Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - The Brocade of the Moon Palace (Premium)

Episode Date: September 16, 2020

This is a preview episode. Get the full episode, and many more, ad free, on our supporter's feed: https://getsleepy.com/support. The Brocade of the Moon PalaceTonight, Tom reads a re-telling of an old fairytale from Asia. 😴  Sound design: meadow ambiance, crickets, wind.    About Get Sleepy Premium: Help support the podcast, and get: Monday and Wednesday night episodes (with zero ads) The exclusive Thursday night bonus episode Access to the entire back catalog (also ad-free) Premium sleep meditations, extra-long episodes and more! We'll love you forever. ❤️ Get a 7 day free trial, and join the Get Sleepy community here https://getsleepy.com/support. And thank you so, so much.  Tom, and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, Thomas here. You're listening to a preview episode. You can enjoy the entire story tonight by subscribing to our supporters' feed. There you'll get access to the entire back catalogue, bonus episodes, and more, and it's all completely ad-free. Click the link below to learn more and thank you so so much. Me and the team really appreciate your support. Many moons ago, a kind, unassuming woman, lived with her son in the heart of Asia. They dwelled in the countryside in a wooden cottage, surrounded by green fields and dark forests. Though they didn't live a lavish life, they were happy. Their days were spent cultivating rice paddies, and in the evening, relaxing in front of a crackling fire, telling tales of far off places. In this time, people rarely ventured far from home due to the difficulty of

travel. The world was yet to see a motorized vehicle, and although there were roads, they were difficult to create and maintain. Once a week, the mother and son would travel to the local market to sell their wares. It was the central hub for exchange in the area. Fenders came from across the valley to trade everything from fresh fish to chopped wood. Except for this weekly trip to the market, the mother and son had seen little beyond their quiet home. They enjoyed this life though, it allowed them time to grow fresh fruits and veg alongside their rice patties. And they were able to master useful skills like bread making. It was hard to complain about a home that always smelt of warm bread. But above all, the mother was especially skilled at weaving beautiful brigades.

People from neighbouring regions would travel long distances to buy them at the local market. When the sun set, after a long day tending to their land, the mother would sit at her loom and men together threads of brightly coloured silk. She loved creating intricate patterns of bright flowers, ocean waves, or red sunsets melting into yellow skies. One day, the mother and son were set up in the market. Next to them was a vendor selling steamed dumplings. The mother just finished trading a few portions of rice

for a variety of fragrant spices when something caught her eye. A scroll of parchment with a grand palace painted on it. The woman was enchanted by dazzling gardens of fruit trees, orchids and plum blossoms. A river ran around the white and gold building, and orange speckled fish jumped out of the water, sending drops of blue into the river below. The woman counted her coins and looked at the painting again. It reminded her of the stories she told her son each night by the fire. She had never owned a work of art before. Determined to bring it home, she doubled her efforts to sell brocade.

She overheard a wealthy merchant discussing his upcoming wedding and managed to sell him a selection of her finest brocades to be given as wedding gifts to his bride. With the necessary coins in hand, she promptly crossed the market and purchased the painting. With a smile as wide as the sky, she returned to her son. She simply couldn't wait to put it on display in their home. That night as the cicadas world outside their home. The sun tallied their earnings from the day. It was taking longer than usual because his mother was concerned only about where to place the painting.

She held it at different angles on every wall of their home, but still hadn't found the position that was just right. Then she paused for a moment and gazed longingly out the window. A harvest moon sat like a glowing giant on the horizon against the canvas of the night sky. As much as she loved the painting, the mother couldn't help but notice that it made her wonder about the world. What hid beyond the borders of their village? Do palaces like this one really exist?

To her, a palace like this was as far away as the harvest moon in the sky. If only she could visit a place of wonder like this, even just for a day. you