Once upon a time, in a yesterday of long ago, lived a
Princess of great beauty and good heart. She was gentle and
kind and always stretched out her hand to help any person or
animal in need.

One afternoon, the Princess was walking in the forest
arranging her thoughts and feelings following a long day
providing counsel for the grievances between the local
townspeople. At the day's end, it was the habit of the
Princess, to wander through the cool and quiet places in the
great forest behind her palace, seeking relief from the
demands of court life and restoration of her energy.

The Princess was feeling restless; despite her blessings of
beauty, a compassionate heart and great wisdom, she felt a
deep ache of longing vibrating inside her. Despite her best
efforts, this feeling would not be shaken and kept her feet
moving and her mind churning, trying to find a remedy for
this longing...longing.... longing....for what?

The Princess was so absorbed in her contemplations, that she
did not notice that she had walked much further into the
woods than she had ever walked before. Suddenly she looked
up and noticed her predicament. She did not recognize her
surroundings and the path under her feet had dwindled to
nothing. Casting about for a landmark, the Princess saw a
movement nearby. It was an old woman, dressed in dark robes
and leaning heavily on a carved crook. She had bright black
eyes that seemed to pierce the Princess through.  She
carried on her back a sack-cloth satchel almost twice the
size of her body.

"Oh, please help me, I am afraid that I have lost my way!
called the Princess. The old woman did not speak, but
stopped, appeared to think for a moment, then beckoned with
a long bony finger, motioning the Princess to follow her.

Being a trusting and loving soul, the Princess followed the
old woman. After walking some way in silence, they arrived
at a clearing. In the centre of the clearing, stood a tall,
ivory tower with a single door at the bottom and a single
window at the top. The window was so high that clouds
sometimes obscured it.

The old woman pointed at the Tower and gestured that she had
brought the Princess to her final destination.

"But this is not my home!, cried the Princess, beginning to
feel prickles of fear on her skin.  You have brought me to
the wrong place! I live in a palace on the east of the
Forest. Please take me to my home! This is not where I
belong!"

Suddenly the old woman's body began to ripple and shake. The
heavy sack on her back began to grow larger. The old woman
reached into her bag and pulled out a handful of glowing
lights. She cast them around herself and before the
Princess's eyes changed form. She grew enormous, with an
elongated body covered in scales, a long tale like a sword
and the Princess saw that a pair of jagged wings unfolded
where the sack had been. The Princess stood face to face
with a fearsome dragon, with the same black, flashing eyes
of the old woman. A long blaze of fire spewed forth from the
dragon's mouth, singeing the hem of the Princess's robe. The
Princess was terrified.

In fear and having nowhere else to escape, the Princess flew
to the small door at the base of the Ivory Tower and slammed
the door behind her. She turned to bolt the door against the
dragon but the door through which she had just entered,
disappeared as though it had never existed. When the
Princess turned around again, she found that she was in a
small, circular room with a stone floor and one small window
facing east. The Princess ran to the window. Wisps of clouds
passed by. She was in the room at the top of the tower.
Leaning out of the window as far as she could, the Princess
saw the great forest spread all around in every direction
and without end. Below her, the dragon with the old woman's
eyes coiled itself up around the base of the Tower and laid
its head down as if to sleep.

The Princess was trapped in the Ivory Tower, guarded by a
dragon, without any hope or means of escape, or of ever of
being found.

So began the Princess's days in the Ivory Tower. The longing
that the Princess had felt while walking in the Forest
intensified and was fueled by her discontent and grief at
being trapped in the Tower. The Princess, having no one to
talk to, started to sing a song. Her song was filled with
the longing that engulfed her soul. She stood at the window,
and as she sang, the dragon lifted its scaly head as though
it was listening to her song.

