Category: Wilderness

JAPAN JOURNEY JOURNAL #2, SACRED MOUNTAIN (聖山）

7/29/2022

MEETING ANCIENT AND NEW FRIENDS

I met Fatima-san (Suomi Sekiya) in Findhorn about 5 years ago. She joined our 1001 Angels mosaic creations on our first day of the project, and her last day of a two-week stay in Findhorn. By some good fortune our paths just crossed. I was immediately curious about her, since she had so uniquely expressed two cultures I also felt a part of, namely a Sufi tradition in Japan. I felt we have so much to explore together, but at that time we had very little time to invest in our explorations. When the opportunity presented itself to visit her in Nagano prefecture, I approached her. I was delighted to know that she could take a day off her work, which happened to be her birthday, to be with me and her partner Yaqin Nirdosh (Yuya Sato), and the Sacred Mountain of Hijiriyama, which she is a guardian of. Both her name and her partner's name, Yaqin evoke deep feelings for me, as they are from my native tongue, Farsi. Yaqin means certainty, Fatima, purity. So together they speak of Pure Certainty to my soul.

Meeting Fatima and Yaqin at the Hijiriyama, which literally means Sacred Mountain, felt like a chord of destiny's been tugged. I also found out they are both web-creators. Since I've been looking for web-masters for Trees for Hope, I asked them if they could make our website, which they delightfully said yes! My heart did a little dance at the top of the hill where we were standing to admire the view of the expansive North and South Japan Alps Mountains in Nagano.

Later on her birthday she took me to a remarkable restaurant called Momo, which means peach. There she gave me her meishi, business card. On it she lists a few things she offers the world as a way of her unique expression. They include : Herbalist, Psychic Healer, Holistic Therapist. As well she lists Meditation and Prayer, Deep Ecology, Permaculture, Co-Creation with Nature.

Yaqin offers on his meishi (business card) : Meditation and Co-Creation Space. His business name is Nirvana Lab. I feel like I have just connected with two dear kindred spirits, on my last day in Japan!

http://nirvana-lab.com
http://devafatima.com
http://libernaturae.com
http://nuuralanuur.com

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a wild wedding

12/20/2018

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The forecast was rain. The place was an ancient Pictish cave by the wild Moray Firth coast, about 1/2 hour away from our home. The day was the 13th of October, 5 years to the day we entered our relationship. We watched the weather closely. There was no sign of rain at 8 am, when we had to make the final decision about the location. Will we go for the wild coast, or do we choose the safer option of a sheltered woodland site?

The rain was holding back. We looked at each other; we knew what we wanted. Judith, our celebrant turned up punctually at 8.00. 'It is the cave!' we said. She was concerned, as we were for the guests slipping on the wet rocks. But she trusted us, and a decision was made. Our two sons, Kevin and Ocean, as well as my friend and maid of honour, Swan, accompanied us to the cave to set up the space and receive our guests.

I saw Ocean outside the cave, looking to the sea with an expression of amazement and joy! 'They are dolphines,' he said. I looked to where he was pointing. They were a pod, jumping! Our guests arrived one by one as I spotted the dolphines.

Our vows had 4 dimensions. Alan and I gradually crafted them over weeks of conversation, reflection, adding and deleting words. We vowed to support one another in our persoanl growth, our planetary service, on our spiritual paths. We vowed to have patience and compassion for our blind or unconscious selves to become known and loved. Just as we finished saying our vows, a sweet and gentle rain sealed our marriage as Judith pronounced us husband and wife. Then every one at once had to rush to escape the incoming tide. There, there, they were again. The dolphines were now swimming in the opposite direction, accompanying our guests from the sea as everyone lined up to climb the rope ladder back to higher grounds. Then the rain came. It poured mightily as our guests scattered the seed-balls we had prepared as part of our ceremony to regenrate a burned out landscape scarred by fires this last autumn.

Part II of our wedding day was made possible by the generous support of our friends in the community who cooked the meal for our guests as a gift to us. The rain did not cease for the rest of the evening. Our plans to have a storytelling fire outdoors was changed to having a beautiful storytelling space indoors, filled with late autumn flowers, gifted to us by a generous friend who has been tending her flower garden for years. Stories, songs, and dances blossomed in our community space, as our guests one, by one, contributed their gifts and shared their talents. Our married life started with wild blessings from nature and continued with generous gifts of service, flowers, songs, and stories from our friends and community. We spent a beautiful honeymoon on the islands of Orkney when we had a rainbow greeting us every day.

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Touched by grace

5/30/2016

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I warn you this is a miracle story! Read at your own risk :).

On Sunday 29th of May, I wanted to explore the mountains around Tatvan. I texted a number of people I know in town but no one wanted to come along. So 'come as it may' I said and set out.

