To celebrate my finishing full time employment, I put it out to the universe that a trip away would be awesome... I knew that Em had always wanted to go to New York, so I asked for that, and then I figured it would be great to go across and visit my buddy (and groomsman) in Portland, Oregon.
We booked late but scored some cheap flights and a great hotel deal in New York (go Hotwire!) and after some bailing out, I commited fully to the idea and bought up the deal.
I had asked my druid deck at the time whether I should go, and it came up that it with the white hind for the spiritual guiding force of the trip - the beginning of journeying into the otherworld...
Well, it certainly started in a strange way - Stefan, one of our friends who is an astrologer, asked when we were leaving - the 29th of June, and commented that it was pretty early in mercury retrograde - and to maybe expect some travel difficulties! The other part of mercury retrograde suggests it is a good time to finish things, so that fitted nicely with my ending my job!
As we sat on the airplane in Dublin, we got our favourite announcement - some passengers had not made the flight and their bags would have to be removed... This was somewhat strange as the duty free shopping in Dublin just isn;t that good - and having heard it a few more times, I have begun to wonder if its a lie for "we think there is a bomb, and we need to check the luggage, but we don't want to disturb ya all..."
2 hours later, we finally got airborne - and landed in london to find that some nice people had decided to blow up glasgow airport... Now if they were architectural snobs who just didn't like the facade or what, we didn;t really care, except it turned Heathrow into the human equivalent of LA peak hour...
As we rocked up into Virgin, we found that the plane had left half and hour ago and we were on the standby list... the first standby flight was 3 hours later, and while we waited - it was full and no one got on. I bailed and felt this was not going anywhere, called Farty who was on his way to the pub for Friday night drinks, but Em was in a determined mindset... come hell or highwater we were getting to NY.
The next flight was at 9pm and we got the last couple of tickets, and had to bolt to make the gate... we jumped through an enormous security line by just kind of pushing through everyone (this was actually lots of fun!!), made it to the gate, got on... and then once again they did the bag pulling off trick... another 2 hours sitting on the tarmac!! Need less to say, there were some interesting conversations at this point regarding fighting the river upstream...
Mercury wasn't quite finished with us yet though - rocking into Newark at 3am, our bags failed to materialise - and on the point of exhaustion, we took the limo into our hotel and crashed in bed.
When we awoke, we actually found our hotel rocked - it was a suite in NYC, with a whole living room + a super comfy bed. Things started looking up from here - and besides, not that we needed it, but we had a perfect excuse to go shopping...
We had an awesome time in New York - everything from wickedly fresh sushi to super sweet cupcakes, awesome art, crazy subway rides, french food to die for... we caught Rodregiz and Gabriella live in central park, went up the Empire State with Tony ($7 audio tour) and generally ripped it up...
Unfortunately I missed the big one that I wanted to pick up - the Chapel of the Sacred Mirrors - got up on Sunday and found its closed Sunday and Monday and there was a new moon meditation party there the night before! - but it just seems like I;ve got a little more to do in NYC and will check it out next time... There was also this one weird bit when we did a short meditiation at cleopatra's needle, and it felt like something pulled a fish hook out of my lip but anyway! A little warm up for Portland but I didn;t know that...
On the way over we met a classic American surfer, just fun to talk to, living the dream life - surfing each day, part time work, traveling to costa rica to surf some more and just loving being alive... I was pretty impressed that if this was what Portlanders were like, we were in for a good one..
Walking out of the airport, we saw TJ and Carrie, with big smiles and suddenly we knew we were definitely in the right place at the right time.
We went out to this old farm that had been converted to a restaurant and brewery... the sun was shining, lots of happy people around... just an awesome way to start the ball rolling. Of course, we had forgotten the size of American meals and all ordered entrees and mains just as an expression of the good vibes going round... by the time it came out, there was way, way, way too much for all of us to eat!!
Next day was the first day of the Salmon Paradigm. Also known as manifesting abundance, it got underway with a trip down to the beach (1.5 hours from Portland). I managed to freak some unsuspecting cashiers out trying to buy beer with my Irish licence (possibly the easiest licence in the world to forge) and then stopping to check out the river and see if any early salmon were making a run...
