FROM SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

"All You Need Is Love:" For the New Man, every day can be Valentine's Day

A Love Despacho

Spirits Slurp Up Love with Gusto during Fire Ceremony

SCOTTSDALE, Jan 15 - While I was writing the 2012: Toward a New Breed of Man-piece, I knew I would have to do a Love Despacho when I finished it.  My heart was so full of Love that it was overflowing, just like that glass on the right.  So I just had to return some in gratitude to the source.  And doing a despacho is a great way of sending it to the right place (click here if you're not familiar with what a shaman's despacho is).

Creating the Love Despacho was a beautiful ceremony.  It took about two hours to prepare and half an hour to burn.  All the while, I was humming along while the Romantic Adagios and Illari (Peruvian, Inka flute music) played in the background.

I started out with a beautiful flower bouquet, which included red and white carnations and red roses (left).  I then made three sets of kintus into which I blew my love and prayers into them (a kintu consists of three coca leaves in Peru or Bay leaves here - middle left).

• The first set was for all participants of the Sedona weekend seminar, and for all people that they brought in their hearts into that conference room

• The second set was for all of my friends and family, and current and past relations who were not with me in Sedona this weekend

• The third set carried my love for all people I do not know, but who are either already enlightened, or will be open to receiving Love and reuniting with the Creator after they read my latest article. 

After blowing my love and prayers into each and every Despacho ingredient you see in middle left picture, each of which symbolizes a relationship with certain creatures or elements of the earth or the universe, I was ready to wrap up the Despacho in a mestana cloth, and take it out to my fire pit (right).

After doing the shamanic ceremony to open a sacred space (two left shots), I lit the fire. And boy oh boy, were the spirits ever thirsty Love that was in the Despacho!  They practically slurped it up.  The flames shot up 5-6 feet in the air immediately, and stayed at the same intensity for almost half an hour.  Some sparks flew up 25 to 30 feet in the air.  I watched one of them rise through the crown of a mesquite tree until it looked lime a comet merging with the stars.  And if you look carefully on the left side of the top right photo, you can actually see the sparks rising up toward the sky.  It was just beautiful!

I have done or participated in dozens of despacho and fire ceremonies in the last six months, but I have never seen anything like it.  What's particularly interesting is that this despacho, being a Love Despacho, had a lot of fresh flowers in it, more so than the traditional ayni despachos. It didn't matter. The spirits inhaled them and then had the flames dance around the fire pit in a circular way that I have also never seen before.  Quite extraordinary!

After the despacho had burned itself out, I did the traditional shamanic fire ceremony as the exclamation point.

Anyway, I just thought you'd like to know that one doesn't have to wait till Valentine's Day to have a Valentine's Day.  For the New Man, every day can be a Valentine's Day.

WHAT'S A DESPACHO?

Despacho is a sweet, loving message that a shaman sends to the Creator and to the Spirits to express his/her Love for the Creator seeking divine guidance and alignment with the forces of the universe. After being lovingly prepared in an elaborate ceremony (the "procedure" I learned from the Inka Shamans is four pages long), despachos are either burned or buried (I always burn them as that's a faster way for the Spirits to get the message, kind of like "air mail" delivery J).

Messages in the Sky:

Reading Heavenly "Tea (Sky) Leaves:" Spirits' Non-verbal Communications

SCOTTSDALE, Jan 18 - Ever since I returned from Hawaii in early December, I have been experiencing a high level of celestial/divine energy activities around here.  Remember my stories about another divine hike, Hawaiian despacho, God's Christmas card (see left), for example?  This has continued into the New Year, too. 

Just yesterday, Sat Jan 17, for example, I had a most amazing shamanic ceremony and experience WHILE WALKING for about 45 mins!  Forget sedentary meditations! This was something to behold.

Later, when I compared notes with my friend Heather, an Inka shaman in Sedona, I learned that what happened to me is also something she had experienced with native Inka shamans in Peru, specifically on Mt Salcantay, that is known for its female energies (if you want more details about what actually did happen to me, click here and send me an email asking for it, and I'll be happy to share).

