Giving to the Earth; the Earth Gives Back

Phoenix Rising Star

My friend from Canada called, all excited.

"Oh my gosh! I just had the most fantastic meditation! You'll never guess what I was asked to do!" She exclaimed.

"What?" I asked, intrigued as always by this somewhat hare-brained nurse.

"I'm going to open up two vortexes in Mother Earth!" She shouted. "In the rainforest. Can you 'Belize' it?" She laughed.

"What? Oh you mean... oh, in Belize?" I asked somewhat foolishly.

"Of course! The rainforest in Belize! And guess what? You're going there, too! You and Gary!" She was still shouting in my ear in her excitement.

"We are?" I was having a hard time with this. "Susan, why? Why open vortexes? Why do they need to be opened? Why the rainforest? Why Belize? Why us?" Why was I asking all these questions, I asked myself, suddenly overwhelmed by her information.

"Well," she paused dramatically. "It's like this. A vortex, as you know, is like an energy center or a chakra in the earth. It's a hole or opening where energy comes spiraling out. Its purpose is to balance and stabilize the earth. And that's what we're going to do! Balance and stabilize the earth in Belize!" She explained.

"Why Belize?" I asked.

"I'm not exactly sure why, but I got enough info in my meditation to confirm that, and I also secondly confirmed it with a map of Central America and my pendulum. Somehow the earth needs this, and we're the chosen ones to do it."

"Do what? Aren't vortexes just opened by themselves? And what do you mean 'chosen ones'?" I asked, still confused.

"Apparently these vortexes are closed and need some help. I've received instructions for opening them. And since there are two to be opened simultaneously, I need some help. So I've chosen you!" She emphasized with a smile in her voice.

Oh boy, I thought resignedly. what am I in for now? But I meditated on it for a few days, and it felt right. My guidance told me to go ahead. "It would be a life altering experiencing."

"Oh great! I know what that means, " I grumbled to myself, nonetheless pleased to be able to go.

We arrived in Belize in a steamy August afternoon and drove to the eco-lodge deep in the rainforest, near the Guatemalan Border. The roads were paved for much of the way to San Ignatio, but then we took dirt roads to get to the eco-lodge.

Set back from the road by about a mile, it was getting dark in the middle canopied forest by the time we slowly arrived over the incredibly bumpy road. Deep ruts were carved into the road from vehicles driving on mud that had since dried.

The lodge itself was welcoming us with lighted kerosene lanterns under the thatched main room built of hard rainforest timber. Even the furniture was hand-made with smaller rainforest branches and polished beautifully.

The dining table was set for us and delicious smells wafted from the kitchen, behind a swinging door.

"Hi guys. You said you're vegetarian, right?" The owner greeted us.

Affirming that, he offered to show us to our cabanas. Taking flashlights, we walked on smooth paths lined with flowers to our thatched cabana.

"As you can see, there's no electricity here, so we rely on kerosene for lanterns and flashlights for walking. Oh, and keep to the paths, especially in the dark. The jungle comes alive at night, and we've recently seen a few feur-de-lances around." He said. Quite casually, I thought.

"Feur-de-lances?" Gary asked. "You mean the dreaded two step drop snake? One bite, you take two steps and boom! You're dead! That snake?"

"Yes, that's right," again, the owner said this very casually.

My knees started to shake. I had to sit down on the bed, under the mosquito netting.

"So we'll see you guys in about fifteen minutes for dinner, all right?" The owner said, lighting the kerosene lantern. It seemed to throw more shadows than it relieved them.

"Okay," we chorused, looking at each other. We unpacked a few things, but didn't really know where to put them. There was only 1 chair, a bed with the mosquito netting, the commode and sink. Seeing a few hooks on the wall, I hung up some things, and then thought better of it after spying a very large wolf spider on the wall. The thing was about four inches long and two in diameter. Harmless, but I didn't exactly want to find it up my sleeve either. I hastily repacked and shut my suitcase.

Susan was in the next cabana, so we walked together back down the path to dinner.

During a delicious veggie stir fry, we talked about snakes and our vortex trip the next day.

"I was told to bring a snake-bite kit," Susan said, a little nervously for her. In fact, I suddenly realized she was not eating much. Just toying with her food.

"I'm going to carve a snake stick tonight," Gary announced. "I've been dreaming about feur-de-lances for two weeks, and now that we know they're around here......" his voice trailed off and we glanced around the lodge.

"I was told snake would be an observer, not a participant," I shared, not really sure what that meant.

"You know, I'm okay with it, if this is the last thing I do in this life," Gary suddenly announced.

Nodding, I added, "Yeah! What a way to go! Doing our life work in the jungle!"

Susan's eyes watered, but she nodded in agreement.

