Twenty years ago I read about a
ceremony of death and rebirth call a Shamanic Burial. The participant is buried
in a hole they have dug; they are then covered with soil. A small air hole is
made around the head and the participant lays here overnight to be at one with the earth.. The article explained the feeling of being
reborn and an embrace of the death process. This allows the participant to lose
any fear of death, so a full life can be created without fear. I can remember
thinking “That would be a cool thing to do”.
In August 2012 an email arrived –
as I read it a wave of remembered excitement flowed through me and I knew I
would be part of this.
Embrace
of the Earth
Mount
Warning, Byron Bay Hinterland, NSW
Thursday
20 to Saturday 22 December 2012
~
What ‘Embrace of the Earth’ is about ~
This shamanic burial is a profound way to
truly connect with the powerful energy of the Earth. It will also be a
celebration of the completion of the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar on the
summer solstice, 21 December 2012 and the galactic alignment of our solar
system with the milky way. This special event will be held beside the sacred
Mount Warning (Wollumbin), where the first morning light touches Australia, and
offers a tremendous opportunity to mark the beginning of a new era and your own
personal spiritual evolution.
The
‘Embrace of the Earth’ experience has been described as a combination ‘vision
quest’ and ‘full body meditation’. Drawing from the Toltec Tradition of Central
America, this ceremony is inspired by the intimate connection that the Toltecs
have with the land. It is a ceremonial initiation and rite of passage where
participants are buried overnight in the earth to receive the powerful healing
and loving energies of Mother Earth. You may use this experience to activate
deep shifts in consciousness and obtain heightened connection with energies of
the earth.
Taken from http://www.gudhara.org.au/Shamanic_Burial_2012.htm
As soon as I committed to doing
this something in me shifted, calmness moved through me. When I thought about
it too much a feeling of apprehension replaced the calmness. In those times I would remind myself to breath
and that all will be fine. In those beautiful moments when I allow love to
enter every part of me, softness descends, all becomes one and my dreams and
desires seem possible. All limitations and fear fall away and a clear, bright
inevitable path shows itself with certainty. There was so much feeling and
knowing in that moment nothing would sway me from this path.
It took 20 years for me to allow
this to occur. Over the last 20 years I have been searching, actually I have
been searching all my life. I don’t really know what I have been searching for,
maybe it has been me. I think it is time to stop searching and start being.
I carefully packed all that I thought
I would need for my journey, of course I took much more that I needed which
says a lot about my life and the lives of so called civilised humans. We take
more than we need. As I entered the plane I felt like I was within the belly of
a dragon preparing to slay my own dragon. I know my inner dragon has been
guarding buried treasure now is the time for me to dig deep and find my
treasures.
From the moment I got off the
plane I felt a pressure on me, a feeling of being pushed into the earth. I feel
I was already being planted - a reminder that all occurs energetically before
it happens physically.
We arrived in the Gold Coast and were
greeted by our hosts Alison and Greg who drove us across the border into NSW to
their house in Uki at the base of Mt Warning. The burials were to take place
upon their property, walking distance from their house.
I met the other participants;
there were seven of us in total. That evening we had a lovely vegetarian
Mexican feast prepared by our host Greg. The first of my challenges also occurred
that evening - the dreaded March fly (AKA Horse Fly). I seemed to be constantly bombarded by
one particular fly. That evening I decided I had to become one with the March
fly - to shapeshift and be the March fly. As I was still swatting them away on the last day and swatting them away
from others I don't think I really succeeded. However, I received a message from the March fly. There is balance in truth - this may sting and bite, but truth is truth
nonetheless. I am still integrating this - when I allow whatever to be in my
life maybe I will also love March flies - hopefully!
The next morning we arose at 4.15
to prepare for our sunrise walking meditation. Here was my next challenge -
walking barefoot to the burial site. It was about a 1/2 kilometre walk that
meandered through grass, bush and cowpats. Just when I thought “I can do this”,
our main facilitator Michael brought out blindfolds. “You’ve got to be joking,”
I screamed to myself, resistance became strong with waves of fear hot on its
tail. Quietly we all put on our blindfolds and rested our right hand on the
person in front and somehow moved up to the top of the mountain. We removed our
blindfolds and greeted the sun. Silence and wonderment replaced the fear and
resistance.
We then moved to the place where
the burials would take place, thankfully the plots were covered with marquees
and tarps, so we would be protected from the rain and sun. I was also relieved
to see a portaloo about 50 metres from camp.