Amazingly, in the very pool we walked down to, there was a big fat salmon just chilling under a fallen tree... we tried for an hour but this guy wasn;t biting but in an episode of reverse psychology managed to lure TJ into the pool, before making a bolt for freedom powering up and away never to be seen again. The Salmon paradigm on occasions does need sacrifices and the first to go was TJ's mobile phone - soaked to it core, it refused to wake up for 3 days... It did not seem to be missed particularly by its owner during this time...
Eventually we made it down to a little town called Astoria and this actually was 4th of July, also known as national pyro day of America. The boys made a run across the border (over the Columbia - a big sucker of a river draining most of the northwest) to Washington, where buying fireworks is legal... I can't remember exactly went on in the fireworks tent - but kids in a candy store does come to mind!
That night, we headed down to the beach, and it really was like being in a warzone... It took a while for the involuntary reflex to duck everytime a cracker went off was able to be overcome... I have no idea how people could possibly remain sane in a warzone - it was absolute mayhem out there...
All the way up and down the coast were fireworks going off, and a thick grey smoke of burnt gunpowder slowly rolled down the coast line... We got into the thick of it, with a bunch of mortars and an assortment of other things that go bang...
TJ and I had organised to go fishing in the morning, so we bailed out early and headed back and smoked a joint. Now I don't normally smoke much, but buds in portland are like rugby in NZ... its almost a religious experience. It wasn't so much a religious experience as a break down in my normal reality...
Chilling outside the house with a nice beer at 12am in the morning, I became aware of that the street lights were going at a really fast pace - god knows how the people close to these blocks get any peaceful sleep but maybe I'm just sensitive. Anyway, with a lot of spiritual material, it suggests you create your own reality and so I decided to check this out... slowly but surely the rate at which these lights were flashing and there duration of staying on and off, slowed right down until it was like there electronics had been coated in molasses... what was going on, I don;t know but it was a nice effect and hopefully the people got a better night sleep that night...
I had a lot of tension in my left shoulder and asked TJ if he could do something about it... as I tranced out with the pot and the massage, it started to get very weird and I could see inside my shoulder - funny globs of green and white energy, just getting them released out of my arm... It was a pretty amazing massage and at the end I felt like my whole shoulder was just pure light...
TJ being a fucker didn't do anything on my right shoulder and so I felt like I was the embodiment of the yinyang symbol - half white, half dark... still I wouldn't have swapped the massage... god it felt good!
We did a night time meditiation bringing all the yang from the outside of our bodies into the core of our bellies and replacing it with all the stored yin and crashed out. Later the girls came in, and had another weird experience having sex with Em and seeing her closed third eye in the middle of her forehead... crazy pyschadelic pot!
We woke at 4am sharp as razors, left the girls sleeping and headed out to the pier. Meeting the owner, he sized us up and put us on the midnight dancer. Barely 20ft long, she was quick and nimble. We had decided that the Salmon Paradigm should continue and so "manifesting abundance" was the mantra of the day. As we headed out into the bay, the sun was rising, big fat beams of light splitting the clouds, and turning the sky deep crimosn reds and oranges - a suitable start to the trip. As we got out a bit further we sailed through a huge feeding frenzy, with armadas of pelicans and black birds all diving into the sea and coming out with beak loads of fish. Literal Abundance. We watched a big black and red ship carve into the harbour, cruising fast - a straight up murder boat having pilaged the seas... one way of getting your fish I suppose.
Then we hit the ocean, and the Pacific was in a motherfucker of a mood. These were big seas and pretty soon I was getting the sea sickness. The captain had warned us, but once going I could slowly feel it building. I was the first to go and it was a hell of a vomit - purging out breakfast, dinner, and what felt like the breakfast before... I was screaming at the ocean letting out all sorts of held in hurts, angers, shit I had taken on and then the light started pouring into my tummy, as if every cell was dancing but I was still vomiting too... This was only about an hour and half in...
Unfortunately the sickness didn;t stop and every 30 mins I'd get another bout, until all that was coming up was a white frothy material - god knows from where deep in unseen parts of my guts. We had hit the fish though and all the boys were on.
In between vomits, I got on and reeled in my first Portland salmon. Being a big fan of the Omnivours Dilemma, I wanted to be present at the moment of death. I was down on my knees and clubbed the fish. To be that involved in the killing of your food was a pretty intense experience and makes you much more appreciative of eating animals - just what it is really about.
