An Interview with Mary Angelico

By Colin Whitby

Mary has been on our mailing list since the web site started and this month she wrote to tell me that there was someting in the last edition that really spoke to her. This gave me the opportunity to ask if she would like to contribute herself, and this interview is the result, I hopy you enjoy.

Has Art always played a part in your life?

My mother was an artist, so as far back as I can remember we always had an abundance of art supplies and creative support. My older sister was creative and I also loved to draw. But one specific incident occurred at school when I was about 7 years. I believe this changed art from something outside myself to something more internal. One day my teacher handed me a picture of a frog and asked if I would enlarge it on the chalkboard. I was quite the shy, reserved little girl and I don’t know to this day why she chose me, but I walked tentatively to the front of the class, picked up the chalk, looked at the frog and proceeded to copy and enlarge it as best I could. When I was done and turned to go back to my seat, what stands out as one of those never-to-be forgotten childhood memories, is the feeling that the class was in awe, and someone shouted out "She’s an artist!" By the time I got back to my seat- I knew that I was an artist. At age 13, I received some private instruction in painting an oil portrait. Though the teacher did most of the painting, what few strokes I contributed thrilled me beyond anything I had ever done before. That was the beginning of my lifelong passion for oil painting and portraiture.

At what point did you consider your Art to be a sacred medium of Spirit, and how did this occur?

When I was 17, I had a profound spiritual awakening. Shortly thereafter, I began to be "pursued" by an inner voice that quietly and constantly urged me to take voice lessons. Still being shy as I was, this was not good news! I resisted for quite some time, but finally yielded. After several years of vocal instruction, and what I now know was the beginning of clearing my throat chakra, I began to be pursued by another quiet message: "You could write songs if you wanted to." As painting was my highest and most skilled priority, I didn’t have a great desire for this.

Still, I yielded and began to write and share the music that started to come to me. Though I felt my musical talent was nothing beyond ordinary, and though my recording skill seemed even less ordinary and quite homespun, there seemed to be something else happening- a consistently deep and poignant response from those that I shared the songs with. I began to realize that it was not at all about me, but that I was being used as an instrument and the music was being used as the catalyst for something greater that was flowing through it. I knew that certain kinds of music can take people out of their head and into the heart. That was a given.

But I now began to imagine Spirit and Light coming down from higher realms, condescending to ride these little musical waves that I was creating- and from that vantage point, slipping right in with the music into people’s unsuspecting open hearts. I intuitively felt this was being done to activate the powerful work of transformation. I loved being a part of this mystical covert process and the feeling that it was not I, but something greater flowing through me. I called this "New Music." This continued with much guidance and for many years. Still I had an unfulfilled desire- that somehow my painting could be the medium of Spirit’s choice in the way that it was using the music. I still had a sense of separation between the two. Art was my personal passion, whereas, the music belonged to God.

About five years ago another shift occurred. I was considering upgrading my art training by taking a local community college art course. Right up to the very last day for registration, I felt torn about it for some reason. I decided to check in, asking my inner guidance: "Should I take this community college art class?" Answer: "No." I questioned: "Should I take a class?" A: "Yes." Q: "From what school?" And then the oddest answer came: "The School of the Mystical Arts." I began to scan in my mind about this school with the unusual name. Was it in our area? I had never heard of such a place. A funny, giddy feeling came over me and a suspicion that it might not be located in my town or even on this earth plane, so I asked: "Who is the instructor?" The answer came with finality: "Spirit."

How has working with spirit changed your Art?

Working with spirit has changed everything for me. I sit in silence longer. I listen more deeply. I draw more from prayer and meditation. I receive my inspiration in what I call "downloads" of information and energy prior to beginning and so have more confidence in the process and the outcome. I get to participate in miracles. I believe my work as an artist is more significant now as a spiritual service. I feel it is a part of, but not greater than, anything any other Lightworker may be about at this time of planetary transformation. It has given me a strong confidence, born of experience, that I need not worry so much about talent or skill level, but rather focus on the purity of the internal work which will eventually manifest more beautifully and powerfully in the outward form. It is much more significant to love, to forgive and to clear myself, to open in utter trust to other dimensional help, to be the open door, and to practice holding a strong, focused intention on a spiritual outcome rather than art for art sake. I now consider the mediums of art and music to be catalytic vehicles for transformation. The following verse I wrote describes exactly how it goes.

Pour out the fear...

Empty and trusting...

And I will fill you up

With the fresh flowers

Of my joyous love.

To empty out...

To be refilled...

This pattern of breath

And life

Goes on and on...

And you,

The open vessel,

Will hold all that you

Were ever meant to hold-

And it will be

Beautiful!

You also have writing as a creative outlet. Does this also come from spirit?

Yes, absolutely.

From The Heart

I sit in sacred silence
Before the empty page...
Contemplating everything
That brought me to this stage...
Always one for holding tight
The reigns of my control,
Always one for guarding fast
The portals of my soul,
Till you took me on a journey,
Till you shook me upside down,
Till you left me in confusion
Still and wounded on the ground...
Dying to the world I knew
Of cautious carefulness,
You lifted me beyond myself
And showed me how to bless
Everything I feared before,
All my mind can’t know-
How to open up within
And let my feelings go...
And now I feel the thrill and risk
Of living by the heart!
Born anew, a child to you,
God, show me where to start.

