Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Aries’ Dreamy Day on Earth

Starting point is 00:00:00 Tonight's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. What's the first thing you'd do if you had an extra hour in your day? Maybe you'd go for a walk, relax on the sofa or take a nap. Or perhaps you'd try to meet a friend or have a call with a loved one. A lot of us spend our lives wishing we had a bit more time to fit things in. The best way to squeeze that special thing into your schedule is to know what's truly important to you and to make it a priority. Therapy can help you figure out what matters most to you so you can do more of it.

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Starting point is 00:01:32 Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax, and we get sleepy. I'm your host Thomas, thanks for tuning in. We have something special in store tonight. We're kicking off what I think is one of our most unique and creatively written series that we've had on Get Sleepy, all about the zodiac. Tonight is the first installment of 12 stories, where we'll meet the zodiac signs and join them on their adventures in the modern world. The first of these influential individuals is of course Ares. After many millennia among the stars, Ares decides to visit our planet where he finds the world much changed. He is a being of energy and

Starting point is 00:02:37 confident leadership, so we'd better sit back and let him lead the way. It was written by Frankie and I have the pleasure of reading it to you. So kick back and settle in for our journey. It's going to be a fun and dreamy bedtime story tonight. story tonight. Make yourself comfortable and allow the cosiness of your bed to envelop you entirely. Imagine that the built-up strength and vitality that has been coursing through you all day is a ruby red light. We need to help this energy in our body quieten down so we can get a good night of rest. of rest. Notice your breath and begin to deepen it. With each exhale, imagine that red light light dim a little more. Try to make the next breath the largest you have taken all day. And with the exhale, imagine the light going out completely. Your body is still, calm and ready.

Starting point is 00:05:03 Next we turn to the mind. Ares rules the head, so we must clear it and make it ready for his story. Go back to your breath. Turn your attention to the details of it. Focus on the sensation of filling and emptying your lungs. Marvel at the way your body knows to do this instinctively. And with each calming breath, allow the thoughts of the day to grow quiet. This is the time for you to prepare for sleep and reconnect with yourself. Now you are ready. you are ready. We turn to the stars, home of the zodiac. This is where our story begins. Ares is bored. He's already chased shooting stars across the heavens, danced through the Milky Way and popped over to the Andromeda galaxy for a visit. He turns his gaze towards Earth. Look at it down there.

Starting point is 00:07:28 He's always loved the way the blue and green of water and land mix together. He loves the way the clouds create a little wooly blanket over the planet, always moving and changing. Perhaps he should go for a visit. Hmm, that's an idea. He hasn't been to Earth in centuries. It would be a good excuse to look for his crown as well. He's been missing it for a long time. He's not quite sure how long because he's not very good at keeping track, but he knows it's been a while. His crown was made for him on earth. It was gold with rubies and diamonds. It looked incredible in his fiery red hair, he recalled.

Starting point is 00:08:51 in his fiery red hair, he recalled. That settles it. He's going down to Earth. Ares flies through the galaxy like a shooting star. The velvety darkness of the heavens flashes by him and he revels in the feeling. He feels excitement and joy bubbling up inside. It has been far too long since he visited the humans. They were always so fun. But what form should he take? Perhaps he should come down as the ram. That always made the humans happy. That always made the humans happy. Just before he enters the atmosphere of Earth, Ares transforms. His human image changes to that of a golden ram.

Starting point is 00:10:13 His woolly hair is like spun gold and catches the light of the sun at every angle. His curled horns are pure gold as well, and from his back spring two golden wings. He opens them and glides down to earth with ease. He lands lightly on a beach next to a huge body of very dark water. dark water. Ares the ram shakes himself slightly's edge and looks out over its calm surface. All he can see on the horizon is more water. He considers the water itself, peering into its murky depths and hazarding a sip. He would know that taste anywhere, the Euxine Sea. It is just as beautiful as he remembers. Many years ago, he flew over this sea with a young prince on his back and set in motion the epic adventure of the Argonauts. But that was long ago now. Ares turns and walks down the beach, reminiscing.

Starting point is 00:12:37 The water laps calmly at the sand, like the inhale and exhale of the earth itself. The dark waters reflect the dramatic skyline rising from the land. Mountains seem to wave and ripple in the watery mirror, and when Ares turns around, they appear even more impressive in their solid state. He thinks back to a time when gods, humans, satyrs, nymphs, and many other creatures walked the earth together. Even then, Ares would sometimes come to this sea to wade in its waters. He would race with the dolphins and porpoises. The monk seals would play hide and seek in the long seagrass. Ares would make himself small enough to ride the seahorses through the shallows. Now, a couple of humans appear, walking up the beach towards Ares. towards Ares. He practically jumps with joy. These are the first people he's seen in years. They spot him and look at one another in amazement. He's missed this feeling, and the sheer joy his visage brings to people.

