Working With Chola Wengue (Click on the photos)

We went to the River during a very hot day to work with Chola to move some energy forward and to cleanse.  At the River we discovered a very rare phenomenon which was a cool mist moving over the surface of the River in waves.  By focusing the energy one is able to detect the subtle movements of the Spirit of the River and the other multiple Spirits who are present.  One is able to detect and feel the energy of the various different "currents" within the River.  

Much that is often missed can be appreciated when one takes the time to focus and to open ones Spiritual Senses to what is in front of one.  This particular Mist was easily defined from the air around it.  Its Spirit moved, approached and retreated, responded to the energies of the person working with it, and came in waves down the River.  

My same Granddaughter who I had shown how to feel the energy of the River weeks before,  was watching and observing me sitting on the stone and working with the Energy.  Once I had gotten, about 25 minutes later I noticed that she had quietly gone to the stone, sat down and was working with the Energy and feeling the Spirit in a very Sensitive Way, her movements were very receptive and her focus very strong.  It touched me deeply to see how her Spirit was embracing the moment of being with the River and was embracing the Teachings!

Note the magical light and textures of the water, how the Spirit responded to her presence and movements.  

A beautiful and magical moment!

Cholita at Work! (Click on photos)

As Taino and Paleros we are always mixing up elements, plants, bones, soils and more for many different purposes.  Last year Anani got this Pilon for her Birthday, she is very adept at using it, so when we needed some black walnuts ground up to make a brown stain we asked Anani to do it.  She gathered the green walnuts that had fallen from the trees herself and smashed them up removing the nut from the center.  She continued to grind up the walnuts.  

These green walnuts will turn brown overnight and make a very strong stain which does not easily "washout", the drops that she got on her will take at least a week or so to wash off.  

What is exciting about this is that she has been raised to be involved and competent with these things from the earliest age, and now we can ask her to do something and she does not need any help to do it.

Several years ago when Anani was still a toddler I was holding her and speaking to a Taino who was trying to tell me that women could not be "Medicine People" within the Taino Tradition, that the women could only make Casava and tend the Fire.  I confronted his ignorance with the account of the "myth" of Guabonita, the original Medicine Woman who taught the Caskike Guahayona how to work with the Medicines.  I also told him that I was not going to exclude my daughter who I was holding from working with the Medicines.    This was especially true because her whole birth process was Spiritual.  Before she was born there was a Ceremony I did for her while she was still in her Mother's womb using multiple soils from different Caminos of Boriken (the Land where I was born) and Sacred Symbols.  3 days later she was born with Drumming, Rattling and Sacred Chants.  Her placenta was buried in a Sacred location on the Land.  It would be a crime to tell her she cannot work with the Medicine or be a active Taino Bohitu and Palera!

"Capturing a Current" (Click on the photos)

During our magical time at the River with the Rare Phenomenon of a clearly defined Cool Mist on top of the River we were blessed in our searching for the Energy we were looking for to move specific elements of our life forward.  We knew we were in a situation that we may never find again with this Mist.  The Mist truly had a unique Spirit.  As we first approached this spot in the water three tubers came by, the first a middle aged Indigenous Man, the second an Elderly European Man and the third a Woman.  The Older Man as he passed kept saying how rare the Mist was!  We associate the Mist with the Mysterio of Tiembla Tierra so the fact that it was an older Man with white hair remarking repeatedly on the rareness of the Mist was very significant.  

Within the Mist the temperature variations allowed us to sense in a profound way the approach and withdrawal of the Spirit of the Mist.  We made invocations and prayers within the mist and cleansed our crowns.   At points when we stood up our heads were in the heat of the "ordinary air" and our bodies in the layer of cool mist.  It was an awesome experience but we had come to the River looking for a very specific energy.

We were looking for a strong energy to propel something very specific forward.  As the Yayi walked downstream she detected the powerful pull of the River forward and realized that with every step, with the Misterio moving with her, she covered more distance than if she was walking outside the current.  As she walked the Current became stronger and stronger.

At a certain point the Yayi found the exact current we were looking for and took the opportunity to cleans her crown, making a strong invocation concerning what we were looking to move forward.  Chola Wengue has many energies or Caminos that she embodies, some places she is warm and slow moving, almost swirling around without going anywhere, in others she is very cool and rapid, some places have a strong current but it is still calm, this current was powerful and shaking, this was the exact current needed for this situation.  

