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Gemini Awakening My first Big Island Dolphin Swim
My first experience swimming with wild dolphins off the Big Island Hawaii is one of the most powerful moments in my life. I came to the Hawaiian islands the summer of 1999 for a spiritual retreat on Oahu. Then, I decided to visit Big Island for several days. I was led to spend some time on the island of Pele, where the land is alive with volcanoes and the waters are home to Nai'a, the spinner dolphins.
During my Big Island visit, I spent three days on the Puna side, one of the most fertile places on the planet. Lush vegetation, the richness of the black lava and the dramatic coastline make this a truly magical place. There, a friend invited me to a secluded black sand beach where dolphins often rest and play. I remember my resistance going to the beach on a cloudy, rainy morning. The misty clouds somehow makes everything appear flat, as if I'm in a dream. Arriving at the beach, the world appears in shades of gray, and doesn't seem quite real. We climb down a steep rocky cliff ledge of black lava to the beach below. Roaring waves crash as white foam on black sand. I am in awe of the raw power of this island.
I am so excited. "Go on!" he says, "I'll meet you out there!" Now, after a week swimming almost every day on Oahu, I'm feeling confident and strong. I was on a swim team growing up, but nothing prepared me for this water. Here, on this side of the island, the water is very different. I start out, enthusiastically through the breaking waves. Before long I am in some very deep water. The bottom of the ocean seems to just drop off. I cannot see bottom. Well, I am at a black sand beach after all! I look up, my eyes searching for dolphin fins. Nothing. Where are the dolphins, I am thinking. Something inside calls me out further. With my face in the snorkel mask I look down in the water, breathing slowly, steadily. There is nothing around me now but the Big Blue. I feel as if I am moving through silk and everything is this deep, dark, beautiful blue. My mind and heart reeling, I am in the Void. I am in the womb of creation. This is what the universe was like before anything was created. The void is the magic place, from nothing comes everything. I feel magically connected to everything. I am part of something so awesome, so big, I am joyfully breathing myself into one-ness. Then, I look up and get a serious reality check. Suddenly, I feel very far from shore. Where's my friend? Where are those dolphins? In a moment, my body shifts from bliss to fear as I bob up and down with the swells. I feel very alone. The swells seem now like walls of water and are bigger than anything I've experienced before. I realize the need to shift my energy fast to get out of this. My eyes scan the surface of the waves for any sign of dolphin fins. I bring my awareness back to my breath. Now my attention with my heart I ask, "dolphins, where are you?" I look down and suddenly there they are - right beneath me! They seem so deep down and look so small, I realize how far I am from shore.
Just before they reach the surface, the pod splits into three groups, four to my right, four to my left and four just in front of me. I am in the middle of the pod! I breathe with them. I turn my head from side to side and look these dolphins directly in the eye. Now, I am feeling an overwhelming sense of bliss and love. We swim together and take several deep breaths. Those moments with the pod seemed Timeless. Finally, they begin their decent, back down to the deep. I look up now and I am amazed how close I am to the shore. I wave to my friend, now here in the water. I notice too, the sky is blue, and most of those gray misty clouds have lifted. The sun creates golden beams through the water. There is sunlight shining and flickering everywhere. When I reach the shore, I know everything is different now. I know too, it was no accident that the dolphins brought me closer to land. Like Dorothy going to Oz, my journey began in shades of gray. Now as golden sunlight dances on water with the brilliant blue of sea and sky, I am reminded of the pure essence of Being.
Gemini Awakening |
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This was a very special time for me. I was starting to feel "dried up" living in the Rocky mountain high desert country for almost four years. My soul yearned for rejuvenation. I would go to the waters of Hawaii and swim with the dolphins. This was something I had dreamed of since I was ten years old. Now was the time.
It starts to rain slightly, a soft light rain. No one is on the beach on this cloud covered day. We decide to sit for awhile under the ironwood trees and let it pass. Suddenly, my friend jumps up. He sees a pod of dolphins come into the bay. I watch their fins move rhythmically through the waves as they come up for air.
I count them, there are twelve. In one straight line in formation. Twelve on a clock, twelve apostles, twelve DNA strands. My heart is racing, NOW. They are so beautiful and I feel like laughing. Suddenly they rise, from the depths, to the surface where I am floating. My heart beats faster, I feel them coming. It's as if someone is dialing up the bliss button in my body as they approach.