Seeing this, the Princess beseeched the dragon, "Oh please
let me leave this terrible Tower. I am cut off from my
family and people! Please have mercy on me! Please let me
leave"

In reply, the dragon issued a fiery blast toward the window,
the Princess shrank back. She sat trembling and weeping,
propped against the opposite wall from the window, and
considered her situation. It seemed there was no escape from
this terrible Tower. Not only would she never see her people
again, but she was doomed to die of loneliness and maybe,
the Princess thought, from this aching longing that still
burns me. After a while, the Princess started to think about
her life before coming to the Tower; her beautiful home, the
wonderful people who relied upon her for her just
leadership, the many satisfactions that peppered her life,
both great and small. The Princess smiled to herself and was
cheered by these thoughts. She closed her eyes and a slow,
joyful hum issued from the Princess's lips as she remembered
the happiness she had known. After a while, the Princess
opened her eyes and was greeted by the bleak surroundings of
the Tower.

The Princess jumped and began pacing around the room. She
would think of a plan to escape. Around and around the
circular room she walked. Around and around, thinking and
planning, but the more she walked, the worse she felt. The
close walls of the Tower seemed to press down on her,
oppressing her spirit. The Princess felt that she could
hardly breathe.

Suddenly a blackbird with inquisitive eyes and a bright
orange beak appeared in the window of her Tower room. The
Princess ran to the bird and pleaded, "Oh little blackbird,
I am a Princess who has been locked in this tower. Please
help me escape. Allow me to hang onto your feet and fly away
from this terrible place. I live in a palace to the east of
the Forest. I will reward you handsomely for your help!"

"I would like to help you, replied the blackbird. But it is
not possible, for you are much heavier than I, and I am not
strong enough to lift you, much less to fly anywhere with
you hanging on my feet. And as far I know this forest does
not have an end, or not at least that I have ever seen. Were
I to try to take you, I am afraid that we would both drop to
our deaths. No, I am sorry for your situation, but I cannot
help you."

The Princess saw that the blackbird was speaking the truth
and was gripped with a sadness and longing, now made all the
sharper for having grasped the idea of escape.

The blackbird saw her sadness and suggested that he should
sing a song for the Princess. She accepted and settled down
to listen. The blackbird cleared his throat and began to
sing a song about his life flying free above the tree-tops,
of singing to raise the sun in the mornings and singing to
farewell the sun as it sinks below the horizon at night. For
a while, she forgot the hopelessness of her situation. The
Princess listened, and at first was charmed by the little
creature's song. She began to dance with pleasure. How
wonderful to be able to tumble and soar at will, to witness
the rise and fall of the sun, to be so free. But after some
time, the stories of flying free began to Princess's heart
in sharp contrast to her situation. She stopped dancing and
became solemn. The blackbird saw the Princess's look of
sadness and stopped singing.

"Have I offended you, dear lady?", asked the blackbird.

"No, but you have reminded me of how, even as you fly free,
I am trapped in this tower without hope of escape."

"I am sorry for your sadness, Princess. Now, it is getting
dark. I am afraid that I shall have to leave you. I must be
in my nest by the time darkness falls. Good night!"

Bereft of the cheerful presence of the blackbird, the
Princess's loneliness is intensified. All she has for
company now is the Tower and the dragon coiled at the
bottom, guarding against even the remotest chance of
escape.

The Princess lay down on the floor. After a while, she fell
asleep and began to dream. She dreamed that she was lost in
the darkness, feeling her way with her hands and feet. Her
normal senses of sight and hearing were useless to her.
Feeling uncertain, she senses another presence in the
darkness. Not knowing who or what it is, she feels a prickle
of fear. In the darkness a voice whispers to her, "Princess,
who are you?"

"You know who I am, for you just called me by my name," the
Princess replied bravely.

"Yes, Princess, I know who you are, but do you?, the
disembodied voice said.

"I am a Princess. I am good hearted, loving woman who cares
for my people."
"Ah, that is very good and noble, but still, I can see that
your heart carries a great longing, Princess. Perhaps if you
tell me what it is, I can help you?"

My heart longs for love, replied the Princess, realizing
even as she said it that it was true and that she had not
known it before. "But love eludes me and my heart aches with
the loneliness that can only be answered by one other."

