cave the crystal reforms taking on a new shape.

The whole cavern pulses,

The atmosphere taut and quivering.

You can hear or feel vibrations in the empty space as though the crystals are whispering to each other or to you.

You wonder if this cave in the heart of Somnia is the source or a source of the one.

Then your eyes fall on something at the center of the cavern like a raised platform.

The natural rocks have curved into what almost looks like a spiral staircase leading to it.

Then atop the platform a crystalline flower opened full bloom of magnificent size rests.

You climb the natural stairway.

Using a hand to test the petals of the crystal flower you find that it does not crumble at your touch.

But it seems instead to glow brighter in your presence.

Feeling a strong instinct to do so you sit at the center of the flower crossing your legs.

You breathe deeply taking in the reflective lights and colors all around you.

The sensations of the one feel more potent here than anywhere else in the cave or in Somnia for that matter.

You feel a direct line to its source.

It's intoxicating.

You gently close your eyes and succumb to the sensation which winds around you like a sweet song.

You feel a sense of exquisite balance as though you stand upon the strings of the harmonies of the universe.

You feel very small but very significant.

For you are one part of a brilliant interconnected system.

You feel boundless as though you do not end or begin.

And no other living thing ends or begins.

You and every other living thing are eternally intertwined.

Compelled to open your eyes you see that the crystal cave is pulsing bright in one unified color.

Pure,

Dazzling white like the blade of your cutlass.

They exude a gentle warmth which wraps around you like a blanket.

Now in the facets of the crystals you can see the face of a loved one.

From all angles and all perspectives they are smiling gently.

You know instinctively that they are happy and safe wherever they are.

You hold their gaze for a while,

Cherishing them,

Loving them.

Then the image in the crystals changes into a face that at first you do not recognize.

It takes time but the more you look into the different faces of the crystals the more pieces come together.

It's your reflection.

You can see yourself from above,

Below,

Behind.

Angles you've never seen.

It's been a long time since you saw your reflection.

Many many things have come to pass and now you feel the uncanny sensation of having missed yourself.

Now that you've found you,

You realize how long you've been lost.

You cherish this reflection,

Touching the jade compass around your neck.

It's as though you look upon the reflection of your very soul.

Your reflection dissolves into pure light and the colors of the crystals begin to shift and wave again.

They seem to breathe all around you,

Aligning with your own exhale and inhale.

This is the message,

You think.

All living things,

Birds,

Insects,

Fish,

Ancient tortoises,

Trees,

Vines,

Even stones and crystals,

All breathe the same sacred cosmic energy.

All are one and alive.

You feel very young,

New at the beginning of your journey.

When you touch the jade compass and exhale,

You can see the future unfold ahead of you like the petals of a flower waking in the morning's light.

When you inhale,

The future curls back up and into you.

On your next exhale,

Another possible future unfurls from you like a blossom.

On your inhale,

It returns to you.

And thus,

A thousand possible futures,

A thousand delicate blossoms breathe in and out of you,

Each of them an adventure.

This is the message.

You sit at the center of the bloom for a long time,

Inhaling and exhaling the future.

You bend yourself around the energies of the cosmos.

The energies of the cosmos bend around you.

Maura is waiting for you on the surface.

She will wait for as long as you need.

You feel very young and very old,

Too.

You feel the ancient wisdom of the rocks and trees.

These things that were here long before you,

In your veins.

When you inhale,

The crystals on the walls expand,

Growing full and bright.

When you exhale,

They contract,

Peeling back layers of structure and history to their smallest origins.

When you inhale,

You feel like a tree trunk expanding,

Growing rings around its center.

When you exhale,

You condense,

Rolling back the seasons and the years and the generations.

You feel timeless.

You feel powerful.

You feel merciful.

And you feel brief.

And you feel at the mercy of the powerful universe.

You breathe.

The crystals,

Breathing with you and together,

Are ringing with the vibrations of the cave's sacred energies.

They ring clear,

Like a bell.

After some time,

As the ringing slowly dissipates,

You uncross your legs.

You rise,

Steady on your feet.

You descend the natural stair.

You begin the long,

Slow march back upward toward the mouth of the crystal cave.

And you carry with you a message of possibility and connection.

Ciao,

Sweet dreams.

Reviews

Wonderful! A beautiful, satisfying adventure.

I love the creativity of the story with a great reading giving me a good night's sleep.

Thank you 🙏 🌞 🌛 💚

Amazing

I had a bad habit on scrolling on my phone at bedtime. Now I look forward to these sleep stories instead, and I sleep much better.

Excellent story that entangled my mind, and led me to sleep soundly.

🙏🏻😴🙏🏻🌟🦋🌟🙏🏻😴🙏🏻

I love this series!

Loved this ❤️

I love the whole format presented by Sleep and Sorcery. Laurel has a nice soothing voice and paces the readings very well. The intro and story overview are brilliant and give the mind and body time to settle. The stories themselves use descriptive words that help my mind settle and imagine the story. Somehow she manages to make it interesting, but not so interesting that I can’t let go when I’m ready to sleep. - Thank you, Sleep and Sorcery, for the gift of sleep. Your gift makes tinnitus bearable for me at bedtime. Peace be with you.

A very soothing voice reading descriptive stories that distract my mind from the worries of today so that I can rest. If you stay awake long enough, you’ll notice how the stories are familiar to you.