The House of the Wind
Revised by Donald, Saga, Laurel and Sylvan
DreamRoads 2005

Part One;
Aradia’s Childhood and Education

Aradia is a Daughter of the Moon and the Sun, a manifest deity whom incarnates in times of slavery and oppression to bring, teach and empower the people with co-creative tools of Freedom and Beauty. One such time was in Italy not that long ago.

Aradia was born into a very comfortable home in the Italian Alps. Her human parents, whom loved her very much, protected her from much of the world. Aradia lacked for nothing that money could buy.

Aradia was the child of an interfaith marriage. Antonio, her father, was a follower of the Ancient Ways that honored the earth and held all life as sacred. Bella, her mother, followed a way that taught that only human life was of import. It taught that humans were flawed and sinful and only through the bloody death of their god’s only son could one be saved from an eternity of burning in the fires of the underworld.

Some years before Aradia’s birth, her parents had had another child who died in infancy. The priests of Bella’s religion layered guilt and shame on her since that child had not been baptized into their religion. The priests were merciless reminding Bella constantly of the damnation of her lost first born. She swore that if she ever had a child again, she would dedicate it to her own religion. As soon as Aradia was conceived, Bella began to make plans to prepare the child for a life dedicated to the one true religion.

From the time of Aradia’s infancy, Bella attempted to form and shape Aradia into a vessel for her religion. Her first act was to call the priests and have Aradia baptized the day after she was born. Bella relentlessly taught Aradia the tenets of her religion. Even though the child showed no interest what so ever, she never ceased to encouraging Aradia to become a nun. Bella was determined to make Aradia a good servant to her religion. Yet, despite all of her mother’s efforts, Aradia became more and more interested in the flowers, trees, animals, streams and mountains that surrounded their home. Aradia was a child full of life and the love of Mystery. Often Bella thought of Aradia as a wild child and became quite worried that she would be lost to the ways of the true religion.

Antonio, held his tongue. He feared to hurt his wife, to whom he was devoted and loved with all his heart. Yet, he recognized that his little girl was called to the Ways of Mystery. Antonio decided to just watch and wait.

Meanwhile the world of humans was getting more and more confused and dangerous. People were coming into power through fear and hatred. Manufacturing outrageous lies, they managed to turn folks against each other. These new leaders were taking control of every aspect of the peoples lives. Freedom and Beauty were slowly being stolen from everyone. No one knew quite what to do about it.

Bella became very fearful for her daughter. She became convinced that Aradia was heading down the road to eternal damnation. Bella began to look for a governess for Aradia. She hoped to find a governess who would make a nun of Ar adia one way or the other, no matter what the method. This was too much for Antonio to sit by and do nothing. He quietly suggested a well respected woman that he knew to be a practitioner of the old Earth loving ways. Bella only knew of this woman’s high moral reputation and was quite impressed by the recommendations her earlier royal employers had given her.

The governess, Miss Flora, was hired to the joy and delight of all. She moved into the family’s home, her room right next to Aradia’s. Miss Flora began to teach Aradia all of the skills that she felt a young woman needs to know. She taught Aradia to write with words so beautiful and powerful that when she recited her work no one who heard her was left untouched. She taught Aradia to sing with a voice that wove a magic that healed the most troubled heart. She taught Aradia to read the signs that were found in the stars, the winds, the sun and the moon. She taught her to talk to the plants, animals and rivers. She taught her how to walk the third road of balance between the realms of Mystery and Midgard (the realms of the human world). Miss Flora taught Aradia the skills needed to live a good life in a sustainable culture of beauty, balance and delight.

Part Two; Aradia Becomes a Woman

By this time the fascists had united their forces and had declared war on the rest of the world in order to purify it of it’s subhuman species and wrong thinking habits. They intended to enslave the whole world and recreate it in their own image. Aradia’s town was not immune from this virulent disease of the soul. Brown shirts now walked the streets. The town folks were afraid to speak their minds out loud. The public library was closed for a review of it’s collection, in other words, a search for subversive literature and histories.

It was in this atmosphere that Aradia began to awaken to the mysteries of love and desire.

