THE WOLF TOTEM IN MY LIFE
In 1992, I was invited by friends to visit the USA and with them went to a spiritual gathering and festival in Telluride in Colorado . During the course of that visit, I attended a meditational journey conducted by a Native American Medicine Man. I had always been a dog lover, so I guess what happened during that experience, on one level, was no surprise at all. In this experience, I was stood on a beach between two towering cliff faces, facing the ocean and a rising sun. Beside me on my left, sat a black wolf, on my right side a white buffalo; around my neck like a necklace, a rattlesnake and flying, circling over my head a raven. This was my first experience of my then power animals or totems.
The image and symbol and wisdom of the Wolf has been an integral part of my journey, and my work, more consciously since that very special day in my life. Those aware of its meaning will understand that wolf wisdom, basically, denotes the teacher that worked for the upliftment of the whole tribe. Wolf energy is very strong in the work that is my blessing to do - and to my great joy, in this forthcoming trip to Canada in April 2009, I will be visiting various Wolf Sanctuaries that I have found out about so that I can experience this magnificent creature in real life for the first time. My drum, often used in meditation circles and one to one sessions, is named 'little black wolf'.
namaste, Robert.
'Meditative Writings with Robert' - new one each week, or thereabouts...
Meditative writing number 1
Meditative writing number 2
THE SPOKEN JOURNEY - PENNED BY ROBERT
(the 'bones' of this written at 36,000', Christchurch bound from Australia, 11-06-05)
A quest, a journey, an adventure for some, like knights of old, seeking, under bright sun
pains of battles, not always fought with swords,
ever seeking some great love or conquest or perhaps, some other reward.
Once, in older times, there was a closeness to the Earth and somewhere a dim memory fights to be heard,
sometimes this memory, it shines, amidst turmoil and wonder;
sometimes it seems lost amidst clouds and thunder...
We each have a journey, that is ours to create – a tapestry of weaving, from gate to gate,
and everyone's weaving just right for them all, no better, no worse,
as upon wisdom we eventually fall…
So many souls touch ours on the way, new journeys, new lives, day by precious day,
and all those souls leave a mark upon our own, some are diamonds
some are stones, but yet each remains a part of the whole.
Perhaps we all want that wiser old soul with one hand on our shoulder as forward we go,
but for those precious few, we have friends at our sides and they are for us,
as we are for them, stride by amazing stride.
How do I feel today, as I share these words with you?
I feel open and questing, open to learning, anew.
The journey within, the only one real – all the Earth is our mirror
answers to questionings revealed…
And as I sit to watch you this day,
you are friends to my tapestry
as each has their say -
my privilege, my joy
my journey with you,
you speak to my heart with honesty and my heart is renewed.
Discover the journey for you that is real
it may have little or nothing to do with the way you now feel
as you look at this world through your unique eyes
and see past the things, that at the moment, you may despise
again remember the weaving and all of those threads
both the dark and the light, give our tapestry breadth.
Journey on...
The old sage sat comfortably on a rock in a high place in the mountains,
close to where his journey had begun. Before him his one chela, his apprentice,
sat attentively, quietly, respectfully awaiting his master's words for him.
The sage took in and hummed along with the music that surrounded, caressed
and adored him. The great symphony of mountain and clear sky
was a melody of perfection all around him, and within him. He knew that the tapestry of sound
that had been his earthly journey was coming to an end, that soon his sound would change
and be heard in other spheres, but on the Earth no more and he gave pause to reflect.
His mind still and relaxed, he sat.
He felt the respectful unasked questioning of the young song before him,
and he felt great compassion and promise for a symphony, so much of it yet to be written.
‘It is time for my symphony to end, complete and now at peace.
It is time for your symphony to be free to continue to create itself without interference,
without any colour that is not your own song.' he said. ‘you will touch many with the beauty of your song.
You will nurture them, you will inspire them, and then you must leave them to carry forth the writing
of their own tunes, according to their own inspirations and needs and dreams.
This is good, for it is as it should be.
Forget not that your song is a thread within a greater tapestry of sound,
just as that great tapestry is that bit less if your thread of song is not the best you can sing.
Forget not that each song is precious, sacred to the tapestry,
no matter how it may sound to your own ear. Each song, each sound has its place to be,
to complete the symphony of the self, to fulfill the tapestry of the greater self.'
The chela bowed before his master, his friend, his teacher and mentor
and thought how strange it would be for his master not to be there anymore.
Feeling the unspoken thoughts, the sage reminded his young friend
that the great Symphony continually seeks expression through all its myriad forms,
and that all forms beat with the one heart.
With a twinkling of tiny lights, the sage's image gently, slowly faded
and was no more. With a deep and respectful bow to the empty space upon the rock before him,
the chela gathered his few possessions and commenced the long walk down the mountain,
aware of subtle changes already in the songs yet unwritten, within him.
The sky watched and the mountain smiled.
(from Robert's forthcoming book, ‘Every Song is Precious' )