As a result, I knew that I should be looking to the sky for heavenly messages written in the clouds. There'd be there, perhaps as answers to my prayers during this ceremony, or some other important signs from the Creator. That's what the Apu's (mountain spirits) in Peru told us last summer - to look for messages from them in the sky, the lagoons and the rocks (and in dreamtime).

So yesterday afternoon, as I was walking to a local store, I noticed this cloud (left). It looked like the rib cage of a skeleton to me.  Then I remembered a picture that a friend of mine from North Carolina sent me a few weeks ago.  It also had a skeleton in it. It's just that it was a negative of it, like an X-ray (middle).  "So what does it mean?" I suspect you're wondering.  "What are the spirits trying to tell us with these skeletons?"

But the Phoenix message also had a Goddess image in it that looked as if she were floating in the clouds.  "Is that Aphrodite?" was the first thought that came to mind when I saw her while driving on Hayden Rd this afternoon.  Which is when I stopped to take a picture of her (right), without realizing at the time what the other heavenly messages were also sculpted in the sky.  And what about that Scorpion above her?  What's the meaning of that?

So while the rest of the country, certainly most of the Phoenix area people, were watching the Cardinals trounce Philadelphia Eagles to make it to their first ever Super Bowl, this occasional Stargazer was trying to read the "heavenly tea (sky) leaves." And you now you can do it, too.

God Replies with "Heart Man" of His/Her Own; First Buddha Then Christ?

SCOTTSDALE, Jan 19 - Today, I had a powerful Kundalini experience during a shamanic ceremony in the spa.  In fact, the energy flow was so strong that it interrupted my routine at about the point I was talking to Pacha Mama and Father Sky.  I let it.  What else could I do?  I was overwhelmed with love and gratitude. 

The coursing of divine energy waves went on for several minutes, both through my root and crown chakras, just like on Saturday, when I had a similar experience while doing my first ever walking shamanic ceremony.  When the flow of energy finally subsided, I prayed to the Creator and the spirits to guide me and teach me to practice universal, unconditional love.

Then, as I walked back home from the pool area, I was stopped dead in my tracks when I looked up and saw an image in the sky.  Remember this guy? (right image - for full context, see "2012: Toward a New Breed of Man").  That was my symbol for the "all heart" New Man of the next World Cycle.  Take a look at how God replied to me today...

Firs

The image on the left is unedited. The image on the right has highlights of the image drawn in the clouds that I saw in my mind's eye - a Buddha-like figure with a giant heart sitting in a lotus position.  Pretty cool, wouldn't you say?

And exactly a week later (Jan 26), there was another divine image in the skies over Scottsdale that looked like Christ on a cross (above right).  Above him are the crescent-like shapes which are symbolic of the Crone Goddesses, as well as of victory of death in the Islamic faith. 

Meanwhile, you can also see underneath a crocodile-like image.  Well, I don't know if a croc qualifies as a serpent, but the latter is the Inka sacred animal that rules the Lower World, or Uhupacha. This may be another sign of transformation, like those "Kundalini clouds" from a week ago.  Another friend from Canada saw a platypus instead of a crocodile.  And if you look carefully, facing the other way, you may also see a frog.  Either way, there are a lot of water signs under the cross.  Which may suggest rebirth after the transformation.

From the heavens back down to earth...

...meet Barbacoa (right), my friend Randy's pet cow from Austin, Texas.  She seems to be  coming in for afternoon tea on the porch.  Barbacoa was born in Mexico, so don't tell anyone about her, as she may be an illegal immigrant. :-) But she is so loveable, Randy says, that she has become a member of the family.

"She will never be sold for slaughter," Randy assured me.

Which is really heartening to hear, given that her name means "barbecue" in Spanish. And that's only a few inches removed from a "steak," especially in Texas. :-)

Spirits Heralding Major Shifts?

