Another Place, Another Time

It's Easter Sunday, and here I am in Alice Springs. It's hot, humid, and I'm sitting in my own sweat after my third cold shower today. I arrived here yesterday with my two extra passengers. Daniel, 9 and Justin 12. They hitched a ride into town with me to attend the Lightning Carnival - a football/sports carnival. They came in with me because their father had forgotten them and didn't realise they weren't in the car until he arrived 450km later!

When I left Mutiitjulu to come to Alice Springs, it felt like an escape or a flee. What I needed was some downtime and time away from the constant demands of community living. I arrived on a friends doorstep exhausted and ragged, and, incredibly raw. Overwhelmed, I made an attempt at having an intellectual conversation and tried to hide where I was actually at, but, all I could do was cry. After a debrief and a strong cup of coffee, I retreated to my bedroom for a lay down.

I began flicking through a magazine and then logged on to work emails - I couldn't get away! And, I certainly couldn't relax. So, I got in the car and drove off looking for something to do. Nothing. No-one needed anything, There wasn't any running around to do. "My God" I thought. "There's plenty to do. What could I be doing"? I asked myself. "You gotta stop". That womans voice again. I drove back to Naomis stopping at the service station for a pack of ciggarettes, and, returned to my room.

I could hear Naomi snoring, so I thought perhaps it might be a good idea if I lay down too. "I'm not going to sleep" I thought. So, I lay there, breathing deeply and entered into a meditation to slow my body down. Before I knew, I had drifted to sleep, or so I thought..

I felt someone take my hand. When I looked, it was Nellie. Nellie is one of the traditional owners of Umutju. An incredibly sacred and remote area of South West NT. It is the land of the mother and home to many spirit children. It is said that, women would travel to this land when they were ready to conceive and a spirit child would enter her womb. To this day, when and where possible, women will visit Umutju when they are ready to conceive.

I opened my eyes, my hand still in Nellies and I was in awe of what I saw. An abundance of crystal blue waters flowing, and a lusciously green desert.
Physically, Umutju is rather harsh. The ground is thorny, the area is remote and the status remains TBE (to be established). This means, it is incredibly difficult for anyone to live out there and care for that land. Energetically however, Umutju is soft, nurturing and, is a place of a higher dimension and frequency. Its waterholes hold potent healing water, and you don't leave this place not feeling fully charged.

I could hear Nellie speaking to me, telling me what was going on. We were in another time, where this land could be lived on, and, lived off. The abundance of water and crops made it easy. And, what was even more profound, was that there men, and, women, both black and white living here together. This area had always been for women.

I woke up from this trip to Umutju with my body still vibrating and I began to sob.
I phoned Nellie to get a grip on this phenomenon - as you can imagine, I was feeling quite rattled, and, if you're reading this, you might think I am insane!
Nellie told me about what we saw and how this is her dream for Umutju. "This what it's gonna be like one day. But first you gotta heal, and that land gotta heal".
While it's no surprise as I see it all the time from these women, it still blows me away - the level of connection and consciousness and wisdom these women have. From Adelaide, she conciously took me to Umutju for some reason I don't understand. These women have the capacity to be absolutely rooted and grounded and, be somewhere else simultaneously, taking you with them.

Under Nellies guidance, I can only share parts of what occurred.
These connections and experiences are an absolute privilege, and, I have much to learn from them, like, being grounded, and, being able to travel somewhere else without getting lost in the ethers. It's a skill, and, one I will continue to develop with age and experience, accompanied by the guidance of the elders.