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"That won't
happen to me!" My thoughts were a confusion of skepticism, curiosity
and wonderment. Luzclara stood only to my chin and yet, dressed in the
regalia of the indigenous peoples with whom she had apprenticed she looked
much taller and more powerful than her physical stature suggested. She
wore a long black dress, a brightly colored scarf braided into her long
salt and pepper hair, and jewelry made of silver coins worn around her
head, her neck, and her waist. With every movement she emanated a tinkling
sound. Her eyes brightly shone of ecstasy and focus and her smile was
contagious. A woman of the heart, she carried the power of a Machi, shaman
healer of bodies, minds, and souls among the Mapuche peoples of southern
Chile.
I knew that I was in the presence of a woman reputed to be a gifted healer;
one of whom I had only heard good things. But as I witnessed her perform
healing rituals with the others present, my mind began its critical dissection
of what was enfolding before me. "People are so suggestible,"
I thought to myself while watching yet another person fall into trance
after no more than a minute facing the shaman. Each person was caught
by three assistants before hitting the floor. The Machi was performing
healing on people in groups of four. Soon it was to be my turn.
Luzclara stood before me as she had the others. Her loving nature was
palpable; her eyes penetrated, and yet seemed to look beyond, me. In her
right hand she held a condor feather which was approximately two feet
in length. She gently tapped my head with it, then my heart, then my abdomen.
I closed my eyes; I felt very peaceful, but I had made up my mind that
I was not going to "play along" and submit to falling back as
the others had. After all, I said to myself with some arrogance, "I
am a psychologist and certified hypnotherapist; no one is going to hypnotize
me unless I submit to the process." I did not intend to submit to
anyone but . . . I felt so peaceful. I could hear the sound of the feather
cutting through the air as the Machi was whisking it close to my skin
like an expert swordsman. The movements seemed to trace acupuncture meridians.
She was just audibly chanting some unrecognizable words.
I counted to myself as a means of not letting Luzclara's actions capture
my focus. I remember getting to "7" just as I felt enveloped
by a rush of air against my skin. I felt three pair of hands gently catch
me. The air wasn't moving; I was! Just as the others had before me, I
lay on the floor. "My god, she did it!" I was both excited and
surprised as I lay fully aware of my surroundings; my mind quite lucid.
Convinced of the Machi's skills as a shaman, and feeling the lovingness
of her presence, at last I permitted myself to relax into the situation
to fully receive what would come my way. I felt safe and vulnerable as
a child . . . but in a good way! For the next hour I continued to lie
there deeply immersed in my dreams as Luzclara chanted, danced, and washed
the four of us with healing sounds of the drum and mouth harp. I arose
feeling absolutely vibrant. It was past midnight, Luzclara had performed
healings on over 30 people!
One year later my
wife, Gail, and I had the opportunity to assist at a gathering of people
interested in studying shamanism. The group was large, over 150 people,
and the setting was spectacular, Canyon de Chelley (Arizona). There we
were, camping several days on the canyon floor surrounded by Anasazi cliff
dwellings in the center of the Navaho Reservation. We had come to conduct
ceremony with several shaman and healers from South America who had traveled
far to teach and participate with us. Among them were Luzclara and her
husband, Tom Heckel. During this time together, Gail and I were to learn
much more of these two remarkable people.
Among the Mapuche, only women and a very few homosexual men are called
upon to serve their community as a Machi. The traditional calling to this
vocation is through the Dream, and Luzclara was no exception. When she
was 48 years of age Luzclara dreamed that she would meet an old Machi
who would teach her to become a healer in the traditional ways. Luzclara
writes of this experience in the book, Uncoiling the Snake: Ancient Patterns
in Contemporary Women's Lives (edited by Vicki Noble, 1993):
In my dream, I arrived
at the house of a famous woman healer who was wearing the traditional
black dress and white blouse of the Mapuche women. She was suffering from
a pain in her knee, so naturally I offered to lay my hands on to alleviate
the pain. She accepted, and when I touched her the pain went away. In
that moment she said to me, "You are a healer. You have the Spirit
in your hands and your energy is stronger than mine." I felt very
happy and tears of joy rolled down my cheeks. (pg. 72)
But as time passed, life intervened and the dream became lost in ensuing
events. However, Luzclara continued to have occasional dealings with the
Maphuche peoples. More than a year passed when a friend invited Luzclara
to accompany her on a visit to the Mapuche lands. This friend, Ana, was
in the process of writing a book about traditional medicinal herbs and
her plan was to meet and talk with one of the Mapuche healers, Machi Antonia.
Ana and Luzclara were both received warmly by the Machi, but Luzclara
noticed that Antonia was limping badly.
