Palenque

A little more than a thousand years ago, Lord Pakal held forth at Palenque. His mother had been king before him and his son took over after Lord Pakal’s sixty eight year reign. Lord Pakal was a great esoteric warrior/king of the Americas.

Today, Ch’ol, the language of Pakal, is spoken at Palenque and here in the area north of San Fransisco. A local anthropologist friend has told me that today there are more Ch’ol speakers in San Rafael California than at Palenque. Visiting Palenque is now difficult. The Zapatista rebellion and tourists by the bus loads have challenged the once pristine quiet of this ruin in the Chiapas jungle.

My first visits to Palenque in the early 1990’s were simple opportunities to come into a communication with the spirit of Lord Pakal. He was entombed at the bottom of the so-called Temple of Inscriptions in an ornate sarcophagus which was open to public visitation. I would visit with him once a day and then sit outside his temple and listen. I took a room at the hotel Chan-Kah, a then modest place built inside the ruins. After a week or so I was full and returned home. Some years I visited two or three times. Some years I had no need to visit. Once, I was fortunate to be at his tomb when it was closed to the public.

Lord Pakal was an important teacher of mine and visits to his temple were important pilgrimages for me. He taught me how to establish relationship and receive teachings and blessings from the spirits of saints. He protected me from attack by negative spirits and encouraged me in my confusions. And he taught me to navigate the stars.

Why am I writing this? Until I met Lord Pakal, I had no understanding of the possibilities of pilgrimage for serious students of the esoteric. Lord Pakal opened my eyes to the teachings available from the spirits of saints who welcome us on pilgrimage.

12/16/18

Chaco Canyon: Hidden In Plain Sight

Yes, Chaco Canyon is hidden in plain sight, hidden behind the World Heritage designation and the National Park Service tourist welcoming.

Chaco Canyon is a remote national park in northwestern New Mexico about three hours drive from the Albuquerque Airport. Camping, by reservation, is available inside the park. Outside the park are very limited tourist services. I suggest you camp either in a tent or RV. The weather is extreme in this high desert environment so you will want to avoid summer and winter. April and early October are best weather and the park is generally empty at those times.

Try not to get caught in the drama of what happened at Chaco. The archeology can be very distracting and confusing. Here is what I know about Chaco: It was the important pilgrimage site west of the Rockies a thousand years ago. Roads from all over the southwest led to Chaco.

Today, Chaco Canyon is high desert surrounded by Navajo high desert and active natural gas fields. Within this park are the remains of ceremonial structures and housing blocks. Excavations stopped a few decades ago. Occasionally, Hopi conduct ceremony.

Chaco a thousand years ago was a fertile area which supported successful farming with fields irrigated from a river which flowed through the canyon. Climate change made Chaco undesirable and its priests moved to a more fertile location north of Chaco.

Chaco’s spiritual power is generated by Fajada Butte, the dominant land formation at Chaco. The so-called North Road, which begins above Pueblo Bonito is the roadway to the gods.

Visit Chaco and commune with Fajada Butte. Then walk the North Road. Then return to Chaco again and again. I made about twenty visits to Chaco. Once I camped there in a sand storm. A few times it snowed or rained. Finally, Chaco let me in.

12/4/18

Listening: An Unfocused Attention

In mid August we moved to the foot of Mt. Burdell here in Northwest Novato and I have been hiking the Dwarf Oak Trail. This trail runs along the side of my back yard. We are separated from it by a deer fence. Weekdays, I have the trail to myself.

Yesterday, i went looking for hummingbirds hoping some of them have survived the intense smoke of the last two weeks. The trail was quiet and open to me, welcoming in a hesitant way. We are just beginning to know each other.

As I walked along, I was enveloped in a strong and deep silence. Within this silence, listening to “what wants to be known” is simply to maintain an unfocused attention. That is the key to listening: an unfocused attention, a very patient yielding to the unknown.

Silence can continue throughout the day as the background of the day.

Attentiveness to the great silence is an offering of respect to the voice of the sacred.

11/28/18

Tuesday Morning

Hello:

Welcome to our new website. Our old website is still available at Vimeo.

I have decided to write a blog rather than continue to publish the “Newsletter.”

Thank you to Sasa Petejan for creating our original website. And thank you to Sarah Keough for creating and maintaining this new site.

OK, so why this new site? In the year or so since the California fire, dubbed the Tubbs fire, burned through my neighborhood in Santa Rosa, I have been in a process of trauma recovery and unexpected changes in my capacities. This new site reflects what I am today, specifically the “Healing Gifts” which offer you an updating of my gifting to you.

This morning, I am troubled by the new suffering from the most recent California fires and the suffering at our border with Mexico. Mostly, I am still shocked by these events. I am ‘listening’ for a response.

Love,

Paul