You also offer Soul Portraits, what gave you the inspiration to offer this kind of service?

I used to want to paint portraits- period. But as my marriage of spirit and art has deepened, so has my desire to portray not just a physical likeness of people, but to include more aspects of their inner soul and their deeper spiritual journey through life. Part of the work I now do in private commission is to draw out from the heart of my clients their own creative visions and dreams. The process is unique and the possibilities are endless. By helping them take their inner reflection a creative step further, we go into the visual realm of symbol, color, design and portraiture. This personalization becomes a continuation of exploration and discovery for us both, using whatever art medium best reflects their choices. It’s wonderful!

On your web site you feature memorial art, how would you describe that?

I also do a work called "Angel Bridge" which is a memorial art service available for those who have had loved ones pass away. The interesting twist on this work is that I am not to market the business so much from this side of the veil. Those on the other side of the death veil who "commission" me must, through a series of magically synchronistic events, bring their people to me! It’s things like this that make this work so fun and exciting.

A recent addition to this work has been where unexpectedly a personalized song or poem will come through to me during my process of painting for someone. The highlight for me so far, was a song that came through while I was working on a memorial portrait of my own father who had passed away a few years ago, commissioned by my mother.

One morning as I was exercising, I felt a strong musical wave wash over me. This usually indicates that a song is waiting. I stopped what I was doing, picked up paper and pen, and asked: "What is it called?" I heard the words "My Heart." I was touched to the core, realizing that this was from my father, as those two words were loaded with intense meaning. He had struggled with congential heart disease and multiple open heart surgeries throughout his life. He had struggled with emotional issues of the heart. There had been gaps and holes and troubles. He had difficulty with expressions of love. His family had been wounded. The words began to pour in: "My heart didn’t know how to love, to be... Didn’t know how to give what you needed from me. It was broken somehow so long ago... Didn’t know why, but I loved you so." I sensed that this song was for my mother. Then the chorus came in: Sweetheart, forgive me... I’m learning to love a very new way, hoping somehow you’ll feel me today- opening and healed to the core. With open heart, I stand at your door." It was a love song spanning the two worlds. Needless to say, the tears began to flow as a healing blessing came to me and of course, eventually, my father’s sweetheart.

No matter what form it takes, the most essential part of my work is the Divine Light and blessings that permeate, and the healing powers of spirit that flow through these art forms on into the listener or the viewer. It ties me more deeply to a sense of connectedness, to being a part of all, rather than having a frustrated ego thinking it all depends on me and that I am not good enough to hold my own against the more talented "competition" out there. I now know I have my own work and no one can take that away from me. I have a huge back up team for success, AND my definition of success is very different now. I work for the sheer blessing and joy of knowing that through my art people are moved, deepened, touched, blessed and inspired. If it brings beauty, transformation, comfort, healing, peace or joy- I know that this is success.

Mary, what a wonderful thought, thank you so much for your time.

Mary Angelico ~ born February 18 1957, has been drawing and painting almost as far back as she can remember. Developing her talent through a variety of private instruction and local community college courses, she still considers herself primarily self-taught. At age 13 she displayed a talent for portraiture; at 17 she was chosen to compete as a Sterling Scholar in Art, representing her high school in a statewide competition, eventually winning first place and receiving a college scholarship. She majored in Art from 1975-1976. Drawing from a variety of artistic styles and influences, Mary has been most strongly attracted to the work of John Singer Sargent and inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite vision and dedication to noble ideals. Once described as an ‘Illuminist Visionary,’ Mary acknowledges that she now considers Art to be a part of her spiritual practice, a sacred medium of Spirit.

Her work has been featured at the Flying Hare Gallery in Nevada City, CA, and a current show hangs at the Unity Church of Seattle in Seattle, WA.

Open for commission and creative consultation, Mary currently resides in Edmonds, Washington, USA and can be contacted by email or phone at:

maryangelico@gmail.com / (001) 425-648-9192 www.freewebs.com/maryangelico

Website:

An Interview with Maat Barlow

By Colin Whitby

For some time now I have been interested in numbers and how they keep appearing in our lives (see my article 'stepping into the one'). Then the opportunity came to read Maat's book where I learned a really interesting and practical way of using numbers. Maat explains in her book Living by Numbers how numbers are everywhere, all around and connected to everything, they are always at hand, directing, guiding and recording everything we do through time and space. I hope you enjoy our interview.

How did you come to be interested in numbers, particularly how they express more than just numerical values?

Numbers have always been part of my life, like most people, but it was only when I started going to Kundalini Yoga classes given by Shiv Charan Singh that I began to see them in a different light. Shiv is an unusual man – a Scottish Sikh with a long, flowing red beard and turban, so that in itself was out of the ordinary. After the yoga class ended, he opened another space into the numbers where people sat in a circle and discussed different aspects of life in reference to the numbers. It was all very new and abstract. I couldn’t get a grip on much in the beginning and found it difficult and confronting. But there was a part of me that recognised something in this strange, new experience, and soon I became a regular at his classes.