SCOTTSDALE, Jan 20 - I did not want to prejudice your own mind by offering my interpretation of the Sunday cloud formations.  But I'll share it with you if you click here and tell me what you also think God's message is, and why it was similar 13 days and 2,000 miles apart.

What does that mean? Well, I asked that question in my meditative journey to the Lower World (Uhupacha) on Monday/Tuesday night (Jan 20).

I’ve just now returned from my midnight sacred space ceremony and mediation during which I received a revelation about what those skeletons in the sky and the serpents in NC and AZ may have been about.  It’s Kundalini energy – dark in NC, light in AZ, the same one that’s been coursing through me and through my heart to others around the world in the last several days (see the right image).   And the Fire Serpent is what ignites it, as you may know from mythology, was visible in both NC and AZ cloud formations – under the watchful eyes of Inti (Father Sun) and God. 

In other words, the spirits are heralding a shift, a time of major transformation to those who can SEE and FEEL it, and are ready to receive the heaven’s messages.  On this St. John’s Day (Jan 20)! That may be a “no brainer” for the enlightened, but it would probably be news to most people. 

BTW - a veteran female shaman-friend from Missouri, wrote to me tonight and said that in working on a client’s soul retrieval, the “muki” (spirit guide) that showed up was a female skeleton on a black horse.  So she said we all need to journey (to the Lower World, the Uhupacha – which is what I just did in the spa) to see why all these skeletons are springing up across the country. 

And now that I have done it, we have at least an inkling: Major shifts are under way.  And some of us are already feeling them.

Kali, the Black Goddess & Scorpion: Also Signs of Intense Transformation

As you saw in an earlier story, the Phoenix Sunday divine message written in the sky also had a Goddess image in it that looked as if she were floating in the clouds (left).  "Is that Aphrodite?" I wondered at the time. And what about that Scorpion above her?  What's the meaning of that? 

To find some answers to those questions, I was guided this morning to my own detailed astrology chart and report that was done a little less than a year ago.  And the answer was the same as the earlier interpretation of those Kundalini skeleton signs: Transformation, a shift.

Except that Kali, the Black Goddess (not Aphrodite as I initially thought), and Scorpio are "signs of intense transformation," according to Mark Amaru Pinhkam, the astrologer who did my chart. And they work through the Kundalini energy of the Fire Serpent.  Here's what he said:

"Scorpio is a sign of intense transformation.  The energy of the Kali, the Dark Goddess, of Kundalini of the Fire Serpent, are working through you to get rid of the past junk and all the static.  You are on a path of transformation at every level so that True Spirit that you are can shine forth.  You have an incredible potential as a Healer."

It was only after I had reread that, and took another look at that photo of the Phoenix sky on Sunday (see above), that I realized: The Goddess in the picture was - black!

How much more clearly can the Creator and the Spirits be speaking to us?  Intense transformation, major shift, big changes... that's what's happening, they are telling us.  That's what's ahead.  And they are warning us of that it all over the country.

But they are also saying that it's all going to end up well for those with open hearts and minds, as the Buddha with a huge heart showed us yesterday (Jan 19).

Thanks for the confirmations and the heads-ups, dear Lord, Father Sky, Inti (sun), Pacha Mama (mother earth), Mama Kocha (water/ocean energy) and my beloved Apu's.

Heart Man a.k.a. Apu Lover

Clear Sky Rainbow, A "Kindi" Encounter

SCOTTSDALE, Jan 21 - This week, the sky around here has been like a heavenly chalkboard, God's canvass.  Every time I was out, it seemed there was a message from the spirits waiting for me.  So when I walked to the bank on Wednesday around noon, for example, I did not expect to see anything again so soon after all those exciting messages in the skies earlier in the week. So I didn't take my "good" camera with me. Boy, was I ever wrong...

Take a look at this magnificent clear sky rainbow, for example.  I have never seen anything like it before.  Even though my cell phone camera couldn't really do it justice, you can still discern an ethereal quality of light, and even the presence of "God's eye," and another golden eye in the western sky.  I felt as if Father Sky, Father Sun and the Creator were all smiling at us.

