Returning to the pond

 This newsletter, Na'u ka hau'oli, is a container of overflowing experiences. Gathered here and shared during the fullest illuminations of our moon, this full moon the gift is a fishpond of abundance surrounded and encircled by the ingenuity and creativity of the best forms of life as I experience it. Joyful, surprised and amazed at the restorative nature of a loving and caring Mother, I fill this monthly bundle with words, dreams, messages and clues to imagine the world I can thrive in. 

The worlds leak

The theme of over-flowing, abundance, and gratitude are the foundation or the wrapping for this newsletter. This month, when the Spring Equinox, Ka Piko o Wakea has come to recommit to the reciprocal and restorative nature of being ... AS IN A FISH POND abundant with food ... I begin with this quote and link to thoughts and prayers from Clarissa Pinkola Estes. The quote below and the link to La Contadora is such a loving message about 'leaks.' 

"I think the worlds leak. I think that between this world and other worlds, there are other canals, pathways—underground, overland—and that a certain moment in time emotionally can cause leaking between the worlds or a sudden bridge to erupt from one world to another." - Clarissa Pinkola Estes: Untie the Strong Woman

 

A PRESENT REALITY:  Returning to the pond for me is primal.

A strong north wind blows across the island where we live. In current times language and maps Pete and I live in the Maxwelton Valley Watershed on Whidbey Island in the Salish Sea.

 

Screenshot from Maxwelton-Watersheds.org If you click on the image to get a closer look we will be moving onto land on Midvale Road. Notice the tribularies (small streams and ponds) that contribute to Maxwelton Creek.

In the upland, at this place we call "Camp Bamboo", the wind is cold but not quite the open-faced biting cold that Pete feels as he continues the work of connecting electricity for our vardo. To be clear, the north wind blows unchecked where Pete works because no Tall Ones buffer makani from the north.

 My ancestors are of the water, and the ponds, and fishponds of my memories connect fresh water to salt water ocean. To return to a place which appeared  'solid' yet is really a cover-up? That calls for O L I, chanting to the place, the elemental forces, the gods, for hidden meaning. Pete is a sensitive water man, ruled by the Moon and tempered by the decades of labor that has made him skillful with a shovel, and mutable when challenged. He is a master at sleight-of-hand. Together each Moon Cycle overflows. It helps to create art from all of this!

"It’s possible to be popular AND be loved for who you are, but now is the time to separate the two and investigate what each means to you. Expect mistakes and missteps in sensing and communications this week. They’re key. They’re purposeful. They’re bringing you the details you need to actualize truth. Not all the details are straightforward and “reality based”, so pay attention to the signs along the way and greet the muses tenderly."- Satori

To dig into this new place the clues for a successful landing come slowly. That process has a story "Hard work, fate and opportunity" I shared over here.

I've just returned from the work site. I brought a bowl of warm food and tinctures of St. Joan's Wort and Echinacea to keep Pete nourished. He is at the place we have begun to think of as Kuapa. Literally translated from Hawaiian, kuapa means the wall of a fishpond. I wrote about the fishpond I knew as a girl. More is added to the meaning when I heed a nudge to listen to a long-time teacher,  cantadora, storyteller and wild wise woman Clarissa Pinkola Estes. I listen to her tell me in a Sounds True audio interview: "a certain moment in time emotionally can cause a leak between the worlds." 

The past and present have met in this place where our friend Hope lives. Pete has opened up a hundred and forty feet of 'leak' and emotions spill over. Overflow.

On my way to Kuapa, I sighted her, Mahina, the Moon in her 'Ole holoku. Her gown of light is half-half. Half lit in the afternoon sky. I get the message: 'not a time for new projects ... keep weeding, repair your tools, prepare for the future, rest ...' 

"Stone by stone (step by step) rebuild the kuapa," And if this is a place where we can be of service to the kind of world we envision as ola ... living ... then, help us continue with this story. Give us the 'ike to do our part. E ho mai. E ho mai. E ho mai."

 


"The mākāhā (the sluice gateway) enables fishermen to fine-tune the pond’s ecosystem. Opening and closing the gate during tidal events, rainstorms or fish spawns can adjust the water’s salinity, temperature and fish populations." "Stone by stone", article by Shannon Wianecki, Hana Hou Magazine, June/July, 2019

I suspect my Ancestors have come through the gates--the makaha -- of my dreams to feed me (information). I translate my suspicions and interpretations for Pete who is doing the physical work with his shovel and his patient presence. My work is to rest deeply, tending to the often delicate health of my body. This body that is also so full of life keen to notice when the world leaks.

