A few nights ago, I dreampt of Markawasi, a mysterious stone forest in the Andes. Journeying to Markawasi is not for the faint of heart. The trek there involves 8 hours by bus from Lima on a very windy, one way dirt road up a Mountain to a very small town with one restaurant and a beyond basic 'hotel' I tried not to entertain the thoughts of "What if another bus comes?" as I looked over the window facing a huge cliff of seemingly endless depth. From here, there is a three hour horseback (okay..more like mules) up the mountain to a plateau at 12,500 feet.
It has been a year since I went there and am now, through ceremony, dreams, and experiences am beginning to receive the mysterious grace that this place holds.
Every step I took on Markawasi, there was the sense of "Am I supposed to be here?" Thousands of giant rock outcroppings representing different tribes and people both past and present, animals (whales, dogs, owls, turtles, tigers), Horus, The Great Sphinx, beautiful pregnant women, astronauts. Too many things to name. And a several hundred feet high Monument to Humanity which included in it at least 24 other identifiable faces. Deeply quiet and yet dynamically alive, if any place on Earth is a record keeper for humanity where past, present and future are one, this represented that in my experience.
When I touched the stones, I could feel the aliveness, as if all the information about it was available. When the sun hit the stones, it became even more animated.
Who is dreaming us into being? A great mystery that becomes even more potent and alive as it's wonder reveals itself.
When I touched the Monument to Humanity, I felt many different races of people circling through my heart. Yet, throughout it all, the dynamic silence enveloped the place and stilled my curious mind.
The reverberations of the effects of these places help me realize that there is a perfection to this play of life that equally includes both our triumphs and heartbreaks, our deepest joy and deepest sorrow. A life that wants to live fully, dream fully and be fully. And experiencing the unbelievable creative potential that both simultaneously scared me and intrigued me, offering an invitation to dream and be dreamed.
In my experience, in order to experience the fullest expression of life, we have to reclaim our power by directly experiencing and becoming close with the parts in ourselves that we have denied. This is what some people call the underworld or the shadow self. It is our childhood conditioning, our trauma, our deepest pain and denial that we have unconsciously kept away and locked in our bodies. There is enormous potential here when we meet the darkness within ourselves. Inside this deep womb, our true creativity, power, potential and healing are birthed.
The wheel of my heart turns, and Markawasi and the Monument flashes before me, and I find that my heart is not just my own, but includes all hearts. The collective heart of humanity, appearing in multiple forms that seem so separate. A prayer arises in my heart, a seed planted from Markawasi, that I honor the One appearing as many and knowing that each life, so unique in it's essence and gifts is a necessary part of the Whole.
*************October Special
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