Were you interested in numbers as a child?

Yes, simple arithmetic at that stage of life was fun, but the numbers also grabbed me in other ways that weren’t so obvious. One of my early memories was around the age of 3 at pre-school. I still vividly remember the counting book with its orange cover, white pages and big, black spots that represented the numbers. On my 6^th birthday, my mind zoomed back to the page in that counting book with the two perfect columns of three black spots, and decided the time had come when I could do anything. Turning 6 seemed to be a very important birthday and an opportunity not to be missed. Like a vandal, I ran through the garden bashing down the flower heads on all the rose bushes, which of course, was very shocking for my parents, especially as I was a "good" child. It was definitely an act of rebellion. And all these years later I find that attack, shock and rebellion are expressions of 6, so the numbers had already begun to make themselves known in their own inimitable way.

What interested you in the teachings of Shiv Charan Singh and his approach to numbers?

The whole concept and conversations in those group meetings were unlike anything I’d met before. I liked the way Shiv let the numbers speak for themselves, rather than manipulating them into a system by stamping meanings or labels onto them. Each number has its own language that naturally unfolds, so everything can be related to them without someone else’s interpretation or judgement.

Since a child, I’ve always been interested is the hidden stuff behind the front that most of us put up. It was obvious that the unsaid was powerfully evident, but since no one seemed to want to go there or express it, it was difficult to find the language and bring those abstract thoughts and feelings to the surface. Shiv’s classes were an opportunity to practise finding the words, and with the spiritual teachings as the focal point through the numbers, things began to get a little clearer.

You explain how numbers, particularly 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, each have a significance and you take us through that journey in your book. How did the idea formulate for you, does it form part of the teachings of Shiv Charan Singh?

Yes, my book is based on Shiv’s teachings. From what he taught, I took a strand which I felt particularly drawn to. I focused on the fundamental elements and presented it through a simple equation: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10. Shiv uses this format to demonstrate the four-fold nature of life, and the neutral mind at 4 as a shortcut to transcendence at number 10. I found this equation to be a very logical and neat way to present the basics of life in an easy-to-remember visual, and so chose to open it out and based everything around it.

It’s easy to get fascinated by the colourful, interesting aspects of spirituality, but there has to be a point when all those teachings and techniques are embodied and lived. And that depends on a fundamental determination and willingness to move through any internal programmes of resistance, as well as a generosity of spirit to keep the energy flowing when meeting an external clash from someone else. It’s not an exciting or glamorous point of sale, but it is the bottom line. That’s the simple message I wanted to get across, and the equation, I think, lays it out so simply and effectively.

I’ve not seen numbers described in this way before, like personal and impersonal, but they make perfect sense the way you describe them. Was this your own idea for the book?

The personal and impersonal are two sides of the same coin; just another expression of duality. Shiv paired the numbers to represent this dynamic, and my contribution is, hopefully, to help promote these abstract points of interest. In the book, I often refer to the infinity symbol ∞, which is like an 8 on its side. One expression of number 8 is the vital life-force, which moves through the circuit of opposites – waking up in the morning and going to bed at night, charging up and emptying and charging up again. It’s a simple visual, which perfectly illustrates the polarized energy in which we all live and interact with everyone and everything; the personal and the impersonal.

You share many of your own personal lessons as illustrations for the book, which is really brave. How does this feel now the book has been published and you are ‘out there’?

It’s strange why we do things, but now that the book has been published, it becomes clearer. In the book, the basic message is to learn to listen to the voice of your soul at number 1 in the equation, and live by that directive. That means letting go of needy attachments at number 2 and the ego’s control at number 3. And that can only happen by taking the leap of faith to meet oneself without all the beliefs and illusions that cushion and buffer reality at number 4. It’s easy to say in words, but unbelievably hard to do, or even to know how to do it.

I set myself up for this leap by leaving Shiv’s group and writing the book, which for me was symbolic of stepping into number 4. The decision was very natural; it was just that’s what I had to do. As I wrote about the numbers, I started to weave in what I believed was the hidden stuff behind the front. Of course, that hidden stuff is personal, and now that the book is out, it’s no longer safely tucked away. The impact of that was the reality hit, and I saw myself clearly without the illusions that have shielded me in the past. It was shocking, but that’s what I wanted - the saying "be careful of what you wish for" springs to mind!

How has writing the book changed your life, will you continue with your other work interests or do you see yourself focusing more on the book and it’s teachings?

The whole point of studying the numbers was to change aspects of my life, and the experience of meeting myself in the raw through the book has done that; at least, it’s started the process. I’ve been in a phase of learning and introspection for the past few years, and now it’s time to come out of that. It’s like I’ve got the theory and now I’ve got to make it real. I can’t imagine abandoning the teachings of the numbers, but there are different ways to go forward. I’ve just moved, so everything is very new, and structures have to be built again. This time, I have the opportunity to build them consciously in the way that I want.

Like the experience with the rose bushes that I had as a child, the hit of reality is a time when number 6 is powerfully evident. Not only is it a chance to become clearer, but it also opens the way for other possibilities to shine through.

Do you see yourself doing workshops or talks about the teachings in your book?