When we go to the River for a Camino we always consider what is needed for the individual or the situation that we are bringing to the River.  This way we search for the specific Camino of Chola that we are looking for, some situations need very calm slow waters, others needed rapid currents, still others could need muddy turbulent waters, others need the waterfall or even the water coming out of the ground in a Spring!  Even within the River on a specific day there are so many different Energies of Chola present that she presents us so much opportunity to find that exact "Current" that we are looking to "capture" to give us the energy and its blessing for our situation.

The sunlight on the River also creates very specific energies that can be absorbed for various needs or situations.  When we gather water from the River we do not just fill up a bottle from wherever there is water, we look for the specific current we are needing or we look for unusual currents that we may not easily find again.  It is a well known fact that water absorbs the energy around it and the structure actually changes.  This is more easily seen in snowflakes because of their solid nature, however it is equally as true for liquid water.  Not all water is the same even though a chemical "test" of it would say it is.  Water embodies the energy of whatever Spirits and Energies are surrounding it, including Sun, Wind, Air, Moon, Mountain, Plants and Human made structures.  Even the Beaver Dams which are very prolific in this particular part of this River bring a specific energy to the water herself!  As Paleros we are always seeking to understand these different subtleties better and to be more detailed in our selection of the Raw materials that we use for our work and in our selection of what Camino we take ourselves or others on!

Walk To The River!

It was late afternoon, early evening and we took a walk to the River.  My twin Grandchildren were very excited to be away from concrete, and eagerly anticipating the River!

Our walk took us past many Spirits and many interesting physical phenomena!

Here saplings grow from cracks in a huge stone cliff face.  How they are able to pull the nutrients and water they need from this barren terrain is extraordinary.  They are embodying a very important power of survival amid very difficult circumstances and a power of adaptability (we as Paleros can understand those powers as they are vital within our Tradition- those Paleros who cannot understand them must work hard to gain that understanding!)  The power of the tree is within its experience.  These trees are young yet have a very unusual experience which can be utilize when one is building a Medicine.  

The River is very mystical and the trees surrounding the water reveal Spirits looking at us, which ordinarily we may not notice.  By the River tree roots become exposed by the River pulling soil away from them.  This tree root is not only very beautiful but it also is the home of "someone"!  You can feel the power of this particular root and its unique experience.  You know that this is a root that you can gently chip some pieces from the underside to utilize in a Bilongo.

Water who Runs!

The Stones within the River are visible at this time because the River's waters are so low from drought.  Often these stones are not visible and cannot be sat on to contemplate as we did while we were there.  As a Taino and Palero, this is the reality that we live because we go to be right in the elements of the Misterio, without a narrow agenda or a mindset that is looking to just get "results".  We go to be with the Spirit because the best "results" come from the interrelationship and understanding of the Spirit which builds stronger character and long term results.

When you look for a result, you want to look for WHO is giving you that result so that you do not fall into the trap of taking things for granted and become egotistical and grandiose as a Medicine Person.

The More we Know, the more we Realize that 

WE DO NOT KNOW IT ALL!  AND WILL NOT KNOW IT ALL, ESPECIALLY IN ONE LIFETIME!

Knowing it all is rooted in the Traditional Practice of the Children Continuing the Tradition, and exploring and expanding on the Wisdom and Knowledge of the Elders!

Anani's "Monanso" (2009)

Our daughter Anani began to create her own Monanso after observing us in our Monanso.  She gathered various palos, roots, plantas, ribbons and created her own "Spirits".  She named them "Chola and Nsasi and Lucerito". 

When we put offerings with the Nkisis of our Monanso she puts offerings in her "Monanso".  She began singing mambos of Chola con Nsasi that she made up, and dancing to her Spirits.  

At times she would sit down with a cup of water and "sopla" her Spirits.

Multiple containers of plants, soils, ground up tobacco, water appeared in her Monanso.  

And a gios "Gilbert" who was fortunate to be let free pecked around her Monsanso looking for pieces of corn.

Anani was three at the time and naturally imitated what she saw her parents doing.  As parents we are very happy to see how she interrelates with "Atabey" Mother Earth, how she is already developing a relationship with the Nkisi of the Monanso, and how she is already putting energy towards the manifestation of her own "Monanso".  We will eventually gather her Palos and carve them into representations of the Mysteries that she has indicated that they are.  Here is a young Palera from birth, thriving in the environment that nourishes and sustains her!

Here you can see the spirit that she put together coming out even more as she continued to develop her "Monanso"!