Entries this day: Catch_up Path_of_the_shaman_course emiko_lesson

Catch up

6:38am JST Saturday 25 July 2009 (day 14367)

I've thoroughly been slacking writing for a while. Here's the latest:

I made the 6:36am train toward Tokyo station to meet Jon "What's missing here" at 8am at Korakuen station to attend Kevin's shamanism workshop from 9:30am. Yay! Definitely looking forward to seeing both Jon and Kevin. They've never met; I'm interested in hearing their conversations.

Prior to this, I slapped some lunch together while wondering where I left my slacks (last wore them at Duets: Seasons of Love, on the 22nd), and pouring a bunch of sugar and ants down the toilet to get them out of the pantry. Sigh. Need to get some ant-proof containers; the plastic clippies just weren't cuttin' the sweet sweet sugary goodness from the ants' olfactory glands (?).

Last night, while getting to bed around midnight after watching the first 10 minutes of Dark Mission - The Secret History of NASA (2008), I remembered to put some brown rice ('genmai') in the rice cooker for my consumption today.

There's a bunch of dishes in the kitchen sink, though they are basically rinsed.

- - - - recently - - - -

1. I've been thinking about making a way for me to write journal entries with my iPhone. I used to have a way I could just email a certain address and have it parse the content and post journal entries that way. It was only obscure-secure, so I now just use scp with ssh keys.

2. Sabina wrote a description of a photon detector which I placed a kilometer underground in the Castle of Dreams. Still slowly inviting people to join and write descriptions of rooms. Haven't gotten much responsed from original Castle of Dreams members (Guenivere, Red Fern, Scout Seven, Nim), but I think they've all seen it (maybe Scout Seven has not).

3. I've embarked on an adventure in abstinence. Haven't had sex since May (thanks to Ami for remembering the month), and haven't had an orgasm since early June, via 4chan/hc online. I'm planning to continue the non-orgasmic lifestyle through August at least.

4. Recently had a job interview and will work starting in August, so that should help me stay distracted from the internets.

5. I plan to give 100,000 yen to Mark for use in FOREX. Maybe a bit more, but probably not less.

6. Been helping Traci with Cow-Go, and have therefore cancelled my plan to go to OZ in August for Avatar with Soness and seeing Sally in Adelaide.

   Traci's great idea of having a checklist per student has really helped me get a grasp on who has done how much of the registration process.

   I seem to have lost the receipt book, which is a bummer ecologically, though there were only like 4 receipts used so it's not such a huge loss logistically.

7. Have enjoyed talking to Moonie at The Pink Cow recently; she's a pretty cool person. Daisha, another cool person, was there last night for her new event ヌヌ (nu-nu), where she presents new music just to get a sense of audience reaction. She showed me a cool $600 device+records+software that allows a DJ to scratch mp3s using a real turntable. Basically the device listens to the turntable output for its standardized record being scratched, and through USB tells the software how to play the current mp3.

7:18am JST

I'm tired and gonna sleep till Tokyo station arrival (15 mins or so).

Path of the shaman course

6:50pm JST Saturday 25 July 2009 (day 14367)

Today was the first day of me taking Kevin's Path of the Shaman course. I told Jon about it while we were in CPC together, and he came as well, so I'm really happy about that. Due to Japanese translation requirement, the course has gone a bit slower than I would like, but we did 5 experiential outings: two to the lower world, and two to the upper world, and then half of us did one more to the lower world where we each got our client's power animal. I perceived a horse, and my client seemed really happy with the results.

To be honest, I thought I might be doing it wrong because as soon as I heard the plan for the journey, I perceived horse as her power animal. While traveling, I got the message multiple times (saw the horse, rode the horse, looked into its eye, saw its teeth) so just went with it.

