The Temple of White Willows can be seen to the south of the Arcana Way, an equal distance – as all things are in balance – from the northern Courts of Double Truth.
The Temple is also known throughout the Realms as the Temple of Air or the Temple of Willows. This latter name comes from the majestic double avenue of White Willow trees which leads wayfarers to the main temple entrance.
Wayfarers approach through this avenue as the boughs of the willows appear to bow and sweep gracefully in a mysteriously constant breeze, heavy with their feather-like leaves.
The main temple door is carved with a single pure-white feather, and beyond it the central courtyard.
This courtyard is shaped in the sacred geometry of the platonic solid of the octahedron, corresponding to Air, said by some to be also linked to the heart, the centre for love, compassion and our spiritual nature. Those who know more of the Temple will say that the octahedron also symbolises reflection, compassion and healing.
Resting on a singular point it signifies the careful balance of multiple forces. In this courtyard, raised on a platform, guests may sit and await to enter the three inner chambers, and wonder at the view as they gaze across the Way to behold the Court of Double Truth.
Draped everywhere throughout the temple are the famous Cloud Tapestries that tell the ten fables of the Swords, and the Songs of Air.
The three inner chambers of the Temple are arranged in a spiral about the courtyard. They hold three different functions; the Chamber of Divination, the Chamber of Healing and the Chamber of Magick.
Vera of Althea
The Priestess of the Temple and a Pioneer of Arkartia is Vera of Althea.
She presides over the Scales of Justice, in the name of the feather, of purity and truth.In this there can be great healing; it is said by her that “Truth is the ultimate salve for wounds of the heart and soul, only when the truth is in the light can healing begin within the heart”.
Her work provides a rite of passage in Althea, balancing our personal scales in both the giving and receiving of energy, for such balance is needed to attain health in mind, body, heart – and spirit of soul, in thought, word, and deed.
Vera, whose very name means truth, is in the line of many generations of her family who have dwelt in the Temple of Willows, the “Librans of Althea”.
For a Reading or to find Healing in the Temple of Willows, click here.
The Oracle of This Place
If you are here, the message from Arkartia is …
Without balance there is no healing and without truth there is no balance.
The Practice of This Place
Shuffle your full deck thinking of healing and truth.
Lay out three cards in a triangle.
The uppermost card signifies the divine message you must hear at this time. In your Wayfarer journal, write it down from the card in a single sentence using the words “I must hear that …”
The left card in the triangle signifies the new pattern of thinking or behavior that will bring best balance and healing to you at this time. In your Wayfarer Journal, write it down from the card in a single sentence using the words, “Because the single most important thing I can change to bring balance is …”
The right card in the triangle signifies the skill or truth that you possess to bring about the hearing of the message and the balance required for healing. In your Wayfarer Journal, write it down from the card in a single sentence using the words, “And in doing so, I realise …”
Read the three sentences together as a powerful instruction in the light of the oracle of this place.