We are all one

“Join us,” my sister said…
Meaning at the KwazuluSpirit Festival 9-11 August 2024

Previous invitations to ‘join us’ from my sister involved a 4 x 4 with a roof-top tent and ferrying our own fuel, water and supplies for a 14-day survival safari through Botswana.

So, with visions of incense, candles and vegetables for supper, I packed flowy, flowery dresses. My resourceful husband packed golf clubs, fishing rods and whisky – and so we headed for the KwazuluSpirit Festival

“What do you want me to do?” I asked my sister.

“To put these on,” she said, as she handed me an Odyssey golf shirt and a pair of Yoga pants, bright enough to attract the numerous butterflies flitting in the forest.

“To wear in public?” I was aghast. This was to become a ‘first’ of many experiences.

So, I set about making myself useful and trying not to think about my Yoga pants.

I wandered into the marquee to listen to ‘The Heart of a Woman’ and so began my discovery of the weird and wonderful world of ‘The Spirit Folk’.

“Hug heart to heart” was literally the lesson from Dr Arien van der Merwe. I never knew that some folk preferred right-sided hugs but that left-sided hugs were more powerful.

Colleen-Joy guided us through charts of Enneagram Pearls. I had a sudden insight of our six-year-old granddaughter: Motherless, heartbroken, angry and defiant, our little dragon-rider. Colleen-Joy described these children as “marshmallows with teeth.” Tears filled my eyes as Colleen-Joy suggested tools to help me to support her and her gentle peace-loving twin.

There’s a tangible energy amassing. There’s talk of ‘The Lion’s Gate Portal’.  I go in search of my sister for answers.

“Join us,” she says (I’m beginning to see a pattern evolving here).

Because I had never meditated before, I chose to sit on the outside of the group but Chanel Lingenfelder simply enlarged the circle to include me. Following the others, I slipped off my shoes. How are 40 people going to sit quietly and meditate together, I wondered? Chanel’s voice started calming the circle, activating the portal to absolute silence. “Feel your legs like a tree, grounded,” she said. I could not have moved as I listened, eyes closed, mind transfixed and strangely calm.

While every experience was new to me, I was totally bewildered by the Family Systems and Constellations. But the message of family dynamics was clear…”what is mine to carry and what is not.”

I thought wisdom meant knowledge, intelligence or being smart or savvy.  I thought that my ‘Wisdom Well’ would hold all my academic achievements, my witty comebacks or my often given ‘worldly advice’. WOW! I was so wrong when I joined Colleen-Joy’s session on ‘Build Your Inner Wisdom Well’.

I had no idea that I needed to dig my own well, with my hands. That I needed to haul out gravel beds of fear, boulders of anger and muddy layers of self-blame.  That cleaning my inner house meant that I had to dig so deeply and get so filthy while I sat with myself and got real about why I’m stuck!  Ninety minutes was not long enough to listen to this incredible woman as she explained how to find our own water source.

Sarah Bullen, regal in a magnificent fringed coat, swept into the marquee to talk about her near-death experience. I was fascinated and deeply moved by her heart-wrenching story. So much pain, yet so much joy in her. Sarah reminded us of the importance of The Big Five: Family, friends, faith, fate, fun.

“Join us” said Yoga Master Duncan Rice, (well at least I’m dressed for this experience). I sidled into the back of the Yoga shala but he beckoned me to a front row mat. “Namaste,” he said bowing, “Welcome.”  Duncan explained that ‘Yoga’ means ‘join’ or ‘unity’.  Aha! These experiences are all starting to make sense to me now.

I settled on my mat and followed the breathing exercises, stretching up my arms and exhaling forcefully. I discovered that I was more flexible than I realised and began to enjoy myself, although I did have fleeting thoughts about how I was going to get back up onto my feet again!

I didn’t wait for a “Join us” as the sensual sounds of a saxophone beckoned from the open-air chapel overlooking the Indian Ocean, where Anne-Marie Clulow and Tim Visser were setting up their Sensorium Sound Immersion.

Brightly coloured tasselled meditation cushions elevated one’s hips and aligned one’s spine, so in the half-lotus posture I settled into the rhythm of the music and gently rocked my body listening to Anne-Marie’s repetitive words… ”you can create the good” …words that touched my soul.

There’s a tangible aura about Liz Viviers as she entered the marquee for the ‘Crossing Over’ session. I settled far back in the tent as I didn’t want to receive any messages, especially in public. My grief is still too raw, so I avoided her gaze. But Liz clearly had a message to give me as I’m handed the microphone.

“Your daughter says, ‘Thank you for never letting my children forget me. Thank you for loving my children. I know that my children are loved and well cared for. Stop worrying about my children. You will see them grow up. They are safe. It’s time to stop being sad.’”

I wanted to run and hide and howl. I wanted to be alone to process this intense emotional moment but warm comforting arms reached out to me as strangers wrapped their arms about me and my healing tears started to flow.

So! What did I learn at this extraordinary festival?

I learned that we are all one, joined together by Spirit and Humanity.

To my indomitable sister, Debra Stevens-Robins, editor of Odyssey Magazine and curator of The KwazuluSpirit Festival:  I was so proud to be a part of your hard-working team. You will always have my respect and admiration. Thank you saying, “Join us.”  “Namaste”