IX

Six months had passed and Inanna still only uttered a word when she had to.

She started experiencing throat infections that were so bad she would be laid up in bed with high fevers and chills for weeks. The medicine woman from the neighbouring village visited almost daily.

She would bring essential oils, harvested from the leaves, flowers and roots in the forest – Mother Nature always generously providing.

Through a process of distillation she would extract the highly concentrated form of the plant, which contained its original medicinal properties.

This art had been handed down from generation to generation.

Peppermint acted as an antibacterial agent and also contained menthol, which soothed the throat.

Lavender had anti-inflammatory properties and Echinacea to treat the cold systems when the illness settled on her chest.

She would explain to Inanna, that her illness wasn’t something she was able to fix entirely.

To heal completely, Inanna had to play a part herself.

She was getting these recurrent infections because she had stopped speaking her truth and she was supressing her voice. By doing this she was causing blockages in her energy field and this was becoming disease in her body.

When the illness spread to her chest it was heart-ache – her heart was literally aching and her breath was restricted. The tightness intolerable. She was with-holding her love and it was presenting itself as unpleasant symptoms in her body.

“The body is your greatest gift Inanna – it will tell you the eternal whispers of your soul, it will alert you when something’s not right. Please don’t ignore its guidance now” she would say.

“You are much wiser than you think Inanna darling, we all are. We just choose not to uncover our truth, it’s greatness so powerful it frightens us”

“We are magical beings filled with love and light and capable of profound healing and transformation”

Inanna knew at this point her light had faded – suffocated by the anger and the grief. Her love couldn’t be found in any corner of her being and it was making her physically ill.

“When something is wrong inside of you Inanna, your body will gently guide you to what it is, either through illness or heightened emotions. Little aches, pains and twinges. Sometimes it is strong enough to even kill you. Learn to listen to its flutters Inanna – your spirit gets your attention by sending messages through your bodies – your mental, emotional and physical bodies.”

“Learn to listen Inanna – don’t block out the guidance with your hatred and anger – it’s only harming you my dear”.

Inanna knew the truth in her words but she was so weak, she didn’t have the energy to even acknowledge what the medicine woman had said.

She would just stare blankly out the window, expressionless.

As ill as she was, she was absorbing the information and she would try to make the anger go away.

She would try, just for a couple of minutes a day, to not think of Eamon and what her father had done, but the force was too strong, the memories were etched in her mind and at this stage she found it impossible to forget.