You Don’t Get Grace, Grace Gets You

Scotland has been lurking in my peripheral vision as a destination. Especially the standing stones with magical transporting powers that can be found all over this magical and sacred part of the world.

The stone circles are regarded as Druid temples, where they gave homage to nature and practised various rituals.  I have been wanting to experience the energy of these standing stones for a long time.

From the 13th century it had become a female practice.  These female Druids were referred to as witches as they used natural plant medicine and had the ability of ‘seeing’.  I was born with the same kind of legacy and I promise there is nothing romantic about it, but it’s hugely rewarding.

When I heard about the Isle of Iona, I had this misty feeling of having been there before and a clear knowing I was being called back. When the opportunity arose to teach a PSYCH-K® workshop in Scotland, I knew that the strong pull of Scotland was manifesting itself decisively.

PSYCH-K® is a mindset change model and the workshop incorporates a deep connection with nature.  I found a Druid temple about 10 minutes from the venue of the workshop and invited the class to join me on an extra day to visit the stones, connect with the fairies, magic and to be inspired to connect with nature every day. But alas!  The Druid temple farm was closed!

Luckily the river Ness had many beautiful spots for us to meditate, walk barefoot, hug trees and breathe. And, although we missed being among the stones, everybody left with a renewed sense of what it’s like to be connected to ourselves and thereby to our beautiful earth.

I could not let the idea of visiting the standing stones rest! I had to try to see and experience some Druid stones! I decided to visit the Cava Cairns before I set out to the Isle of Iona but I had to let the stones go. I would miss the last ferry, which was not an option!  To my mind Iona was the most important leg of the journey.  Since my early 20s, I have remembered being a nun in various lifetimes, but it was only when I recently heard of Iona, that I had a strong sense of having been a nun on that island as well.

With all my attention on getting to Iona, I did not give much thought about the journey to Oban or the Isle of Mull.  It became one of the highlights of this trip!

With every kilometre I drove, something stirred in my heart.  The beautiful, lush countryside with endless and very large bodies of water, was breathtaking. Driving next to the whole length of Loch Ness was sublime.  I experienced a beautiful, openhearted happiness. Driving out of the ferry onto the Isle of Mull, seeing the mountains and the hills, my timeline shifted. I was transported to ‘seeing’ myself walking the rolling hills hundreds of years ago.  As I saw the grasses blowing in the wind, I wept with happiness.

In that moment, I knew that I came to reclaim a part of my soul on the Isle of Mull.  Bagpipes started playing in my head.  This land filled me with childlike joy and I felt a forgotten part of me anchoring like a lost puzzle peace.

Iona was a completely different kettle of fish!  It was more introspective, quiet. I knew the energy but it was subdued and gentle. All I wanted to do was take my shoes off and walk this land.  My whole soul wanted to feel the earth, breathe it through the soles of my feet, absorb and re-connect to something so extremely well known.

There also was a troubling energy on this island that was calling me to say hello.  Like greeting an old friend that you know has a sore heart. I knew I had to heal something here for myself. And maybe for others long gone.

The Iona nunnery (now in ruins) was started sometime after the establishment of the nearby Benedictine Monastery in 1203.

As I stood in front of the nunnery, just absorbing what was left of it, I was a bit disappointed.  I did not ‘feel’ much. I sensed that I belonged. But there was an aloofness and it surprised me.  Maybe I made a mistake.  Maybe it was just my imagination about needing to come here.  But I remembered the deep call so clearly.  The emotion.  The memory.

Staying open and curious, I moved through a doorway and there it was!  Recognition.  This was my domain, my turf so to speak.  My heart opened wide with a deep breath, a sigh.  Quietness, my authority here, but still troubling… I knew I would have to come back later.  It was almost too soon for me to remember.  I walked every room, touched the walls and the stillness settled into my bones.

