Namaste everyone, happy new year! It certainly is here in New Zealand. The weather is beautiful, our group has arrived safe and well, we are settling into the rhythm of the retreat. While many things seem similar on retreats, like morning pranayama, 32 names of Durga and morning meditation, no two retreats are ever the same! Already the spiritual energy is flowing and clear themes are arising, much of which has to do with the elements, nature and our spiritual relationship with it. We also have a big theme of surrender, which we will talk about later.

One of our first experiences before the group arrived was to go and bless the lake, something that Ganga is particularly suited for as she has a very strong relationship with the element of Water. We were reminiscing about some of the interesting things that have happened to Ganga. Some years ago when in Bali on retreat, Ganga and Jagatambe went to a day spa, which was one where they used many small fish in indoor pools of water who would come and nibble your feet and exfoliate them. Two people sat at either end with their legs dangling into the water, and the fish usually went to both pairs of feet. But not when Ganga was around. They just wanted to be near her. Jagatambe ended up with no fish! So Ganga got out and went to another tub and as soon as her feet were in the water, the same thing happened, the fish abandoned the other person and all swam to her.  Then, when she got up to leave, she had to walk between two pools of fish. The fish all abandoned the pairs of feet in the water, and just followed Ganga from one end of the pool to the other, staying as close to her as they could.  She walked back, and the fish all turned around. Wherever she went the fish went too!

We thought we would take her salmon and trout fishing here on the lake… just pop your feet over the edge Ganga… (just kidding)

As you could imagine, New Zealanders, particularly in the South Island, are going through a very challenging time at present. We read in the paper there have been 8,000 earthquakes and tremors confirmed in Christchurch since September 2010 when they started. The feeling of hopelessness and fear, anxiety and depression is pretty strong, but so is the spirit of the people who are living through it. Many people are still homeless, whole streets have been declared no-go zones and many others are in ‘orange’ zones where there is a lot of destruction, and continuing rumbles from below as well as liquefaction of the earth, causing vehicles to sink into the Earth and be partly buried in mud while they are parked on the road.

On our first evening here, before the arrival of the group, our staff meditated with me concerning whether we could possibly do anything to assist. Whenever one is working with Divine energy, one cannot predict outcomes, but being overwhelmed at the size of the problem doesn’t really help: better to do something than nothing.

When we got into it, we noticed that the energy of the South Island compared to the North Island looked frozen, as though there had been a deliberate attempt to stop energy work having any effect. We were pushed around by waves of tiredness and apathy, and a feeling that there was nothing we could do. Through Parameshwari we realized these were not natural urges, and so were able to dissolve that Maya and continue on.

We were impulsed to connect with some of the many Tirthas of the world. Tirthas are places of spiritual power in the Earth, many of which become significant places of pilgrimage such as Maya Devi temple in Haridwar, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas of India, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Egypt and so forth). We connected to 8 sites that we have visited and have connections to. We then used the energy of the Tirthas to ‘crack’ the ice within the energy field of the south Island and get things moving.

At the request of Parameshwari, we intend to establish a new Tirtha here in Queenstown, and to anchor it to the sites we have visited in other countries and Guru Rock, with the aim of helping the Earth to use its own energy to heal the damaged ley lines which look like tangled black spaghetti under the Canterbury Plains.

When our spiritual family arrived, we shared the intention to create a Tirtha and we have been working every day on that. One of the threads of this retreat is deep and sacred work with Mother Earth, and we are all benefiting from that; as we serve so grace and happiness flood into us.

Another strand of our retreat has to do with surrendering fear, moving beyond the usual comfort zones that bind us, and trying new physical things we have not tried before. Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand, (perhaps the world!) and as Parameshwari is a master at integration, that too is weaving into our retreat.

Yesterday we had a group excursion on the Queenstown Gondola, rising up around 1500 feet to a scenic lookout, and a land of adventure sports including paragliding, bungee and luge riding. Nearly everyone had a go (or in Savitur’s case 8 goes) on the Luge, careering down the hill in small sleds using body weight to turn around sharp turns, through tunnels and avoiding other luge drivers. Then, nearly half of our group decided to jump off the mountain doing tandem paragliding with an instructor. One woman who did this usually needed sedatives to get on a commercial airplane, yet she overcome the urge to faint at take off and soared like an eagle, being totally exhilarated at the experience that she had. She really felt her spirit and received a big initiation that evening.