We were finally on the way home, big seas washing over the back and I was in the cabin when felt the call, once again to the ocean... It must have been coming up on the twelth vomit... I was warm in the captains jumper having had my other clothes soaked - and I definitely did not want to lose my one source of comfort. I stripped off to my jeans and ran out the back prepared to once again send my abdo muscles into bouts of spasm... but as I leant over, the nausea just literally stopped and I turned around to get nailed by a couple of huge, freezing pacific ocean waves!! It was like getting washed in a pure, clear shower of the gods and I was screaming with happiness and delight - the captain turned around and was almost stunned by this sight and started laughing and shaking his head.
As we exited the boat, he invited us back anytime... crazy arse fishing trip...
It settled a bit after this and Em and I were invited to a wedding on 7.7.07 - I could think of little better way to see experience that lucky day. Hayden and Kia were the bride and groom and it was held on an urban farm on the outskirts of Portland. It backed on to forest and this is where we setup camp. We dressed and walked into heaven.
There is only one thing for sure - Oregonians know how to have an amazing wedding... 7% homebrew kegs, bluegrass bands, drum circles... It was an absolutely stunning day and first stop was the bbq's. TJ had organised for 10 wild king salmon and these suckers were big! 3 bbq's were going and the best thing was that as the fish would bbq, the skin needed scraping off the hot plate... After the first 3 fish, there was a big fat bowl of bbq salmon skin which was as close to a foodies heaven as possible... this stuff was unbelievably good... especially washed down with the killer homebrew! All those people messing around with drugs - Salmon skin off the bbq is the true ectasy experience...
It was a great ceremony, and the atmosphere was just pure joy and love but the real party started afterwards... There was actually so much food at the wedding that by the time the dinner came, I could only get through about a fifth of the amount I had selected, but there was way more food - abundant is barely a suitable description...
The entertainment began with a fire twirler dressed up in red and black hot pants, and he was in the zone... its not generally known that larger objects can exhibit quantum states, but for a good couple of minutes he had split into two fire twirlers... not really knowing what the hell to make of this vision, I just went with it and just dropped into the flow of laughing, happy people having the best time...
Later that night, I came back and hung out with Ann and Alley from the riverhouse... Not generally a big bong smoker these days, but Ann was adamant that I have one - it was the very tip of a big bud and the sucker was laden with crystals... It was much more like smoking keefe than an actual bud... I'm not exactly clear on what the next couple of hours was like, but I'm pretty sure whenever I have no memory of the events... I'm having the time of my life!
Next morning, strangely, the abundance just kept rolling in... champagne and orange juice cocktails with fresh fruit, wicked scrambled eggs with cheese... we tripped along for a while and people slowly started packing up. I had been really keen to do a meditiation at 2pm for the planet as part of the Tom Kenyon workshop and Em, TJ and myself walked over behind the amphitheatre to this amazing space... it was an apple tree surrounded by lush green grass, and it was like it was in a timeless bubble of peace and tranquility.
We sat down and T lead the meditation - it was pretty wild... we first had a baby in our abdomens, and for whatever reason, it felt like I actually did have a uterus!! We then moved the baby all the way up to the size of the planet, the solar system, the galaxy, the stars until the baby was the entire universe... and then brought that image all the way back down again to our tummies... the whole feeling was a total oneness with all things in the universe and of peace and love - we then sent a message of this to the sound workshop, and sent a wave of peace and love to the entire planet - it was so cool to see this silver tsunami of love roll out from Seattle and envelope the whole planet... at the end, it was like the earth was covered in this liquid jelly of world peace... a totally amazing experience...
We headed on down to the river and it was hot in the sunshine... having been missing summer in Ireland it was just bliss to be soaking up the sun... we stripped off and went swimming in the river, washing away all our worries, fears and just been surrounded by the cool calm river. Eventually I made it across to the other side of rocks and sunbaked with a bunch of hot stones up my chakras... I'm not really sure how long this lasted for, but eventually I swam back across - and then the coolest thing happened - I flipped over and was doing my tao of jelly fish meditation and the sun just crossed the tops of the trees... I was staring directly at the sun, just broken by the tops of the trees and it was like golden arcs of sunshine where splitting off from the sun itself... As I jellyfished along, the sun came out from behind the trees and I was staring directly at the sun - I was the most beautiful experience, and was like absorbing pure energy directly into my head... after a minute or two I started getting freaked out by this and eventually looked away - it was such an amazing feeling it was really hard to stop doing!
