Beginning of The Art of Dreaming.

            

The human species spend a whole lot of time in a sleep, but they don't think that sleep can become another tool for awakening their hidden facilities and capabilities. And yet the fascination with sleep and what we see in dreams is endless. It's a source of the most of our question marks. In sleep we are most surely to encounter the nagual, or the form of consciousness which is outside of the known.
Although inspired by sleep, the dreaming as a way did not start in the sleep, simply because the imagination needed to propel the adepts of those far away days required a scientific mind of courage and resolve.

Dreaming and Sleeping are not the same. When you sleep you may see dreams, and some of them may even be more realistic than the others, but dreaming begins with setting up of the intent to dream. In general, the term "dreaming" is misleading because it leads one to think that he may need to fall asleep in order to start dreaming. But from my experience, dreaming is done best when you are well rested. Try lying down and turning off the internal dialogue  - a key to entering the state of inner silence. Listen to what is going on without actually trying to fall asleep. As you listen, you will eventually find queues that will help you at immersing yourself into a dream. I don't know, your approach may be totally different, but I think it is better to do this than falling asleep and think you are practicing the art of dreaming.

                                     

The first official task that was given to Carlos was to see his hands in a dream. He felt that it was another task in which it was completely impossible for him to succeed, and yet after a while he succeeded. It happened unexpectedly, despite all the seemingly fruitless efforts on his part.

Don Juan specifically told Carlos that the hands were what I randomly call a random point of capture - they are just easy to find. And I would like to reiterate - finding the hands in the dream is finding a point of capture for your dreaming body. As for the hands themselves - they do not in and of themselves carry any magical mana or something, that will transport the dreamer into some magical realm like a sort of power object. To find the hands is to find a point of reference and begin the process of awakening within the dream, thus initiating the forging process for the dreaming body. Anything else could also serve as a point of capture. Feet perhaps, or some objects that are related to you. In my case, there passed a long time before I saw the hands, and yet I have experienced plenty of other things that I could not discard simply because they did not revolve around seeing the hands.

Dreaming does not stop when you are awake as dreaming is not being sleepy or asleep. Try sitting there comfortably, preferably with a straight back, relaxed, and start breathing deeply. Keep your eyes half-closed and don't look at anything in particular. You may notice after a while that you are getting the same rest as you would if you were asleep. This is important because a dreamer seeks these deeply relaxed states in order to open new avenues of awareness to put it in a more poetic  language which Carlos' esteemed mentor loved so much. New avenues of awareness are the pathways by which the assemblage point moves. By training your assemblage point you are opening and digging the canals by which the assemblage point will travel. Think about a drone in a completely alien territory. Its mission is to map out that territory. At first all is in complete darkness, and seems absolutely alien and scary to the brave pioneers. But as the mapping out continues, more and more territory comes in the range of vision, and becomes less scary. That doesn't mean that there aren't any challenges, but at least it becomes visible which is a good thing.

The beginning of a dreaming practice was different for me from what was outlined in the book. And if I would rigidly stick to the book, there would be no progress in view whatsoever, because I would constantly have to fit into one particular conceptual framework. I think that goes against the major premise: that we are looking for freedom here. So, always thinking in terms of freedom made me realize that it has to start here and now, and not then and later, when I have more time and more resources...

So dreaming is not like that, all static and rigid and compartmentalized into the techniques and practices and all kinds of weird stuff. It is more like the stuff the myths are made of. When the dreaming body activates, it starts using all your facilities, all your intellect and imagination, your understanding and the lack of it, and thus you may receive information about your particular kind of dreaming, which may or may not be different from the one outlined in the books. The only thing that I found similar in that sense is that one does need to experience awakening within a dream.

Dreamers are strange cats. They seem to be a little different, a little detached from the every day concerns, may be even weird. I think their practices, which have to do with moving assemblage point into the unknowable territories strongly contribute to that. But let us not be mistaken - dreaming and stalking unite, when we talk about the path of the warriors as such. That is because they are both needed to shake and than produce a shift of the assemblage point. There is no one without the other, as if there wouldn't be any art of stalking, which is basically grounding, the assemblage point would keep on shifting erratically, further and further into the unknown spheres and that is quite dangerous if you think about it. The "sorcerers of antiquity" though, those psychonaught priests of the Great Out There were willing to take ANY risks, and so we hear of their unspeakable accomplishments. A modern dreamer, for the sake of sanity has to have discipline and forbearance, which are some of the prerequisite young shoots that may bloom into a beautiful tree of impeccability. And that is something that stays with you.