In Kundalini Yoga, there’s a saying: "If you want to know something, read about it; if you want to learn something, write about it, and if you want to master something, teach it. So having followed the equation myself, I hope the process will help me develop a really worthwhile way to offer the teachings of the numbers, whether that’s a workshop, talks or something else altogether!

Maat Barlow has been studying the numbers since 1999. She also draws upon her experiences as a mother, yoga teacher and illustrator.

Maat Barlow - www.maatbarlow.com

Shiv Charan Singh - www.karamkriya.co.uk

An Interview with Andrew and Angela Donovan

By Colin Whitby

I met Andrew and Angela at their home in the UK to talk to them about their new book The Hidden Oracle of India. In the book they describe their journey to India to meet the Naadi Palm Leaf Readers and how, for Andrew in particular, this has made an impression on their lives.

Colin – In order to be able to understand the Naadi Palm Leaves and the fact that they were taken from the Akashic records there are a number of beliefs to take on board, such as there is such a thing as the Akashic records, and that the Lord Shiva had scribes copy from them onto the leaves, thousands of years ago. How do these ideas sit with you?

Andrew - I have problems with it actually, for Angela it is just par for the course, it’s a natural thing, but for me to imagine that Shiva could have decreed that my life should be recorded on a leaf and then be relayed to me when the leaf chooses to meet up with me (not when I choose to meet it), I found, and still find staggering.

I can’t really make sense of it, but there’s part of me that doesn’t mind. When Angela first told me of the Naadi’s and the way they worked I thought it was poppycock, I just couldn’t believe it whatsoever. Now, having been through the experience of the leaf reading, I’m perfectly happy to accept it, even though I am still sceptical as to how it is done.

I can’t square the circle, I am suspicious of Shiva but am happy to accept that he’s there, I’m suspicious of the Akashic records but somehow what has been told to me can only serve to demonstrate that they exist.

The way that the Naadis have behaved and how they have related my life to me was not vague generalities end of the pier stuff, they were remarkably specific and there is a lot that was said to both of us that is not in the book, so there is no way that they could do this without some other agency assisting them. For me it was Earth shaking.

Colin - Do you find that the journey has stimulated more questions, more searching?

Andrew – I haven’t gone too far down other tracks yet as I have found that what we experienced was daunting enough in a way. It has shaken me so much, yet reassured me much more that I’m almost happy to just accept it for what it is.

Colin – How do you feel about your life having been recorded all those years ago?

Andrew – I find it astounding that we are doing exactly what we knew we were going to do aeons ago, our souls are going down the tracks they are supposed to be on, I hate to think that my life is just running on rails, I’d rather I was building the rails as I went.

Colin – One of the things I found rather mind boggling was the way the Naadis have of sorting the leaves through thumb prints, so how did they know all those years ago which thumb prints we would have?

Angela - It depends where your mind and your thinking is stuck, from your background, your education, or your belief system.

If you can take yourself out of those limitations and find yourself looking down to get an overall picture, take yourself out of linear time and measurement to be able to see the whole of our civilisation, then you can take on the concept of beyond time, where everything is happening at the moment.

You can see or hear at any moment of this civilisation that you wish to pick upon. In doing this you will understand that the intelligence of the Creator overviewing this civilisation gave permission for this information to be given to the seven prophets.

It was known by the Creator that humanity would be based in categories. Anything we do and understand in our consciousness today, we end up categorising. So they created the 108 categories and defined there would be a marking imprint that would come through with the consciousness of the soul that goes into the physical body, hence the thumb print.

Colin – So somewhere there must be a mountain of leaves if every life is recorded?

Andrew – Yes everything was done on leaves. It’s phenomenal and it’s not just lives that were recorded, there’s architecture, medicine, alchemy – every branch of civilisation is there. The whole of South East Asia have developed their own libraries from the leaves as their cultures have developed.

Angela – This is also not to do with religion – we can bless the ancient Hinduism for keeping these records, and if it wasn’t for that they wouldn’t exist, but this is beyond religion as we know it today.

Colin – So the people who were asking you the question must have been working on more that one level, the verbal and the non verbal, in order to sort out who you were and if they had your leaves.

Andrew – Well that was another strange thing because there were many occasions when we would get down to a leaf that I really believed was mine - there would be 10 or 20 questions that I had answered with a 'yes' and then there would be one 'no', and for that he would discard the leaf and start again.

So there are an awful lot of people just like you, just like me, because we found 3 or 4 leaves that I thought were me that transpired to be someone quite different in the end. I can now quite believe that there might be such a thing as doppelgangers.

I was so shocked and staggered that all this could have been sitting there on the table in front of me written down by some bloke in a cave, it was just unbelievable. If it had been happening in Sheffield or Oxford at least it would be in our culture, but this was 4 or 5 thousand miles away with a group of people who spoke an entirely different language, and in a culture that was totally alien to me and presented in a form that was equally alien to me.

Yet here was a leaf in front of me that had details about my university degree, all about by father’s background and his Christian name, there were details about my mother and what she did for a living, it was just unbelievably detailed.

Colin – How did you get on with the idea that you had to clear your past sins?

