The Power of Intention - Power of the Land

Have you ever been somewhere in nature and felt changed simply by being there?

Australia’s red centre was one such place for 14 women and myself who gathered there a few years ago to celebrate a close friend’s 50^th Birthday. She had asked me to loosely facilitate a 4-day pilgrimage to Uluru (Ayres Rock) and Kata Jutja (The Olgas), for ‘a weekend of ritual, release and celebration’.

Women of heart, going to the heart, celebrating the heart…. In fact, Uluru is energetically considered to be the heart chakra of the Earth, so it is recognized worldwide as a very powerful centre.

What transpired was a life-changing experience for us all.

A friend had warned me to be careful about what we do in and around Uluru, as many people who have not respected the land have returned sick.

The Cultural Centre at the ‘Rock’ receives a kilo of rocks a week, posted by people all over the world, with letters of apology after taking a memento and befalling some misfortune. So underestimated is the power of this place.

A message not to be ignored.

So it was with great mindfulness that we embarked upon this journey… and with the intention to honour the power of the land. My friend and I meditated on both places, before the trip. In our meditation, Uluru welcomed us with ease.

Kata Jutja was different - there were two aboriginal males standing at the entrance to the great monument of nature, with a warning. “This is a sacred land, you must honour and respect it every step of the way.” They seemed pretty fierce to me so I was keen to listen to them!

I am glad we did because to my amazement, when we went to the Cultural Centre, we were told that Kata Jutja was an official men’s site and that aboriginal women don’t even look upon it. Then I understood the warning - it all made sense.

So Uluru felt like this big, bold open heart, welcoming us with open arms, holding us in her bosom, generous in her offering.

We walked in silence to its base, sat and contemplated, wrote poetry, made drawings, sang, shared and laughed, and revered the wonder of the place. We felt compassion for the original indigenous people of the land, the Anunga tribes, and the thrust of the western world upon them.

We brought threads from home, tears fell as we symbolically created a weaving of our ancestry, while honouring the ancestry of the aboriginal culture and land we were immersed in.

Then the day arrived to go to Kata Jutja. That was VERY different!

As we drove towards this amazing bundle of rocks, we began to feel a distinct uneasiness. It was rainy and menacing, with a lot of movement in the atmosphere.

The other women had arrived ahead of us and were buzzing with excitement. However, my friend and I were careful and quiet. By now the rain had a huge force behind it as if pushed by some great power. It was so great that to take a step forward was difficult – it was as if it was blowing us backwards! Back to our cars!

We stood huddled in a circle in a shelter and I remembered the two indigenous men. We became still and contemplated our own unhealed issues with men, the maleness inside ourselves, or the males in their lives.

We offered a prayer for harmony and got down on our haunches, laying our hands on the earth, with respect and honouring the land, the people, and the men. They were to stand up when they felt they had received permission from the land to enter Kata Jutja. Each woman was in silent reverence and soon, one by one; each began to stand as she felt she had received permission.

And then something amazing happened…

As the last woman stood up, the rain ceased and the wind dropped and the sun came out! In that instant, it was as if a portal had opened and it was now clear for us to proceed on The Valley of the Winds walk.

But the surprises did not end there. I started to understand why this was a sacred men’s site. As we walked, I noticed the feminine form was sculpted into every aspect of the landscape - the shapes, the curves, the crevices, and the majesty. We saw breasts. We even saw female genitalia in the very rocks, carved, not by man, but by the hand of these menacing and changeable winds. At the end of the gorge, we could not speak as we all stood in awe and silence realizing that it was like standing on the pubic bone of a woman, with her huge beautiful thighs flanking the valley below. We all felt transformed by the power of this land and grateful to have been able to walk on it.

Uluru and Kata Jutja were a great test of the power of intention and the intelligence that the land holds for us. I wonder if you were still, what would nature be saying to you?

This article was published in the June edition of Holistic Bliss magazine.

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