At first I went to the site where we decided to hold the 'Earth Healing Gathering.' It is a boarding school for out of town children in the area. Once there I decided to keep walking up the road. Nazli, a friend of mine from Tatvan had told me the road will eventually join the mountains and the forests. While walking a number of local people asked me where I was going. I just said 'there' pointing to the mountain. I could understand that there aren't many visitors like me walking about their streets. But no one bothered me, or tried to stop me, which is a noble characteristic of the Tatvanese people, for which I love them.

As I walked away from town, I noticed the population of wild plants started to increase. At first I noticed the nettles, then a tree whose leaves look like oak, then hawthorn, and my excitement was perked.

Children noticed me, a stranger in their world, and started to follow me, saying 'hello' in English. I answered them in kind. Then a local man told me how to find the path to the mountain. I saw two Kurdish women tilling their land for new crops. They too were startled to see a stranger like me walking in their part of the world, but they did not bother me. They also asked where are you going? 'To the church?' they asked. 'Yes' I said. That way, that way, they pointed to the mountain.

On and up I walked. I was then clearly out of town and into wilderness in a very short distant. As I approached the foothill of the mountain I noticed the increase in biodiversity already. My excitement became palpable as I saw the beautiful colony of moss and lichen together on an impressive piece of rock. I noticed a marble kind of stone strewn on the path. The beauty of the stone touched my heart deeply and I rejoiced at the rocks.

By this time, to go further I had to climb a big rock, using both my arms and legs. I was acutely aware that I had been suffering from a frozen shoulder from the beginning of the year, for about five months now. My left arm was almost incapacitated and I could not lift it fully. 'How could I climb this rock?' I thought. 'I will climb this rock' I heard my inner voice say. By this time I started to feel a lightness in my left shoulder. This was a new sensation for me since my frozen shoulder syndrome started almost half a year ago. I lightened my load, leaving my rucksack behind and only carrying my camera up with me. I grabbed the rock and climbed noticing that my left shoulder and arm were easing from the pain and tightness that had inhibited me for so long.

Up and onward I walked, feeling a little lonely, wishing some of my friends had come along there. Just then, in the distant, on top of a rock I saw the silhouette of a man sitting on a rock. It felt like an instant granting of a wish!

As I emerged from the rock-climbing, I had a chance to look around. Then I saw the shape of an old Armenian church that was abandoned now. The air felt very pure and clean here. I felt a natural pull to go and explore the area around the abandoned church. I also noticed the increased life force around this part, including more insects like grasshopper and bees. As I walked around I noticed a very welcoming sensation in my body, a lightness of being, especially in my left arm and shoulder. I became aware of this sensation and welcomed it. I also was aware of an immense grief that lived in this spot. As I approached the old church, somehow I could not hold my tears back. I just allowed myself to feel what was happening. I walked, I felt the land, I cried, I also rejoiced for being here. Then I felt something lifting from my body. Startled, I raised my left arm. Lo and behold, I could raise my arm! This was something I was not able to do for a few months! And then I really started to cry! I felt deeply touched by the spirit and grace of this land.

Just then I heard the animals. Looking over to the other side I saw a herd of goats, just coming down the mountains. Accompanying them was a young shepherd whose silhouette I had seen earlier. We greeted each other and soon, established that between Farsi and Kurdi, we could communicate, somehow. It did not take long for us to build a rapport. I asked Momet, the shepherd to take a photo of me. He quickly learned how to use my rather complex camera. Gingerly I raised my arms, and they went up! My joy was immense!

After spending a little time with Momet and his goats, I pointed to the rock I saw him on earlier. 'Is it far?' I asked in Farsi. 'Not very far,' he said in Kurdi. I am going there, I told him. 'This is the way,' he said. I was overjoyed at this stage to discover how much we could communicate by our kin yet distanced, languages.

As I climbed up and higher, I witnessed even more plant and biodiversity, feeling truly in heaven! From the top of the rocks I had an eagle's point of view to see all around. I could sadly see the pollution of the lake too and wished to communicate ways in which this pollution could be avoided.

Momet joined me a little while later on the top rock and we communicated some more through the delightful common words we kept discovering between Farsi and Kurdi. Soon he left with his herd of goats. I slowly made my way down, but slowly. Touched by the spirit of the mountain, I stopped here and there to take photographs of the marvels and beauties I saw all around me.

As I descended the path of the mountain toward civilisation, I kept hearing a verse from Hafiz in my head in Farsi : 'فیض روح اقدس ار باز مدد فرماید
'.دیگران هم بکنند آنچه مسیحا می کرد
Which roughly translates as ' If the holy spirit graces us again, others too will do what Christ had done.'

I saw Momet the last time on this day. I shouted from the top of the mountain, 'where is the path?' He was small as a speck at the bottom of the mountain but he heard me. With his infinite kindness he pointed the way and waited to see that I find the path. Then he was gone.

At the bottom of the mountain I was a transformed person! As I walked through the neighbourhood, I found I could connect with people more easily. I greeted those who looked at me with 'Merhaba.' 'Hoş geldiniz' I heard people say from their home windows, which means 'welcome.' I felt the mountain was talking to me.