Copyright (C) 1997 by William Mistele.  All rights reserved.
                             The Sylph Parahim

Parahim is sylph of high rank who dwells within the sky. If you can sense energy
from a distance, you may feel you are listening to a harp playing.  Her aura is
very beautiful and she has a profound sense of harmony.  For Parahim, music and
tones are magical. 
    This sylph also has an unusal empathy for certain kinds of human beings. 
Recall that most sylphs are very aloof and distant from humanity.  They care not
for human activity nor for the thoughts that human beings devise.  But Parahim's
consciousness is not only sensitive to atmospheric conditions.  She is acutely
sensitive to those whose minds are like the sky.  This interest of hers is
unmistakable.  When you focus on her, she also focuses on you.  She immediately
scrutinizes the strength of your brain waves and the quality of your thoughts.
     I draw Parahim's sigil in the air.  This is a magical diagram representing her
nature and being.  Her sigil represents her ability to move freely between the
mental vibrations of mind, the astral realms of feeling, and the energies which we
perceive as wind, weather, snow, and falling rain. 
    Next I pause for a moment and contemplate the source of her inspiration which
endows her with beauty and life.  I perceive that Parahim's highest ideal is the
mind that has become pure light, self-existent, autonomous, and without any
limitation.  Parahim's ideal, however, is not religious or sectarian.  Rather, it
is simply that she worships the mind, whether human or divine, that can sense the
entire atmosphere of the earth.  Such a mind, of course, has attained enlightenment
and can not be defined within the confines of any religion or creed. 
     Parahim comes into my room.  Walls, windows, and doors do not limit her
freedom of movement.  She smiles at me in a way no woman has ever done.  Her smile
reflects the willingness of her soul to stand naked so nothing is hidden.  Her
openness reflects her level of creativity--she has many magical songs that
penetrate the heart.  They are more subtly than wind, than breath, than a lover's
caress. 
     With her tones she can follow passion from its beginning to its end--capturing
its dance, the hunger, and the gratification.  As she sings she evokes both
yearning and the sea of peace in which yearning drowns because she perceives the
innermost fibers of your being.  The gaze of her eyes is most remarkable.  She can
see quite clearly the touch of desire which haunts your soul because it comes from
you know not where.  And in the same moment she can sing a note of freedom and
release so that now you sense within your heart a serenity which satisfies every
need.  I see clearly that these qualities and abilities exist within her as I touch
her aura with my mind. 
    We hold hands as we join our minds.  But almost immediately she speaks to me. 
Most unusual for a sylph, she seems compelled.  It is as if in looking into my eyes
ages of time are dispelled and she is transported into a past memory which has
suddenly become alive.
    She tells me a story:  "In ancient times, there was a religion on earth which
worshiped the sky.  The practitioners had taken an oath that for at least on hour
every day they would concentrate on the sky allowing no other thought to enter
their minds. They sat on balconies, on rocks, by waterfalls, or at the tops of
trees just staring at the blue expanse.  Their minds were like sponges soaking in
the light. They could not get enough of it.  If a cloud passed by, they would see
the cloud and become the cloud in their minds.  But they also continued to
visualize the blue sky above the cloud. 
   "It was at that time that I fell in love with the human race.  You can not
imagine the joy it gives me to find intelligent beings whose minds are clear,
luminous, and self-aware." 
      Then gazing at me intently Parahim reads a question in my mind.  She says,
"Your mind conceals a ferocity of will which would trouble the hurricane if it saw
you standing in its way.  For you the mind is like the sky and is designed to
capture the light of the stars as a poet seeks to capture a woman's beauty and her
heart with his enchanting metaphors." 
    "But the difference is," I point out to her, "that your priests kept their
minds luminous and clear day and night.  I can only visit you when I am in a
meditative trance.  The rest of the time I am blind.  The affairs and concerns of
daily life leave me little time for mystical visions or monastic chanting and
meditations.  But you dwell within the sacred in each moment--for you, each wind is
a note or a song being sung within the heart of God." 
   "My heart has not always been open," she says..  "Most of my will and spirit
have been developed by associating with human sages and wise men. For example,
these priests, as they gazed at the sky, they fell into a trance.  Then their minds
became a limitless expanse. As they did this, they opened the gates between the
realm of sylphs and your evolution. 
    "It was at that time that I came down and sat next to human beings as they
meditated.  I learned from them there is no limit to the power of the mind, the
amount of light it can contain, or where it may penetrate.  During their sacred
festivals, they would sit for three days concentrating--their minds joined as one
light and one consciousness.  It was as if the entire sky was filled with their
presence. There was no where a sylph could go--neither into the jet stream, the
thunderstorm or whirlwind, nor to the North Pole or into a desert's desolation and
not feel that mental emanation." 