When I rounded the corner and was facing east, I saw these giant birds flying eastward (two left photos). The Condor and the Eagle are Inka sacred animals whose home is with the Winds of the East.  They are Masters of Hanaqpacha (Upper World).  They symbolize Vision.  I ask them during my shamanic sacred space ceremony to lift me up to soar with them so I could see far into the future and shape my destiny in alignment with the forces of the universe and the will of the Creator. And now, on Wednesday, Jan 21, I felt they were answering my call (hold that space for more bird stories later on...).

Later the same afternoon, when I was returning home from another outing, the birds were there again, only now in the western sky, but still flying eastward (two right photos, taken with a better camera).

When I returned from my noontime walk to the bank, I took out my "good" to take pictures of that giant V (for victory?) sign in the western sky (two left photos).  Or was it a skydiver gliding to the west?  Either way, I felt I was being guided to the west.  Hawaii, perhaps?

And to the north, there were feathers in the sky, also pointing westward.

And so I thought that was it... the end of the show, at least for today.  Not so...

A "Kindi" Encounter

People who are close to me know that well before I knew anything about shamanism, based on people's reactions to me, I started to think of myself as a hummingbird, because touching people’s souls and hearts the way a hummingbird flies from flower to flower spreading love and life itself.  Several years ago, I even designed this picture (left) of me that symbolizes such belief.

Since that time, I have learned that hummingbird is another one of the sacred animals in the Inka shamanic cosmology.  It flies with the North winds and anchors a shaman to the lineage of the Holy Mountains from which he/she received the Rights of Passage. 

Well, hummingbirds are pretty rare in my neighborhood.  I’ve only seen one or two in 3.5 years that I have lived here, and NEVER in the wintertime.  But no sooner did I get started on my walk on New Year's Day this year, guess who showed up and hovered over me for a few seconds?  And then he flew up to a tree and actually LANDED on a branch, seemingly looking down at me.  I’ve never seen a stationery hummingbird before, either.

My Inka shaman friend Heather later told me that, “Hummingbird - the north direction - the archetype for the lineage. Many master shamans observe their students by looking through the eyes of the hummingbird. Whenever I see a hummingbird, I know that I am on the right path and in direct contact with the lineage.”

In other words, the Apu’s (Andean mountain spirits = the lineage to which I am now tied) were looking at me during the walk.  I told Heather that was comforting to know.

Fast forwarding from Jan 1 to Jan 21, another friend of mine from Australia asked me if, as a shaman, I would change my name?

I chuckled at the thought, because that is a common practice among the Orthodox Christian monks, a number of whom are my good friends, both here and in Serbia.

Anyway, if I were to do it, the first “monkish-shamanic” name that came to mind is Hummingbird, of course.  But that sounds long and awkward in English.  So I went on the net to research the Quechua (Inka language) word for it.  It is Kindi (or Q’endi in Cuzco dialect, but I don’t like the look of that spelling).  And Siwa Kindi is the royal hummingbird of the Inka imperial court.

I had just sent an email message to a friend explaining all that, and then went outside to lock the gate in my back yard.  I noticed that my hummingbird water feeder was dry.  I filled it, hung it back on the tree, and went on to have a spa, meaning also a sacred ceremony, prayers and meditation.

As I was walking along the path to the pool area where the spa is, I heard some birds chirping.  It was a "tiny" sound, a little high pitch chirp, almost like a whistle, that went “psst… psst… look at me.” 

“A hummingbird!” my brain recognized the call.  I started looking around at the trees and bushes but could not see anything at first.  Then I saw a tiny little guy, like a baby warbler and his Mom.  They were looking at me like saying hello to an old friend.  Not a hummingbird, though.

