The Womb Cave

Day sixty-three, Bulgaria. This place puts me back in the middle of myself.

The womb cave and Thracian sanctuary near Kardzhali in southern Bulgaria is a place of pilgrimage for couples who want children. I ended up here more or less by accident.

Near the reservoir I go down into myself and work at the beliefs and patterns I want rid of. In days of being alone I learn that quiet does something. Once the impressions from outside step back, what is inside comes forward: pictures, feelings, thoughts. It isn't always pleasant to begin with. It is worth it.

The world further out is behaving strangely. Inflation, pandemic, war. The news from Germany reads as though it came from a country I have never visited.

I stopped believing most of what I am told some time ago, and I am aware that this is a thing people say when they have gone too long without company. I note it and I keep walking.

Down here the trees do not have an opinion about any of it, which I find restful.