Starting point is 00:14:30 The first thing Ares notices is that mankind certainly has changed a lot since he was last here. This pair is dressed in the strangest clothes. As they get closer, they both pull out odd rectangles the size of their hands. They hold the rectangles in front of themselves, pointed at the shining image of Ares, smiling widely. Ares strikes a magnificent pose. He knows he looks impressive and does not blame the humans for being awestruck. The woman puts her rectangle away and reaches out a hand towards him. Ares trots over and nuzzles her kindly. She laughs with joy and smiles at her partner. Ares is getting so caught up in the fun of spending time with these humans of spending time with these humans that he has nearly forgotten what he came here to do.

Starting point is 00:16:19 He gives her a quick lick on the hand, spreads his wings, and pushes back into the sky. The humans are left speechless in his wake. Ares considers his plan. Where was the last place he saw his crown? Definitely somewhere in the area of the Euxin Sea. He dives and soars through the fluffy early spring clouds. He loves punching through them, leaving a trail of vapor behind him. He makes his way to a wooded area, gliding down beneath the trees. He lands softly on the ground and quickly transforms to his normal appearance.

Starting point is 00:17:39 Being a ram is fun, it's his calling card in many ways, but this mission requires opposable thumbs. He clothes himself in something similar to what he saw the humans on the beach wearing, but in red. Red is his favorite color. Ares walks with purpose through the wooded area and comes into a wide field. It appears he has stumbled across humans doing some kind of sport. He rubs his hands together in excitement. Aries loves games. He sees that many adults are standing around the outside of a white rectangle on the grass. Inside the rectangle are about two dozen human children running around after a black and white ball. One half of the children are in blue and the other half are in red.

Starting point is 00:19:01 He walks up and considers the game for about five minutes. Finally, he looks around for the leader of the sport. He even asks a few because he is out today. Ares nods his head in acknowledgement and gets to work. Over the next hour, the parents of the red team are astounded. Goals are scored, complex plays are executed perfectly, and not a single child gets distracted by a passing butterfly. by a passing butterfly. This strange man has turned their group of five-year-olds into a team that could rival the national one. The children run faster than they ever have before and seem to grasp the details of the game that have evaded them up until

Starting point is 00:20:29 now. Goal after goal is scored until the whistle is blown and the red team comes streaming off the field into the cheering arms of their parents. The parents look around at each other. They want to thank the man, but he is nowhere to be seen. One of the children pulls at his mother's sleeve and tells her he saw a golden sheep flying away. She simply smiles and tells the other parents proudly about her son's vivid imagination. Ares, meanwhile, is back in the air. That was fun. He must remember this sport and bring it back to play with his siblings. it back to play with his siblings. But he got distracted yet again. This time, he's going to stick to the plan and find his crown. Ares circles around a large city and makes himself invisible as he lands. He resumes his human form and walks out of an alley.

Starting point is 00:22:19 The city he has landed in has beautiful buildings with red roofs. Some have small domes or geometric fenestrations. It sits on the Rhianney River and amongst the green foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. The streets are cobbled and clean as Ares wanders hands in pockets. He finds himself before a huge building with a large gold seal on the side and 12 golden statues on the roof. From outside, he can hear the sound of beautiful music and a full orchestra. and a full orchestra. He stays on the steps for some time, enjoying the sound. Then, he wanders between the white buildings, admiring them and sometimes observing the goings on of the humans nearby. They seem to be doing much the same as when he was here last. They are making art and performances and beautiful things. That makes Ares happy. Down a side street, he finds a small garden. There is no gate or fence, but the little patch of green

Starting point is 00:24:30 but the little patch of green is encircled on three sides by the backs of large grand buildings. The middle of the park is dominated by a huge oak tree. Aries guesses that it must be hundreds of years old. It is so tall that it looks over the top of its neighbouring buildings. Ares glances at the tree's mighty boughs and gives in to the urge mighty bows and gives in to the edge to climb. He pulls himself up to the lowest branch and admires the lush green leaves. With each branch, he feels as though he is being transported back in time to a version of this city he once knew. The sounds of the city seem tores pokes his head through the foliage and takes in the view. For a moment, there seem to be two cities before him, the modern one and the ancient one. Ares stays in the oak admiring the view until a quiet voice in his head brings him back

Starting point is 00:26:19 to his quest. He has to find his crown. He climbs down the tree and pats its ancient trunk once or twice before heading out of the tiny garden and back into the city. into the city. Ares follows his intuition, which feels like a compass in his chest, leading him to where he needs to be. Ares smiles at people as he walks across the cobbled streets over to a modest building with a clock at the top. He enters, certain that here he will find what he is looking for. It is cold inside the building, but Ares is a being of fire and will not be defeated by some heavy-handed air conditioning. He walks confidently across the marble floors