Back at the nunnery the next day I had more clarity and knew that healing needed to be done for myself, this place, for some of the souls that are still carrying the need for healing. As a nun with authority in this nunnery, I witnessed other nuns being badly treated by a monk and I still could do nothing to stop it.  The patriarchal system of that time did not allow me to do something about it.  I realised that even in this lifetime I have always had many feelings of being helpless.  I worked so hard at transforming helplessness into powerful action, because of events in this lifetime and I needed to come here to understand how deep those feelings lay, what they were and to forgive myself and others.

So much to forgive. So much to let go. My heartache felt as if it permeated the walls of the nunnery.  I was guided to walk along every wall and touch it with my fingertips, healing and releasing all the pain and suffering that was experienced here. Without warning I started singing a melody that I have never heard before.  At one point it started to rain slightly and I came upon a wall that had none of the splatterings of rain just yet.

A firm but urgent inner voice told be to stop at a specific spot. As I stood looking at the wall, I noticed a drop of water coming out of a crevice and, oh so slowly, drop like a tear onto another rock. It seemed as if the wall was crying. That moment left me in a holy place of knowing that the ‘tear’ was a grateful tear.  A thankful tear.  And I knew that what I came to resolve for myself, had been done.

I am deeply grateful for PSYCH-K® as it empowers everybody to heal past, present and future pain and suffering in a sustainable way.  Having these easy protocols at my fingertips has been a saving grace, especially during these days on the Isle of Iona.

Just as I thought that I had given up on the Druid stones, I discovered there was an area on the island that I could visit and, with directions in hand, I set off towards St. Columba beach. Doggedly determined to find the way, I decided to follow another path.  It got quite wet and I took off my hiking shoes as it was difficult to walk with them already sopping wet.  The bliss of walking without shoes!

All of a sudden, I sank up to my knees in mud.  With the next step, I sunk hip deep into a bog!  As I was literally lying on my side with my leg in a deep, sucking hole, I could feel the mud closing in on my leg.  Fighting to stay calm, I realised that I was so bogged down with the idea of experiencing something that was simply not meant for this trip and that put me in great danger.  I truly do not know how I pulled myself out of that deep mud-sucking hole!

A couple of hours later, having got lost in endless bog land, I finally found myself on solid ground. I had thought this would never end.  I was alone and, even if I did call for help, nobody would have heard me.  Grace was obviously my companion and it was not my time to leave this planet.

I never got to see the darn stones.  What I did learn is that we get bogged down with what we want. One does not need to be in perceived holy places to experience wonder and wisdom.  Most of the time, wherever we are, and every moment could be holy, depending on our perceptions.

I left the Inner Hebrides of Scotland deeply touched.  And I hope that I reciprocated with as much love and insight as I received from this journey.

It’s not always about what we think we will get, but what we bring to the place we visit.  How we tread on this earth.  What thoughts we think while we walk our path.  It also has a huge impact on others and the environment. I realised that we most probably retrieve parts of our souls wherever we go.  And hopefully leave the energy of love and appreciation to make the places we visit better.

This journey has freed me deeply and I literally feel a newness birthing itself, leaving me excited about what’s to come.

Scotland, you gave me back parts of myself I never knew were lost, healed and touched my soul and I now know you have always been part of my existence. Once forgotten, now remembered.

Elma Rivera is an internationally certified PSYCH-K® instructor, ex television journalist, entrepreneur who has studied almost every possible personal growth and healing modality she could lay her hands on since the ’80s. For decades she searched for the missing link that would make personal changes easy and sustainable.  After reading Dr Bruce Lipton’s book The Biology of Belief she discovered PSYCH-K®.  Relishing the validation of the ancient traditions of human consciousness.  She conquered an incurable disease and is expanding her consciousness and changing negative beliefs daily with PSYCH-K® “PSYCH-K® is the only change model I have found that has effected subconscious changes sustainably. By practising PSYCH-K®, one naturally meets your Soul and Spirit!

“The way I see the world, what I believe about myself and my expectations are what cause how I experience my life. We ourselves are the answers that we all have been looking for!”

www.elmarivera.com e-mail: [email protected]