The words "Moon Water" came to me about 3:30am, and in feeling it was something I wanted to remember, perhaps as a story or a reflection on my experience with World Water Day, I made a note about it on my phone, and went back to sleep.
After not much more sleep, I woke up with a few things floating around in my head, one of which was about creating a logo for MEHWS. Which made me feel inspired to get up and draw some images that had come to me the day before. I began to play with the concepts, which included both the moon and water, as well as the Earth. It was fun way to brainstorm with the variety of possibilities that revolved around a particular Earth image that became part of a visionary collage I created about a year and a half ago, while on a retreat titled; "Birthing Your Soul's Calling." The significance of that collage and what is now beginning to emerge in the building of Mother Earth Heart Wisdom School, is hard to ignore!
Later, as I began to get into the mode of writing in my journal, the words "Moon Water" appeared at the top of the blank page. It felt important to write down yesterday's adventure to help me remember and reflect on it all a bit more deeply, and to take any next steps that may appear from the journey. The following is based on what I wrote in my journal.
...I knew I wanted to be by the ocean, to participate in the energy of the ceremony taking place in Arizona with the Thirteen Grandmothers, and also knew I wanted my friend to join with me in the experience. A journey that was originally going to be just over an hour drive, to a beach where the Turtles swim, turned into a 2.5hr drive to the other side of the Island where the Dolphins swim. However since it is was Saturday, I decided to go ahead and make the commitment of the longer drive, where a small group was scheduled to gather for a Water Ceremony at noon.
The woman who lead the group of about 12, mostly women, guided us to circle together, standing on top of the smoothed black lava rock fairly close to the ocean. This is not a sandy beach, but rather a prime snorkeling beach, and there we were, amongst the crowd of weekend beach goers and tourists, gathering - linking hand in hand to hold a Water Day Ceremony. It was a fairly simply ceremony that started with some readings from the books; "The Water Code" and the Water section of "Natural Rhythms" and continued with a Heart Math meditation, concluding with a Ho'o Pono Pono Prayer for the Water, followed by an inspired song lead by another woman based on the following words from the Ho'o Pono Pono Prayer; I'm Sorry, Please Forgive Me, I Love You, Thank You, which we all said and sang three times out loud.
It was a wonderful to be present and actively participate in this circle, with people, most of whom I had never met, just being there holding sacred intention, for the waters of Mother Earth, and in a sense, clearing the emotional waters throughout the world in such an symbolic way. During the ceremony, in the middle of our circle sat a tall glass of water that became infused with all of the energy from our hearts and prayers, that was later poured into the ocean. As this first stage of the ceremony finished, a large pod of Dolphins entered into the bay, which in some ways was unusual because of the time of the day. They usually only come in in the morning, and it was already well past noon. However it felt very special and significant since the final stage of the ceremony was to actually get into the water ourselves, so of course we swam out to where the Dolphins were.
I swam without any snorkel gear, not realizing that as part of the ceremony we would be swimming, and never having been in that part of the ocean before, I didn't even think to bring gear with me. Fortunately I did have my bathing suit and water shoes in the car, and so when I found out about the swimming during my drive, I was at least prepared in that way to get into the water during the ceremony. The water was deep, but fairly calm as a bay, and allowed me to swim towards the dolphins, moving with my face mostly above the water to watch them when they surfaced. As I swam out a bit further, two of the dolphins came closer, fully jumping up into the air, in front of me. That was truly a special moment which allowed me to experience their playful presence in a fun way even without the snorkel gear. It was a brief encounter, but it made me feel validated and seen, feeling their joy embracing and welcoming me into the water with them. Especially since the only other time I have swam with the dolphins, while living here in Hawaii, for almost 8 years now, was on my last birthday, when they came into another bay where I was camping, that time I was somewhat more prepared with snorkel gear and fins. However it is never a sure thing where or when the dolphins will be in the bays, so I am very grateful to have had the opportunities to be in the water with their beauti-FULL, heart-FULL presence.