Each Friday afternoon she and Miss Flora went to a small museum and park in the center of town to enjoy the art and to people watch. One afternoon in the park Aradia met three young people whose very presence caused a strange new sensation to fill her body and soul. They were each quite different. Rose Marie was a strong limbed and minded girl who knew what she wanted and believed she knew what was clearly right and wrong, always. August was a lovely sharp minded boy who could never sit still, but was always dancing and singing some song or another. Sandy was so androgynous and so beautiful that to simply see it, was to know that there was more to the world than meets the eye, that there was a Mystery that filled us with each breath we took. The two things the four young people soon realized they held in common were that they each were devoted to the ancient earth loving ways and that they each had dedicated their lives to building paradise here on the good green earth.

Miss Flora greatly approved of this friendship. In fact she was delighted and hoped that good things would come from it. Miss Flora laughed out loud the day when she realized that Aradia and her three friends had some how or another become lovers! But yet, a fear emerged to darken the governess’ heart. What would happen when Bella eventually found out about Aradia’s beloveds? What would happen when the fascists realized what was going on?

And sure enough, Aradia’s mother and father both soon realized that their little girl was in love.

Antonio was also delighted, but very fearful for the four of them as they began to make their lives together in such dangerous unfriendly times. He gave them sage advice and contacts in the earth worshiping communities around the world.

Bella was infuriated. Not only was Aradia no longer the pure vessel that her religion demanded of it’s followers, Aradia had embraced a queer love that Bella felt shamed her and her husband in the eyes of the community, the fascist town mayor and town council. Bella could not stand it. She was obsessed with stopping her little girl from following the sinful ways of her lust filled heart.

Bella made her plans. She invited Aradia to join her for a private dinner in a charming old tower that was on an isolated hill of their family’s country lands over looking the town far below. Bella beautifully decorated the entrance and the dinning hall soothing all of Aradia fears that all was not as it appeared. It was a pleasant dinner until Bella began to badger Aradia about her beliefs and beloveds. Aradia and her mother argued as they never had before, to a point well past tears. Suddenly Bella jumped up and ran to the door crying, " You shall never leave this tower until you dedicate yourself to the one true path of righteousness!" She went through the door, slammed it shut and locked it tightly.

Aradia called out to the Mysterious Ones and Ancestors for help and inspiration. They said softly into her ear, "Look behind the far tapestry. There is a surprise there that no living soul remembers."

Greatly comforted, Aradia looked behind the tapestry to find a door leading to a stair that went deep underground to a tunnel. She decided to trust her intuition and followed the tunnel for dark miles until she came to another set of stairs. Aradia followed the steps up into a pale light from above. She found herself in the basement of the closed town library.

Aradia made her way to her beloveds. Sandy, Rose Marie, August and Aradia began one of the biggest adventures of their lives. They traveled up and down Italy teaching the tools of empowerment, the ways of Mystery, the power of living one’s own authentic life, the joys of living in beauty, balance and delight. The lovers shared their love with all who asked for it. They became famous healers, their reputations spreading word of mouth like a wild fire of hope. They became greatly honored and adored by all of the people.

When the rumors of Aradia and her beloveds found there way back home, the reaction of her mother and father could not have been much more polarized. Bella became even further enraged. She was beside herself with anger. Antonio could not have been more proud of his little girl. She had become a Woman of Power! Even though the two parents were hardly talking to each other by then, yet there was still a love in their hearts for each other that would not be extinguished.

Part Three; Betrayal and Transformation

Bella’s rage and grief drove her to near insanity. She despaired for the life and soul of her beloved daughter. Late in the dark night of her desperation, a truly insane idea entered her mind. Bella decided to arrange with her Priests and the town authorities to recapture Aradia.

Bella sent Aradia a message that Antonio was gravely ill and waiting for her at their old country estate where he was slowly dying. This estate was built within the walls and gardens of an old temple built by one of Aradia’s Great Great Great Grandmothers, a powerful healer and priestess of the Mysterious Ones centuries ago, a place in which Aradia had always felt safe and protected.

Aradia speed to where she thought her father was waiting. She left her beloveds to continue the work, promising to return to them as soon as she could. In her grief and worry for her father, Aradia never once thought that this could be a trap.