We got out, and I did some turtle going wading out to deeper water, and it was so effortless, so perfect I knew that this was how it was meant to feel all the time... just pure energy...
That night I did a cool meditation with Alley and Ann and we created Holons of balance around us, and then sent millions of them out to all the animals that are being badly treated in farms on the world to tell them that better times are coming. It was so cool to almost see these crystal pyramids of peace disappear into the night time...
Later that week, I finally got to fix up my right shoulder. I was almost filled with a type of fear as I lay down on the floor and out of the corner of my eye I could swear I saw a purple pentagram directly onto which I lay. Alley went first and her fingers felt like red ribbons of dancing energy, it was pure bliss to feel her hands dancing on my back. Eventually TJ turned up, and decided that walking up my spine was a great treatment! My gasps were loud and breathless, cries of pleasure as my spine realigned. The walking stopped. Then I felt two huge waves of energy rip through my shoulder as if it didn't really exist at all... it was like getting a huge psychic bear claw tear through and clear out years of held memories in one amazing moment. I couldn't move or speak for about 15 minutes after this little episode...
The next night, I was doing a meditation by myself looking out into this cool mini lake in the back of the house, and I asked Spirit for clear vision again. I have been wearing glasses since my vision got stuck at about 15 years old. With all the healings going on, I figured I could ask for something that would really help me. I went back and had a couple of beers and a joint and then was just chatting away and felt pretty good in the world. I went down to the bridge over the river and was just chilling watching the river go by when I heard a voice inside me ask whether I really wanted to see clearly and if so I should really get rid of my glasses... Now, I wasn't really happy about this at all - giving up my glasses was the last thing I wanted to do and I resisted the call, debating with myself whether to proceed with such a rash action.
In the end, I gritted my teeth, went through the fear and through them into the river. I haven't been wearing glasses since, but TJ pointed out whether it was Spirit or some kind of demon... but I'm pretty sure it was a call to go into my fears and head towards healing my eyesight. As of writing this I'm not there yet, but I know its coming soon...
The Thursday, we finally headed out to the event for which we had extended our trip - The Oregon Country Fair. Now Em and I had no idea what this thing was but everyone seemed to think it was a good thing we were going.
Walking in the gates, and suddenly it was like every witch, wizard, elf, faery and Goddess loving beings for miles around was here... Every corner was a crazy expedition into the unknown - people dressed up in all kinds of cool gear, drum circles, bands, meditations, art work, crystals... you name it and it was here. It kind of felt like home.
One of the highlights was Bagavan Das, one of the early pioneers into India... we saw him twice for devotional chanting and the second one was just incredible... we came out floating about 6 feet up in the air, just in a sweet bliss of happiness...
We wandered along and found the food to die for... first vegatarian veitnamese rice paper rolls with mint and nectarine - these were just amazing and followed by some wicked noodles. TJ, Carrie and myself were pretty contented, but then Em rocked up with the piece de resistance... a cottage cheese filled crepe drenched in blueberry sauce. This alone is worth coming to the fair for! Not really knowing when to stop we headed on and found yet more amazing food - banana tempura, honey pineapple and coconut icecream... unbelievablely good...
As we had walked in I knew it was going to be a good day as the sun had a rainbow around it like a halo... and the conclusion of our adventures just capped it off... A band called March Fourth was playing in this awesome rainbow tent, as if a little bit of Kathmandu had been transplanted into Oregon.
The band kicked off, jamming but with more - 4 stilt walkers and a bunch of can can girls... the energy in the place was amazing and it was like this huge vortex was channelling directly up and out of all the music dancing, laughing... I only have glimpses of looking between the four of us, all with huge smiles on our faces... just so grateful for this incredible experience...
When they finally climatically finished... it just left this awesome buzzy bliss... all was good in the world and there is nothing to worry about ever...
As we drove home - the sunset seemed to go for a full 2 hours, a suitable finish to an amazing trip... We eventually made it out to the airport and said goodbye to our good friends TJ and Carrie, and jumped onto the plane having made quite an amazing journey to the US but also much deeper into ourselves...