I arrived in Sacramento at noon on Friday. The car I reserved turned out to be a pearly purple PT Cruiser convertible. >BIG SMILES< I put the top down and headed north on the 5 fwy. Four hours later I pulled into Mount Shasta, a two signal town. Seriously. It has two traffic lights on the main street. Keep in mind that I am an L.A. Woman. I have two traffic lights, one on each end of my street. I wouldn't know how to live in a small town where everyone knows your business. But my oh my...it is a beautiful place. It is a powerful place.
I had a couple of hours before the retreat was to begin so I checked into my hotel and went looking for a place for dinner. I found a cool looking place named Billy Goat Tavern. It had a deck shaded by trees that were growing right up through the floor. I spotted a small table in the corner, right next the the street and guess what? James Van Praagh had the same idea at the same time. What a coinkadink! He sat at a table next to mine with two of his lady friends and I sat right next to him at my own table. If I was the eavesdropping type of gal I would have picked up some tidbits but I kept to myself and minded my own business, for the most part.
I ordered, "Quite Possibly The Best Burger In The World". With a name like that, how could I not? And it was quite possibly the best burger I've ever had.
At 5:30 the doors to the community building opened and I went in to find a good seat. There were tables all around the walls piled high with books, Cd's, artwork, and jewelry for sale. There was also a very long table full of yummy desserts, coffee and teas. Everyone mingled and chatted.
At 6:30 James and Michael Tamura took the stage and the retreat began. Michael has a silly sense of humor, the kind that makes most people groan, but he made us laugh and that was good. He thinks we shouldn't take ourselves or our work so seriously. With 140 teachers, healers, light workers, authors, psychologists, therapists, doctors and students in the room, it was a good reminder. He told us his story of how he became the teacher and healer he is and gave us a general idea of what to expect over the next two days. He and James have been friends for many years so they were quite playful with each other and with the rest of us. Michael warned us that he has the ability to travel in his sleep. In fact, he struggles to stay in his body. Before the evening was over he suggested that we would see him in our dreams, where he would teach and heal us while we slept. I don't know if it was the power of suggestion or not but I swear I attended class all night long.
The doors opened at 8 AM on Saturday and the coffee and tea table was fully supplied. The buffet table had bowls of fresh strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. It had a veggie platter with dips and yogurt with granola. Someone brought a platter of cheeses, dips, crackers, lots of pastries. There was something for everyone, including chocolate cake. We stood around with our morning snacks and drinks and chatted about our dreams, our jobs, and exchanged business cards.
At 9:30 Michael got up on stage and rang the chimes for us to find our seats.
To tell you the truth, I didn't learn anything new that morning. I learned about Michael and his work, but nothing more about the healing work itself, at least nothing I didn't already know. By the lunch break I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any new information given that I could use in my practice. I left there and went to my hotel for a nap.
The afternoon session with James was not much different. He guided us through an interesting meditation to see past lives. It appeared to me that he was healing the group with his techniques rather than teaching us any of the how to's. He spent some time giving personal readings for some of the attendees. There was a woman whose daughter had died eight months ago, a man whose son had been shot in a drive-by, a woman who came from Germany who needed to hear from her dead mother. As I've said before, I didn't learn an awful lot watching this. It's what I do for a living, so...no biggie. By the end of Saturday I was beginning to think I had wasted my money and my time. Before he finished up on Saturday, he guided us through another healing meditation. I followed along and discovered a gall bladder problem that has reasserted itself. A nutritionist would say I've been eating the wrong foods and she wouldn't be wrong. A meta physician would ask, "What bitter thoughts are you holding on to?" A naturopathic doctor would give me herbs and flush my liver and gall bladder. He simply guided us through a meditation that literally lifted the energy out of my gall bladder. The discomfort left and it has yet to return. That was pretty amazing. It's a meditation I will be using with clients from now on and made the trip worth it.
