Signs and wayfarers

[image error]Paths do not always take you in the direction the signpost suggested. Sometimes, a path is a crossing point, a liminal place between here and there. You may wander across borders for a while. You may return changed, unknowingly.

More so at twilight. More so when the shadows lie long and inviting and make mystery out of what was familiar by day.

And if you step off the path, there is no knowing where you step. It is an old truth that human feet are often best served by keeping to the tracks. Do not follow the cheerful lights disappearing into the trees. Do not heed the laughter, or the haunted cries. What lies beyond the path is never as it seems and is not for you. Not if you would keep the life you have now.

Watch for the guardians at the margins. At first glance they may seem to be of this world, but look closely and you will see the signs that they have clad themselves in dreams to pass through here. They may be your friends and allies, ready to warn of a path that is going somewhere other. Willing to guard against the uncertainties in the deep shadows.

And as is always the way with these things, there will be those who look like guardians, but are not. How do you judge if they mean you well? How do you decide what is friendly advice offered kindly, and what is bait set in the trap?

Art by Dr A.