Bella was standing on the front terrace of the estate waiting for Aradia as she speed up the drive, jumped out of the car and ran at full tilt up the steps in her deep need to see her father before he died. Bella welcomed her with a hug and a kiss, and took her directly to Antonio’s room. She escorted her daughter into the dark room and shut the door turning the lights on with a quick flick of a finger. Antonio was not there. Instead the room was ringed by armed guards and priests of Bella’s religion.

Aradia was sat down in a chair in the middle of the room. Her mother demanded that she recant her lifestyle and reveal where her lovers were working to undermine the gifts of the church and state. She demanded that Aradia become a servant to the most high, keeper of all righteousness. Bella demanded that Aradia denounce her lovers as enemies of the state and of god.

Aradia replied that it was simply not possible for her to become the woman her mother desired her to be. Because Aradia, like her Priestess Grandmother before her, had dedicated herself to the work of the Mysterious Ones and the building of paradise here on the good green earth. She bravely declared that she would rather be locked up in a windowless room for the rest of her life than to betray her beloveds.

Bella’s heart hardened like never before. After this confrontation, she believed that Aradia was truly lost and would never come to see the light of true salvation. Bella gave Aradia up to the priests and civil authorities to be tortured and put to death as they did to all in their power who denied the official truth and embraced their own authentic selves and the paths of Mystery.

In order to deeply humiliate Aradia and the old ways, the authorities decided to lock Aradia in the old temple hall to await her execution by fire at the break of day. Here, at the ancient unadorned altar, Aradia called out to the Mysterious Ones and Ancestors to warn August, Sandy, and Rose Marie of the coming Witch hunt that was seeking their destruction. Aradia called out for the taste of freedom one more time before she was murdered. Aradia called out for the healing of the land and it’s people.

Suddenly, late in the night, well past the Witching Hour, a fierce storm howled down out of the mountains. The winds shrieked. The rains scoured and the hail beat the estate mercilessly. The roofs shook and groaned as the window glass began to implode, sending shards slicing through the air. The whole old sacred site gave out a cry of rage while collapsing, killing all but two of the people within.

Aradia made her way out of the ruins. Finding an undamaged jeep parked just outside the remains of the front gate, Aradia drove madly away from the scene. She abandoned the jeep after she crossed the mountains. Aradia then hitched a ride with a farmer taking her crops to a market not far from where Aradia’s beloveds were still faithfully doing the Witch work they were called to do.

The reunion of the four lovers was an event so beautiful and powerful, that the tale still brings wonder, hope and healing to hearts that had long ago thought that they had been turned to stone. The restored beloveds sang more joyfully than ever before as they continued to teach the ways of Mystery and Beauty.

Antonio found his beloved wife sitting silently, rocking back and forth on the edge of the estate’s ruined terrace. It was revealed to him what had transpired that night. The small faltering flame of love deep in his heart erupted into a love beyond all reason. He gathered up Bella into his arms and took her to a small cottage in the heart of the mountains that only he and other devotees of Mystery knew about. There, joined by Miss Flora, he committed himself to the healing of his beloved no matter how long it took.

And through out all of this time, the war continued until it engulfed the world. It appeared that the flames of hatred and fear would consume the whole planet.

Part Four; The Work Continues

Late one night, a dream came to the four lovers. It’s message was clear and simple.

‘It is time to travel the world and begin the reconnection of the Earth Loving Peoples.’

Aradia, Rose Marie, Sandy and August traveled through out war torn Europe, Asia and Africa connecting with the folks that Antonio had told them about. All along their ways, they taught the Mysteries as they knew them, healing the people, the lands and the waters.

They were in Paris the day the city was restored to freedom teaching the Mysteries of the authentic self and studying yet deeper mysteries of Beauty. The day that all of Europe again had a taste of the healing winds of freedom, the beloveds were in the Congo teaching the glories of living a life of beauty, balance and delight and studying the healing arts of Mother Africa. They were in Beijing the days that the bombs hit Nagasaki and Hiroshima causing the whole of Midgard to shudder with revulsion and terror. They found themselves in Honolulu teaching of the joyful obligations of love beyond all reason while studying with the old priestesses of the islands about the powers of the volcanic fires and the hidden ocean depths on the day that the Pacific again relaxed into a new peace.

