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February/March 2012 Volume 73
Welcome to this bi-monthly edition of our newsletter! You will find these columns contained in our February/March issue:
Metaphors for Life
Inspirations
Special Events
Review
SPECIAL NOTE: Early registration discount for our Spiritual Travel in Peru: The Heart of the Andes with Don Américo Yábar, Gayle Yábar, Carla Woody and others, ends March 5. To learn more, go to the Peru program page or note special events below.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Kenosis Inspirations...
Carla Woody, Founder
Kenosis
Metaphors for Life
Many traditions understand the power of teaching through stories. Our minds find a special repository for them. We unconsciously draw from this metaphorical resource bank when we need it most — to guide and nourish us. Here you will find such tales, quotes and prose. As they have come to me, I pass them on to you just as our ancestors have done since the world was young.
Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established.
— Noted on the Sacristy wall in Glasgow Cathedral.
Inspirations
Life is nothing if but levels of learning, whether or not we freely enter the Perpetual School. We actually have no choice in the matter. In this column, I offer you philosophy, musings and information that you may take with you as they fit into your own lyceum.
| The Lightning Strike
| By Carla Woody
| Excerpted from Calling Our Spirits Home.
My introduction to the Q'ero Indian tradition provided the juncture that would propel me forward and that I would go back to time and time again as the foundation for my learning.
Perhaps the larger vision came from a wizened old seer. A small group of us were ensconced in Don Américo Yábar's ancestral home, dating from the fall of the Inca empire, remote in the high Andes Mountains. For me, there wasn't a more magical place —the power of that land and night sky alchemically mixed with the simple peacefulness of the setting.
Ancient Don Miguelito, who truly looked not of this world, cared for the garden fashioning unexpected 'rooms' from draping vines and a stool or bench made from branches barely sturdy enough to hold a person. He carefully preserved the sanctity of these sacred spaces by sweeping the dirt with his twig broom, removing any stray leaves or brush. He created a true invitation that any contemplative would find hard to turn down.
Miguelito was a respected paq'o, or shaman, in his own right, coming from the nearby Mollamarka Indian village. One day he offered to give a reading using his traditional oracle, coca leaves. The session was held at night. When I came to my reading, I found a surreal setting instead of the normal place where we took meals. The room was candlelit, there being no electricity. Miguelito in his usual threadbare attire was seated at the table, candles and moonshine coming through the windows. Masses of coca leaves were laying on his mesa.* Over the glow of the tapers I acknowledged Don Américo and his daughter Arilú who were seated to the left of Miguelito. Having no facility with Quechua or Spanish myself, Don Américo would translate for Miguelito and Arilú would, in turn, translate the Spanish into English for me.
The Coca Reader
Oil on canvas by Carla Woody
Miguelito bent trance-like over the leaves, sifting them with his gnarly fingers and muttering under his breath. He acknowledged my presence by motioning for me to sit down to his right with a slight gesture of his hand. Presently he picked up a few coca leaves and began chewing them, still muttering between chews. After a short time, he spit them out onto the table. Moving his hands over them he seemed to be noting where the leaves fell, perhaps in relation to each other. Then, he began to speak in a low guttural voice. Stopping, he turned and looked me directly in the eyes as though searching for something, and then went back to the coca leaves continuing to speak for a few more minutes, conferring with Don Américo. Finished, he sat back waiting.
When the translation finally made its way to me, Miguelito's words seemed quite unlikely to my ears.
"That storm we had the other night?"
I nodded. How could I not recall it? I started awake in the middle of the night to thunder like I had never heard before. Lightning lit up the room from its savage dance across the mountaintops right outside my window. I sat up in bed watching the storm for the longest time wondering if all was safe.
"The lightning was for you and its filaments are inside you now. I'm surprised it was for you."
No more surprised than I was, as he sat there nodding. I just looked at him, unclear of his meaning. Then he abruptly got up from his chair and starting rooting through the hair on the top of my head with his fingers.
"Ah, there's where it went in," seeming satisfied with his finding he sat back down.**
What I know is this: Since that time the speed of the fast train I seem to ride keeps increasing and often when I have spiritual epiphanies I feel the tickling of an electrical charge on the crown of my head.
The energy of Nature continues to strengthen me and bring joy. When I gaze with intent upon the mountains where I now reside, their gifts flow into my heart and exit back into the world through the tears that come to my eyes and the actions that inform my daily life.