Let's talk Technique

This post is meant for both beginners and advanced students,

So let's talk "technique". What is a "technique" in the martial arts? From my study of them, the underlying unity in the self-defense arts is that you are being attacked, consequently you have to, and should react to the attack. You react out of the will for self-preservation, or fear.

 There are various kind of attacks that are empty handed, attacks involving weapons, psychic attacks and spirit attacks, which are the hardest to neutralize. So a complete self-defense art has to take into account all of that (plus the weather and terrain) and yet not become paranoid to the boot. Why not? After all you are being attacked? Because a well thought out defense is calm, stable, and even relaxed. In many cases emotionless, only the technique is working. Therefore, we can say that a technique is a kind of response that you have been working on during your training.

So, for example if you are a Tai Chi player, you are working on staying relaxed and neutralizing, "not being there" so to speak. If you are a Daito Ryu Jujutsu practitioner, you will meet them with an atemi, or seize the moment and destroy your opponent's spirit. In Aikido you will mostly likely harmonize with your opponent or several, and cause some damage or inflict pain from there. Karate believes in blocking and returning the energy, although that is a cruder level. Ninpo has all of the above embedded in its taijutsu.

So as you can see the approaches are many, or several in this case, but the underlying structure of a technique is not so different. I summarize it as such: 1st you perceive an attack. If you have caught it from afar, nothing should stop you from reacting by moving your body out of the way, or putting in a nice offensive punch kick or just putting your hand out, i.e. "reacting according to circumstances".

If they are close by, and the attack has already begun in the shorter range, you should probably be moving yourself out of the way, or perhaps joining yourself with their attack, thus sticking and following, or harmonizing with their center of gravity, or perhaps a movement of their hand, which is an outgrowth of that....

There are MANY things one can do, so you have to be open minded, and not get stuck on one learned response that your school or your teacher prefers. There are many schools and many teachers but the greatest is living inside each and every one of us, the Mahaguru, or the Greatest Teacher as they say in Sanskrit IS the Atman, our own soul residing within ourselves. Surprised? Well, you are in for a few more surprises, because so far I have only been talking about physiological response to an attack, not emotional or spiritual, which are of course embedded in the physiological - without our spirit we are nothing, empty space.

What I am saying here is that one should really spend a lot of time on practice, and that practice has to revolve not around how to have a more powerful punch, or kick, or how to devilishly crush your opponents joints or cause them unspeakable harm, it should revolve around how to just BE IN A NON-CONFRONTATIONAL SITUATION, that we call LIFE.

In life, all of the situations are already present in a nutshell, but we tend to disregard the simple yet profound lessons that life gives us, because the majority of martial approaches out there tend to concentrate on teaching how to fight, in other words on how to EXIST AND SURVIVE WITHIN THE CONFLICT. What I am talking about here, is not how to exist when the conflict has already begun, but about how to exist without the conflict. It may sound contradictory at this point, as we are talking about martial arts techniques here, aren't we?

We do, but in order to truthfully discuss the techniques we have to start from afar. Look at your lifestyle. What do you do throughout the day? What do you think about? What kind of person are you? How do you treat people? Do you practice often, or just once a week at your class or school? All of these and many other more profound questions should be asked by an aspiring adept of martial ways, and should become a part of her daily meditation, and from then the real studying begins! I firmly believe that you cannot have a good technique without being a thoroughly intelligent individual. That opinion comes from my own research of those considered "good". Read books, and choose your heroes wisely. Don't stop at what you have already think you've achieved. A real teacher wouldn't pet you on the head so easily, but she is not going to try to break your spirit either by being overly harsh and even abusive.

By the time you start educating yourself in that way, you will see that combined with the physical practice of repeating your routines, katas, forms, your intellectual preparation will immensely deepen your practice, and you will start coming in touch with your Spirit....

