(continued – part 1 here)
He said he couldn’t find me. I knew that. I couldn’t even find myself.
That’s why I was breathing in the thick, humid air of the Peruvian jungle encompassing me. Over the first several days of my stay with Mateo and his tribe, I was subjected to physical and spiritual kneading to release and realign, like rolfing. Each session resulted in heat shooting through my body and tears bursting from my eyes. Saying they were intense would be an understatement.
While there, I was able to follow him as he worked with the people in the village. I was included in their everyday life, like fishing for piranha, playing with the pet monkeys, dancing, eating, and learning about their folklore. I remember one of their lore stories perfectly.
In the Amazon, there are freshwater dolphins, also known as Boto or Boutu, that swim in the river. They are born into this world blacker than night but, as they mature, turn pink from eating piranha. They say the dolphins are powerful sorcerers and shapeshifters that have mated with the women of the village throughout history, bringing power to the Shamans born through that ancestral line.
These dolphins are very rare to witness, and to see one is to, in essence, be blessed by their otherworldly intelligence. One day, I came face-to-face with one.
I was fishing for piranha with Mateo and some of the tribe folk. We were out on the water in a wooden canoe made in the village. The calm water suddenly broke, and there it was. A pink dolphin emerged from the muddy river, came right up to our canoe, and just stared at me. I froze and gazed at this amazing and strange-looking creature looking back at me. I experienced excitement, awe, and gratitude in quick succession, settling with a deep inner peace I’d never felt before. It was as if time was suspended in that moment.
The pink dolphin was a sign that I was on the right path. I feel if it could’ve spoken, it would’ve told me of the immense power I had locked away, a power only ancients recognize, a power that I needed to bring to the light. It truly saw me, beyond my physical form and through the dark layers I’d surrounded my spiritual self in. That dolphin knew what I hadn’t; a spiritual awakening was coming.
(to be continued)
