Journey Across the Sky-Veil is a mythopoetic journey through a forgotten realm where the divine brushes the mortal. A nameless man awakens beneath a veil of sorrow and memory, guided by three silent goddesses across a path of signs, silence, and sacred trials. His quest is not to rise in power, but to remember his name—and the order of Being itself. This is a story of longing, wisdom, and the quiet majesty that crowns the soul.
The path bent downward. Not steeply, but with an air of inevitability, as if descent must precede ascent. One could not simply approach Hera’s Highlands and ascend. I knew I had to continue faithfully on the worn path of the previous pilgrims before me. Down I went. The grass thinned, giving way to cracked earth veined with a vibrant violet stone. The wind grew still. And then—it stopped altogether.
Before me emerged a jagged opening in the hillside: not shaped by hands but torn from the land by something that I knew not yet felt deeply in my soul as grief. The air that drifted out from within was cold, dry, ancient.
This was the place I had sensed in the golden fields before the distant Highlands of Majesty. This was the Cavern of the Oracle. At the threshold, a stone marker jutted from the earth. Carved into it was no name, no figure—only the symbol of flame and eye, encircled and scorched into the stone.
The Seal of Athena – She of the Grey Eyes and Light.
It pulsed once. Then went still. I stepped forward. Below the seal I read:
“To carry light, one must be emptied of false flame.”
The air continued to change.
The Grey-Beneath was far behind me now. The Sky-Veil, having opened after Aphrodite’s rose, Athena’s mirror, and Hera’s Highlands in the distance, shimmered more vividly as I approached the Cavern with Athena’s seal. As I entered, the light dimmed and sound muffled. My thought slowed.
I walked a narrow path between walls of slick stone, inscribed with ancient sigils that glowed faintly like candles and whispered in forgotten tongues. With each step, memories flickered—faint visions dancing on the rock like shadows behind flame:
A voice I once trusted, now silent.
A crown I nearly took.
A reflection I dared not look into.
The path widened. And there, in the heart of the mountain, stood the Oracle. Not a person. Not a thing. But a presence in stillness deeper than silence. I fell to my knees. And then—without sound—it spoke within me:
“You speak but take no care to understand the words spoken.”
I wanted to answer, to protest, but no voice came.
“You have not yet been named, and yet you have built a hundred names. You have come to ascend. But you have not yet fallen.”
Appearing now as a figure, the presence extended a hand. Floating there: a mask. Clear. Beautiful. Etched with my features—but perfected, refined. A heaven-like version of myself. I reached out. The mask shattered in my hand.
No cry.
No pain.
Only quiet.
Only space.
And in that space something deeper stirred. Not a word. Not a sound. A name. Not yet given. Not yet spoken. But recognized.
“Now you are ready to be named,” came the whisper. “Not by yourself. But by the shimmer of Queen Hera who shines by a borrowed light.”
The figure stepped backward, dissolving into the air like breath on glass. The cavern grew dim. Then bright. Then still.
I opened my eyes and stood once more beneath the Sky-Veil. Behind me, all was silent. Before me, all was light. Within me, all was breadth and depth. And in the distance, crowned in gold and veiled in awe, rose Hera, the Queen of the Highlands of Majesty.
“True kings do not speak themselves into power.
They are spoken into by the voice that made the stars.”
Enjoy “Athena’s Path Between” from my album The Sky-Veil, available on my music site.
Purchase the album, The Sky-Veil here.
Lyrics ©Walter Emerson Adams. Music and vocals by Suno ©Walter Emerson Adams.
Across the fields between The place where light is seen Not one besides can chart Athena guides the heart The meadows in between Their nights are pure and gleam The night of faith is clear Athena’s wisdom near The music in between Its softness so serene The mountains stand in might Athena climbs their heights The valley lush between With lights that glow pristine A distant pathway viewed Athena’s heart pursued