To be Continued

Я разбросал друзей как жуть

Я разбросал друзей как жуть
Как фасоль их разбросал
Как песок пляжный просочились они сквозь руки
В душе нет ни следа,
И там и сям их раскидал, не знаю где они.
Одни из них живы, другие нет наверно,
Кто знает, важно ли это?
Они были нужны, они были важны,
И одолжения делали крутые, и у меня одолжения просили тоже
Вот потому и разбросал,
Один не отдал гитару а другой деньгу,
Одному я не отдал кассету, а другому труд свой новаторский,
Одного я послал он был слишком пижон, а другой должен был жениться
Третий пил много, он стал биологом, а четвёртый тож был пижоном.
Пятый пятился назад, шестой не знал что делал, седьмой дешёвкой занимался,
Восьмой наркотики курил, девятый их колол, десятый думал что художник,
Десятый слишком много рисовал.
Один из них мог бы и остаться но он да не хотел, ну а другой не знал меня совсем.
Вот так друзей я раскидал, вот так друзей я разбросал.
Теперь хожу свободный я, теперь хожу довольный я,
Не одиноко мне совсем, друзей моих уж нет, и только невольно думаю
есть ли специальный рай где все они соберуться после смерти,
Потому что туда я не пойду, чтоб и там их не разбросать...

Spirit

The most important thing in martial arts no matter what anyone says is Spirit.
Spirit is many things and none. It is the most abstract and elusive and yet concrete idea, contesting only with that of energy.

Let's look at Spirit from the point of view of a kiai first.
Kiai is sometimes a yell that one lets out. Other times it has no overt sound. It is a sum total of all of  the warrior's feelings channeled into sound, and it is a throw out of an energetic bolt that penetrates to the opponents core. It can be used to stop someone cold, entice, show your readiness (or a lack of it), frighten, and so on. But more than anything else kiai is a warrior showing off his spirit, showing what he is capable of with or without moving.

Spirit is what makes a kiai powerful and potent. It doesn't matter how loud and fierce you are, because on the subtler levels it is not the volume but the sound vibration that is being projected towards the opponent. Sound is magical, like music is, and to be able to control the issue of sound, like its volume and its content makes one a sort of magician. As we all know the politicians have already mastered this magic.

You can bet that someone with a powerful kiai also has a powerful spirit. But it is harder to see the spirit, and yet it is easier to hear the kiai.

Spirit is the ultimate judge in all bouts. A looser by strength and skill can become a winner by spirit, how is that possible?

Someone whose spirit is intact and properly functioning seems happy, content, and is rarely at odds.

Even if someone is depressed, if their spirit is in place they will not be truly hurt. It is rupturing the spirit that causes the "illness of the soul" that eventually kills.

Let's be clear about it, most of the time we do not see the subtle substance that we are made of, mostly we tend to think of ourselves as meat with feelings, sometimes may be soul in a more traditional Christian sense. But what about the spirit? Why is that precious word not being used so often? That is because spirit is real and powerful, and it is what makes things happen. Spirit shares its territory with the Great Unseen and you can be sure that nothing is more important.

Intuition is fine, but what rules the intuition? It is spirit. By bowing to spirit you are bowing to your own protector and ally. Common, give a bow to your own spirit.

Spirit is what attracts the totems; totems communicate with the spirit directly.

If something scares you - fine, if something scares your spirit - you are only as good is dead.

Praise the Abstract, Praise the ever-present Spirit!

You cannot nurture the truly grand, majestic spirit without Nature. Nature gives nourishment for the spirit, it is truly a Mother when it comes to giving. The freshness of air bouncing off the trees, the smell of dirt of the ground, it is all just so sweet.

Spirit penetrates everything: material and immaterial. It makes inanimate things alive. In the eye of the spirit the rock and the human being are same.

If you want to learn something - connect and learn from the spirit of that.
If you want to learn Zen Buddhism - connect with the spirit of Zen.
If you want to learn a musical genre or about finances, connect with the spirit of music or finances.
If you want to learn about a human being, a person - connect with that spirit.
If you want to become a carpenter, connect with the spirit protector of all carpenters and you will succeed at becoming an excellent carpenter.

The Panther II

... out of the darkness, shapes - sounds,  there emerges a male shape, it holds an obsidian mace.....but she can't see his face, since it is covered by something like a mask...she thought of her ancient predecessors, ("was he the voice in her head?")...."Yes" was the answer roaring in her shapely head.
She realized that the stranger speaks without speaking, and right away heard a voice, "I am the Panther Tribe instructor and an Elder", he said, "You don't have to call me anything for now, but I will give you a new name"...

...she didn't think she needed a name but, that must've been a procedure with the Panther people...."It's more than a procedure" she heard that deep voice again, " It is an identity that you will carry until you arrive at the gates"...She heard about the Gates, that it is two of them...One leads to the dark world of Machinations and Power, another, to the realm of Healing and Light.

