Prior Steps on the Healingway

Let me back up a little bit in time, for I'm not sure if I would have gone to the first Cuddle Party had I not had a trio of Awesome experiences during my Grand Adventure. (Okay, the whole blessed trip was one big Healingway, BUT these three events stand out in my memory. So there.)

The first moment unfolded in South Carolina, just outside of Charleston. I met Angel Oak...The. Most. Impressive. Tree. EVAH!

Is this not IMPRESSIVE! (South Carolina, 5/11)

She is the oldest tree east of the Rockies; only the Sequoias (I believe) could give her a run for her money. We're talking centuries here, people! Her energy is magnificent...yet that word barely describes it. Introductions made, permission granted, I placed my hands upon her massive trunk and all but burst into tears. (Had it been just the two of us, I would have.) I didn't have to make a single request; she said to me, Give me your grief. Give me your tension...and she TOOK it. (Yea, I had come to her with a turbulent heart, no matter what story I was telling myself.) She drew all of my low frequency vibration into herself and grounded it through her roots, over and over again, until I was empty. I thanked her by reaching into my special pouch and pulling out offerings for her: a rosebud. A piece of bark from my Oak Friend at Questhaven. My Mystery Rock, which had come East with me - and which I knew, somehow, would not return home to California. I laid it at the base of her trunk. I left the circle open in the West - for the circle must remain open, until I return to the East permanently. Which I will.

Then I brought my awareness back into myself and walked around her to the other side, where I was gobsmacked anew...

This is actually one of her BRANCHES! (South Carolina, 5/11)

Have I mentioned that I found her impressive?
I found myself running my hands along one of the lower parts of this branch, again asking permission to touch her. This time, when my hands stilled on her rough bark surface, energy flowed into me - the gentle serene energy very old trees have. She emptied me, and she filled me back up, without me having to request a thing! I'm surprised my friends didn't have to hold my hands on the way back to the car, lest I floated away! (LOL) I hold deep gratitude for her in my heart...and totally recommend a visit with her at least once in your life. Just be aware, her caretakers don't like folks crawling about in or on her branches, because of her advanced age. Honor and respect their wishes, please and thank you. You won't need to do any climbing anyway. :-)

The earth healed me. The water healed me too. While I was at the beach, I ran into the ocean at the end of every day. I cleansed myself and renewed myself in the womb of Grandmother Ocean. Four days, four dips - one Healing.

The gull pretends not to watch. (Folly Beach, SC 5/11)

It wasn't just the ocean that spoke to me, it was the myriad of creeks that run beside the roads and past the homes of Gerton, NC. One in particular led me to my final significant moment...

A Connecticut Yankee and two California Ninjas. (Gerton, NC 6/11)

My sister Priestess is seen upon the stone I would sit upon to listen to the creek and feel her energy. I found myself moving into trance, and sinking into the water in a higher dimension. I didn't become the water, I became the rocks in the water. This is what I felt:

The Water of Life moves past me, moves around me, moves within me.

She washes me clean of all that I no longer need, of all I release in sweet surrender.

She brings to me everything I ask for, and more; I can take what suits me and let the rest flow away.

She might dislodge me, but I will move forward in her flow, until I find my new place.

Then I will gently slow and stop, and open myself to feel her flow once more.

Here's the thing: I had a knot of energy in my body, by my left hip. I had been carrying this knot within me for some time, even before my Grand Adventure. As I felt the current of the water flow around and through me, the knot loosened, dissolved, and was washed away. It has not returned. I KNOW, in complete certainty, that I was Healed on that day, in that moment. Again, I am deeply grateful and thankful; I left an offering of my gratitude - sage and tobacco, sprinkled into the river.

One amusing footnote: just before we left, I dipped my cap into the creek to scoop up some of the water and plopped it quickly on my head. A shock of cold water burst upon my head and made its way down my body as I gasped in surprise, "It's Cold! The water is Cold!" 

Yeah, I'm totally a city girl.

For now.