Legend has it that the fire Goddess Pele created the Hawaiian Islands, born out of fire. She is said to have travelled in a doubled hulled canoe, she sailed from ancient Polynesia looking for a home. Pele tried out various islands, before making her home in the still active crater at Kilauea on the big island of Hawaii. There her continuous volcanic eruptions have both destroyed and given life.

Four years ago I had a very powerful vision. Six tall Beings appeared and stood surrounding me as I lay drumming myself into my journey. I recognized these same Beings; I call them the "Tall Ones", who had begun appearing to me when I was a young teenager. Whenever they were present a strong humming vibration would overcome my body and I would be paralyzed until the sensations went away.

 

These experiences frightened me for many years. In my late teens I learned biofeedback, a technique that enabled me to bring myself into the theta state where the Tall Ones could appear to me without fear. And even though I still needed to talk myself though the fear of the paralyzing hum, I welcomed the calm peaceful visitors who seemed to be watching over me. In my early twenties an experience in the paralyzing hum again frightened me. I was visited by another not so comforting being who stood too close to me for comfort. I fought this time with all of my might and was able to finally sit up and break myself free. The fear of the unknown was so over powering for me at the time, I shut myself off completely to welcoming the Tall Ones again.

 
Now twenty years later, here they stood again before me, surrounding me. I relaxed into it and surrendered. I had put protection around myself prior to beginning this journey as I had learned from my Shamanic teachers. I trust the Tall Ones. Without ever touching me they wrapped me in long green leaves. Then carried me over meadows, and green rolling hills along the oceans coast, I travelled high over snow-capped mountains and through hot humid swamps and finally across the big blue ocean. Soon they were guiding me up a mountain and I had the feeling it was a volcano.

When we reached the top, still never touching me, they wrapped me in long white flower pedals. As I floated, suspended over the volcano I spoke to myself addressing the fear I was now very much feeling, "This is some kind of an initiation Cher, relax, everything is okay, relax this is good." I began to fall. I spoke to my fear again, "trust". After falling longer than I would expect, I hit the lava. My body startled by the hot/ cold feeling of hitting the fiery lava sent me into the sensations of the tingling electric shocks and humming that I use to feel when the Tall Ones visited me. I could feel they were showing me how to bring myself into this theta state again. I was immediately transformed into another dimension.

And soon I found myself riding on the back of a turtle with what looked like the head of a dragon. We travelled on the hot fiery lava flowing through dark red burning tunnels of lava tubes under the Earth's surface. I saw a light in the distance and soon we were exiting the caverns under water and entered into the cool blue Ocean. We then circled out and around counter clockwise and the turtle buried its dragonhead back into the land under the Oceans surface. It felt as though we were creating new land.

I have not yet been to the Big Island but through this vision, for years now, I have felt Pele was calling me to somehow help the children of Hawaii. I didn't really know what to do with this information, until now.

A couple of months ago, a woman called to ask me if I would illustrate her "Eternal house of Fire" deck, she shared with me her visions and of Pele coming to her in her dreams. She told me she wanted to honour the extinct and endangered plants and animals of Hawaii, she said that there are more endangered species per square mile on these islands than any other place on the planet. She said awareness and education as well as Spirituality would be the intent for the divination deck and that a percentage would be donated to the Pele Defence Fund, necessary for her survival. Chills of truth and resonance covered my body as she spoke, this was it, this was Pele calling me to help and this time I have a direction.

On the full moon in June after much meditation and ceremonial Prayer I began Pele. I can't express in words how powerful painting Pele has been for me. My purpose and intent in painting this piece I can feel is already healing Pele, her people and her land. I used my didgeridoo and Tribal Prayer songs from the Yoruba and Tibetan traditions to call on her Spirit energies. I burned Frankincense and blue candles. I put images of hula kahiko, ancient hula dancers on the Alter in my studio.

I laid the base paint out on the first day; after it dried I noticed a defined shark in the left corner. In seeing this I then had to read the myth of Pele, which I got off the Internet. In Her story she comes across the ocean in a canoe with her brother, friend and ally, the shark. Needless to say I did not change him into a dolphin, which is what I would have done had I not read her story.

