Alaska, Coming to Grips with the Tao

At 30,00 feet over the stunning coast range of Alaska, one’s life challenges are rapidly brought into perspective! My or ‘our’ ‘big’ problems pail in comparison to this vast expanse of Fiords, Rock, Ice & Flora that peaks up through South East Alaska’s famous cloud blanket. A spirit of Freedom pervades space and time. The Ancient Tao prevails.

I am on my way to Kimmer’s and my house on Lemesiurer Island, in the mouth of Glacier Bay National Park, for rest, & further reflections on our medicine ways’ mysteries. All of this in one of the Earths last intact climax landscapes, where Bears watch from inside Salmon~blueberry filled mouths, Whales sing, breed, feed, dance, in glacier blue ocean cold in front of our house.

I will be joined by my wise crusty wild adventurer father in law Dick Griffith, then later, by a small group of fellow 5 Element journeyers. Where for 10 days, from the 3^rd to the 14^th of August, we will be deep diving into our Inner Elemental natures’ as reflected around us in the larger outer world. Our friend Naresh arrives from Holland to further his love of the medicine, Naresh is the engine behind our web page. April Strauss has invested a large amount of Qi to bring this class to fruition, Thank you April, & her husband Jim too for his abiding patience.

It is not too late to be a part of this sacred experience! If you are interested in partaking in a deeper inner awakening in one of the most gorgeous places on the planet, please contact April before the 29^th of July at 503-341-0504; OR David Ford at 503-705-0895. I will be on the island and only able to check messages once per day up until the 3^rd. If you don’t receive a reply immediately, be patient! We will get back to you ASAP.

You may wonder “why this place”? I strongly believe that the roots of our medicine are being lost in the cacophony of noise, speed, & rushing that make up modern city life in the developed World. This applies to the schools that are imbedded and entrenched in those cities. Too much book learning! Not enough studying of the true Classics! These 5 Elements that surround infuse & inform our daily lives in the last great remaining natural settings get lost in the shuffle of modern city life! I am reminded of the Pink Floyd line “If you should go skating o the thin ice of modern life- dragging behind the silent reproach of a million staring eyes”.

On the island the eyes staring back at you are the free & wild deer, the eagle, flocks of crows, the teasing Raven pairs, billions of twinkling points of light in the black night. At this time of year, in the short darkness, the great northern lights, that will transfix you, & turn your soul around. The eyes are the sunlight on the rainforest canopy in its multi floral expressions, light wells in disturbance Refugio. And the sunlight’s fire & warmth creating millions of natural diamonds on the surface of the Ocean, who on the surface appears calm, while underneath her subsurface rivers act as superhighways for the Whales, Salmon, Dolphins, Orcas, schools of herring.

Here the Earth is held in sacred harmony that is formed & shaped by the bones of the Mineral realm, whose rocky shorelines, misty mountains, guide the directions of the winds & tides.  Life is at ease with itself in this place because all living things are in consideration toward each & other. One can feel the symphony of the land!

The landscapes & images expressed above also reveal the ‘Spirits of the Points’ that the ancient Taoists drew their inspiration from in their creation of the Organ meridian ‘maps’ of our bodies. If you truly want to realize the Shamanic power of the 5 Element system, I would invite you to wander, wonder, reflect, get lost & found again in our wild places & spaces. As Richard K Nelson coined it “ The Island Within”.

Enjoy your inner journeying!