I didn't bring with me the notes I took during the course, but I sorta remember how it went:

1. zzzz

2. zzzz snrk

3. zzzz snrk snrk

4. zzzz ah! zzz

5. gotta see a horse about a woman

8:09pm JST Sunday 26 July 2009 (day 14368)

Okay, I have my book now, but first I'm going to write the next entry, about yesterday's lesson with Emiko.

8:16pm JST

Aight, I'll transcribe what I wrote.

First, the notes before we did any traveling:

A methodology, not a religion, shamanism allows shamans to travel to lower world and upper world
(Focus 27 of TMI) for direct experience and creates his
own mythology and archtypes.  Shamanism is a spiritual democracy.

Shamans don't channel spirits; shamans stay in control of their experiences.

Whereas the modern life meme says life is dangerous and meaningless, shaman life finds life magical
and alive.

4 ~ 7 hz drumbeat to put one in a shamanistic state

When traveling down to lower world, don't worry about magma or earthworms.

These are the notes from after each session (6 - 11 are from second day):

1. Explore Lower World:

   Zzzzzzz

   I zond out like ZZZ

   Started swimming down into the rock carved by weather in Hidden Valley with Elephant (Gana) statue in front: down down down until time to return had lots of visions but remember little now.

2. Ask a question in lower world:

   What are my next optimal spiritual steps?

   Kept going down, fell asleep.

   Lots going on - when called back down I hope this CD comes to me I'll get a copy of it.

   Kept looking for rabbits. Nothing stable enough to be my animal???

   could see my calculator from high school at the wake up time or after.

   continuing to lie down

   images of high school girls in my mind as they're walking to class?

   worried about something

   sleep sleep totally, and experience that cosmic boredom

3. going to upper world

   Surprised to hear callback. I sat vertically in meditaiton position and woke up to fix my posture and have visions but none stayed with me mentally. Heard Mark's heavy sleep breathing a few times. Had to work to stay in meditation. I want my yummy yogurt now.

   Started with memory of climbing tree in my 7 year old dreams. climb climb climb

4. upper world with a question.

   How can I relax about completing my optimal life mission?

   Feeling of presence not visual welcome the feeling

   Zonked out and forgot to do it and woke up and still going on whoohoo second chance zonked out and time to come back. Shoot! heal me answer me!

   You did it You're doing it You're winning

   Just keep it up.

5. I bring power animal to client (Akiko)

   Horse immediately knew while standing (in Focus 1)

   Horse again in lower world

   riding horse in great plain

   look into horse's eye

   saw horse's smile

6. I am client for shaman bringing an old one of my animals back to me

   Eagle seeking truth

   Dove peaceful

7. lower world: merge with one power animal and joyride

   Lots of sleeping - some flying - some Rabbit

   ZZZZZZZZ.......

8. Shaman dance

   Fun! I felt happy dancing freestyle around the room. I heard myself as a wolf howling at points

9. Bring my animal up to middle world and travel

   ZZZZZZZ

10. shaman finds ailments in me

    right thigh, right lower ribs

    bingo 2 out of 3. I had banged on both my thighs during dance, and my water bottle has been banging on my ribs there.

11. find ailments in client

    left thigh; easier to find if I switched to massage mode

emiko lesson

8:09pm JST Sunday 26 July 2009 (day 14368)

Yesterday I had a lesson with Emiko (which started exactly 24 hours ago cause she was a bit late) at Motoya cafe in Bunkyodo bookstore. When I walked in, a girl smiled at me from a nearby table and I think commented to her two friends (male and female) about me. Hmm. I made eye contact with her a couple times before and during the lesson, and then we waved bye to each other as Emiko and I walked out at 9:05pm. I considered greeting her with my card, but figured if she were interested she had tons of time to say HI to me first, and I don't need to be chatting up young females anyway, and... perhaps I'll see her next week. 90% guarantee I'll never see her again, but there's a bit of fantasy in my brain; maybe she goes there each Saturday night, etc etc.

Lesson with Emiko was fine though she left her homework at home. We flipped through Metropolis Magazine some and she summarized different articles she had read.