Andrew - The other thing I found very interesting and again quite a shock was this whole concept of sin. Previously I had dismissed the idea of sins, and when it was mentioned in the reading that I would have to make amends for my sins, it was almost an affront.

Colin – Yes and the idea of having someone, on your behalf, carrying out some kind of ritual for you, purchasing some symbolic clothing on your behalf for ‘puja’ and then giving it to the poor, chanting and so on.

Andrew – Yet when they started to tell me what my sins were, it all made perfect sense, the way I had reacted in this life because of the sins in my past life it was just like clicking a switch, it just made the connection, it felt right. I can’t explain why but deep within myself I know they were 110 percent correct.

It seemed to be a bit like pre-destination, those other worldly notions that really shouldn’t exist, but I’m pretty sure they do now. Does that mean there is a heaven and a hell I wonder?

Colin – As soon as you step into one area, you seem to be asked to take on board a number of others, like the whole thing of Karma and re-incarnation. Some people are really nervous around previous lives for example but I’m absolutely convinced that previous life experiences can transfer to this life.

Andrew – Well it’s interesting to me because they only talked about one past life, when I was a Kshatriya Warrior. And yet when Angela had regressed me previously we encountered a totally different life. It seems that whatever sins you have from each life, you carry them forward each time, and the life the Naadis spoke of made just as much sense as the one with Angela.

For a sceptical, logical man it just didn’t sit very well really!

Colin – Well thank you both for inviting me into your home today and talking so openly.

Angela Donovan has been a spiritual mentor and medium for 15 years, and paranormal advisor for television series including Jane Goldman Investigates. She is author of The Secrets of Psychic Success (Rider, 2007). Her clients include the royal and famous. Angela has been featured in magazines and press including the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, The Sun, TV Times, and on UK television and radio (BBC1, ITV, Living Channel, BBC Radio 2 with Johnnie Walker) LBC The Psychic Show, My Spirit Radio). She also has a media presence in LA and New York. http://www.angeladonovan.com/

Andrew Donovan had his own architectural practice in London until 2003. Since then he has written books, screenplays and television documentaries. Andrew has appeared on Sky television talking about past life regression.

An Interview with Julia Heywood

By Colin Whitby

Julia has written a book which wanted to be written, and for me a book that wanted to be read. There is a wonderful energy in Julia’s book ‘The Barefoot Indian’ and when I discussed this with Julia it became clear why.

Colin - Tell us a little about your journey and how you came to write the book.

Julia – Ever since I was a small child I have been aware of what I like to call ‘wise people who are no longer in the world’, I suppose you could refer to them as spirit guides, who have always imparted guidance to me. I found this wonderful and very useful but I have tried to deny that part of me and to lead a normal life. When you talk of 30 or 40 years ago spirituality wasn’t a thing you discussed, so I kept it hidden and very person and private.

My guidance became more frequent and more profound as I got older but I still kept denying it and continued with my career. However the clearer and more profound my guidance became the more disastrous my ‘normal’ life was becoming. Eventually it came to a point where I lost everything, I hit a brick wall and did not know which direction to turn.

I was meditating one night and the book was just there. It wasn’t like I went looking for the book, it found me; it was being played out visually in my mind and I felt I just had to write it. So that’s what lead me to writing The Barefoot Indian, and it was like it was saying to me, ‘stop denying this spiritual life, what you’ve seen, what you’ve heard what you’ve learned is not just for you it’s for everybody’.

It was like I had to come out of the closet and that was my turning point and that was how the book came about.

Colin – So up to that point had you been doing all the usual things like reading books like the Alchemist and things like that, all the personal development stuff.

Julia – Yes that was of great interest to me but it was the guidance that had the most impact on my life, it was very direct and very clear. It’s just that I kept I very hidden and would not discuss it, then suddenly I had to write this book. It has all my thoughts, my feelings and my guidance in there and the most amazing thing is it’s been read all over the world, almost overnight.

Colin – Yes I think that’s astonishing, although it is a very easy read, the concept and the messages come over very clearly, I think it is good for anyone to pick up.

Julia – The book came very easily really, it wasn’t a difficult thing to do, it only took 21 days to write, it was all there in that split second. Everything that happens in the book has actually happened, it’s just written in a narrative and fictitious way. I found it easy to write as everything in the book has been said to me, I would say it came from those ‘wise people who are no longer in the world’, and they have the ability to explain things so directly and simply, and always as an analogy.

Colin – That’s one of the ways I have been writing too, such as my ‘What If’s’, where I try to use an analogy of some kind so that people can get the shape of the thought in their heads, it helps to be able to visualise the idea sometimes.

Julia – My guidance has always been in analogy form and when you look at the teachings of Jesus and Buddha and all the great prophets that have been around, they do the same, they put the teaching in story form so that you can visualise it and see the principle within it.

Colin – It is good you were moved to publish it so that it could be subsequently read, so frequently when we do things so easily we undervalue them.

Julia – Yes it’s true inspiration when it comes through and you’re not really thinking about it, where you don’t have to work at it and the mind has not had that much of a part to play in the process.

Colin – It seems that many people need to experience the brick wall you described in order to achieve this kind of intuitive flow of ideas.

Julia – It’s like a part of you finally gives up to give the other part a chance to flourish.