Another strand of this retreat has to do with the esoteric realities of the Sun. We all tend to take the golden, life giving energy of the Sun a bit for granted, not understanding how its energy and rhythms affect us. All of nature is so intimately related to humanity, in both the physical and non-physical expressions.

The first interactive experience with the Sun occurred when our beloved Ganga attained Golden Body initiation. Our retreat sessions are being held in a room which has stupendous views of the lake, sky and mountains. As her initiation took place on Wednesday, the sky immediately turned golden, and the lake also turned golden, reflecting the light of the slowly setting sun. I could not see this as the light was behind me, but according to those who were watching, the moment the initiation started, the golden energy poured into the sky and the water. It was a very moving initiation, as they all are. We have not seen the same kind of golden spectacular before or since in the 6 days we have been here, and it only lasted for the duration of her initiation. Om  Surya, Om Ganga!

On Thursday, day two, we had a rip snorting meditation whereby we all turned into eagles and flew into the Sun, burning up that which was not for our highest good and like the Phoenix, being re-formed at a higher turn of the spiral. This was a mind blowing group experience and may have had something to do with the subsequent desire of so many of our group to go flying!

On Friday we had another unusual Sun experience as we walked to the base of the gondola to go up the mountain. The Sun was surrounded by a remarkable circle of light, such that it looked like a giant eye, with the actual sun as the pupil. It was as though a completely round reddish purple rainbow perfectly surrounded the sun. Immediately I felt the energy of an inter-dimensional portal opening, and vast energy came pouring in. We all felt huge blessings flowing down from the Sun. Interestingly Krishnangi who is a yoga teacher in our group, has been doing daily Surya Namaskar, which is a yoga ritual of 12 Salutes to the Sun (Surya) while reciting the 12 mantras of the 12 names of Surya. Last night she was empowered spiritually to use these mantras and mudras for her own spiritual transformation and that of others.

Another theme is the Eagle. Three days before we left home, Shiva and I were visited by two huge wedge tailed eagles, with wingspans of around 2 metres wide, which sat outside our bedroom windows. This was preceded by two shamanic Eagle events. The first one was in Perth, where Shiva and I were introduced to a Shamanic Eagle ritual dance, which was incredibly powerful. We really became one with the spirit of the Eagle. The next one was in Cooranbong. I was given an Eagle ring from Canada, and Shiva had an Eagle sitting in his etheric body prior to New Year. Then our first meditation with the group was all about accessing our eagle bodies and flying into the Sun, dying, and then being free to fly, learn, embody sublime energies and then come back into our normal bodies feeling light, refreshed and really free.  Just in case we missed the significance of the Eagle to us at our retreat, one of our retreat participants who previously lived in North America and is now resident in New Zealand, worked extensively in Native American healing and shamanic circles. She was given a set of eagle feathers, which she has had for more than 20 years. Prior to coming to the retreat she received Divine guidance to bring the feathers with her and she gave them to me as a gift after the Eagle meditation. These feathers were very important as an ingredient in last night’s blessings that happened after all the paragliding.

From the paragliding experience, half of our group yesterday had a very up close and personal sense of actually flying and hovering in the air, just like an eagle. Then, last night, several of the senior disciples were given initiations to connect Eagle fashion with their entire energy body, past present and future.  A karmic dispensation was given by Parameshwari bringing development of the etheric body from 5 years hence to vest now, so that the disciples could be more empowered to do their missions and to undertake the work that we need to do here in New Zealand for our Tirtha project. This energy will weave into their physical, astral and etheric bodies over the coming weeks and months, and will be strengthened by application of the pillars of Shanti Mission. If the energy is not used, then the gift will dissipate and flow back into clear space again. This gift was actually given to each and every person on the retreat. Lucky them!

Some photos of our adventures can be found on the facebook page and we hope you enjoy them.

Blessings to you all, with love from Shakti Durga and our New Zealand crew!