She was sure that she was going to enter the Gate of Healing and Light, but the problem was that neither gate was marked by any outward signs. Entering adept had to choose a gate completely without a sense of direction.....She worried......"DA-MA!" She heard, and that shook her, "DaMa is your name until you enter the Gate", the instructor said, "it consists of 2 words from our ancient language: Da - to "endure", Ma - "panther", if you endure until you enter the gate you will become a true panther, and the vision will reveal your real nature and your 2 companions inside the gate. Not everyone sees the vision, and not everyone gets 2 friends, so you have to be very alert....just like a young  panther cub".

She though that she heard a faint smirk...."NOW drink this", he passed her a bowl that looked like a coconut or a shriveled something....., she started shaking like a leaf, it was an upper lobe of a human scull, filled with some liquid. It was very cleanly cut off, with what had to be an extremely sharp instrument, perhaps an obsidian razor blade. "DRINK NOW!" she heard and she knew that this was not a matter of choice...

She thought of the Mother Toltec..."Love rules this realm," taught the Mother, but we must reveal it with our actions my dear. We MUST show strength or there will be no prize for our efforts"...

She tasted the liquid, which was surprisingly sweet and than drank the whole content in several hungry gulps...she was very thirsty after all....She heard a faint laugh and the stranger who called himself a "Panther Tribe Instructor and an Elder" started dissolving in front of her very own eyes,...He finally disappeared and there was a complete darkness all around her again, than everything went upside down and she did not know whether she was asleep or awake anymore...

...To Be Continued

What is Beauty?

Common, be real I know that you think of yourself as beautiful!

I was prompted to write this post looking at all the (for the fear of sounding redundant) "beautiful" photos of the young women that are consistently being put out by the bloggers, members, etc. Some of them are truly exceptional, others are more like fashion statements, and yet others project certain vanity that I can't really call beautiful. All in all the quality of the photos is rather good, as they are being presented as a sort of "art pieces", graphically induced gems of fine graphic with enhanced colors, contours, forms, etc.

Looking inside some of these pictures, I find that they are empty. The real beauty is not there. It is like an empty nicely painted and well-arranged egg shell, inside - there is nothing. If there would be something, we would see a much simpler arrangement, and not necessarily young AND enhanced. This is because the TRUE BEAUTY COMES FROM THE INSIDE. It comes from experience, from the survival value, from the taste acquired in your travels: physical or soulful. It doesn't matter how expensive and fashionable of a dresser you are. how much make up you put on your face, or how expensive is your jewelry, no one can see the price tag anyway. What matters is what your thoughts are, how deep in touch with your inner self you are. Are you in touch with your inner reality at all? Or are you thinking about these endless shopping sprees? Shopping sprees are a waste. Think about yourself. What is your personal beauty icon? In other words who do you want to look like, who do you want to be?

Meditate on that person. Do you know enough about them? What do they do when they are not performing, starring, singing, dancing? What do they do outside cameras, at home, when they are in their regular non-celebrity form. I can tell you what! They are doing all the regular things that you would be doing in their place. They like tea or coffee, they like taking walks, they love their family and/or pets. They probably like some sort of fitness and they like to eat and drink well. But the difference is that they have a stage, a media persona, their alter ego, that works for them most of the time, and so often times these people (whoever they may be, cause I am not talking about anyone in particular) are very disconnected from themselves because they have substituted their self, the silent one, with the media doll, the one that is unlikely to be real, as it is made out of attention of other people. It is a fake.

Don't be fake. Don't be seduced by anyone's stage persona. Inside of it, and I am sure of it, are many unresolved issues, or perhaps not so many, but there is no need to mythologize, BE REAL! Accept yourself, and accept that you are beautiful. But not in the way you thought you should be. You are beautiful because you are, because you have your experience, and perhaps it is unlike anyone else's. You have your poetry, and it is unlike anyone else's feeling that was put in there. Do not be seduced by anyone's stage persona.

Be yourself, the true beauty is waiting for you underneath all the make up, outside all of the shopping. Hear the song of your soul and let it ring, let it vibrate. and I am sure you will never have to question your beauty again. Talk to you next time, in the silence of Your Beautiful Self.

Iggy Spirit.

Walking the Martial Way (conclusion)

...So to get back to my original purpose for writing this long 3-partite blog.

Self-Defense is not the same as competition, it is not about sparring, or scoring, or winning. It is a humble understanding.

Accepting the beauty out there, and the mystery.
Mystery - not-knowing; without prize in sight, except of the knowledge itself.

Beauty - you can see positive, where there is seemingly none. You can see good, in the midst of negativity. You can find good-looking where you thought was only ugliness.