"What if I could help you with that?", replied the voice.

"How? What do you know of me that can help me?" the Princess
felt a surge of hope.

"I will show you something. If you understand the meaning of
what I show you, you shall understand your longing and your
love shall be revealed. If not, I am afraid that no one can
help you."

"Yes, please I want to see, begged the Princess.

"Very well, replied the voice. Count backwards from three to
one and then you shall see."

"Three.... Two....One.."

The darkness lifted and before the Princess was the most
terrible scene. A terrifying monster was standing with a
dripping sword above the prone figure of a familiar woman.
Blood poured from deadly wounds in the woman's body, which
the Princess recognized as her own dying body. The loathsome
creature laughed, reached up and removed the monstrous mask
it was wearing. With the mask removed, the Princess found
herself looking into her own eyes. She saw herself; both the
killer and also the one who lay dying on the floor!

The Princess awoke from her nightmare shaking with fear.
What did this mean? Who was she?? Is that why she was
imprisoned in the Tower? Against the possibility of hurting
others or herself? What had this to do with finding her
heart's longing?

In the darkness of the night, she stood and walked to the
window. Outside, stars shone in the sky and a half moon
glimmered overhead. All was quiet.

The beauty of nature's heavenly parade sparked a surge of
love and appreciation. She might be trapped in her Tower,
but this did not mean that she could not enjoy the gift of
life that allowed her to witness such beauty. A surge of
love and peace swelled within her. She began to sway in slow
movements, propelled by the flame of love and compassion
that bloomed in her heart.

And it was this moment,  that the Princess began to
understand. Nothing could prevent her from fulfilling the
longing she felt within her, except for herself. Freedom to
fulfill her heart's longing was her own internal decision,
defined by the extent to which she accepted her
circumstances. The good with the bad, she was free to choose
how she felt about it. She understood that freedom was an
internal experience and never is it offered anywhere else.
On the contrary, the Princess recognized that when she
rejected her situation and wished herself far from the
Tower, she was drawn down deeply into her own worst
nightmares and despair. Her imprisonment was total, the
longing could never be fulfilled.  The meaning of the dream
was clear; in not accepting her reality such as it was
represented in the Tower, she was at the mercy of her own
shadowy self, powerless to nurture her own life. By trying
to escape the limitations of the Tower, a situation she
could not change, she would eventually be driven mad or die.
The Princess executed a twirl of delight and happiness as
true understanding dawned in her.

Suddenly, the Princess felt the Tower begin to shake and
roll. The Princess looked up and the new dawn breaking. She
could hear the first songs of birds greeting the sun, as the
miracle of life continued to unfold.  The sun's light hit
the window of the Tower and filled the Princess's room with
a light so bright she could not see. A trill of ecstasy
flowed from the Princess's lips and she swayed with love and
life filling her being. She closed her eyes and when she
opened them again, the Princess fell to her feet in
gratitude and joy. She was still in the Tower, yet it had
transformed itself into a vast golden palace. Flowers and
fruit were laid out everywhere, soft carpets adorned the
floor and rich tapestries the walls. The Princess looked
down at herself and saw that she was dressed in a gown of
gold that shone with a light of its own.

The gates to the palace swung open as if by magic and the
path to her palace was fringed by flowers of every colour
and beautiful shady trees. Fountains cooled the air and
created mini rainbows in the air. Down the path, walking
towards her was a man, dressed in a gold suit. On the back
of his suit was his coat of arms; a mighty dragon slithered
across his back. When he smiled and took the Princess's hand
and lifted her to her feet, the Princess recognized the eyes
of the old woman, now in the face of this man, and they lit
her soul. Though they did not speak, their eyes spoke of a
love beyond time. Beyond the garden was filled with people,
her family, her friends, her people. They were celebrating,
feasting and dancing. When they saw the Princess and her
Prince emerge from the palace gates, they cheered and raised
their glasses in toast.

"Hail the return of our Queen and welcome to her new
husband the King! "

And the hearts of all, rejoiced as one.