My eyes kept scanning other bushes like a radar, still looking for where that familiar “psst… psst…” hummingbird sound was coming from.  Guess that’s when Kindi gave up on me and decided to show himself up out in the open.  He flew to about 3-4 feet from me, and hovered like a tiny helicopter at my hips level.  His back was a beautiful iridescent shade of green, like the picture on the right, professionally taken at Machu Picchu (not of me, of Kindi).  And he also wore a little necklace around his neck, like that guy on the right.

“Hello beautiful Kindi,” I said, sensing the eyes of my beloved Apu’s gazing at me.  I felt for a moment as if I was looking at myself, too. And, as it  always happens when I feel the presence of divine energy, my eyes started to water.

“Psst… psst…” Kindi kept talking to me.  “Psst… psst.”  He hovered for about 30 secs. And then he flew away. 

I followed him to another bush, admiring his camouflage color.  He blended in beautifully with the green leaves.  Then I remembered I had my cell phone camera and snapped a picture (left).  It's not very sharp, but my local Kindi is in it (I highlighted him for you).

“Psst… psst…” Kindi was saying goodbye, before flying on. 

Then I saw another hummingbird.  Or maybe it was the same one?  I am not sure.  Suddenly, my heart was so full of heavenly Love that it could have been procreating these lovely creatures out of thin air, bringing them down to earth from the fourth dimension.

Then I went on to the spa and did my thing. And that’s my Kindi encounter story for you.

Another McDowell Mountain Hike Yields More Signs

SCOTTSDALE, Jan 24 -  Today, I went on my first bike-hike-bike since my shoulder surgery on Aug 29.  And my shoulder passed the mountain test with flying colors (including a backpack with a 10-lb shaman's mesa in it).  All around, it was a 4.5 hour round trip, the hardest exercise I've done since a four-hour hike that nearly killed me back in August. J

But to fully appreciate the spiritual part of today's bike-hike, you will need to go back and (re)read the story about my new potential home in Maui ("Maui Calling...", Dec-Jan, especially the part about Spirits' Guidance: Unraveling Secrets of #21). If not, you can still enjoy the scenery...which is also okay.

I was surprised how lush and green the desert is at the Gateway Pass, elevation about 2,300 (left). I have never seen it that green.  So the winter rains must have really helped.  Which is great for the desert.  Before I climbed up to my "apucheto" (shaman's altar) at a 2,500 ft peak, I said "hi" to my old friend - a palo verde tree that grew out of rocks (right).  Once I reached the summit, I was pleased to see that my "apucheto dove" (the stone bird atop my apucheto) was still there.  He was a bit wobbly, so I adjusted him a little.

The 360-degree views were magnificent today.  The air was crystal clear.  Before I started my sacred ceremony, I took pictures of the four directions to which a shaman prays to open a sacred space.

The ceremony lasted about half an hour, after which I said good my to my "apucheto dove" (middle left) and then headed back down the mountain. Along the way, I saw what looked like God's left foot (middle right).  And then quite a bit later in the afternoon, as I was biking back home, He/She also seemed to be waving at me with his right hand (right).

As if that weren't miraculous enough, after I'd come home and changed to go for a swim at my local pool, the setting sun had set aglow this feather or arrow (right) which was pointing westward, toward Hawaii.

Hm... how many confirmations does it take to get the hint? J

Kindi Bob

Dancing Goddess, Shooting Star on Solar Eclipse

P.S. When I went for my usual "midnight walk" (it was actually around 1:15AM), I saw an image of a dancing Goddess in a white dress in the southern sky.  And then, just as I was admiring how graceful she looked, there was a shooting star. And then it was gone, in a blink of an eye.  I was so excited.  I have not seen a shooting star in almost seven years.  And here it was again today, the Chinese New Year's and the day of the first Solar Eclipse (Jan 25).  Since ancient times, eclipses have been seen as signs of change and evolution as we release ties with the old and embrace the new. And a global transformation leading up to 2012 has already begun...

CLICK HERE or on title to read 2012: Toward a New Breed of Man

CLICK HERE to go to Arizona 2009 TOC

Back to Home