While I was in the water I started singing two of my songs; "Path of Gold" and "Water Flow" repeating them over and over as I basically floated around playfully in the water. The leader of the group began calling us to gather together to create a circle in the water, about half of us joined her, linking hands and floating in place together. Everyone but me, without the snorkel, decided to float face down, yet I participated as much as I could with them. Continuing to sing and when I heard the group chanting below the water, I began my own chant of O-E E-O. ...I have heard that chanting the sounds of the vowels in our name is a good practice to connect with our Soul's Vibration. As we all chanted and sang the dolphins swam underneath us, the joy of which was reflected in the faces and words of the women as they surfaced.
On my drive back home, I decided to stop at the look out point, pictured in this post, which is overlooking the beach where the Turtles swim, with the intention to do my own little ceremony as described by the Thirteen Grandmothers. Somehow, for me, even after all of the ceremony that we did together, something felt incomplete. Anyway for whatever reason I had this feeling of wanting to connect more specifically with the steps of the ceremony as they had been outlined. When I got to the part of 'sprinkling the seeds of water' it began to lightly rain. I stood there feeling grateful for the support from Mother Nature, to create a greater 'sprinkling of seeds' than I could do with my two hands only. Even though I had remembered to sprinkle water on the lava rock, at the other beach, after the group ceremony, it felt really good to just STOP and reflect on it all a bit more. As it rained harder I got back into the car and appreciated all of the blessings of the day, and then, in a feeling of almost floating, I drove home.
During the drive I contemplated about how much I am wanting to get more clear with what I really want and why I want it, based on a conversation with my friend before we parted ways. It reminded me of the WHYnd exercise led by Marney, my mentor, on one of the group calls. So with this energy asking myself - "What is it that I truly want? What really is my heart's desire?" These quest-ions feels like a key quest to ask myself and from which to begin digging deeper into asking; "What is the essence - the feeling that is underneath the desire, that offers me satisfaction and fulfillment?"
" I want to build Mother Earth Heart Wisdom School because________________________________________________________."
"Because I want to__________________. Because I want to________________________. Because I want to___________________."
So writing this blog and digging deeper into this QUEST-ion becomes my journey of today.
I close here with this image of a waterfall on the Hamakua Coast, inviting you deeper into the JoyFULL Journey of life, with AweLOveHA HA- The Breath of Life
After not much more sleep, I woke up with a few things floating around in my head, one of which was about creating a logo for MEHWS. Which made me feel inspired to get up and draw some images that had come to me the day before. I began to play with the concepts, which included both the moon and water, as well as the Earth. It was fun way to brainstorm with the variety of possibilities that revolved around a particular Earth image that became part of a visionary collage I created about a year and a half ago, while on a retreat titled; "Birthing Your Soul's Calling." The significance of that collage and what is now beginning to emerge in the building of Mother Earth Heart Wisdom School, is hard to ignore!
Later, as I began to get into the mode of writing in my journal, the words "Moon Water" appeared at the top of the blank page. It felt important to write down yesterday's adventure to help me remember and reflect on it all a bit more deeply, and to take any next steps that may appear from the journey. The following is based on what I wrote in my journal.
...I knew I wanted to be by the ocean, to participate in the energy of the ceremony taking place in Arizona with the Thirteen Grandmothers, and also knew I wanted my friend to join with me in the experience. A journey that was originally going to be just over an hour drive, to a beach where the Turtles swim, turned into a 2.5hr drive to the other side of the Island where the Dolphins swim. However since it is was Saturday, I decided to go ahead and make the commitment of the longer drive, where a small group was scheduled to gather for a Water Ceremony at noon.
The woman who lead the group of about 12, mostly women, guided us to circle together, standing on top of the smoothed black lava rock fairly close to the ocean. This is not a sandy beach, but rather a prime snorkeling beach, and there we were, amongst the crowd of weekend beach goers and tourists, gathering - linking hand in hand to hold a Water Day Ceremony. It was a fairly simply ceremony that started with some readings from the books; "The Water Code" and the Water section of "Natural Rhythms" and continued with a Heart Math meditation, concluding with a Ho'o Pono Pono Prayer for the Water, followed by an inspired song lead by another woman based on the following words from the Ho'o Pono Pono Prayer; I'm Sorry, Please Forgive Me, I Love You, Thank You, which we all said and sang three times out loud.
