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It’s a while since I wrote part 1 of this series. And to be honest, it was possibly just a tad ranty. But only a little (okay, I’m still apologising over that one…) and well, I still meant most of what I wrote – behind the anger (which was related to other things going on right then).
Anyway, it’s a brand new year (hooray!), and I’ve been handed another lovely blog award by Linda’s Yoga Journey (my humble thanks!).
Plus, I seem to have levelled out a little from last week’s meltdown, and hopefully I’ll handle any future episodes with a little more style. Hopefully.
So. Let me backtrack to the start of this particular story. The year was 1998.
Seeking…?
Actually, I never meant to have a Guru. I wasn’t seeking one out. I had no idea they existed up til the time I met mine. And even then it took me a few years.
There are people who are dubious of Gurus. And well, to make this story appear all the more dubious – he’s not Indian. He’s a white man. An American too, for good measure. And yeah, he uses a funny Sanskrit name.
So do I, these days…
Not that I knew any of that at the time… I was there for the runes.
Oh yeah – I have a long history of searching, my whole life really. Not knowing what I was looking for. And it led to a whole bunch of experiences in the ‘pagan’ community. You name it – I’ve possibly been into it at one point or another.
Actually, Anthroyogini wrote a fabulously funny post, letting rip on her early ‘spiritual pursuits’. I laughed hard when I read it because I have plenty of my own foolish stories (in a post coming soon-ish).
Anyways, I’d been learning a Norwegian runic system for about a year and a half – a really interesting oral tradition of runes as an oracle, mythology, martial arts, healing, breathing practices, trance work and a whole bunch more.
So the guy I’d been learning from (referred to in this post as my ex, A) says – the dude who taught me this stuff is gonna be in town and will be running a two day workshop. You should come along. And so I did.
Walls of glory
I stayed at the house of my rune teacher, and we drove to a beautiful part of northern Sydney, surrounded by nature and spitting distance from some of the most glorious beaches in the country.
We arrived at a split level home surrounded by trees, entering a few minutes late via the bottom level.
Finding a spot to sit, I noted walls plastered almost floor to ceiling with the most amazing pictures I’d ever seen. Iridescent people, with eyes you could stare into for eons. Incredibly intricate and emotive images I could sort of associate with all things Indian. The room itself was alive.
Its here I meet my Guru for the first time, in his own home. He is my rune teacher’s teacher. That moment of introduction was innocuous, I can’t recall it exactly…
I do remember clearly, however, when he started talking.
The topics were runes, mythology and rune carving (below is a photo of the set I carved that weekend).
If I’m very honest with myself, I was captivated from the first word.
But who was this 6’3″ tall, cocky yet humble, loud but gentle, funny, intense, wise and knowing American with the New York accent? I still had no idea.
I felt enchanted, and strangely attracted to this man talking to us about Norse history, layers of meaning associated with runes and cross-referencing to the mythology.
He seemed to like my questions, and my attempts at discussing various topics. I just really liked listening to him speak.
By the end of the second day, I was floating on some kind of bliss cloud. I couldn’t have told you why.
But not in a ‘let’s jump in the sack and have wild monkey sex’ kind of way…
More of a ‘oh wow, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as interesting as this person. I’d really like to talk to him again’ kind of way…
So, I did.
At that time I was working as a practice manager for a team of alternative health professionals. Doing the Saturday morning shift. I had with me, this man’s home phone number. I was nervous. About calling him.
What was I doing anyway? I mean, why was I calling this guy? And what did I even want to talk to him about? I had no idea…
But then he was on the phone, and he was chilled, funny and genuine. Just like I remembered.
And, despite his busy schedule, he made time to meet up the following weekend. Just him and me…
~Svasti
Svasti: A Journey From Assault To Wholeness 