Antonio tended his beloved all of these years in the little mountain cottage. His days were days of prayer grounded in the tender loving care he continued to offer his wife. He managed to stay in contact with his dear Aradia and her partners, becoming a great source of comfort and wisdom as they made their way around the planet.

Bella was slowly emerging from her living nightmare. She could now often be found walking through the orchard singing childhood songs of simple joyful nonsense. Not long after the big war was over she awoke completely. She declared herself healed. She told how her god had come to her and had gently told her that he was a god of love, not a god of hatred and fear. He had dared Bella to live a life of love beyond all reason and help to restore the good green Earth.

Bella and Antonio’s love was deepened even more. They began to work together to plant and nurture cultures of beauty, balance and delight. When Aradia and her lovers heard this news they were filled with joy and wonder. They knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there was room for everyone at the amazing sacred table they were helping to build around the world.

On the coldest night of that year, Miss Flora decided to die and take a rest for awhile, preparing for her next life, and to do a little socializing with friends she had known for millennia. Miss Flora fully intended to return to earth to continue the work. All the same, she was greatly missed by all who knew her.

In just a few years, the halcyon days of world peace were over. The governments divided themselves into camps declaring the others to be evil, heartless oppressors of the people. The Great Cold War had begun. The Days of Greed had come to define the lives of the people. The people of one country lived lives of wealth, while the people of many other countries lived lives of desperate poverty. The nuclear bomb was found in more and more arsenals. The farms and gardens of the world were covered in poisons in order to produce more, yet less nutritious foods. The weather began to radically change from the pollutants daily poured into it’s winds. The whole world began to seem ever more in danger of dying.

Through out these later decades of that century, Aradia and her family continued to work their Witchy ways everywhere they went. Core thriving communities of Freedom and Beauty sprung up through out the Earth.

When Antonio and Bella died in their late 80s, it was a sad yet joyous time. They had lived well, had celebrated the wonders of life daring to be fully engaged in the building of sustainable cultures here on the good green earth. They were also greatly missed. Though, they did not remain silent for long. Not surprisingly, they soon took up their ancestral duties, choosing to remain committed to the work.

Sandy, Aradia, August and Rose Marie’s children and grandchildren choose to also take up the work of nurturing the emerging cultures of Mystery and the teaching of Witchy ways. They could be found joyfully working in every region of the earth. Even in the darkest of times, these folk, their lovers and the other devotees of the Earth never gave up the knowledge that a time of transformation was just around the corner. Their’s was a knowledge that was beyond hope, it was a certainty. They dared to begin to live their lives as if the revolution had already happened. They were not satisfied to just wait for change. They freely shared that ancient secret; ‘WE ARE THE CHANGE!’

In the middle of a stormy night in the Caribbean Sea, Aradia and her three beloveds disappeared never to be seen again along with their ship and everyone aboard. They were thought to have been taken by the waters.

Great sadness filled the hearts of those that loved them. The people expected the four beloveds to take up their ancestral work soon. Years past and still no word was heard of them in any of the realms. Yet, folks chose to continue their joyful work. They knew in their heart of hearts that this work was larger than and not dependent upon any individual or group of individuals.

And then a story emerged at many places at the same time around the world. Aradia and her lovers had chosen to already be reborn into the planet! Whose children could they be? Witches began to always keep an eye out for the reborn August, Sandy, Aradia and Rose Marie.

The Mysterious Ones and the Ancestors have decided that now is the time to reveal the where a bouts of the four beloveds. Listen to their voices deep with in your heart.

"Each living Witch on the good green earth is an avatar of the Four Beloveds!"

They have returned in all of us! We are, each Witchy one of us, the beloved blessed ones, the direct descendants of Divine Mystery, the holy children of Freedom and Beauty. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the avatars of Aradia, Rose Marie, August and Sandy.

Let all whose senses are open to wonder, dare to open their hearts and minds to the truths within this declaration.

Blessed Be.