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Une nuit en tipi // A Night in the Tipi 

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Une nuit en tipi

 

Il faisait froid. Le feu crépitait doucement derrière moi. J’étais traversée par un mélange de fatigue, d’inconfort mais aussi de révérence et de joie. Alors j’ai cessé d’analyser. J’ai décidé de faire taire mon mental actif, d’accepter que ce que j’étais venue faire : un travail intérieur profond et inconfortable, mais d’une beauté sans mots. J’étais là pour simplement Être. Exister.

Là, emmitouflée de la tête aux pieds dans un heureux amalgame de manteaux, de foulards et de couvertures, fixant la toile et le ciel étoilé. C’était ma première nuit en tipi. Nuit d’équinoxe. Nous étions peu nombreux — en fait, il n’y avait que moi et mes hôtes — et malgré mon malaise à l’arrivée, je me sentais bien. Soutenue. Protégée.

Après une purification énergique dans la hutte de sudation, le travail se poursuivait toute la nuit, endormie ou éveillée. Dormir presque à même le sol, méditer, prier, chanter… tout en veillant au bord du feu, dans un espace hors du temps.

Un chien berger gardait l’entrée du tipi, prenant son travail au sérieux, comme seul un maître spirituel sait le faire. Les poules se taisaient au fur et à mesure que la nuit avançait. Dans l’inconfort d’un silence qui me renvoyait à mon malaise existentiel, la gratitude a fini par se frayer un chemin, jusqu’à absorber complètement l’inconfort et le froid. « C’est comme ça qu’on devrait vivre » : cette phrase m’a hantée toute la nuit… et depuis.

Encore aujourd’hui, je ferme les yeux dans le confort de mon lit et j’entends ce feu crépiter. Je sens son doux parfum, entretenu toute la nuit par le grand gardien du feu. Mon âme voudrait rester là, dans la simplicité du moment, elle y retourne sans cesse la nuit tombée. Loin des soucis d’argent, du coût exorbitant de la vie au Canada, des ventes de billets, de l’auto-promotion sans fin, du stress de la gestion d’une entreprise, de l’insatisfaction qui me ronge. Juste là, à exister. Juste là, à être. Pourquoi l’être humain doit-il travailler si fort pour gagner sa vie ? La vie, ce n’est pas gratuit ? Une terre et un tipi, ça ne devrait pas coûter des milliers.

Il y a tant de beauté au cœur de la nuit. J’ai entendu les créatures de la forêt s’éveiller. J’ai contemplé le ciel constellé d’étoiles, dépourvu de nuages, et j’ai ressenti son immensité. Puis dans le silence, j’ai pleuré. Ce désir — non, ce BESOIN — de revenir à la Terre est si fort. Je ne pourrai jamais revivre en ville, je ne peux plus retourner à celle que je croyais avoir été. Nous ne sommes pas conçus pour être entourés de béton. Le message fut clair, presque violent. J’appartiens à la forêt, à la mer, à la montagne sacrée. Le jaguar en moi est prêt à accueillir sa médecine pour la partager. IX doit vivre le deuil de ne pouvoir enfanter dans ce monde dépourvu de sens. Cette mère ne pourra que se materner. Que se cache-t-il d’autre dans le silence et l’obscurité derrière nos yeux fermés ?

L’acceptation est mon nouvel allié. Le chemin du cœur, qui devrait être si simple, a connu trop de remous. À flotter en mer pendant tant d’années, mon cœur en a la nausée. Silence. Pause. Respire. Laisse la tempête te traverser. Puis, lorsque l’accalmie se pointera enfin, ajuste la direction du chemin que tu as emprunté.

Reviens à la simplicité. La nature t’appelle. Fais taire les voix qui t’ordonnent sans cesse de FAIRE. Apprends à vivre, apprends à ÊTRE, à exister.

 

 

Karine xx

 

P.S. En cosmologie maya, chacun de nous naît avec une énergie qui façonne son destin et sa personnalité. La mienne est le nawal IX. IX, c’est le Jaguar, l’esprit de la Terre Mère, la force qui combat ses peurs et traverse la jungle sans peur dans l’obscurité de la nuit. 

 

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A Night in the Tipi 

 

It was cold. The fire crackled softly behind me. I was overcome by a mixture of fatigue and discomfort, but also by a soft feeling of reverence and joy. So I stopped analyzing. I decided to quiet my active mind and accept what I had come to do: a deep, uncomfortable night of inner work, yet one of indescribable beauty. I was there simply to be. To exist.