 OLI

The worlds leak, and the internet allows us access to teachers we would otherwise be denied. In time for Ka Piko o Wakea (Spring Equinox), our friend Maile sent us a link at Halau 'Ohia to be with Kekuhi Kanahele for FB Live ceremony. It was the inspiration and clue me and Pete needed to re-member and ground to the source. 

Kekuhi is sharing 5 days of conversation -- Oli Wala'au Sessioons -- to consider what O L I (chant) is with people across the world. She began with the O L I "E Ho Mai Ka 'Ike" an oli written by her grandmother Aunty Edith Kanaka'ole. Pete and I are participating, chanting the first chant we learned years ago when The Safety Pin Cafe was newly born as a place to call for understanding.

She is winnahs, as we say in the tita-kine-way!! Check it out. If you have FB access you can watch and listen to the Oli Wala'au at anytime. What an overflow of abundance. Mahalo nui e tita Kekuhi. 

 

A few years ago after a live storytelling performance at The Safety Pin Cafe

Below is the oli E Ho Mai Ka 'Ike. My hope, in the filling of this month's ho'okupu (gift) of Na'u Ka Hau'oli is to inform you of a real-life journey and experience with the leaking of the worlds. I offer an example of a wild and untied life; undeterred and in fact excited to participate in this flow of life.

E HO MAI KA 'IKE

E ho mai ka 'ike mai luna mai'e

O/I na mea huna no'eau o na mele e

E ho mai

E ho mai

E ho mai

E ho mai ka 'ike mai luna mai'e

O/I na mea huna no'aeau o na mele e

E ho mai

E ho mai

E ho mai

The chant is repeated three times, each time raises the pitch. The video below is the oli in Hawaiian with English translation. Learn it, chant it, apply it to your life.


We, Pete and I are in the middle of significant culture shock: we are changing our minds about moving and committing to rooting. The safety pin life we have created was motivated by our need to re-create a world that was "safe enough" for us. After more than ten years of searching for that place of safety, we have learned 'safe' is a moving target; resiliency is a process not a goal. Anyone and everyone who experiences trauma and recovery knows what that means. And anyone who tells you that journey is easy and quick is either a con, or hasn't done the work, yet. It helps to begin each day, and each new step with "E ho mai ka 'ike."

WHAT IS MYTH? WHAT IS METAPHOR?

Clicking on the link above will take you to wonderful Myth & Moor, the website and blog written and curated by writer, editor, scholar, essayist and totally generous Terri Windling. I have overflowing gratitude for this woman who has taught me so much about mythic fiction, story, and art. 

"Humans are storytelling creatures. We need story, we need deep mythic happenings, as much as we need food and sun: to set us in our place in the family of things, in a world that lives and breathes and throws us wild tests, to show us the wildernesses and the lakes, the transforming swans, of our own minds." - Sylvia Lindsteadt 

Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele's TEDX Talk, "Living the Myth, Unlocking the Metaphor" is one of my all-time favorite stories to answer the questions, "What is myth? and What is metaphor?" 


 The Safety Pin Cafe Spoon, Spice & Herb Shop is the place where story, metaphor and the leaks between worlds take my heart and soul to places of wonder. My imagination plumps! I write it down and share it. There the kaona, the layers of meaning, and the planting of future reality pinches some truths and tweaks it to encourage imagination and love beyond straight lines. Our grandson motivates us to keep rolling, pushing limits, making your ancestors laugh and celebrate the outcomes of your efforts.


Go here to read the lengthening story begun at the Safety Pin Cafe;  meet Samuel, ponder influences of a tutu from places unseen; his family in the early stages of a blooming life. Fiction? Truth? The answer is I tell it slant and both truth and fiction become myth ... a bridge between the worlds.

And ... because I love this mele, and this place.


 😘 Honolulu.

 

What communication, messages and meaning are being uncovered in your life, your world? Do you experience leaks between the worlds? I'd love to hear about them.

Big love and embracing moments be yours mistakes and all. For you. For me. For us.

Mokihana 

 

RELATED:

This was getting a little long, and then I got this in my INBOX. I'm sharing it here, and hope some of you will find it just what you need to overflow with gratitude. xo 

 Gratitude, Nature & Our Covid Response; Grateful Voices: Wendy; The Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance; Poetry Practice Invitation, and more..



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