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The Young Boy Visits My Mother

In ancient Greek tradition, the young god Hermes (Mercury), an eternal youth and often depicted as a young boy, is the giver and interpreter of dreams. Youthful Hermes is the guardian of the journey, and he is often pictured as a psychopomp (guide to souls) that is the young god that comes for and then leads people to the Beyond.

In one ancient Persian tradition, it’s said that in the "Beyond" a dying person must first pass over what’s called the Chinvat Bridge. If the dying person is evil, then the bridge is only as wide as a hair. For the good person, a young girl or boy - their guardian angel having been with them throughout their lifetime - comes to the dying person for purposes of guiding them safely over the bridge. (Henri Corbin "Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth")

Saturday May 17, 2003 4:00 a.m.
Still half asleep, I arrived at the BNA Nashville, TN airport in the wee hours of the morning. I was traveling to spend the next week in New Mexico caring for my dying mother. Diagnosed with a fast growing tumorous growth, Mom had experienced two very good months with remarkably few visible changes having taken place in her physical and mental health.

The particular timing of this trip had been due to my sister needing that week to move her son home from his first year at college. Since my sister would not be there, she had called the previous Thursday night to prepare me for the rather drastic and sudden changes that had suddenly taken place with Mom during the past two days.

Finally boarding my plane almost two hours later, I now strongly suspected that this trip home to New Mexico would be the final time that my mother and I would be together. Mom would soon be leaving on her final journey to the uncharted Beyond - and this would likely be our last opportunity for the saying of our good-byes.

The Previous Christmas
Spending an entire day traveling on planes, hanging out for hours at various departing gates, gives one plenty of time (maybe too much time) to think about the past and our regrets… Christmas of 2002, I'd felt that it was incredibly important for me to travel home and share the holiday season with my Mom. So I’d made sure that I spent the Christmas holidays with my mother and family.

During that time at home, my antenna about my mother’s health had been briefly raised, when she offhandedly mentioned that she had just recently begun having several dreams about my grandmother (her mother). Although the "collective unconscious" doesn’t recognize physical death as an "ending" of the soul, the "collective unconscious" does have it’s own mysterious ways of preparing folks for the separation of physical death.

One primary method of the soul's preparation is through the person’s dreams, and quite typically the person’s mother is known to be the one who appears in their dreams as a familiar guide to the Beyond.

Still… denial is a strong defense against our fears... and I’d managed to shrug off and dismiss my concerns, because Mom was so doggedly determined to help pay for my nephew’s college education. Everyone who knew her thought that she’d, at the very least, live long enough to see that goal through to fruition.

Saturday May 17, 2003 8:00 p.m.
Finally arriving at my mother's home sometime well after 8:00 p.m., I discovered that she'd been in a deep, agitated, and fitful sleep most of the previous night and then throughout that entire day. Walking into her bedroom, we called out her name several times to let her know that I had made it home…

Finally, after what appeared to be a major struggle, she awoke briefly. Smiling at me, she then went back into her deep sleep.

Sunday May 18, 2003
Much to my surprise… Mom awoke the next morning - mentally alert and ready for a little breakfast. We then went on to have two very good days together.

Mom was to sometime later tell her hospice aid worker that during her fitful sleep she'd been having a wonderful dream. In her dream, she'd died and gone to heaven. It was a joyous occasion and all of her deceased loved ones and friends were there to meet her. At some point in her dream, she was told that she had to come back for the time being. When she awoke, I was standing there by her bed. Although spending a few extra days with me was surely not just recompense, I was selfishly grateful that Mom (or someone in charge) had chosen for her to journey back long enough for us to say our good-byes.

Tuesday May 20, 2003
This day would prove to be an especially rough and frightening one for both Mom and myself. It's still too emotionally difficult and private to go into any of the details as to what happened on this day. I will however mention that on this day transiting Mercury was sitting stationary in the sky in direct opposition to my birth Venus and conjunct Mom's birth Mars.

Mercury, the speedily moving messenger of the gods, when sitting stationary in the sky is considered to be at its point of greatest potency and strength. As mentioned above, youthful Hermes (Mercury) is the guardian of the journey, and in particular he is often the guardian of the final journey to the Beyond.

Wednesday May 21, 2003
This morning Mom seemed more herself than the day before. She’d woken up normally enough and then had been watching her favorite TV game shows throughout the morning hours.

Around lunchtime... I was busy walking across the room getting something or the other for Mom, when "out-of-the-blue" she quite casually mentioned that a young boy had been standing on the right side of her bed all morning long.

Sensing that she was carefully looking me over in order to gauge my reaction, I coolly looked over to the spot that she had pointed out and asked if the young boy had said anything to her. She indicated that he hadn’t spoken and that he had just been standing there watching over her. Frankly, I’m not so sure that my very private mother would have told me if the young boy had in fact spoken any mysteries to her.

Per usual... on this day Mom was only worried about me and how I was doing. She was aware that on the previous day I had been very frightened for her. Looking over at me in a way that only a mother can, she asked if I was doing okay?

After briefly assuring her that I was just fine, I left the room in order to "run an errand."

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