FROM HAIKU, MAUI (HAWAII)

Mystic Medicine Cards

 Mystic Medicine Cards Help Explain Day of Grace: 1/11/11

HAIKU, Maui, Jan 11 - For the last several days, I have been getting spiritual guidance through cards.  Not the gambling kind.  Special cards. Oracle cards, part of the mystic art medicine that can be used as tools for transformation.  They are a creation of my artist-friend Cher Lyn, currently of Boulder, Colorado (see www.mysticartmedicine.com).  I drew one every day out of a deck of 64.  Each card turned out to be the theme for the day.  Each day unfolded accordingly.  I was unaware of the theme until I drew the card, usually late in the day, when I could look back and analyze what happened. 

(Some of Cher Lyn's mystic medicine cards)

Saturday was "Goddess of Fire." Sunday was "Truth."  Monday was "Love."  Today (Tuesday) is "Grace."  The events of each day bore out the veracity of each theme.  I was not trying to manifest any outcomes.  I just lived each day as I always do.  Except this time, with awareness of what each one was about. 

I have had Cher's mystic medicine card deck since I bought it from her last summer.  I do not know why I started pulling the cards now.  Heaven knows.  Guess it was time for me to learn what they were about.  I just know they are a wonderful example of divine guidance we can get every day if we choose to open up to it. 

"The signs are all around us," my friend and Inca Shaman-brother Nicolas, son of famed Don Sebastian, said a year ago in Urubamba, Peru, when I noted something similar after a fire ceremony we had done together (see the photo below left).  "We just need to notice them."

And today, Jan 11, 2011, another quadruple-ace day, is evidently a Day of Grace (also see Veterans' Day concert, 11/11/2009).  All I need to say now is that when I look back at the events of the day, I feel full of grace and gratefulness to the Creator and the spirits for helping me turn vinegar into honey (in the case of one neighbor), and for putting the icing on a cake in two other neighborly relationships.  And these were just some of the several situations where Grace was the dominant guiding factor.  And since the Masters' No. 11 has been so prominent in my life (also see the gas receipt on the first day of the New Year - right), it would appear that the No. 11 is also linked with Grace.  They even rhyme (Grace and Ace). :-)

As Cher Lyn puts it in her Grace poem (each mystic medicine card has a poem and a narrative explaining its meaning):

"Don't let the darkness take you down,

Sit with Grade on your mermaid throne,

Many paths on the journey home,

All is perception, to each his own."

"The message for you here is to open, soften, give and receive elegantly," she Cher explains. 

And that's what my Tuesday, 1/11/11 was all about - a Day of Grace.

Mystic Medicine Cards: Altzar's "Coca Leaf" Readings

HAIKU, Maui, Feb 19 - Most of an Inca-trained Shaman's communications with the spirit world are non-verbal.  We do say our prayers and requests out loud.  But the words only serve to activate the heart and soul transmissions of messages which reach our spirit guides via the breath, through fire, sounds of bells and whistles, and other ceremonial actions, such as coca leaf throwing.  The spirits' responses are also mostly non-verbal. 

On rare occasions, such as during our conversations with the mountain spirits in Peru in 2008 and 2009, the Apus (mountain spirits) and Santa Tierras (female earth spirits) actually materialize and speak to us in human voices [see Peru: Conversations with Andean Mountain Spirits (June 2009) and Conversations with Mountain Spirits (July 2008)].  These sessions are sort of like high level orientation and refresher courses.  Among other things, we receive instructions from our spirit guides on how to communicate with them the rest of the time, when we are not in Peru.

One of the most widely practiced ways of Inca Shamans communicating with the spirits is "coca leaves" throwing and reading.  This is an ancient spiritual art that's been passed on through generations.  And not just in Peru.  In other cultures, soothsayers do tea leaf or palm readings.  I witnessed that both in Europe and in India, for example.  Even within highest levels of Orthodox Christian religious practices, such as in choosing the Patriarch (the Orthodox "Pope"), for example, the spirits are asked to make the final decision.  The question is asked and answered by non-verbal means (I am not at liberty to reveal the details, but it is akin to coca leaf throwing and drawing cards from a mystic medicine deck).

After I had been led by unseen forces on January 8 to start drawing cards every day from Cher Lyn's Mystic Medicine deck, seeking guidance or answers to the questions I had posed to the spirits, I realized that this process is like the Inca shamans "coca leaf" throwing and readings.  And considering how amazingly accurate the guidance was that I have been receiving in the last six weeks, there is no doubt in my mind that higher powers are teaching me to do use the mystic cards the way my brothers and sisters in Peru do with coca leaves (for more on that, check out 2012 Prophecy Update: Qero, Don Umberto ...  a YouTube video more of a coca leaf reading, translated by Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., as well as some coca leaf reading references in the table below).

