What will it take to activate the collective consciousness of the future?
Brooklyn, New York. Faith’s Apartment. The Present. Winter.
Downstage of a long brick wall running the length of the stage, is a tall ladder. Sitting at the top of the ladder is GRANDMOTHER. She wears ripped jeans, sneakers and a black tee-shirt.
FAITH sits on the ground, center stage. She wears a black dress and is barefoot. She pours the last of a bottle of red wine into the wine glass in front of her. She swallows the entire thing in one sip.
She picks up a picture frame.
FAITH
I wish I didn’t miss you anymore.
She takes out the picture inside of the picture frame and tears it in half. She is lost, defeated and broken.
GRANDMOTHER descends the ladder and is carrying a red box.
GRANDMOTHER
Ask and you shall receive. That is the first Law of Life. This is for you.
GRANDMOTHER offers her the red box.
Silence.
FAITH takes the box.
FAITH
Thank you.
GRANDMOTHER sits.
Silence.
FAITH
Who are you?
GRANDMOTHER
I came in from the window.
FAITH
Okay..
Silence.
FAITH
Why?
GRANDMOTHER
There is something that I need to show you.
Silence.
FAITH
Excuse Me?
GRANDMOTHER
Sit down next to me on the floor.
FAITH
And who are you?
GRANDMOTHER gestures towards the red box.
GRANDMOTHER
Open it.
FAITH opens the box and reveals a golden crown.
GRANDMOTHER
Try it on.
Reluctantly, FAITH places the crown on her head.
GRANDMOTHER
Ah, it fits perfectly.
FAITH removes the crown and places it back in the red box and closes the lid.
FAITH
Look.. I appreciate you dropping by and offering me a crown and everything but.. this is all really bizarre and I’m going to have to ask you to leave my house now.
GRANDMOTHER
Why don’t you trust me?
FAITH
Who are you?! And how did you get in my house?!
GRANDMOTHER
Sit down and I will tell you whatever you want to know.
Reluctantly, FAITH sits.
GRANDMOTHER
There is an old legend that the butterfly can see us through times of darkness and confusion by revealing to us our path of transformation. You can think of me as your butterfly. There is a place I want to take you.
FAITH
Right now?
GRANDMOTHER
There is no time like the present, that is why it is a gift. Close your eyes.
GRANDMOTHER places her right hand on FAITH’S back and places her left hand in her hand.
After a moment the sound of rainfall is heard.
GRANDMOTHER
Open your eyes.
FAITH looks around.
FAITH
What is this place?
GRANDMOTHER
This is Gabon. This is my home.
FAITH
We’re in Africa?!
GRANDMOTHER
Yes. This is the rainforest where I grew up as a young child. This is a sacred place. Our people believe that there are special powers in the rainforest. It is the place for Man to find a true connection with God.
FAITH
It is beautiful.
GRANDMOTHER
Take a deep breath.
FAITH closes her eyes and breathes slowly.
GRANDMOTHER
The oxygen is 98% pure up here. This place is a jewel of the Earth. There are millions of plants and insects here that have never even been discovered. It is one of the few places in the world that has never been invaded by man. There are a lot of natural medicines found here.
FAITH
This is all really spectacular and everything but.. why did you bring me here?
GRANDMOTHER
I am going the teach you how to be a healer.
FAITH
A what?
GRANDMOTHER
Our culture believes that humans have two bodies: A physical body and a spiritual body. When there is disease, it is the person who is ill that is treated, not the illness itself. Disease inhabits us to bother us into making necessary spiritual changes.
FAITH
What exactly does that mean?
GRANDMOTHER
Like forgiveness. You never know what sorts of things can manifest themselves in your body.. You have a very important work to do Faith.
GRANDMOTHER retrieves various pots, pans, tools, and plants.
GRANDMOTHER
Do you see this plant? This is a special healing plant called Iboga. This Iboga plant allows a person to work for long hours without feeling tired or hungry.
We are all connected with the Earth. Saving the Earth is saving ourselves. It is all healed through Faith.
FAITH
Are we related?
GRANDMOTHER
We are all related.
FAITH
Are you a distant cousin of mine?
GRANDMOTHER
I am your grandmother of many generations ago.
FAITH laughs.
FAITH
Grandmother?! You don’t look a day over twenty-five.