Then we took out the forestry map and our pendulums.

Poring over the maps, we again confirmed the two sites, apparently fairly close together and accessible by old logging roads.

That accomplished, Gary carved his forked snake stick designed to pin an average size snake behind the head. Not to kill it, but to control it until it could be handled and removed.

"I hope that's big enough," I mumbled to no one in particular.

We went to bed early. In the jungle, night is dark, but not quiet. There are all kinds of animals that only are active at night. Peepers (frogs), monkeys calling and chattering, even an occasional un-named howl split the air.

Needless to say, we didn't sleep well.

We arose before dawn and tried to choke down our breakfast.

The owner appeared with a lunch bag.

"Here you go. You'll probably need some extra sustenance," he said with a grin, knowing what we were attempting to do.

Stashing the bag in the car, we added bottles of water, several liters of petrol, and the snake stick. Susan brought her medicine kit. I brought my camera; Gary his machete, and we all brought our ceremonial items: stones, feathers, altar cloth, etc.

Finally we were ready to go just as it was beginning to get light.

Off we went, from the rutted bumpy road to a smooth highway leading to a ranger station.

Stopping there, we checked in and showed them on the map where we were headed.

"How are the roads there?" we asked.

"Fine. Fine. Just cleared them," was the reply.

"If we don't check back with you by sunset, you'll at least know where we are," Susan said.

By the look in the ranger's eyes, he didn't really care, but he nodded politely.

And off we went on a single lane logging path.

"What happens if we meet someone coming?" I asked.

"Who else do you think is crazy enough to be in the rainforest?" Gary asked while maneuvering the car around huge pot holes.

We finally became adjusted to looking for tiny signs about six feet high, usually nailed to a tree. L47. S38. Looking at the map, we were able to spot those roads and figure out where we were.

"Oh no! Look up ahead!" Slowly Gary pulled the car to a halt. Across the road was a huge tree, effectively blocking any passage.

"So much for clearing the road!" Gary said bitterly. "What do we do now? It's too far for us to just leave the vehicle and walk. Probably not safe anyway." He added gloomily.

Remembering my meditation had mentioned obstacles, I figured this was one of them. I got out of the car saying, "Well, let's check it out."

Walking to the tree, I decided to see what I could do. The trunk was about thirty inches in diameter, and the branches were thick and tightly clustered. I didn't care. I began pulling on one of the bigger branches, and to my surprise, the tree began to move! It was half rotted and very light. Two of us were able to move it easily to the side of the road.

Feeling victorious, we piled back in the car. Only to encounter another downed tree five hundred yards down the road.

We made a joke about it, the first ten times we stopped, piled out, moved a tree, and got back in. After twenty times we were struggling to laugh about it. I think we counted twenty eight trees we moved in all before we felt we were close to the vortexes.

There was a light rain misting down on us when we stopped, close to our destination. As soon as I stepped out of the car, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Looking around, I noticed a huge paw print in the mud at my feet. It was about six inches across and the rain was just beginning to fill it, leaving me to think it was very fresh.

Hastily we piled back in the car.

"What kind of animal was that?" I asked.

"Probably a mountain lion or jaguar," Gary answered, driving as quickly as possible up the road.

We stopped at the crossroads of the vortexes, one off to the right, one to the left.

Exiting the car slowly, we looked around as the sun began to come out.

Dense foliage was all around us, but the ancient roads were still visible, trailing off in the middle canopy.

"I'm starving," I announced. "It's close to noon and we've been moving logs all morning. Let's ground out and eat before we do our ceremony."

Unpacking our lunch, we also began laying out our ceremonial items. Susan still wasn't eating. Instead she was nervously looking around us. I wasn't concerned about what was out there. We'd already made our peace with whatever was to come. I was hungry, so I dug into the refried beans and home-made tortillas.

Finally, replete, having laid out our ceremonial items, we began our ceremony of prayers and petitions to the Spirits of the Jungle. Each of us had a part. Butterflies kissed each of us during the moving ceremony. Raw vegetation was practically growing next to us as we spoke. The jungle felt so alive. No animals bothered us. Instead colorful birds chirped and fluttered around us, singing in happiness for our presence and intentions.

Then it was time to begin.

Gary and I set off in one direction, and Susan in the other. Each of us had something besides our vortex opening materials which consisted mostly of prayers and symbols.

Gary had his snake stick, and Susan had the machete. And I? I had an energy balancing kit for balancing and stabilizing the environment. Not exactly a weapon or a conventional tool, but I felt drawn to bring it with me.

Gary and I went down the ancient path, not knowing exactly where we were going, but allowing the pendulum to lead us.

When it began to swing wildly, almost out of control, we stopped.