   "And what was that like?" I ask. 
      "At such times, the inner and outer worlds were joined.  The sea of wind and
sky was vibrant with dreams of peace and harmony.  The air was thick with feelings
of honor and nobility from those who are committed to serving the highest light. 
    "But the peace was not complete.  The priests had a secret hunger buried within
them.  On the outside, they were gentile and kind, in action as innocent as doves. 
But on the inside, in their hearts, they had the hunger of wolves who celebrate the
mystery of life in the sacred rite of devouring another's life.  The wolves and the
priests believe that through the act of absorbing energy into oneself the heart is
joined to the universe.
     "When that civilization ended, the lineage of those priests ended with it. 
But I believe the sky shines brighter and the human race is more curious and
desires to uncover every secret in nature because the illumination in that religion
lingers and continues to inspire. The air element is imprinted and still echoes
with the vibration of their chants and mantras." 
    "Did any of the ancient priests talk to you as I do?" I ask. 
    "They could all feel my presence.  Many of them could see me. But only two of
the high priests paused from the solemn duties of their monastic life to inquire
into the nature of my being and the powers I command." 
    "And what did they learn, if I may ask? 
    She said, "Oddly, they both had a marvelous sense of humor, were voracious in
their curiosity, and were very intelligent. Like you, both knew immediately that to
understand me they had to become one with me. 
      "When I first met one of them, he entered a trance which went on for a week
in which he did not move his body.  During that time, I was the only thing that
existed within his awareness--me, that is, and his curiosity.  His presence was
like a gentle wind flowing and dancing around me.  He never uttered a word that
entire time.  But his silence was itself eloquence, a spell-binding concentration
constantly listening to my every mental action as if he were asking: 

"The way you caused that storm to hold back and then to rain on--how do you do
that? And the way the wind obeys your will as if you are the source of its breath
and the place where it seeks to rest--how did you acquire these abilities?  How can
you see so far that you can measure the wind's strength and velocity over an entire
continent? 
     "And this ease with which you live.  It is an unknown bliss and no poet has
ever spoken with its voice and no woman has ever danced with such delight.  How can
you be at the same time so sensitive, receptive, and vulnerable and yet so
incredibly free that you have no need except to dwell in harmony?  Who has granted
you this gift?  What divine mystery does your existence reflect?" 

"The touch of his mind was always relaxed and light.  There was never an instant in
which his intent was to interfere.  But for all his inquiry, he never asked the
right questions.  He never asked, `What are your dreams?  What passion holds you in
its sway?'" 
     "And the other priest?" I ask.  "What was he like?" 
     She replies, "He was more playful.  He liked to tease me.  He would say, `Are
you whipping the winds into shape today?  Are you teaching them to obey the sacred
ordinances as I must constantly remind my novice monks not to stray?  Or have you
been wandering through some mountain chain or tasting the foam where the waves
break in some exotic bay?'
   "And another time he said, `Sweet thing, presence of delight, child of the sky,
what song of enchantment can I play on my flute so that ten thousand years from now
you will still remember my name?  You will recall the sound of my voice and say,
`He shared the secrets of my heart and his love is still part of me.'
    "Later in his life great destruction wrecked havoc on his land and he was
appalled at the needless suffering.  For years, he and other priests had to flee
the invading armies in order to stay alive.  Once for several months he hide in a
deep valley framed by tall cliffs which lacked a mountain pass. 
    "In that place of refuge, he reached out for me.  Though he was never tempted
to compromise his human limitations, he cherished being able to travel through the
realms of fairy and into the higher astral plane.  There he would renew himself by
entering a place of absolute relaxation. 
   "There he called out to me and I came to visit him.  He said, `If you were a
mortal woman I would leave the priesthood.  I would renounce all vows and man made
religions. Your body would be my alter and your heart would be the temple where I
worship.  To hold a woman like you, to kiss and touch you, to bathe in the
luminosity of your soul is a joy mankind will never know until its mind attains
liberation and its heart becomes as vast as the sky. 
    "`Child of the winds, daughter of sacred dreams, I will find you again in
another lifetime when I shall have the power of will and the wisdom to call you
into the form of a woman. Then our two evolutions will be joined forever and
mankind will make beauty, harmony, and the truth of the universe its religion.'" 
    "The funny thing is," Parahim says, "he was just on the verge of creating a
dream in which we could both live." 
