“How could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?” ~Plato, The Allegory of the Cave

Seven years ago, I was living in Rome, Italy. When I wasn’t in school (which was a lot), I was tucked away, rowing through life along the serpentine cobblestone streets of Trastevere.

Drinking cappuccino’s at the Hot Spot, wine in Piazza Santa Maria, getting lost in Raphael at La Villa Farnesina, or downing shots at Naish with the boys… On the charming Vicolo di Bologna, in a studio space filled with beautiful memories, this was my sanctuary. Being with the wrong partner at the time, the sanctuary served it’s purpose. In retrospect, it served its purpose more than I ever expected.

One night after removing venom that had pierced my heart, I went to bed, and dreamed… I was here, laying in the middle of my bed in my apartment, only there was bright white light all around. Tall white beings surrounded me, looking down, examining me… Damage had been done, they were here to help  because they loved me… They told me not to be scared, to relax, breath, and not move… They repeated, don’t be scared, don’t move, breathe…

Then appeared a translucent silver serpent, it had a black diamond on its head… Slowly it coiled up my body, through me, curling around me… The energy was absolutely incredible, I wouldn’t know how to describe it without sounding like Teresa de Avila, it was so intense… When it arrived at my heart I felt my chest would explode, but instead there was this lightness, and it continued up my neck… When it reached my head it kissed me and my entire essence filled up with tingling light of pure love…

I was told to open my eyes, and when I did, I was there, laying in the middle of my bed in my apartment. It was like nothing I’ve ever felt before…my lips and body were still tingling… I only felt love.

I was confused for a while. I had the love bug, my body tingled for days… I could feel people’s energy, I began having prophetic dreams, past life memories… It was like I had awakened some divine inner strength to prepare and protect myself from what was to come, and that I did… Being the fool that I was, determined to help one that did not seek help, I learned the hard way of what happens when you fail to listen to ones heart.

I may have lost myself, but I never lost my dreams. In the years it took picking up the pieces, the good Graces of the Universe brought a Muse and many Angels into my life who brought me back to life, inspiring me to follow my own path to Peru… It was there that I connected with Pachamama, met my Spirit Guide, and had my first vision of a past life… everything changed after that.

Having discussed my story with my teachers, I have been told that what I experienced in Rome, was a spontaneous “Kundalini Awakening”. Sanskrit for “serpent“, the natural kundalini/serpent energy of the self lays dormant, coiled 3 1/2 times around the root chakra, at the base of our spines.

Once awakened, the kundalini rises up the body through the chakra network. When it reaches ones head, the kundalini is said to kiss the thousand-petal-lotus of the crown chakra, awakening ones inner knowledge, bringing with it pure joy, pure knowledge, and pure love… Some teachers equate this awakening to the state known as nirvana or enlightenment…

For the past seven years, I had been convinced by external forces that my experiences were just silly “dreams”…

… I needed to gear all my attention and efforts into finding the perfect job with health insurance,a 401K, a credit card to build “credit”  and buy the house, car, mortgage and everything else I can’t afford … All the things we’ve been told we have to do, in order to be happy and successful… All the things we’ve been told we have to do, in order to “benefit” from corporate run health services that are actually making us more sick… All the things we’ve been told we have to do, for figures on a screen that don’t exist… My health and soul nearly shattered in pursuit of this illusion…

Now that I’m re-awakening, I can’t help but dive instead into the mysteries of the self and wonder about the star beings and places I’m connected to, the lost world of my dreams that wasn’t Atlantis, and most importantly, the Now…

Completely broke, and in desperate need of a temporary job (that doesn’t involve health insurance, a 401K, nor a man peeing in bottles behind my back), the Universe, with her sense of humour, granted me exactly that… one week at “Mega Corporation”.

They say from small beginnings come great things… This year couldn’t have gotten off to a better start 🙂

“Enlightenment will be now the beginning, not the end. Beginning of a non-ending process in all dimensions of richness. ”
~Osho