Colin – How difficult did you find it to publish?

Julia – I must have sent off about 10 manuscripts and O books was the first one to offer so I just went with that and it’s been very successful.

Colin – You mention that you have another two books to come in the series.

Julia – Well although there are three books in the series they all came through on the same night. The second book is a continuation, a direct sequel to the first. I had thought of putting it all in one book but for some reason it had a cut off point, sort of going from level 1 to level 2. There’s quite a lot of things in the first book to contemplate, to think about, to mull over, so it was quite nice to have a break and then the reader moves on to level 2. The third book in the series is more factual, like a conclusion to books 1 and 2.

Colin – For me there were many ‘yes’ moments in your book, especially towards the end where your character goes back to head office and is asked what she will do next, and she said she would just look down and see if there was anyone looking up, and I just thought, ‘yes, absolutely’.

Julia – The thing I found with writing the book was that I was spiritually coming out, I had previously been in the closet with my spirituality. It amazes me that now when I meet people and I think ‘oh they won’t be interested’ but when I start talking they are. Before I had written the book the situation would never have arisen yet here are people who are thinking like me, it’s quite amazing how many people you meet who are interested.

Colin – As well as your books you have been writing for magazines, how did that come about?

Julia – I contacted some magazines to do reviews of the book and some of them came back and said they would quite like an article and it went on from there, once you have written one they tend to ask for more.

Colin – One of the things I am interested in is the energy that something carries, not just the written word. The fact that your book came from that deep place inside it carries that energy and for me that’s coming through very clearly, so that whether I understand the words or not the energy of them comes through. It seems that now it has been released the energy is carrying it forward which is why it has become so popular.

Julia – Yes it was like the book was meant to be written, therefore it’s meant to be read I suppose. How far that will go I don’t know.

Colin – The Barefoot Indian is already being translated into other languages I understand.

Julia – Yes, three countries have already bought it, India, The Netherlands and Germany (it’s coming out in Germany in October).

Colin – It was originally published in 2007, so it is very good to get to this stage so quickly. I suppose from what you have said we could not have had an interview with you without talking about the book, because it was the book that was the key that opened you in a way.

Julia – Exactly, it’s all about ‘The Barefoot Indian’ because the book and my philosophy are one and the same.

Colin – So the Barefoot Indian is one of your guides?

Julia – Yes.

Colin - So how to you perceive your guides, do you see them?

Julia – I do see them yes, and feel them at the same time, and when they speak I don’t hear them with my ears, but I hear the words in my heart, that’s the only way I can describe it.

Colin – Wonderful. Well thank you very much for your time and agreeing to speak to us, it’s been really fascinating.

http://www.thebarefootindian.co.uk/

100% Responsibility and the Promise of a Hot Fudge Sundae

An Interview with Ihaleakala Hew Len

By Cat Saunders

If you're wondering about the baseball cap, Ihaleakala wears it so he remembers not to be so intellectual. The background blue represents the Void, or Emptiness, and the red "P" represents Mother Earth, or the creative force, Pele.

How do you thank someone who has helped to set you free? How do you thank a man whose gentle spirit and zinger statements have forever altered the course of your life? Ihaleakala Hew Len is such a man for me. Like a soul brother who shows up unexpectedly in an hour of need, Ihaleakala came into my life in March of 1985, during a time of massive change for me. I met him during a training called "Self I-Dentity Through Ho'oponopono," which he facilitated along with the late Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona, a native Hawaiian kahuna ("keeper of the secret").

For me, Ihaleakala and Morrnah are part of the rhythm of life. Though I love them both dearly, I don't really dwell on thoughts of them as people, yet their influence is always there for me, beating a steady pulse like African drums in the night. Recently, I had the honor of being asked to interview Ihaleakala by The Foundation of I, Inc. (Freedom of the Cosmos), an organization founded by Morrnah. It was an even greater honor to learn that he would be coming from his home in Hawaii to meet with me personally.

Dr. Ihaleakala S. Hew Len is the foundation's president and administrator. Together with Morrnah, Ihaleakala has worked with thousands of people over the years, including groups at the United Nations, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), International Human Unity Conference on World Peace, World Peace Conference, Traditional Indian Medicine Conference, Healers for Peace in Europe, and the Hawaii State Teachers Association. He also has extensive experience working with developmentally disabled people and with the criminally mentally ill and their families. In all his work as an educator, the Ho'oponopono process supports and permeates every breath of his efforts.

Simply put, Ho'oponopono means, "to make right," or "to rectify an error." According to the ancient Hawaiians, error arises from thoughts that are tainted by painful memories from the past. Ho'oponopono offers a way to release the energy of these painful thoughts, or errors, which cause imbalance and disease.

Along with the updated Ho'oponopono process, Morrnah was guided to include the three parts of the self, which are the key to Self I-Dentity. These three parts — which exist in every molecule of reality — are called the Unihipili (child/subconscious), the Uhane (mother/conscious), and the Aumakua (father/superconscious). When this "inner family" is in alignment, a person is in rhythm with the Divinity. With this balance, life begins to flow. Thus, Ho'oponopono helps restore balance in the individual first, and then in all of creation.