Thus you develop exceptional patience, which keeps growing to infinite proportions. You can wait forever if needed, because ultimately you know what you are waiting for, do you?

The true Self-Defense is not about being on the defensive.

If you can only respond mechanically, keep training.

The skill level is determined by the spirit.

Inflicting injury is easier than avoiding injury.

Many hunters in one place get devoured.

Be able to change your location immediately.

There IS a gateway to the miraculous that does not require drugs, or esoteric religious practices - dreams.

People are depressed because they miss magic in their lives.

"I love you", 3 simple words spoken at the right time may turn the tide.

Save the fountain, even the oceans with their width and immensity have finite resources.

"Let's be nice to each other" said the Buddha.

"Let's go to war", says Mars.

"World is ruled by Love", says the Mother.

The many faces of Marishiten.

The awe of the Nagual.

"When you see it, grab it, because it goes away real quick.” Barry Gibb

Myriads of transformations ruled by the Ever-Changing.

Toast to the Great Out-There.

Walking the Martial Way (continued)



...from then point on I became a student of Tai Chi Chuan, a beautiful and profound art form, that comes to us from China. I felt very good doing Tai Chi to an extent that I decided to join a school, so I could have other people to study with. It was wonderful to become a part of an esteemed group of mature practitioners.

During that time (which was around the year 2004) I also got to know something called Tensegrity, also known as the Magical Passes, that have been passed to us from Carlos Castaneda, and his Meso-American teachings on perception, awareness, and the way of warriorship. Although I have heard about Tensegrity through my hippy-dippy circuits, I haven't really experienced much of it. I found Tensegrity very interesting and worth studying, for it gave me another tool to see and understand energy - a Universal occurrence that is the underlying fabric of matter. I found some similarities between the practice of Tensegrity and Tai Chi. Both of them attempt at seeing energy, although Tai Chi refers to that skill as listening. 

Tensegrity doesn't consider itself to be a martial art, in the same way as karate or ju jutsu do, it aims at exploring the energy of ourselves as humans, our potential, as well as Cosmic energy. Needless to say, it helps to read a little bit (or all) of Carlos Castaneda's books before, or during embarking on that path. It will clarify many things, and give you something to ponder about.

After a few years of such practice my teacher taught me Tai Chi Sword form and fencing. Meanwhile I was profusely reading books on martial arts and swordsmanship, including some very important Japanese treatises such as the Demon Sermon on Martial Arts, and the Book of 5 Rings among many others. I found Japanese swordsmanship fascinating, and felt that it complemented my Tai Chi with its realness and fearsomeness, well, at least at that time that is what I thought a true swordsman has to project and cultivate.

Back to the chuan, or the hand arts, I was getting to know a fascinating Japanese art called Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, a precursor to Aikido. Daito Ryu comes from the Aizu clan and it is a jujutsu, which has a great number techniques and principles that all come from the sword. As per Kondo sensei, who is the leader of the school in Japan, the 6 root principles of Daito Ryu are rei - ethiquette, kuzushi - breaking opponents balance, kokuyho - flow and breath, maai - distance, metsuke - gaze, intention, and zanshin - full awareness after the technique is performed. Although I can't claim any formal training in Daito ryu, I find this art fascinating, and very useful.

Parallely, I researched Ninpo as taught by Hatsumi Sensei, a luminary teacher of the ninjutsu arts. Hatsumi Sensei's writings, and later DVD's and Youtube opened my eyes on many things that have to do with what "martial" is, is not, and should be. I guess, I felt a bit of a vacuum and was looking for deeper understanding of the martial way, or as it is known in Japanese, the BUDO. I knew that although the Tai Chi that I studied was a full system, it didn't mean that knowledge and skill would come to me automatically. Hatsumi Sensei is an unparalleled master of improvisation, and is the only person that I know of, that has never repeated the same technique twice. Hatsumi Sensei has taught me to remain open, and not have any preconceived notions about encounters, always not-thinking, always reacting spontaneously. A great Dao and a great art will make a great artist...

...To be Continued

Walking the Martial Way: Forever in Love

                                         

Hi, this is me, Iggy Spirit. Today, I am going to write to you about my road to Self-Defense mastery (on which I am still), and to the understanding of the so-called "Martial Way".