On the second day of painting Pele, excited to be working on such a powerful piece, I was up early and doing my Prayers, meditation and Ceremony in preparation for painting. I walked outside to offer my Prayers to the Sun. When I looked up I was amazed and stunned to say the least, by the most magnificent huge rainbow full circle around the sun. The air stood silent and still as I gazed in awe of this powerful omen and I Prayed in reverence and respect. This natural phenomenon a "Sun Dog", was named by the Native Americans, now a scientific term used all over the world.

In the Sacred Path cards, Jamie Sams writes about the Prophecies of the Whirling Rainbow. They say it will come in the form of a Sun Dog for those who are ready to see. Many Sun Dogs will be seen around the time of the White Buffalo returning to Turtle Island (America). This rare phenomena will be the language of the sky signalling a time that secret, Sacred teaching are to be shared with all races. Enough children of the Earth will be awakened to carry the responsibility of the teachings and the healing process will begin. The illusion of separation will be replaced with the Truth of Unity. The Warriors of the Rainbow are the Sisters and Brothers uniting the Fifth world and working for peace.
On the third morning after another full day of painting on Pele, I awoke from a very disturbing dream.

 

I'd experienced my rage dying a violent death while screaming, "don't take my baby." I am a dreamer and have written them down and given them respect for many years and I knew I was in the process of healing a very deep subconscious part of myself, my rage. I cried feeling the depth of this repeated pattern in my life up to this point. After, I sat up in bed, an overwhelming dark dizziness fell over me and I passed out, I fell back ward onto my pillow and I went into a past life. I recalled deep traumas into what was the core cellular memory of my rage. My body shook off immense energy pulses for over thirty minutes, and I cried. I initiated circular breathing to circulate the energy in and out of my body using Manna (breath) to heal and release. Pele had been in my dreams that night and I knew she had been working with me in the dreamtime helping me heal my rage. I thank Pele for bestowing to me the gift of healing. I can think of no other who could help me more with this issue. I feel we are healing each other.

I am in love with her Spirit. I've only really heard about Pele and her rage and jealousy, I had no idea I would find her to have such a sweet Spirit full of Love. This painting is my vision. The turtles going into the lava are coming to heal. The dragon God at the bottom of the painting is transforming the lava and creating a beautiful lush Green Goddess paradise.

The Spirit of the Black Mamo bird sits in the clouds in the sky above Her. This bird, the Black Mamo was very respected with the Kings in its day, for it had a few unusual golden feathers that the royalty used to create their long golden feather capes. Unfortunately they are now extinct. I had seen an image of a heart over Her head and thought a symbol of the two snakes intertwined would be good, but when I began to paint it, it looked too contrived. I Prayed my no mistake, Namaste' Prayer, and poured white paint over it, intending for new clouds to form. I was very surprised and even a little scared when I saw the Black Mamo's Spirit form exactly in the same position and image I had seen in another canvas I have been preparing to paint, "The Black Mamo". Interesting, ever since I painted his Spirit, the birds seem almost to be curious about me, flying near me, looking at me a lot more, talking to me and even Blessing me it seems.

Every night as I have been working on Pele, she lies flat in my studio next to the Alter. I have a volcanic rock gifted to me a few years ago from the Big Island. I'm very aware of the curses that can occur from taking lava from Pele'. Many times I tried to get it returned for me and yet the fact that I still had it let me know there was a reason, Pele' wanted me to have to use in calling in her spirit. It's in the shape of an egg and sits on Pele's heart Chakra,. Another stone gifted to me, carved by a medicine man and is said to have come from the Stars, lies on her sexual Chakra. A Hawk Tail blesses her crown Chakra and a stone shaped like a crescent moon stands on her Third Eye. A Fairies wand from the Elemental Spirits works her magic nightly.

Take a walk up the stairs through the fire one night, maybe in your dreams. Edge yourself around the rim of the volcano and take a look inside, see the Heart of the Mother, feel Her. Feel Her, she is calling on us to awaken and remember.