By introducing me to this three-part system, along with the most powerful forgiveness process I know (Ho'oponopono), Ihaleakala and Morrnah taught me this: the best way to bring healing to every part of my life — and to the entire universe — is to take 100% responsibility and work on myself. In addition, they taught the simple wisdom of total self-care. As Ihaleakala said in a thank-you note after our interview: "You take good care of yourself. If you do, all will be beneficiaries."

Once, Ihaleakala left for an entire afternoon in the middle of a training I was taking, because his Unihipili (child/subconscious) told him to go to his hotel and take a long nap. Of course, he was responsible about leaving, and Morrnah was there to teach. Even still, his exit made a lasting impression on me. For someone like me, raised in a family and culture that admonished me to put others first, Ihaleakala's actions astounded and delighted me. He got his nap, and I got an unforgettable lesson in self-care.

Cat: Ihaleakala, when I met you in 1985, I'd just started private practice after working as a counselor in agencies for four years. I remember you said, "All therapy is a form of manipulation." I thought, "Jeez! What am I supposed to do now?" I knew you were right, so I almost quit! Obviously, I didn't, but that statement completely changed the way I work with people.

Ihaleakala: Manipulation happens when I (as a therapist) come from the idea that you are ill and I am going to work on you. On the other hand, it's not manipulation if I realize that you are coming to me to give me a chance to look at what's going on in me. There's a big difference.

If therapy is about your belief that you're there to save the other person, heal the other person, or direct the other person, then the information you bring will come out of the intellect, the conscious mind. But the intellect has no real understanding of problems and how to approach them. The intellect is so picayunish is its way of solving problems! It doesn't realize that when a problem is solved by transmutation — by using Ho'oponopono or related processes — then the problem and everything related to it is solved, even at microscopic levels and back to the beginning of time.

So first of all, I think the most important question to ask is, "What is a problem?" If you ask people this, there's no clarity. Because there's no clarity, they make up some way of solving the problem…

Cat: … as if the problem is "out there."

Ihaleakala: Yes. For example, the other day I got a call from the daughter of a woman who is 92. She said, "My mother's had these severe hip pains for several weeks." While she's talking to me, I'm asking this question of the Divinity, "What is going on in me that I have caused that woman's pain?" And then I ask, "How is it that I can rectify that problem within me?" The answers to these questions come, and I do whatever I'm told.

Maybe a week later the woman calls me and says, "My mother's feeling better now!" This doesn't mean the problem won't recur, because there are often multiple causes for what appears to be the same problem.

Cat: I have a lot of recurring illness and chronic pain. I work with it all the time, using Ho'oponopono and other clearing processes to make amends for all the pain I've caused since the beginning of time.

Ihaleakala: Yes. The idea being that people like us are in the healing professions because we have caused a lot of pain.

Cat: Big time!

Ihaleakala: How wonderful to know that, and to have people pay us for having caused them their problems!

I said this to a woman in New York, and she said, "God, if only they knew!" But you see, nobody knows. Psychologists, psychiatrists, they keep thinking that they're there to help heal the other person.
So if someone like you comes to me, I say to the Divinity, "Please, whatever is going on in me that I have caused this pain in Cat, tell me how I can rectify it." And I will apply whatever information I'm given indefinitely, until your pain is gone or until you ask me to stop. It's not so much the effect that is important as the getting to the problem. That's the key.

Cat: You don't focus on the outcome, because we're not in charge of that.

Ihaleakala: Right. We can only petition.

Cat: We also don't know when a particular pain or illness will shift.

Ihaleakala: Yes. Say a woman has been taking an herb that was suggested for her, and it's not working. Again, the question is "What's going on in me that this woman is experiencing this herb not working for her?" I would work on that. I would keep cleaning, keep my mouth closed, and allow the process of transmutation to take place. As soon as you engage the intellect, the process stops. The thing to remember when some kind of healing doesn't seem to be working is this: there may be multiple errors — multiple problems or painful memories that are causing the pain. We know nothing! Only the Divinity knows what's really going on.

I gave a presentation out in Dallas last month, and I spoke with this woman, a Reiki master. I said, "Let me ask you a question. When somebody comes to you with a problem, where is that problem?" She looked puzzled when I said, "You're the one who caused the problem, so your client is going to pay you to heal your problem!" Nobody gets that.

Cat: 100% responsibility.

Ihaleakala: 100% knowing that you're the cause of the problem. 100% knowing that you have the responsibility, then, to rectify the error. Can you imagine if we all knew we are 100% responsible?
I made a deal with myself ten years ago that I would treat myself to a hot fudge sundae — so huge it would make me sick — if I could get through the day without having some judgment of someone. I've never been able to do it! I notice I catch myself more often, but I never get through a day.
So how do I get that across to people — that we are each 100% responsible for problems? If you want to solve a problem, no matter what kind of problem, work on yourself. If the problem is with another person, for example, just ask yourself, "What's going on in me that's causing this person to bug me?" People only show up in your life to bug you! If you know that, you can elevate any situation, and you can release there. It's simple: "I'm sorry for whatever's going on. Please forgive me."

Cat: You don't have to actually say that out loud to them, and you don't even have to understand the problem.