    And then she asks me, "Why are human beings so afraid of feelings?  Why do they
not hear as I hear the song in every wind?  How can you not notice that every note
and tone conceals a dream waiting to awaken?  When will your race realize breathing
is a magical action?  And when will you finally learn that consciousness is the
light it embraces and creates?" 
    "It sounds to me," I reply, "you long for a lover to search for and discover
the secrets of your heart.  Your wish for another to transform you through his
art." 
     "And I will change him forever as well," she says.  "But do not get me wrong. 
I am not discontent.  Other sylphs with whom I associate are gentle and kind.  But
they are mostly busy and preoccupied with weather control.  Only a few are haunted,
as am I, by the beauty of the sky, the enlightened mind that shines without
limitation, and the mysterious, divine presence which is within everything that
exists." 
    "Do you still come down to sit and meditate with the human race?" I ask. 
      Parahim replies, "There are more than a few like you who search for my
essence.  I am always ready to share who I am with those who quest in search of the
enlightened mind." 
    "Parahim," I ask, "take me into the dream the ancient priest was not ready to
enter." 
     She says, "You must put aside your human nature.  Let us become opposite
polarities through the power of love and will joined.  Let us call the divine into
our minds and drink its waters of inspiration.  The beauty within unity is the
sound of the enlightened mind which all of nature celebrates in the passion that
has neither beginning nor end.  It is the voice speaking in the center of every
heart.  It is the stillness drifting through every thought.  The five senses and
the breath cling to it and know it not. 
      "In my dream, I am above the earth where I can see both dawn and sunset, day
and night.  I enter the contemplation of the fixed stars.  And I watch the earth
turning beneath me as if the earth's rotation and the light breaking on the peaks
of mountains are the movement of prayer beads in the hands of a goddess.  The sun
and the moon with their fire and delight are sounds arising within her mantra.  And
the stars above chart the depths of her heart and yet can not find the still center
of her meditation. But she does not meditate alone as a presence unknown.  Another
shares with her his passion." 
    And then Parahim turns to me and asks, "Can you give voice to the beauty I
see?" 
    I reply, "When she contemplates the depths of the night, he is the light within
her dreams. The longing within her heart is the song his voice sings.  Her breath
is love joining with his body and joy rising within his soul.  And he is the secret
desire at the core of her being--the dream of a friend and a lover whose touch
empowers her to be one with all things.  Together they partake of a cup of wine
made from light and all that is divine.  In a dream such as this, in a love in
which the mind and heart completely join, is the liberation of the world and the
enlightenment of mankind." 
      After we were done meditating together, Parahim says, "Come back another time
when you have three hours to sit and meditate with me without distraction.  I
perceive in you more than the desire to play a flute that haunts the soul with its
sweet fragrance. Your quest is for the bliss that inspires the search for
enlightenment..  To this end, I will show you what it is to wear the body of a
sylph and to feel the sky is but a small part of your mind." 
       A few weeks later I again meet with Parahim.  As she appears, almost
instantaneously, my mind enters her body.  I am astonished and amazed as I enter
the astral realm of the sylph.  It is like diving off a high diving board but there
is no pool in which to fall, no movement at all.  Perhaps this is what the
astronauts feel when they are outside the space shuttle--just drifting weightless
with the vastness of the earth suspended in space beneath them.  But to be in this
sylph's body is to be completely still, silent, and quiet.  This is no drifting. 
The weightlessness is a relaxation so great it is beyond the power of mind to
define or of imagination to forge an image. 
     And I am aware of Parahim's mind as well.  For her, the forces shaping and
determining the course of our lives seem like images appearing in a mirror.  We
cling to them or flee from them, delighting in them one moment and then hating them
the next as if they have the power to shape our feelings and to bless or
contaminate our lives.  But for Parahim the mind is both the mirror and the light
appearing within it.  The mind of a sylph does not lose its spacious openness
though storms appear and whirlwinds rage within it.
    In addition to the relaxation and the mental clarity, there is a pure feminine
energy which Parahim circulates through my body.  How can I explain? 
    Long ago a woman kissed me goodbye.  She put her whole body and soul into that
kiss as if it was her wish that when her life was done she would be able to look
back and say, "I was never more alive, never more a woman or more fulfilled than in
that moment when we kissed."  (If I may be so bold, if you will indulge me for a
little) It was as if in that kiss, in that giving, the soul within all women
unveiled itself to come forth and to share in that kiss of farewell.  The free flow
of love that defies the restrictions of time and that destroys all that binds us is
what it is like to be within the body of this sylph. 

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