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COSTA RICA BUTTERFLY

The volcano Spirit of Arenal stayed in a shroud of thick rain clouds during our entire stay, so I tried to tap into her energy without the much- anticipated visuals.  I knew I was so tantalizingly close, so I opened my heart and felt her... so alive and full of power.  The feelings reminded me of the time when three South American Shamans connected me to Volcano energy during a sacred ritual healing ceremony in Maryland.  They blew fire across my naked body.   It was produced from ignited rum that they sprayed from their mouths across an open flame, and was done with such finesse that I felt instant, intense heat that never burned.  The flames flew across the room, and rose scented water was poured over me as my purification was completed. Sister volcano recognized my brave Spirit and greeted me like an old friend with some thunderous roars.   My heart soared, and greeted hers in return.   We found out later in our Costa Rican travels that howler monkeys can sound surprisingly like erupting volcanoes!  I will choose to remember the roars as the volcano. We visited a recently opened park called Hanging Bridges in Arenal, and there we performed the first Water Ritual of the journey.   A trail several miles long included many bridges that sometimes took us above the treetops of the dripping, lush forest.  Coming from the high desert of Sedona, the moisture felt foreign, yet completely welcome.  We stopped by one of the pristine streams and prayed as we began the first of many water rituals.  The reality of what I was participating in filled my heart as tears filled my eyes. It didn’t seem like this could actually be happening in my life … a trip like this that was actually a gift from Spirit.  In terms of the cost of the trip, it was all gifted from Dan.  I was in heaven, one with the vibration of the water in my state of deep gratitude.

COSTA RICA, HANGING BRIDGES

The stream's sounds whispered "thank you" as we continued our hike over the bridges, through the verdant forest with the bottle of sacred water safely in Dan's pocket.  I still felt in a dream, a dream that I knew I had co-created with Spirit.  A dream that I now fully accepted into my heart with gratitude.

We left Arenal and drove to Cahuita, a small town on Cost Rica's southeastern Caribbean shore.  The nine-hour journey proved difficult for me.  Alongside the busy streets walked pedestrians that literally challenged the cars.   Motorists passed each other constantly, with little concern for the pedestrians.  We later learned from a fellow traveler we met in Peru that she had witnessed five people hit by vehicles, all in the single year that she had lived in Costa Rica.  Two of them were young women hit by a truck as they left a bus, and she was not allowed to comfort one of them as she appeared to be dying. The laws of the country prohibited the touching of accident victims by on-lookers, and she was forcibly held back as she tried to be of assistance.  She struggled for a long time to clear herself of the energy of this event. 

As we drove, everyone in vehicles passed everyone and everything that they could pass; there was no consideration of right of way involved, at least not from my naïve vantagepoint.  For me, all of this brought up thoughts of my youngest daughter being hit by a car when she was seven.  Since I witnessed this event, I have had issues with aggression on the roads, and I was able to recognize that this is an area that needed healing for me. My daughter was badly injured, and healed well, so I asked to be cleared of any energies that remained from this trauma.

I believe I energetically tapped into the danger that was a fairly normal part of Costa Rican's lives. They challenged the cars because they resented them and the wealth that they represented.  They did not want them on their roads, especially not in the most rural areas.  Their old ways were being threatened. 

We found ourselves picking up many local hitchhikers that we passed as we traveled; boys with a surfboard that was hung out both the back windows, young children walking alone, mothers with their babies, and even a whole family dressed up for an important gathering, all squeezing in on each other's laps. Little English was spoken except by a few of the kids, but these locals were happy that the touristas were at least able to shorten their daily walks a bit.  Bikes appeared to be a luxury.  We enjoyed their smiles and the brief connections that we were able to make. 

One time on the outskirts of Cahuita we passed a young mother carrying her baby who was walking with the rest of her family.  After driving past, we couldn't stop thinking about her.  We finally turned around and drove back to ask if she needed a ride.  She accepted with thankfulness, and the kids grinned at us from ear to ear.  We prayed for their peace and safe travels.