Ihaleakala: That's the beauty of this. You don't have to understand. It's like the Internet. You don't understand all this! You just go to the Divinity and you say, "Can we download?" and the Divinity downloads, and then you get the necessary information. But because we don't know who we are, we never download direct from the Light. We go outside.
I remember Morrnah used to say, "It's an inside job." If you want to be successful, it's an inside job. Work on yourself!

Cat: I know that 100% responsibility is the only thing that works, but I used to struggle with this stuff, because I'm an overly responsible caretaker type. When I heard you talking about 100% responsibility not just for myself, but for every situation and problem, I thought, "Whoa! This is crazy! I don't need anybody telling me to be even more responsible!" Yet the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there's a big difference between overly responsible caretaking, versus totally responsible self-care. One is about being a good little girl, and the other is about getting free.

I remember you talking about the years when you were a staff psychologist at Hawaii State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. You said that when you started working there, the ward for criminals was full of violence, and when you left four years later, there was none.

Ihaleakala: Basically, I took 100% responsibility. I just worked on myself.

Cat: You said that when you worked with the inmates, they wouldn't even be there with you.

Ihaleakala: Right. I would only go into the building to check the results. If they still looked depressed, then I'd work on myself some more.

Cat: Would you tell a story about using Ho'oponopono for so-called inanimate objects?

Ihaleakala: I was in an auditorium once getting ready to do a lecture, and I was talking to the chairs. I asked, "Is there anybody I've missed? Does anyone have a problem that I need to take care of?" One of the chairs said, "You know, there was a guy sitting on me today during a previous seminar who had financial problems, and now I just feel dead!" So I cleaned with that problem, and I could just see the chair straightening up. Then I heard, "Okay! I'm ready to handle the next guy!"
What I actually try to do is teach the room. I say to the room and everything in it, "Do you want to learn how to do Ho'oponopono? After all, I'm going to leave soon. Wouldn't it be nice if you could do this work for yourselves? Some say yes, some say no, and some say, "I'm too tired!"

Then I ask the Divinity, "If they say they would like to learn, how can I help them learn?" Most of the time, I get this: "Leave the blue book (Self I-Dentity Through Ho'oponopono) with them." So I just take the blue book out and leave it on one of the chairs or on a table while I'm talking. We don't give tables enough credit for being quiet and aware of what is going on!

Ho'oponopono is really very simple. For the ancient Hawaiians, all problems begin as thought. But having a thought is not the problem. So what's the problem? The problem is that all our thoughts are imbued with painful memories, memories of persons, places, or things.

The intellect working alone can't solve these problems, because the intellect only manages. Managing things is no way to solve problems. You want to let them go! When you do Ho'oponopono, what happens is that the Divinity takes the painful thought and neutralizes or purifies it. You don't purify the person, place, or thing. You neutralize the energy you associate with that person, place, or thing. So the first stage of Ho'oponopono is the purification of that energy.

Now something wonderful happens. Not only does that energy get neutralized; it also gets released, so there's a brand new slate. Buddhists call it the Void. The final step is that you allow the Divinity to come in and fill the void with light.

To do Ho'oponopono, you don't have to know what the problem or error is. All you have to do is notice any problem you are experiencing physically, mentally, emotionally, whatever. Once you notice, your responsibility is to immediately begin to clean, to say, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Cat: So the true job of the intellect is not to solve problems, but to ask for forgiveness.

Ihaleakala: Yes. My job here on earth is twofold. My job is first of all to make amends. My second job is to awaken people who might be asleep. Almost everyone is asleep! The only way I can awaken them is to work on myself. Our interview is an example. For weeks before our appointment today, I've been doing the clearing work, so when you and I meet, it's like two pools of water coming together. They move through and they go. That's all.

Cat: In ten years of doing interviews, this is the only one I didn't prepare for. Every time I checked in, my Unihipili said that I should just come and be with you. My intellect went nuts trying to convince me that I should prepare, but I didn't.

Ihaleakala: Good for you! The Unihipili can be really fun. One day I was coming down the highway in Hawaii. When I started to head toward the usual off-ramp, I heard my Unihipili say in a singing voice, "I wouldn't go down there if I were you." I thought, "But I always go there." Then when we got closer, about fifty yards away, I heard, "Hello! I wouldn't go down there if I were you!" Second chance. "But we always go down there!"

Now I'm talking out loud and people in cars around me are looking at me like I'm crazy. About 25 yards away, I hear a loud, "I wouldn't go down there if I were you!" I went down there, and I sat for two and a half hours. There was a huge accident. Couldn't move back, couldn't move forward. Finally, I heard my Unihipili say, "Told you!" Then it wouldn't talk to me for weeks! I mean, why talk to me if I wasn't going to listen?

I remember one time when I was going to be on television to talk about Ho'oponopono. My children heard about it and they said, "Dad, we heard you are going to be on TV. Make sure your socks match!" They didn't care what I said. They just cared that my socks matched. See how children know the important things in life?

This interview was originally published by The New Times in September 1997.

Source: http://drcat.org/articles_interviews/html/hotfudge.html

For more information about Ho'oponopono or to contact Ihaleakala Hew Len, Ph.D., please visit http://www.hooponopono.org.