It was impossible to worry there.
It was silent, reverent. There were people, but no chattering, no frivolity. It was rather like the time two friends and I traveled to Germany to visit the silent guru Mother Meera. The silence was so thick you could swim through it.
Daughter Darling, Baby Boy Darling and I were visiting Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, “The City of Refuge.”
There were maybe 50 people there, yet we hardly noticed each other. People moved quietly around the huts noticing the tiki’s who guarded this sacred place, and people stopped to look out to sea. Occasionally one would turn around to honor the mountain behind us. The sea roared its continual sounding of life. Brilliant yellow tangs (fishes) dotted the tidal zone and an occasional sea turtle waved a flipper giving us a high-five.
We had read of this place is called “The Crossroads of the Universe.” If you are able to travel physically to the Edge of Eternity, it would be there at the City of Refuge. It is located 20 miles or so south of Kailua-Kona. Some believe this is an energy vortex for those who have not been able to get out of their own “soup.” Supposedly there are two distinct entities there who are guardians of this sacred spot. There are tall spirits, and little ones likened to menehunes. We saw no spirits; neither did we see the “excited” tiki that according to Pila of Hawaii if he offends you you are beyond repair. He is a symbol that once one’s “housecleaning “is over, the zest for life returns. We were wondering if he was censored by someone beyond repair.
Baby Darling played in the sand, and later waded in the crystalline waters of the sand-lined bay. We were there for a few hours, just there, being at-one-with the area, feeling peaceful, getting out of our own skin. The temperature was perfect. The blustery wind we had experienced not 30 miles away at a gas station was non-existent. The sky was overcast. We stood barefooted on Pele’s pahoehoe (smooth lava) for it is said that standing there will cause things you need to resolve to bubble to the surface.
As we stood looking out to sea the couple next to us pointed. “Dolphins.” A pod of dolphins swam off shore; occasionally one would curve its beautiful body in that gentle arc of dolphins and show his blue-silver hide. We watched as they continued their journey down the shore-line. And then before they drifted from our sight one gave us an aerial display, leaping from the water in a joyful acrobatic flip. “Goodbye, goodbye,” said the dolphin, “Good bye, good bye. You can be free too. You can be innocent and care-free as us.”
The City of Refuge still contains a massive stone wall built in 1550 that separates the royal grounds from the pu’uhonua, the sanctuary. Fallen warriors or individuals who had broken some taboo and were sentenced to death could, if they manage to make it to this place, be forgiven and return home to their families. It was a place of a second chance. No blood was to be shed within its confines.
We planned to stay until sunset for we heard that is the time of greatest healing, but as we sat there, we suddenly felt complete—it was time to go. So we left as the glow of Ra lighted the overcast sky and the ball of the sun remained hidden in clouds.
We drove the 20 or so miles to Kona, and as we got out to go to dinner, the ball of the sun was there hanging orange over the palms, and people stopped alongside the road. Some sat on the little rock wall alongside the road watching the setting sun and taking pictures. We watched until it was down, and commented to each other that this was a “happening” place. Because of our location on the south side of the island, we never see a sunset. The area felt enlivened. Music wafted on the breeze, and we sat overlooking the endlessly pounding sea while we dined at Forest Gumps Restaurant.
Perhaps if we had moved to the Kona side of the island we would want to stay on the island, but we are glad we didn’t for we believe our destiny lies someplace else.
On the Big Island you are on special ground. You are at standing at a doorway in your reality where even the Earth itself liquefies and nothing is as it may seem. Says, Pila of Hawaii, “That is the reason I feel it is paramount for individuals to come here and experience the energy in person at least one time.”
Many people find their direction just by coming to the Big Island.
No wonder it “calls” people.