I met some wonderful people and I bought some more books, one on reincarnation written by a man, a doctor, who believes he is, or was, John Adams. Have I told you that John Adams is my great-great-great-great-great grandfather? I had to have him sign my copy and he did, "Dear Elizabeth, It's great to meet my great, great, great granddaughter! God Bless, Walter Semkiw, M.D. aka John Adams"
That evening there was a private concert for us that I decided to pass on. Instead, I drove up to Panther Meadow half way up Mount Shasta. There is a story about St. Germain having been to that meadow and was confronted by a panther. He learned to surrender fear in order to befriend the beast. I took a short hike around the meadow and found a perfect place to sit and meditate. I watched the shadows grow long as the sun began to set. Finally, I got back in my purple car and headed back down to my hotel room.
Sunday was wonderful. The room was light with the energy our group was sharing. James and Michael commented on the fact that this particular combination of people and spirit guides was more advanced than they had anticipated. That would explain why it felt a bit like kindergarten for some of us. Because of that observation they decided to step it up and boy did they. We had several meditations that moved energy around and one that introduced us to our new spirit guides. Mine has wings. This is the first time I've had an angel as a guide. I've had a Saint, a holy woman, and now an angel. His name is Thomas. He will be working with me now and I'm really looking forward to getting to know him better.
By 2 PM, I didn't want it to end. I felt healed, enlightened and loved. My new friends and I exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch. I checked out of my hotel and headed north into Oregon for a few days of contemplation.
More later...
Good morning,
Last night, as I was preparing for bed, I recalled one of the healing guided meditations James led on Sunday. He asked us to think of an issue in our lives, a pattern we were aware of in our lives, one we wanted to understand. He guided us with deep breathing and focused attention. He led us to a room where three curtains were. One curtain was made of silk, one of silver and one of gold. One by one we were to open the curtain to reveal a past life related to the issue we were focused on.
When I opened the first curtain of silk, I saw a good looking young man at a writing table. He was writing an important message, one that had him in a state of anxiety. He seemed angry, sad, and determined. Outside the window of the room where he was sitting was the scene that had motivated his emotional outrage. It was a coliseum where Christians were being fed to lions. People were cheering and the crowd was huge. The scene so disturbed him he could no longer contain his emotions and began to write about the injustice and barbaric practice of torture and murder. He had been traveling and had seen many atrocities, violent and brutal behavior that brought him to the point of protest. He was writing to protest the actions of the government. He was alone, he was determined to make a difference or die.
The second curtain I opened was the silver one. There was a scene from an earlier lifetime. A woman was chained and being whipped by a large man. She had no power, no strength and nobody to help her. She was a total victim of her sex. She was being beaten not because of her beliefs neccessarily, but because she was a woman, a weaker more vulnerable person. It was violence for no apparent reason. She hadn't committed a crime, she was a slave.
Behind the third, gold curtain was a young man wearing white stockings and shiney black shoes. He was well dressed and riding a horse with great excitement. It was a lifetime in the early years of our country, perhaps before the constitution was completed. He was riding fast and with great excitement and freedom. He felt powerful, hopeful and riding for a purpose greater than himself.
The meditation was rather short. When it was over I had no idea how these lifetimes were part of a current pattern. I know from doing this sort of work for many years, that the answer will be revealed in time. The pattern I was focused on was in the area of personal relationships. I am a loner, I have been single for most of my life. I am extremely independent but yet, I yearn for a connection with a man of integrity, intelligence, purpose and availability. I've yet to meet him.
In these lifetimes I was a man with education and integrity but not in a relationship because my purpose was more important to me than marriage or family.
In the second scene I was a victim of the overpowering anger and strength of ownership. Being independent allows me the freedom to never have to take another persons emotional crap.
In the last life, I was free. I was riding fast and hard and felt like I could fly. I was hopeful for a cause. My purpose was, once again, more important than the simple life of a farmer or father, or husband. I had a mission that was above the basic needs of body and heart.
More will be revealed.