GRANDMOTHER
You are what you believe yourself to be. Time is relative. I brought you all the way to Africa.. Do you think that’s my only trick?
FAITH
Point taken.
They continue working.
FAITH
What exactly are we doing?
GRANDMOTHER
This is your initiation. In our culture, initiation is a spiritual awakening. There are two kinds of people in the world, the initiated and those who are not initiated, people who have spiritual knowledge and those who don’t. The path of illumination for the initiated allows for another vision of life.
The sound of gunshots are heard.
FAITH
What’s that?!
GRANDMOTHER
Poachers. They will kill and eat anything that comes into their path. They cut the hides off of elephants and lions then they bring aids and ebola viruses back into the villages. They are dangerous and destroying the rainforest at a fast pace. That is why we have to work quickly.
FAITH
Why is this happening?
GRANDMOTHER
To some men wealth is more important than love. To them, the World is more important than God. There is corruption in the human spirit. War and violence come into a man’s mind when he is far from God. He thinks he can be more than his brothers and sisters, rather than believing we are all equal and all creatures of God. He wants to be more than or above the plants, the animals, and the water. He is in competition with the Creator. He thinks he can be the Creator. This is what generates wars and oppression. Peace comes from the opposite of this kind of thinking. When we can feel we are brothers and sisters with all the creatures and with all of the beauty of God.
The spirits of this forest say that we can’t go backwards anymore. We can’t have fear anymore. Time is short. Time is calling us.
Are you ready to go back now?
FAITH shakes her head “Yes”.
GRANDMOTHER
Close your eyes.
GRANDMOTHER places her right hand on FAITH’S back and places her left hand in her hand.
The rainfall fades.
GRANDMOTHER
Open your eyes.
FAITH
I don’t know anything about plants.
GRANDMOTHER
Surrender to your spirit. Deep within our hearts is where the peace and the healing will start. Be silent and listen to the guidance of your ancestors. They are there beside you. Do you remember what I told you about the butterfly? Darkness is necessary to allow humanity to transform. Think about the transition of the caterpillar to the expanded view of a butterfly.
FAITH
What exactly am I supposed to do?
GRANDMOTHER
We are disconnected. We are disconnected from ourselves and from the planet that nurtures us, body and soul. Violence and war have led to hunger and poverty all over the world. We don’t even understand our basic human rights. Our water, the blood of Mother Earth is too polluted to drink and the air in some places is too polluted to breathe. You have to ask yourself if you would want that for your grand-daughter, and then you will find your answer.
It is all about regaining balance, the person and the Earth. It is about obtaining and owning our “regal-ness”.
GRANDMOTHER places the crown on FAITH’S head.
GRANDMOTHER
You have been chosen long ago, in a time before we know it to be a force of peace in the world. If not the entire planet might be at stake.
FAITH removes the crown and places it back in the red box.
FAITH
The entire planet?! I’m just a Black girl from Brooklyn.
GRANDMOTHER
You are whatever you believe yourself to be. I believe you are a Queen. But its up to you to decide. That rainforest in Gabon belongs to you. It all belongs to you. It is a part of your kingdom now and it is your responsibility to protect it, if you like it or not.
FAITH
How am I supposed to do that?
GRANDMOTHER
The strongest tool you have to use is Love. Love is God in manifestation, and it is the strongest magnetic force in the Universe. Pure, unselfish love draws to it its own. It does not need to seek or demand. Give a perfect love and you will receive a perfect love. You can never receive what you haven’t been given.
FAITH looks towards the ground.
GRANDMOTHER
I think you know what I’m talking about. Leave him. Forgive him. And then move on. He’s not worth it anyway.
GRANDMOTHER looks at her watch.
GRANDMOTHER
I have to go.
FAITH
Wait.
GRANDMOTHER stops.
FAITH
What do I do now?
GRANDMOTHER
Just remember, the temple that we build is from all that is inside of us. You are a whole lot stronger than you think you are.
Be confident. Be new. Be you. One day you might find a King.. Just have Faith. You are the Earth in manifestation. Take care of yourself and heal yourself.
GRANDMOTHER ascends up the ladder and disappears through the window.
FAITH goes to the red box and removes the golden crown from inside of it.
She tries it on and looks in the mirror.
FAITH
I could get use to this.
BLACKOUT
I'm diggin your flip on the Go Green Movement!
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