Amsterdam has many faces – art, food, sex, drugs, shopping, nightlife, flowers. This city has plenty of it. The common thread is freedom – the freedom for each person to be exactly who they want to be. It’s a freedom that creates a relaxed, easygoing atmosphere – one that can be deceiving.
Amsterdam may look like just another European city, but it is, in fact, a gateway to the rabbit hole. The deeper you fall, the greater the chance of discovering Wonderland – both within and around you.
As I sit in my hotel, I ask Tohar for a few words about Amsterdam, about magic, about life itself:
“How close are humans willing to get? How close to themselves? How many obstacles are they willing to overcome in order to truly discover who they are?
“The question is not how far you will fall into the rabbit hole. The question is how close you are willing to walk to the realization that you are the rabbit, and the hole, and the wonder. And yes, life itself.
“Magic exists everywhere – and at the same time, it does not exist at all. Many live without recognizing creation – the divine magic that brought everything into being. Magic from which life itself was formed, yet life is often taken for granted. But you are the wonder, the rabbit, and the hole. And also Alice, who walked so close in order to discover a new world.
“This is our invitation – for now and always: dare to move inward, as close as possible. The answers, the solutions, the magic itself – they are all there, available to anyone willing to step inside, into the rabbit hole”.
Fantasy shop Chimera
Among a vast selection of healing tools – crystals, incense, statues of figures from all realms of legend and mythology, and enchanted/mystical-style clothing for both women and men – I found this unique item.
A healing woman crafts them especially for the store. It is made from a deer’s antler and feathers she finds in nature. When I connected with its energy, I began to see images that taught me about the animal itself, as well as its possible use: it can help heal the aching and sorrowful heart.
Church of our Lady
Yesterday, as I was typing “Church” into Google, the search engine brought up this church – one that isn’t among the city’s most known, at least not to me. Something inside me told me to go there.
“Let’s go to the Church of Our Lady,” I said to Shai, my husband, during breakfast this morning. “Our fair Lady”.
I had no idea just how fair this church – dedicated to Mary – truly is.
I also had no idea that we would arrive just in time for a prayer performance – and that, for a while, we would be the only ones there.
And I certainly had no idea that there was an active vortex here.
But I did – and do – have good intuition.
We sat down. I closed my eyes and opened my third one. The vortex was alive – stretching between two energetic anchors – one in the sky and one in the earth. The music merged with it – amplifying its presence.
I didn’t receive a specific message from the structure or the vortex, so I turned to Tohar.
“Because of the prayers offered here to the feminine aspect of divinity, there is a womb-like energy in this place,” they said. “Humans seek a womb to return to – a space to wrap themselves in. But for that to happen, you must become bare – metaphorically, emotionally. And yet, you avoid it, fearing that if you are seen, you will be pitied. You are certain that to be visible is to be pitied. And so, humans live in a dance of attraction and rejection with themselves – seeking the womb while fleeing from compassion.
“Compassion is not the same as pity”, I heard – no longer sure who was speaking, “And it awaits those who agree – who are open – who are willing to be seen – naked”.
Thank you.
Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam
The city turned white very early this morning. A little of that purity remains, a reminder that beauty is possible in this world.
I’ve been a bit sick over the past two days – a brief yet necessary collapse. So, the connection to Amsterdam’s magic had to wait while I connected to the magic of my bed.
I’m writing these words from the city’s botanical gardens. A compact garden we love to visit, a reminder that humans, too, can create beauty in this world – when we choose to.
Yesterday, the idea came to me to channel Amsterdam – to connect with the city’s collective consciousness, with its land, its buildings, its past and present (and future) inhabitants, its body and its matter, and to ask for a message. This morning, as we sat at the café in the botanical gardens, I connected – and received this message:
“We are here, walking on water, seated on land. We have conquered worlds, seen lands. We have explored, discovered, marveled, destroyed, sanctified. We have died and been born, again and again – everything is always changing.
“Come to our doorstep, honorable people. Come wild, come dressed. Come with your past, with a wink toward the future, for here, things are created that later reach other places. Your present is our past, and within our present lie the seeds of your future. We are all discovering this together – exploring today what may be possible tomorrow.
“Come within us, restless souls. Come, women. Come, men. Come, children of all ages – even those whose hair has already turned white. Come to play, for here, we play. Here, we live and grow.
“Come to our doorstep, people, and discover what happens when you step inside”.
I finished with tears in my eyes. Thank you.