The 40 or so cards I have drawn so far have been anything but random.  What are the odds, for example, that one would draw the same card three out of the four times from a deck of 64?  Well, statistics is not my major, but I figured he odds are about 85 to one.  Which means the probability of that happening is about 1.16%.  Long odds, wouldn't you say? 

Nevertheless, that's how many times I have drawn the GODDESS OF FIRE mystic medicine card in the last four days, including again this morning.   And since Saturday, Jan 8, the first time I had drawn my first card, she has showed up six times (!) - by far the most of any other card in the last six weeks.  And it was the first one to appear on Jan 8.

So it's clear that Goddess Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, is the dominant spirit right now in my life (that was also evident in my latest spiritual healing story - see More Divine Healings, Feb 18).  And not just in mine.  And not only in the spirit world.  In the physical one, too.  These days, one only needs to take a look outside around the Hawaiian islands to see and feel Pele's presence.  For more on that, check out  Pele Blanketing the Islands at yinyangbob.com web site and Pele Shows a Lot More, a Honolulu Star news story which includes this fascinating news video clip:

Goddess of Fire Appears Again

HAIKU, Maui, Feb 20 - When I woke up this morning after drawing three Goddess of Fire cards in the last four days, I thought that maybe I should do a big bonfire and a fire ceremony for her today, Sunday Feb 20. But before I did, I thought I'd check in with my spirit guides to see what they thought of the idea.  So I got my mystic medicine card deck out, shuffled it, and the asked the question.

Guess what spirit card I drew ?  Yes, it was Goddess of Fire again.  It was the fourth time in the last five days she has appeared as my dominant spirit guide. Guess the odds of that happening "by chance" are quickly going through the roof.  I can see she really means business.  So now I'd better get started to prepare that big bonfire and a fire ceremony for her.

CONTINUED... (three hours later)

A little over two weeks ago, I made a big pile of wood I had chain-sawed in the jungle part of the property.  I tried to set a bonfire at least half a dozen times on Friday, Feb 4.  Used up more than a gallon of gasoline in vain.  It just would not burn.  So I gave up.  I figured, Goddess of Fire would let me know when she is ready to receive this offering of love and devotion. 

Then I remembered the card I drew that day (Fri, Feb 4).  It was Ebb & Flow.  It was all about water - the enemy of fire.  And its message to me was: "Sometimes water must come out of the crevices before new tide replenishes it. We must learn to let go and trust the Mama Kocha, mother of the oceans (and water in general) in her guidance."

After what happened this morning and the last few days - drawing the Goddess of Fire cards repeatedly - I figured this was the day.  So I went down to the gulch and set the fire again.  It started with a big bang on the first match.  And it is still burning, more than two hours later.  Take a look...

I also used the chance to thank the Goddess for all her healings, including that of Tom in Arizona.  And then, I set another fire in my Apucheto for a full fire ceremony which I plan to do tonight, weather permitting.

CONTINUED... (9:30PM)

The second fire  also sprung to life on the first match and burned hot throughout the ceremony.  Goddess Pele has been slurping up all my prayers, messages of love and devotion, and requests of prayers by others.  I also thanked her for healing Tom of Arizona.

Fire Continues, Even in England; "Medicine Card" Confirms Transformations

CONTINUED... (Feb 21, 11:50AM)

Well, I just came back up from the gulch where I checked on my yesterday's bonfire.  It had mostly burned itself out, but there were still some hot cinders at the bottom.  After I jarred it a little, a new small fire started again...

"An eternal fire" thought crossed my mind.  Okay, maybe not "eternal" literally, but it has been now 24 hours since I started it.  You can compare the above picture of "then and now" to see the difference.

Earlier this morning, I had received an email from a shaman-friend in England.  She said she drew three fire cards during her full moon ceremony.  Evidently, the presence of fire energy is acute and pervasive around the world, not just here in Hawaii, where it is perceived in the form of Goddess Pele.  For, fire means transformation, as I had mentioned before.  And it doesn't have to be by a scorching physical fire.

