Namaste

A friend of mine came to Chaguanas recently to buy a head for his whacker.  He kept swearing.  Said he was cutting some bush when it came off and he searched the area and beyond and only found the eyes for the head.  It is curious that the small eyes were found in tall grass, but not the bigger part, the head to which it belong.  He felt something was afoot.  So he got a few pounds of salt and sprinkled the whole area to chase away the energies that were obstructing his work.  That story is not far from the one in which a man lost his whacker head and found it a few days later.  He too did an intense search, but it could not be found.  He returned to the areas (on his own land where he lived alone) day after day searching.  Then one day, there it was just sitting there in the cleared space he had cut, watching him.  Well, it was all kinda fire and lava cuss out he carried on with to chase away the energies obstructing his work.

These experiences abound, but are left untold or played down often for fear of being laughed at.  Yet a part of us knows that there are energies at work in ways we don’t care to know, and to some extent being oblivious is a form of protection.  On Sunday a Massage Therapist was telling me of an experience he had while out in nature earlier that day.  He was cutting a bamboo patch in the mountains when he felt the need to rest.  He sat on the ground chilling.  As he gazed ahead he saw an African man whose skin was covered in white powder or chalk.  The man was dressed in all white, wore a crown, carried a staff in his hand, and seemed benevolent.  The Therapist had no frame of reference for what he saw and after the man disappeared, he began to question himself.  Logic did not help.  A kind of fear grew in him, not at what he saw, but that such experiences might alter his perception and current way of life if he kept an open mind about them.

It is no secret that things and people go back and forth, accidentally on purpose, through secret openings.  The safety net of our unawareness allows us not to know just how crowded the world is.  But when we are out in nature it can creep up on us, like the Therapist on the mountain where there is minimum human traffic.  He was probably near a spot where the energy is concentrated and a vortex opened and he saw what he saw.  He went up there to put in some hard labour with no intent to indulge the spirit realm, but the location being what it is did not require his indulgence.

Interaction with folk who ‘deal’ spirits can cause us to trip to a hoop as well.  The imagination seems less active after getting a good education as compared to when we were children.  The experiences shared by elderly relatives could make us want to stay with them longer, or never return.  We perceive the energies of the stories long after we heard about them.  The power of our imagination kept them real to us.  Notwithstanding that what is, is, whether we imagine them or not.  And what about their odd methods that worked?  Who/what was really providing the help we got?  For example, hiccup.  My great grandmother would pull a piece of thread from a dress if a reel was not at hand.  It would then be soaked with spittle and placed on the forehead of the baby or child.  Tada!  Hiccup gone.  How?  Has science caught up with that yet?

Vision quest would be the one way I can say we deliberately activate portals.  On the basis that energy goes where intention goes, when we state such and engage in behaviours that would allow us to meet our Maker without dying first, something eventually happens.  I’m not sure He/She humours us to satisfy sheer curiosity, so once some sincerity is shown, we might have a story or two to tell.  The mind being a beautiful thing, facilitates our vision quest whether we set out into the forest, up the Himalayas, or into dreamspace on a comfortable pillow.  So we can pay attention to our dreams for messages from our Creator, and leave the more expensive methods until otherwise guided.

On the flip side I think a harsh way to trip through a loop and find ourselves on the other side of reality is when somebody ‘do’ you.  For some reason we still believe that the person who burns a candle before a Saint and prays about their enemy is somehow higher/better than the person who makes a stuff doll representation of their enemy and pierces it with pins.  Different doors through which the same energies are accessed.  Ask Meredith Brooks – Bitch.  Anyway, when the deed is done, the person who may have never heard the word ‘God’ now finds that God is their only help because they are sick though medically fit.  Out-of-body experiences and the likes triggered by the trauma can really change a person.  When some of these folk recover, they are the most intense evangelists you can find.

Before I get carried away let me deal with the Therapist.  I asked him a few questions.  I wanted to know if what he experienced was triggered by recent trauma, use of drugs, or oxygen deficiency from being up on the hill.  Or, was he lying in order to get some attention?  No to all.  Okay.  Given the ambiance, he did pause to take in the view a few times on his climb.  He recalled giving thanks for his rights, privileges, and the people who support him.  Like many of us, he has moments of discouragement as the current crisis has affected some of his plans.  So he did pray for help to get on the right path in case he had been derailed and not noticed.  You know, in case the current crisis is some indication that he needs to switch gears.  Interesting internal dialogue.

We played with the idea that mountains bring us closer to the sky, and maybe allow for prayers to be easier heard by the Gods.  Up high we have the advantage to tapping into the Air people.  In African Spirituality, Obatala is a deity associated with light and air.  While the Therapist has strong Christian upbringing, it did not prevent him from encountering a being that his ancestors related to as Old Man of the Hills, the Man in White Cloth, etc.  Obatala helps to resolve issue of ethical behavior, spiritual growth and visions of the future.  We talked about him identifying within himself which of these areas he most needs help with, and ask for help the way that he is most comfortable.  His question for me was what happens if he starts ‘seeing things’ during his massage sessions?  Let’s not cross bridges before we reach them.  But I am sure there are clients who would appreciate their Therapist advising that their favourite Saint is present…and even has a message.  Hmmmm.  He might be onto something.