Of course, you probably don't know much about me, judging  from my previous posts, but I am a martial arts student! So here,

My journey into the Martial Way started around the tender age of 6 when I picked up some Chi Gong exercises and breathing techniques from the health magazine to which my grandparents used to subscribe. Then, I started studying Wu Shu, a Shaolin style, at the age of 12, and was a co-creator of the basement gym in my building where bunch of us kids, young and old worked out, punched and kicked bags, and sparred. Occasionally we would study with some Army guys upon their return from the service. From them I picked up some moves in hand-to-hand combat, some Kyokoshinkai and a little bit of Western boxing. I also saw and played with a pair of real nunchaks. Simultaneously I tried to study some Freestyle Wrestling at the middle school.

At around the year 1998 after a long depression that came from my 1st relationship and not knowing what to do with myself I started to read Plato. Particularly, I was influenced by the "Protagoras", who claimed that it is not enough to just study the philosophy, but one also has to study and exercise the body in order to become a complete man. Thusly, I came upon a soteriological approach to training. I started doing some push-ups and run a little, just to awake myself from what seemed to be a prolonged slumber.

About a year later, around 1999 I came upon some yoga books that my Dad gave me, and I felt that that was something that I wanted to get into. At the same time I was going to the park and was doing some calisthenics, but yoga and particularly its meditative aspect has grabbed me from the off-start. Yoga offered liberation, salvation and many other great things, like the supernatural abilities, and unity with the Universe. On the rational level I had no idea what that meant, but liked the way it sounded and thought it was something worth studying. Of course, at the time, I was looking for an easy way to mastery. "Dedication" wasn't my favorite word, and I was arrogant enough to think that I already got it. That was good in certain way as it propelled me to unceasingly explore, and yet, perhaps I could be humbler.

Then, my practice came to a stand-off, when around the year 2003 I felt that I was missing something in my practice. I have been doing this yoga posture called vajrasana, which is what they call seiza in Japanese. It is basically sitting on your knees/heels with a straight back. I was also doing quite lots of meditation in the lotus posture, and others. From those of you guys who are yogis, you know that meditation/concentration, the dhyana is something that becomes inherent in any posture in hatha yoga when you start holding it.

Anyways, back to the story. Are you with me?:) I was sitting in the vajrasana and I realized one evening, that I was missing something from my life. That something was the martial way. Or the martial arts and sciences. Yoga is cool, but I felt that I had to do more to be complete. I had to use the skills of yoga to evolve and grow.  Discovering that was like being hit by a bolt of lightening, and I hastened to Barnes and Nobles trying to regain that which I had so seamlessly lost. I looked through many books, and bought many, but one that was particular to my liking was a sleek T'ai Chi: The Supreme Ultimate Exercise for Health Sport, and Self Defense by Cheng Man Ching and Robert Smith. And so I started to learn the 37 Posture Yang Style form.

...To be Continued

The Panther I

She walks, grace herself exemplified, in the dark; two pointed quartz crystals held in each hand between the middle and the forth finger. She is challenged by love, by the out there. She has no concrete goal but to poke into something out there. Her plumage reins high despite the incursions of the warnings...Every step as if on the razor, almost painfully carefully calculated. Proudly swinging side to side like the Mother Toltec taught. Awareness, awareness, awareness awareness recedes. Darkness around, something creeping in the dark, and darkness is the message in itself. Luminous bleaks, sometimes sparks, as though there is a potential for a relief from an ongoing message..

Left foot steps at a forty-five degree angle to the left and the right hand thrusts almost simultaneously in the same directions knuckles up. The high roar flies out of her breast and pierces the darkness together with the thrust. The response from the darkness is more silence, and the increased tension, of the realization that nothing is responding. More sweat running down her forehead, the neck...

She was told that the Spirit of the Panther ancestress would enter her thus making her infinitely stronger, wiser and braver  if she does everything "right". She kept wondering what it all meant. Of course she wanted to be stronger and braver, but wiser?...  No one told her what the "right" thing is, and all that was required was just to enter the sacred grounds, crystals in her hands.

Further, there was an increased noise, not even clear inner or outer, but it seemed to her that somebody was hitting some very deep and big round drum. Intuitively, she started walking towards the noise, but it stopped. She wondered if the map appears only if one is completely silent....

She is young but savvy, naïve but full of strength, fearful but masterful, tall but supportive, clear intention is her most powerful weapon. With it, no darkness is dark enough, no wind can blow her of the path...

"There is only skill", she keeps telling herself, and that feeble thought was the ESSENCE OF PANTHER.. WELCOME TO THE PANTHER TRIBE, the loud voice....within or without?
Where did she hear it before......

.....To be Continued