Ara weekend

After the weekend I was very tired, had some stuff to do and Ron is still home with the flu. So now there's finally time to share my experiences!

I left Friday after lunch and picked up Sorcha and Liza in Amsterdam. We had quite some traffic jam, so we arrived later than expected. We were spending the weekend in a cottage in the woods on the Veluwe again. I stayed at the home of our goddess-mother and her lovely Corgi with Foofur, the other five (and another dog) shared the hired cottage. Around dinner time everyone was there; we had Indian meals from the toko in Amsterdam. Yummy...!

The weekend theme was "ancestors". Friday evening we did a pathworking to find them and introduce ourselves. Some went outdoors but because I was only just feeling better it seemed more sensible to stay inside. Pity though! This is how my pathworking went:
First I made contact with energies from the earth and the universe. A bubble of energy formed around me, in which I sat comfortably. The bubble slowly ascended. Sometimes I was high above the ground, sometimes low. First it was as if I was in a fast car on a highway, later I was on a horse or horse and carriage. Next I was in my bubble again and floated above the clouds. It was beautiful and very relaxing there; I enjoyed the 'ride'. After a while I noticed smoke above the clouds. When I floated down, there was a huge campfire with people sitting around it. I landed a bit further and sat down. I respected their privacy and didn't want to disturb them. The back of my neck was sore, so I turned my head around. Suddenly I felt warm hands on my shoulders, that started to give me a massage. It worked, the energy and warmth did wonders. When I turned around I saw a man, smiling at me. It was a long man with a tawny upper body, that was tanned by hard labour outside in the sun. He took my hand and led me to the campfire. I told him I'd be back the next day and he smiled. Suddenly I was back in the room.
When everyone had returned to the cottage, we shared our experiences. We also talked about how to travel to Italy for our initiation in May. I think most of us will go by train. It's relatively comfortable and cheap. The Italian Ara-group will pick us up and furthermore we won't need a car. We can buy the train tickets soon, so we can spread the costs.
Just after midnight I went to my bedroom. I called Ron, made my report of the day on my laptop and went to sleep.

Saturday morning I went for a stroll with Foofur and his Corgi friend. The woods are a real treat early in the morning. The sounds of nature, two dogs walking around me, the smells, pure beauty... After breakfast the girls suggested a walk in the woods. No problem, I'm in! With six people and three dogs it was different anyway. This time I brought my camera. There were a lot of fungi, but I didn't take a lot of pics; I already did that last year!

Back in the cottage we made ourselves ready for a shamanic journey, back to the ancestors. Another significant experience:
When I went down I first came out at the beach as I normally do, but I felt I wasn’t at the right place. In an instant I was back and came out at another place. It was at the edge of a sandy plain, which was surrounded by trees. In the middle of the plain was a great campfire. People were dancing around it in two circles. The men were dancing widdershins and the inner circle of women was dancing deosil. They were very cheerful and happy. There was a lot of laughter. I was asked to join in and I danced for a while. Afterwards we sat around the fire as one big family. I couldn’t really distinguish people, didn’t recognise anyone. Yet they felt familiar and I was totally at ease. I felt welcome and they were very friendly. They were dressed like nomads. When I asked something I got an answer from the whole group. It was as if they answered as one by telepathy. I didn’t hear answers; I received them in my mind.
When I asked about my inherited shadow, the prompt answer was: self-induced perfectionism! They couldn’t tell me the origin of that problem but it was very common for all of them. Perhaps it was inherited for them too. Their “gold in the shadow” was survival.
When I asked them how they want to be honoured in ritual, they seemed a bit surprised. “We are no gods! Just be proud of your inheritance, remember us, acknowledge us, and be aware of us. You’re always welcome to come back to us.” Then I said my goodbyes and promised to come back.
Wow... I most certainly recognise the self-induced perfectionism. I have been writing about that recently. No-one forced me to get high grades in school, I pushed myself. Sometimes it is a pain, but it has also helped me to achieve things. Food for thought...

Afterwards we all drew a tarotcard; mine was the two of wands. The results of the journeys and tarotcards were used in the ritual we wanted to do in the evening. We put all of it in an e-mail to Phyllis (Curott) and when she read everything she called us. She was on speaker, so it was the Charlies Angels setting again: all gathering around the phone. "Hi Charlie, hi angels" or in this case "Hi Phyllis"! :-) We talked for a while about our progress, the journeys, etc. It was great to speak with Phyllis again. The distance and time difference with New York seemed insignificant.
We made an outline for the ritual and then went our own ways for an hour. I called Ron and took a well-needed nap.

In the evening we prepared for the ritual. The weather forecast hadn't been very good; they predicted lots of rain. We wanted to do the ritual outside anyway and... kept it dry! We drove to a wonderful place: a burial mound on the heath; what better place to do an ancestor ritual! It was an impressive ritual and it felt very good. Feeling happy and fullfilled we returned to the cottage. There we talked for a while with a drink and a snack. I almost fell asleep, so after calling Ron and writing my report I did just that!

Sunday morning after breakfast we shared our individual bio's with each other. We had to write those for the initiation. It was great to hear the stories of the others. That way we got to know each other even better. The group spirit feels very good. It really is 'perfect love and perfect trust'. Well, perhaps not perfect, but that's okay. ;-)

After cleaning the cottage, packing and saying goodbye we got in the cars and drove off. We made a stop at the burial mound, because Sorcha had lost something very important there. Fortunately she found it in no-time!