I was recently lucky enough to spend a long weekend in Barcelona. I’ve never been to the city before and was looking forward to it because people who had been have all said that it was a lovely place. I began to wonder what it was about the city that everyone “took to”. What was it that made the city so appealing – was it the culture, the sun, the surroundings, the liveliness – which of these elements would confer such appeal?
Over the course of the weekend I began to realise that it could be a mixture of all of the elements mentioned. Certainly there was a lot of smiling going on – the sun was out for the whole time, the streets were thronging with multitudes, and the bars and visitor attractions were busy too. People were enjoying the city.
On the second day I made my way up to the top of one of the hills overlooking the city via the cable car at Montjuïc. The sky was the kind of blue that English people wish for on any day of the year. Inside the fort on the summit of the hill there was a promontory which afforded the most remarkable view down the garden-green slopes of the hillside and across the sprawling city where its geography could really be appreciated. The coast was as clear as the sky, and they melded in their exhibition of “blueness”. Standing at the very corner of the fort on my own I felt drawn to something in the sky and so I looked up with a wider-than-normal gaze, a magickal eye….
Above the city was a cirrus cloud formation whose expanse covered the whole bay and buildings below. With my magickal eye I could see that this was no ordinary cloud. It had a very distinctive face, and the wisps which wafted to either extent of the formation were as shoulders and arms, framing the scene below in a friendly embrace. The warmth of the day was echoed directly in the warmth which emerged from the expression on the cloud sylph’s features. This cloud was showering Barcelona with love!
There are some aspects of this that don’t come across in the writing or in the picture. The perspective, the three-dimensionality, the “aliveness” of the face and its expression….when rendered into two dimensions, out of context and place, and after the event…. honestly, you had to be there to be as amazed as I was. I’ve seen many cloud sylphs before, but the sheer beauty of this one, and the very clear features it showed in its form…. it bowled me over.
Celestial interactions
So, I noticed it, and then I thought – why couldn’t I try to connect to it? Preposterous idea considering the difference in scale, but…. I had to try. I had to get “in on the action” here. I was the only person seeing this….it was “for me”. Here was my opportunity. I steadied myself through a quick grounding and centring routine, then felt for my heart chakra centre. I extended a ball of energy from that point until it formed a beam which thrust out into the sky towards the sylphine subtle shape in the sky.
The connection was accepted. What returned through the connection was a feeling of immense power, but tempered by a gentility which defied belief. It was so light, so .. airy. So delicate. Yet immense. The watery nature of the cloud flooded into me in a band of emotion which threatened to embarrass me in the midst of all the people around me as I fought back the urge to let the feeling overcome me and to submit to the glorious emotional swell. I had to dam the water that was collecting at the corner of my eyes. Oh, the sweet sweet grace! The exquisite caring which this form emitted and beamed down onto the city of Barcelona below was a beautiful feeling.
I had to remove myself from the experience I was so close to breaking down. I released the connection, but whilst I still had it I sent a quick burst of thanks to the sylph for allowing me the pleasure of this interaction. It was another of those magickal natural events that together form the cornerstones of the reason why I am a druid. To have such close touch with Nature. It’s a privilege that I hope I never take for granted.
So, in conclusion the embrace of such beautiful energy forms is probably one of the many reasons that Barcelona feels so nice I recommend you go yourself and see how it affects you too. It’s a very worthwhile place to visit.