We can be transformed through internal fire, for example... through exercises like Kundalini yoga, or rigorous gulch work, sexual orgasms, mountain climbing, swimming, or at a spiritual level - by recognizing signs from our spirit guides that were previously unavailable to us.  Or we can be transformed as a society - by destroying the old before rebuilding new political structures.  Revolutions currently taking place in North Africa and the Middle East are a case in point.

After I wrote the above, I drew my card for the day, asking the spirits to confirm or deny my understanding of it.  Their answer was swift and powerful.  And stunning.  It came in the form of the Medicine Power card.  It was the first time I have drawn that card (right).  Here's an excerpt from their message, starting with a verse:

"Medicine power, ancient master wise,

Spin the cosmic portal

Unveil the secrets to be immortal."

"Crazy Horse," a Native American mystic, possessed Medicine power as a prophet, seer, leader and spiritual healer. 

"One side of his head is donned with white eagle feather, a sign of pure power connecting the spirit world with the physical plane on Earth.  On the other side, is the blazing flame of firepower for transformation," Cher Lyn, the mystic artist who painted the card, explains in the narrative.

What she could not have known is that the Spirit of the White Eagle, as well as that of the White Female Buffalo Calf Goddess, are among my master spirit guides.  Both attended Altzar's Astral Rebirth ceremony on 2/25/2009, now only four days away (left).  And they gave me the Spirit of the Wolf and Spirit of the Hawk Shadow as gifts.

Back to the spirits' swift and stunning reply to my question, here we have again both fire and transformation in this Medicine Power card.  No wonder the bonfire was still hot 24 hours after being lit. 

Today is also another #9 date (2-21-2011), numerologically speaking, as well as a #3 day (21, the "Blackjack"-day).  Along with Goddess Pele, both number signs were instrumental in bringing me to Maui (see Maui Calling..., Dec 2008). 

Finally, there is even scientific evidence of Fire being the dominant element this month.  February is supposed to be the coldest month around here, with average daily highs of 76F and low of 59F.

As you can see from the left chart, the actual February temperatures so far this year have been 82F/65F respectively.  And based on the 7-day forecast, it looks like we are going to finish the month the same way.

The chart on the right shows the commensurate precipitation levels.  They are down to less than 25% of normal (1.98" vs. 8.94").  Again, no rain is in the forecast for the remaining days of February.

And all this is due to the prevailing southerly winds which bring warm air and VOG (volcanic emissions) to us from Goddess Pele on the Big Island. Once again, the Fire element is associated with South and Amaru (serpent) in shamanic traditions.  And both bring out TRANSFORMATION. 

Perhaps it is only fitting that we finish this story with on a fiery musical note.  Here's what I recorded just over a year ago:

   Tango Fire (La Cumparsita) by Bob Djurdjevic on Piano (2/15/10)

Clearly, therefore, are no "coincidences," that the messages the spirits have been communicating to us via the mystic medicine cards.

Fire Illuminates As Well As Transforms

HAIKU, Maui, Feb 22 - The last thing I said last night about my recent experiences with "fiery" messages from the spirit world was, "clearly, therefore, are no 'coincidences,' that the messages the spirits have been communicating to us via the mystic medicine cards."  What just happened underlined that statement in spades and in boldface.

Yesterday was the first time I had drawn a Native American medicine man’s card (Crazy Horse).  And today I drew two of them: DECEPTION - Sitting Bull, and DISCERNMENT - Geronimo.  So that’s three in a row now.  Each of them carried the same theme: Use the fire to shed light and uncover what may be hidden in darkness.  And then learn from that experience.

Sounds pretty profound, right?  But how do you apply it in practice?

Well, what's really extraordinary about these two cards is that before I drew the card of DECEPTION, I had just finished writing a business story about HP’s deception of Wall Street (HP: Ghost of EDS Bites Back - analysis of HP's first quarter 2011 business results).  I mean literally… just minutes earlier.  And then I drew the card that depicts the "Sitting Bull Breaking Through Deception" (left).  "The medicine of the owl gives clear vision in darkness to discover what is hidden," it counsels. 

And then I drew Geronimo (right).  “Until you sit like Geronimo in front of the smoke, flames and fire, cook on it, set off fireworks and get burned a few times, you don’t have a clue what fire can do…. it is time to stop and feel into your heart’s innate compassionate knowing," was his message.

In short, fire illuminates as well as transforms. 

It enlightens to help us see inside our and other peoples' hearts.  It gives us Insights.  And as passion, fire spawns creative illumination. 

Those are the messages I have been getting from both Native American and Hawaiian sages for the last seven days.  Consistently and forcefully.

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