Starting point is 00:27:49 He walks confidently across the marble floors and approaches the first set of glass cases. Inside are all kinds of objects. Some are pieces of clothing, some are tools. There are a great deal of things he does not know the use of. He peers at every object locked away in glass and begins to realize the purpose of this building. It holds relics from the course of human history. Excited, Ares begins to inspect the objects more closely. Fashion, on the whole, has changed the most, Aries decides. It has gone through so many different stages, and most of it seems to have evolved to be symbolic rather than practical. Some tools are the same, but mostly the humans have spent their time making new tools rather

Starting point is 00:29:16 than improving old ones. The further back in history Ares goes, the more he begins to recognize things. He wanders through the entire building, being finds the oldest relics. They are so ancient that few of them are unbroken. Anything with metal is covered with rust. Pottery remains only in shards that someone has put back together. And in the back corner resides his crown. He doesn't know what the little card next to it says, and it definitely needs a clean, but that is his crown. Ares doesn't even look around him to see if he is being watched before placing one hand on the glass between him and his property. His hand begins to glow from within, becoming the color at the heart of a furnace. a furnace. The glass around his hand melts, creating a neat hole.

Starting point is 00:31:17 Ares hand goes back to normal as he reaches for his crown. As soon as his finger wraps around the delicate ring, the crown begins to transform. Centuries of rust and dirt seem to blow away. A few minutes ago, a person might not have even noticed the crown on its plastic plinth at the back of the display. Upon Ares' touch, it draws the eye like a magnet. The crown reveals itself to be the purest gold around the band. Diamonds catch the dim light of the room and refract it back as tiny rainbows. as tiny rainbows. They are joined by rubies, the color of the roses in high summer. This crown sparkles and shines in Ares' hands, practically begging to be put on. Ares has never been one to deny himself anything.

Starting point is 00:32:56 He places the golden circle on his head. It rests on his wavy red hair as if it never left. He feels complete again. Ares walks out of the building satisfied with himself. Back in the sunlight, he looks up and smiles. This experience has piqued his interest. What have humans been up to all these years? He must know more. He must find out so he can tell his siblings. And there's only one way to find out fast enough to satisfy a demigod. Ares the ram flies again, this time to the west. His ram form now sports a golden collar Sea and adjusts to the southwest. He flies over the little sliver of land that separates the body of water from the Aegean Sea and wonders briefly about the city that used to be here. It had huge walls, but it was beautiful.

Starting point is 00:34:57 The Aegean Sea is turquoise, where the Eucsene Sea was dark, nearly black. Islands are scattered throughout the water, each one bleached white by the sun and covered in little human settlements. The air is warmer here and swiftly carries Aries over mainland Greece. Here is a place he once knew well. It has changed just as everything has, but he loves it no less than he did before. Ares travels into the mountains, looking for the spot where once the entire world came to find answers. He remembers the mountains better than the human cities and towns. When he finds the place he is looking for, Ares barely notices that what once was a marble temple is now ruins. There are still humans everywhere, but they no longer stand in a line that traces all

Starting point is 00:36:41 the way back down the mountain like they once did. He can still remember the hundreds that would travel to Delphi every day to ask a question of the fates of Apollo or of anyone who was listening. or of anyone who was listening. Ares lands in a few scrubby bushes and comes out in his human form. He hesitates for a moment before waving his hand and becoming invisible. He's now aware of how very much Earth has changed since his being away, and he does not wish to alarm anyone. Ares walks past the little fence meant to keep humans off the ruins. As soon as he steps onto this ancient marble, he gets a vision of the temple as it once was. The air becomes thick with the smell of incense. He walks down a mirage of the great temple to the entrance of the inner sanctum.

Starting point is 00:38:31 the inner sanctum. There is no priestess before him now, but he imagines her and asks her to show him what he has missed from human history these last millennia. Ares feels a gust of wind from the circular room at the back of the ruins. This was the spot where the priestesses would go to find the answers. Now a cool breeze flows from there towards Aries. He closes his eyes and allows it to wash over him, covering him in knowledge. The history of over two thousand years pours into his head, like sand into the bottom of an hourglass. After some time, he opens his eyes, filled with even more fire than usual, with the excitement of it all. Humans have truly surpassed his wildest dreams. They have created so much, discovered innumerable new things. Ares barely remembers to stay invisible and have even sent objects to Mars. He allows his amazement and joy to fill him up.

Starting point is 00:40:38 He has to get back to the stars, to his siblings. He has to share this with them. Ares rises into the air, and he promises to be back soon. You I'm going to go ahead and start the video. You You You You You You You You You You You You I'm going to go ahead and start the video. The You You You You You You you you

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Aries’ Dreamy Day on Earth

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