She told us that
she had injured her knee and was in pain. At that point, she noticed the
drum I was carrying and asked me to play for her. She was very curious
to see that I played with my hands and not with a stick {as was the practice
of the Mapuche whose drum, the kultrun, plays a central role in all of
their ceremonies and healing rituals}. I played very happily and became
inspired. She listened with great attention. When I stopped playing my
hands were very hot, and I felt a lot of energy coming through them. Without
giving it a second thought, I offered to lay my hands on her knee. She
curiously accepted and sat in a chair, while I kneeled next to her on
the dirt floor and put my hands on her knee. She gave a little jump like
she felt an electric shock current, and looking directly into my eyes
she said, "You have the Spirit in your hands. You are a Machi."
In that moment, I remembered the dream and tears of joy rolled down my
cheeks. I had finally met my Indian Machi for whom I had waited so long.
(pg. 72)
This was the beginning
of Luzclara's apprenticeship with Machi Antonia. To this day Luzclara
remains one of a handful of mestizo women who were to receive full initiation
into the ways of the Machi. Gail and I were spellbound by her story until
Luzclara shifted the flow of conversation abruptly. "Did you know
that Tom is perhaps the most sought-after psychic visionary and channel
in Chile?" she asked. Having just met the man a few days earlier
I had noticed that Tom radiated a remarkable centeredness but, because
of his non-assuming nature, he just seemed to blend in. He assisted in
ceremony when needed and was always willing to lend a helping hand, but
Tom's helpfulness always supported the work of others and he did not draw
attention to himself in any way. In so doing, he became rather invisible
(which seemed to be his preference). Luzclara explained that Tom's initiation
into the spiritual path was very interesting; if I could get him to talk
about it, it would be well-worth the listening. Truly it was, but pulling
together his story was much like patch-work quilting; a piece here and
a piece there.
Nearly three decades ago, in India's holy city of Varanasi, Tom experienced
an awakening that was to change his life forever. Walking out of a small
shop, Tom fell into a faint. To the outside observer he must have appeared
to be undergoing something akin to an epileptic episode, but on the inside
what he felt was quite different. He explained, "A spiraling energy
field of golden light pierced the top of my head and flowed like nectar
throughout my body, penetrating every cell of my being. It seemed as if
I was existing as an energy field sustained in consciousness, between
time and eternity. My physical body was an idea, a reference point of
thought within an infinite sea of identity. I closed my eyes and became
an expansive mass of light and sound."
As Tom spoke, I looked around me. The canyon walls that had seen so many
peoples and ceremonies over the millennia seemed the perfect setting to
hear this tale of personal enfoldment. I deduced that Tom's sudden taste
of the Divine, while beautiful, was incredibly disruptive to his life.
Tom entered into a new world of perception with little preparation and
no advance warning. Able to see auras, read thoughts, and hear whispers
of the Divine, Tom was afraid he was losing his sanity as the unfamiliar
world into which he entered threatened to overwhelm him. But grace was
in no short supply. Over the next four years Tom was approached by several
gurus in succession. He did not seek them out; they came to him unsolicited
. . . offering to provide him the assistance needed so that he would be
able to use his new-found psychic gifts with impeccability and integrity.
He remained in India for four years...living in strict austerity in Himalayan
caves, wandering as an ascetic, eventually mastering consciously aware
living.
Over the years, Gail and I have had the opportunity to meet and train
with several remarkable shaman and healers. More than a few have come
to the Path of Service and Spirit through means that are different than
Luzclara and Tom, yet equally amazing. Two individuals we know were struck
by lightening - twice. {This, by the way, occurs more frequently than
you might imagine in the Andes. Among some tribes who live at high elevations
the single most frequent cause of accidental death is by lightening strike.
Those that survive the experience are deemed to be "chosen by Nature".
Some are left with enduring gifts of vision and insight and are accepted
into apprenticeship training with a shaman.} Others become healers as
a direct consequence of their own healing from a near-fatal illness or
trauma.
Clearly, the magic of receiving such dramatic calls to service are inspiring
for the rest of us. But we all receive opportunities to provide loving
acts of kindness every day. Even if our actions go unnoticed, it is the
cumulative effect of these simple acts in the context of our day-to-day
lives that are the true miracles. When even ordinary moments become imbued
with meaning and purpose through good action performed with purity of
heart, we then grow in the perception that we are living in a state of
grace. When just one person grows into this awareness, all those whose
lives he or she touches also reap the benefits.
Art Roffey, Ph.D., D.D., is a licensed psychologist and certified hypnotherapist
who received his doctorate in Counseling Psychology and completed a two-year
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Primary Care Health Psychology. He also holds
a doctorate in Divinity and a Master of Science degree in Systems Management.
Dr. Roffey has been an avid student of indigenous healing practices for
many years, making annual trips to South America to train with tribal
healers and shamans. He presently serves as the founding Director of Innervision,
P.C. in West Bloomfield, MI. He can be reached at 248-865-9416;
his e-mail address is: InnervisionPC@msn.com.
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