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*Literally translated from the Spanish, mesa means table. But it also refers to the woven cloth in which a Quechua shaman stores and carries sacred objects and serves as an altar covering.
**Traditionally, the presence of lightning or a lightning strike has powerful shamanic interpretations.
Note: Now in his 90s, we have been quite fortunate that Don Miguelito continues to offer coca readings during our Heart of the Andes program. Ask anyone who has received one and they will tell you that he's quite accurate! We are next traveling May 5-18, 2012 and you're invited to join us.
© 2012 Carla Woody. All rights reserved.
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Special Events
For more information call Kenosis at (928) 778-1058 or e-mail info@kenosis.net to request a flyer. If you are interested in sponsoring a book signing or a workshop with Carla Woody, please contact us.
| February 25-26 |
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Spirit Keepers Series event featuring Flordemayo, Maya visionary healer and member of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Sponsored by Kenosis Spirit Keepers, the nonprofit arm of Kenosis, for Saturday evening talk and Sunday circle. Held Prescott, Arizona. For complete information on the event and how to purchase advanced discounted tickets, go to the Spirit Keepers Series page.
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| April 7 |
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Sixth Annual Benefit Concert and Wine-Tasting featuring Frank Thompson and AZ Rhythm Connection and others. Silent auction of fair trade items from Bali, Peru, Mexico and services. Held 5:30-8:30 PM at the Smoki Museum in Prescott, AZ. (Not a Smoki Museum event.) Details coming soon. To purchase advance discounted tickets, go online or purchase at Adventure Travel, 130 Grove St., Prescott. If you're unable to attend but want to support through a direct donation, please go here. Sponsored by Kenosis Spirit Keepers, the nonprofit extension of Kenosis. All proceeds support programs preserving Native spiritual traditions directly benefiting the Hopi, Maya and Quechua communities with whom we work.
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| May 5-18 |
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The Heart of the Andes. Spiritual travel to Peru working with internationally renowned mystic Don Américo Yábar, Gayle Yábar, Carla Woody, as well as Q'ero shamans and other healers. A Spirit Keepers Journey co-sponsored by Kenosis and Kenosis Spirit Keepers. bringing Hopi emissaries to reconnect with their with their Quechua relations. Early registration discount by March 5: $3095. After March 5: $3195. Registration costs include automatic donation (tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers) of $495 toward Kenosis Spirit Keepers programs. For more information, contact Kenosis at 928-778-1058 or info@kenosis.net. Note: Private groups may be arranged. If you have a group of 8-10, contact us for more information. This is an adventure of the spirit!
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| Ongoing |
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Spiritual Travel to France: La Source of Provence is available with Carla Woody. By special arrangement for small groups of five to six persons.
May be booked up to one year in advance subject to availability. Integrates sacred sites of Mary Magdalen, art and old Provençal culture. Contact Kenosis at 928-778-1058 or info@kenosis.net.
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| Ongoing |
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Private Consultation is available with Carla Woody in-person and via telephone or Skype. Addressing life direction, relationship, spiritual emergence and whole health. Integrating NLP, subtle energy work and sacred world traditions to make a lasting positive difference.
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Review
More often than not, the publications or music you will find reviewed here will not be new or "bestsellers." Websites or organizations may not be well known. But all are spotlighted by virtue of their impact and value.
Sanctuary: Soundscapes Series Volume I
Recording produced by Paul Hoogendyk with music by Sean Sullivan and Brook Rees. Poetry by Paul Hoogendyk.
I first heard this recording in December as I was winding through the rugged landscape of northern Scotland, a participant with other friends, in Phoebe and Paul Hoogendyk's 11th Greenstone journey.
Its first few moments, with jarring sounds of traffic, shook me from the trance induction that watching passing scenes had produced. But then, with the click of a closing door, that everyday world it was meant to mimic was shut out. I was in another world entirely, one filled with midnight sounds of the rainforest, reminding me of the many nights I've spent in Palenque, Manu and elsewhere; nature music providing me primal comfort. And soon piano, guitar, percussion and more are added to this backdrop, weaving through the sounds, entering me. It touched my heart. I felt uplifted. Periodically throughout, Paul's voice gently reminded me to stay attuned to my path.
The effect is hypnotic, a musical meditation that reminds the listener to be present. I play it quite frequently as an accompaniment to painting or writing, or just intense enjoyment.
Length is 42 minutes. Available as a CD or MP3 download. For more information or to order, go to Ancient Pathways.
— Carla Woody
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