We chose our grave that had been sacredly
drawn out with cowpats. I laid down next
to mine and felt at ease as we meditated. Then the digging began, this was to
take most of the day as the tomb had to be deep enough to allow me to roll on
my side and not have any part of me above ground. I was blessed to be assisted in my digging by all the facilitators and another participants' partner - a reminder that all we need comes to us. As I was digging my tomb the left side of my
body felt like fluid, it seemed to be sinking in to the earth. On the contrary
my right side was rigid holding firm on the earth. To me this symbolised my
feeling side is fine with this process, the feminine is already sinking and
allowing the process, however, my masculine side was panicked - it was trying
to figure out why I would be putting myself through this, it was resisting and
pushing against the process.
When I finished the digging I
made my grave a little more comfortable by lining it with a printed Om sheet
and a couple of cushions. We all then went for a refreshing swim in a waterhole
and back to the house for a light dinner. After dinner we were told to collect
about 10 sticks from a prepared pile and carry them back up the hill to the
burial site. I faced many fears and moved through lots of challenges but this
one was to prove most difficult. As I clutched my sticks and started to walk I felt
like an invisible wall of fear surrounded me, every step was an effort and my
breath seemed to leave me as I gasped for air. I was in a panic, a strange
voice exploded in my mind, “what the Fuck are you doing, you can’t do this,
what were you thinking”. I felt like I was walking to my death and every part
of me resisted it, I started to cry and the child in me was close to having a
full on hissy fit.
Lovely Alison could see I was
struggling and offered to take my sticks, I felt guilty, even though I just
wanted to get rid of them. She asked again and I passed them over. She then
helped me to centre and find my breath again. We silently walked up the hill and
the panic in me started to recede.
We meditated and then one by one
we entered our grave. The sticks were placed over me, then a sheet and finally
earth was placed upon the sheet. An air hole was propped open with a stick just
above my head. All resistance melted away as I heard the earth hit the roof of
my grave. I felt safe as the earth embraced me and made me a part of it.
Throughout the night I experienced
serenity, profound insights, panic, fear then calmness. This repeated itself
many times over the eight hours I was entombed.
It was a strange and beautiful night, filled with many experiences - the
sound of drumming, chanting, rain, the critters of the night and even a cow
stampede that was dissipated by our wonderful facilitators.
Thoughts, feeling and knowings
flowed through my mind and heart. I thought I was free. I thought I was
civilised. I thought I was intelligent. It turns out I am none of these things
and yet I am all these things. I lived in the embrace of the earth for a night
as humans would have in the past. I lived as a human in conjunction with the
earth, not upon her, not separate from her but with her. I take this and mix it
with all that I and my ancestors have accumulated to move forward into
something new, a co- creation of love.
Before this I believed some
control was necessary. This played out in my life as self-control, a
controlling of my thoughts and ideas, however I realised this was a learnt
behaviour from my father as a way to feel safe. But there is nothing to fear so
why control? There is nothing to control. There is nothing to fear. All that I
need to know comes in each moment, the expansive way of the universe; the
collective wisdom is there in each moment. All I need to do is be present, to
know it. If I am busy trying to control in order to feel safe, this will
distract me from the moment and I will not feel the wisdom. So what do I do? It
is ok to be me. All is one and all is ok.
Lying in my grave overnight made
me realise one moment leads to the next. There were many times I laid in the earth
fear gripped me like a vice, I couldn't breathe, I couldn’t think. What I could
do is move my hips, this is all I could really do in this confined space,
however, it was something that I could do to make myself feel better. I moved
my hips in the form of a figure eight. This seemed to move the energy building
up in my base, sacral and solar plexus chakras. So I moved my hips to create
something different and the fear would pass. Then I would lie quietly listening
to the whispers of my inner life. Here I realised, I don't really know myself
at all. I am an observer of me through the eyes of the outside world. Who I
think I am is a concept, it is an illusion based on what others tell me.
I did not automatically become
one with the earth; she seemed to reach across and accepted me as the earth, as
I accepted her as human. I went into the grave to unlearn all that I had
learned, to unravel the wisdom from education, to lose control when there
really was none to start with - just a state of mind of control. To move past
the illusion of what I think I have created. We all flow from the same source; however, we have different
agendas in order to experience different ways of creating for the ever evolving
spirit of curiosity and becoming more.
Mother Earth embraced my
illusions and I regained my life.
Unfortunately all of the photos
of my grave disappeared; all I have are a few photos of the surroundings. Maybe
this is an experience I am to hold in my heart and feel it and for you maybe it
is for you to imagine how your embrace of the earth would be. Namaste, Denise
Image: Tapestry by Toni Carmine Salerno
The Facilitators, Alison, Michael and Greg were supportive, wise and loving. Throughout the whole process I felt nurtured and safe on all levels. This made it easier for me to delve deep and challenge every aspect of myself, for this was my intent. For more info on Embrace of The Earth - Shamanic Burial and Gudhara Holistic Sanctuary.
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