from Chapter 2: Alchemy

The ancient art of alchemy is easily understood by an example found in nature, the transformation that occurs over time in the creation of a diamond. The matter starts as carbon, deep within the earth. Through elemental interaction and when the appropriate amount of heat and pressure is applied and sustained, transmutation occurs--the soft black material becomes the exquisite clear, hard, bright diamond.

Pressure is a fundamental part of that process, and as we explore the process of alchemy in our own lives, we discover that it is through the management of pressure that we achieve personal mastery. It is not so much about what comes to us in our life experience, but rather how we respond to it that indicates our level of mastery. Alchemically, we can see every adverse condition as a valuable part of the process, grist for the inner mill in which transmutation takes place.

from Chapter 3: The Treasure Hunt

Egypt's Mystery
. . . .During one tour of the land of the Pharaohs, we sailed down the Nile from Luxor to Aswan on a felucca, an ancient type of small sailing boat, for four days.. . . .One bright morning while moored on a bar in the nether zone between here and there, Amber took a dive off the edge of the boat into what she thought was deep water. It was only knee deep at most. She came up screaming, but she couldn't move because of the compression to her spine. We pulled her out of the water and laid her on the deck of the boat. We were all stunned, and helpless. I remember the ensuing moments as if in slow motion. First was the panic when we realized that between us all we had just enough skill in first aid to apply a Band-Aid to a small cut. Lacking in any training beyond the use of quartz crystals that I had received from Oh Shinnah, I grabbed the small one I’d brought with me and went to work, focusing my intention and praying for divine intervention, while holding my hands over Amber. The pain abated, and Amber was able to move soon after, fully regaining her mobility.

It was time to find a teacher or focus for my studies that would help me to accomplish the goal that had moved to the forefront my mind--the goal of becoming a healer.

from chapter 8: Accessing the Universal Life Force

Exercise: Seeing with the Palms of Your Hands
You have probably seen Tibetan, East Indian, and northwest Native American art that depicts characters with eyes painted on their foreheads, the palms of their hands, and the soles of their feet. These pictorial representations depict sensitivities that, though acknowledged as natural by some cultures, are given no credence in our own. Because of our lack of identification with these metaphysical organs of sensitivity, we must learn to utilize them in much the same way we learn a new language.

When the eyes in the palms of our hands are open, they perceive through interaction with energy and can inform us in very specific ways.

The purpose of this exercise is to learn to use the eyes in your hands to retrieve information from inside another body.

Ground and center yourself and prepare to focus.

Place your hands on the forearm of a friend.

Generate your Fire Mist Shower and say your word with the intention of using the eyes in the palms of your hands. (You may find that your fingertips are especially sensitive and that you can retrieve information from them as well.)

As soon as you feel yourself link with the other person, direct your attention to the surface upon which your hands are resting. Hold your hands absolutely still and feel the texture of the fabric or skin beneath your hands. If it is fabric, examine the texture of the fabric--its thickness, color, weave, wrinkles--without looking at or moving your hands. Notice how much information you can perceive using the eyes in your hands.

Extend your consciousness to the area beneath the fabric, and focus your attention on the skin, noticing all that your can about the skin, its pores, its rhythms, its tone.

Extend your consciousness to the layer just under the surface of the skin. What is happening here? Can you perceive the capillaries, the fatty tissue? Is there movement? What colors do you see or feel?

Extend your consciousness deeper into the body. Can you find a blood vessel? Can you examine its walls? Do you feel the flow of the blood through the vessel? Can you sense the pulse of the flow of blood?

Even deeper, find a strata of muscle. Is it rough or smooth, tense or relaxed, hard or soft?

And again, go deeper still, until you reach the surface of bone. Is it wet or dry? Rough or smooth? Brittle or pliant? What color is it?

Now direct your consciousness into the center of the bone, to the place where the marrow is, where the red blood cells are being manufactured. What information is here for you? Is there any activity here? Sound? Movement?

From your heart, request the attention of the spirit of the bone, or of the entire skeletal system. As you call forth this spirit, hold the intention of wanting to be given a message from the spirit of bone about the health and needs of the bones of the person.

Remember to thank the spirit for responding.

And finally, very slowly, begin to withdraw your focus, layer by layer, gently removing yourself from the recipient's body until you find yourself back in your own body once again. Disconnect completely with your intention. If you feel the need, you can brush the surface of your hands together to break the connection.

Exchange the messages and insights you received and bring sacred closure to the experience you have just shared.