Looking around, we spied a half wall to our left, almost entirely covered with vegetation.

Gently parting the draping vines, we spied an ancient altar shelf carved into the wall.

Nothing was on it, but it had obviously held something at one time. The shelf was about eight inches wide and slightly eroded from weather and vegetation.

This, then, was the spot.

We sprinkled corn-meal and tobacco, even though that was more a Native American tradition than Mayan. We figured the corn-meal was traditional, but when we asked the spirits about using tobacco we were told it was acceptable.

We sang and chanted and drew symbols in the air.

A slight breeze came through, ruffling our hair.

We prayed and chanted more.

Butterflies danced around us. Blue butterflies this time.

Then it was time to meet up with Susan.

Gary was worried about her being alone.

I wasn't. I knew we were doing Spirit's work and would be fine.

We met back at the ceremony site and laid down on the ground around it, looking up at the canopy overhead and the glimpse of sun and sky. Butterflies and birds gently swirled around us as we lay there in our state of bliss. Slowly, we talked about everything: the shelf in the wall, the change in air temperature, the blue butterflies. Susan didn't see a shelf, but felt totally in harmony with nature and embraced by the rainforest.

Slowly we packed up, aware of time and needing to be at least to the ranger station by sundown. The rainforest is not a place to be in at night. Without street lights, navigation becomes difficult.

Getting back in the car, the way back was made easier due to the fact the logs were already moved. As we looked back at where we'd been, we gasped and ground to a halt.

Piling out of the car to see for sure, we noticed a huge ball of whirling white light right where we'd been working! As we watched in disbelief, it slowly turned into a rainbow, arching over the trees.

We stared in amazement and awe.

Then slowly got back to our car to drive the rest of the way. But this time, when we looked back, we saw a double rainbow.

Stopping again, Gary and Susan climbed a rock to get a better view. I took my camera and dashed back up the road to a slightly different angle. Snapping the picture, I decided to try it again, this time with a different lens. Racing back to the car before the rainbow faded, I quickly changed lenses and took two steps.

Something made me look near my feet.

At the split second I noticed it, several things happened at once. I leaped about eight feet up the road, turning in mid-air, letting out a single shriek and executing a perfect three point landing.

The cause of this stunt was the largest snake I'd ever seen, even in pictures.

Its head was the size my hands made when I touch the tips of my thumbs together and spread the rest of my fingers. Easily ten inches at the widest part. And the eight feet of him I could see was not getting any narrower as it hid in a rotting log. Gray, with diamond-shapes on him, he really was beautiful.

Gary and Susan, still perched on their rock, were staring at me as if I'd just lost my marbles. Shakily, I raised a hand and pointed at the still (thankfully!) snake.

"Don't you see him?" I asked.

Susan turned white and looked about to faint. Gary grabbed his snake stick. It would have been comical if it weren't so serious to me.

"I don't think that's big enough," I said fairly calmly. "And I don't think he's coming after me, either. But what if its mate is?"

We'd heard certain snakes hunt in pairs like that. But I had no idea what kind of snake this was. Only that he was big, and as a result of my jump, he now separated me from the car.

We looked around cautiously, but couldn't see anything.

"I think if you cross to the other side and slowly walk to the car, you'll be okay," Gary said.

"Yes, I think so too. He's had several chances to get me and hasn't. So he must not be hungry." But before I made my way back to the car, I had to do it. I took his picture.

Slowly I tip-toed toward the car.

"Would you hurry up?" Gary hissed.

I ran the last few steps. Gary released the clutch to move the car back without starting the engine. I took another picture from this angle. Then we piled back into the car and headed back to the eco-lodge.

There, over a hilarious dinner with Susan now able to eat, we recounted our adventures, high on life, high on adventure, high on spirit. The owners sat raptly, and oohed over the snake part.

"You? You were the one to encounter it? After every one else's preparation, the snake was meant for you?" The owner asked me. "Do you realize that snake represents new beginnings? New for you and new for the earth. You know, because they shed their skin and let go of the old? Plus, I'll bet you didn't know this." He paused dramatically as we all looked at him.

"Snake is the guardian of sacred places."

Contributed by Phoenix, FOL Facilitator and Director of Your HeartWalk Center in Sedona, AZ

Phoenix's Credentials:

M.S. Counseling

Clinical Hypnotherapist

Integrated Energy Therapist, Top 26 Master Instructors, 2006

Reiki/Seichem Master

Medicine for the Earth Facilitator

Angel Therapist

S.H.E.S. Minister (Spirit Helpers and Earth Stewards)

For more information on Your HeartWalk Center in Sedona, AZ, see their website: www.sedonaheartwalk.com

For more information on Integrated Energy Therapy, see their website: www.learniet.com

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