It was a wonderful to be present and actively participate in this circle, with people, most of whom I had never met, just being there holding sacred intention, for the waters of Mother Earth, and in a sense, clearing the emotional waters throughout the world in such an symbolic way. During the ceremony, in the middle of our circle sat a tall glass of water that became infused with all of the energy from our hearts and prayers, that was later poured into the ocean. As this first stage of the ceremony finished, a large pod of Dolphins entered into the bay, which in some ways was unusual because of the time of the day. They usually only come in in the morning, and it was already well past noon. However it felt very special and significant since the final stage of the ceremony was to actually get into the water ourselves, so of course we swam out to where the Dolphins were.
I swam without any snorkel gear, not realizing that as part of the ceremony we would be swimming, and never having been in that part of the ocean before, I didn't even think to bring gear with me. Fortunately I did have my bathing suit and water shoes in the car, and so when I found out about the swimming during my drive, I was at least prepared in that way to get into the water during the ceremony. The water was deep, but fairly calm as a bay, and allowed me to swim towards the dolphins, moving with my face mostly above the water to watch them when they surfaced. As I swam out a bit further, two of the dolphins came closer, fully jumping up into the air, in front of me. That was truly a special moment which allowed me to experience their playful presence in a fun way even without the snorkel gear. It was a brief encounter, but it made me feel validated and seen, feeling their joy embracing and welcoming me into the water with them. Especially since the only other time I have swam with the dolphins, while living here in Hawaii, for almost 8 years now, was on my last birthday, when they came into another bay where I was camping, that time I was somewhat more prepared with snorkel gear and fins. However it is never a sure thing where or when the dolphins will be in the bays, so I am very grateful to have had the opportunities to be in the water with their beauti-FULL, heart-FULL presence.
While I was in the water I started singing two of my songs; "Path of Gold" and "Water Flow" repeating them over and over as I basically floated around playfully in the water. The leader of the group began calling us to gather together to create a circle in the water, about half of us joined her, linking hands and floating in place together. Everyone but me, without the snorkel, decided to float face down, yet I participated as much as I could with them. Continuing to sing and when I heard the group chanting below the water, I began my own chant of O-E E-O. ...I have heard that chanting the sounds of the vowels in our name is a good practice to connect with our Soul's Vibration. As we all chanted and sang the dolphins swam underneath us, the joy of which was reflected in the faces and words of the women as they surfaced.
On my drive back home, I decided to stop at the look out point, pictured in this post, which is overlooking the beach where the Turtles swim, with the intention to do my own little ceremony as described by the Thirteen Grandmothers. Somehow, for me, even after all of the ceremony that we did together, something felt incomplete. Anyway for whatever reason I had this feeling of wanting to connect more specifically with the steps of the ceremony as they had been outlined. When I got to the part of 'sprinkling the seeds of water' it began to lightly rain. I stood there feeling grateful for the support from Mother Nature, to create a greater 'sprinkling of seeds' than I could do with my two hands only. Even though I had remembered to sprinkle water on the lava rock, at the other beach, after the group ceremony, it felt really good to just STOP and reflect on it all a bit more. As it rained harder I got back into the car and appreciated all of the blessings of the day, and then, in a feeling of almost floating, I drove home.
During the drive I contemplated about how much I am wanting to get more clear with what I really want and why I want it, based on a conversation with my friend before we parted ways. It reminded me of the WHYnd exercise led by Marney, my mentor, on one of the group calls. So with this energy asking myself - "What is it that I truly want? What really is my heart's desire?" These quest-ions feels like a key quest to ask myself and from which to begin digging deeper into asking; "What is the essence - the feeling that is underneath the desire, that offers me satisfaction and fulfillment?"
" I want to build Mother Earth Heart Wisdom School because________________________________________________________."
"Because I want to__________________. Because I want to________________________. Because I want to___________________."
So writing this blog and digging deeper into this QUEST-ion becomes my journey of today.
I close here with this image of a waterfall on the Hamakua Coast, inviting you deeper into the JoyFULL Journey of life, with AweLOveHA HA- The Breath of Life