Wrapped from head to toe in a happy mix of coats, scarves, and blankets, gazing at the fabric and the starry sky—it was my first night in a tipi. The equinox night. There were very few of us—just me and my hosts—and despite my unease upon arrival, I felt good. Supported. Protected.

After an energetic cleanse in the sweat lodge, the work continued through the night, whether asleep or awake. Sleeping humbly almost on the ground, meditating, praying, singing… all while tending the fire, in a space outside of time.

A shepherd dog guarded the entrance of the tipi, taking its task seriously, as only a spiritual master can. The chickens grew silent as the night advanced. In the discomfort of a silence that reflected my existential crisis, gratitude eventually carved its way through, until it completely absorbed the discomfort and the cold. “This is how life should be lived”—this phrase haunted me all night… and still does.

Even today, I close my eyes in the comfort of my bed and hear that fire crackle. I smell its gentle aroma, tended all night by the great guardian of the fire. My soul wants to remain there, in the simplicity of the moment, and it keeps returning there each night in my dreams. Far from financial worries, the exorbitant cost of living in Canada, ticket sales, endless self-promotion, the stress of running a business, the dissatisfaction of most aspects of my life gnawing at me. Just there, existing. Just there, being. Why must humans work so hard to earn a living? Isn’t life supposed to be free? Why does something we're born into have to be earned? A piece of land and a tipi shouldn’t cost thousands. (hundreds of thousands - thank you Canada).

There is so much beauty at the heart of the night. I heard the creatures of the forest awaken. I gazed at the cloudless, star-studded sky and felt its vastness. Then, in the silence, I cried. That desire—no, that NEED—to return to the Earth is so strong. I could never live in the city again; I can no longer return to the person I thought I was. We are not meant to be surrounded by concrete. The message was clear, almost violent. I belong to the forest, to the sea, to the sacred mountain. The jaguar within me is ready to embrace its medicine and share it. IX must grieve not being able to give birth in this senseless world. This mother can only mother herself. What else hides in the silence and darkness behind our closed eyes?

Acceptance is my new ally. The path of the heart, which should be so simple, has encountered too much turbulence. Having drifted at sea for so many years, my heart is nauseous. Silence. Pause. Breathe. Let the storm pass through you. Then, when calm finally arrives, adjust the course of the path you’ve taken.

Return to simplicity. Nature is calling you. Silence the voices that constantly command you to DO. Learn to live, learn to BE, to exist.

 

Karine xx

P.S. In Mayan cosmology, each of us is born with an energy that shapes our destiny and personality. Mine is the nawal IX. IX is the Jaguar, the spirit of Mother Earth, the force that confronts its fears and moves through the jungle fearlessly in the darkness of night.

 

Kali, Great Mother of Transformation 

May 22nd, 2022 , Ste-Anne-des-Lacs, Quebec

 

Ever get to the point where you are so over it all that you just know something’s gotta change? Let me ruin your moment here with this unfortunate spoiler alert: nothing has to chance except for YOU. You got yourself into this mess just as I did and you’re the only one who can get yourself out of it…BUT, you as I can ask for Divine help… Let me diver deeper into this for a moment… 

I’m sitting in bed with no electricity, it’s been over 36 hours and there aren’t any signs of it returning any time soon… Yet instead of indulging in the beauty of this candlelit peaceful moment, I’ve been having an anxiety attack and eating all the worse processed foods you can think of, which I’m ashamed to say I used to binge eat for years before cleaning up my act. (Yep, this wannabe vegan has trouble keeping it clean and organic sometimes but that’s a whole other childhood story). So here I am binging away. I gotta tell you, it’s not a pretty picture. It’s an old habit I thought I’d gotten rid of thanks to yoga, mindfulness and meditation, yet as I’m stressed and pondering questions like “where on Earth do I want to be in this life and if I'm on the right path, why am I still living in some guy's basement”, I’m sitting here with a big angry belly absolutely in shock at this violent attack after being kind to it for so long and I’m thinking: here we go again, WTF, why can’t I just DEAL with my emotions like a nun or a monk or an emotionally healthy person would do? Why is it so hard? 

Well, cause we’re not monks or nuns and quite frankly most of us have not learned to be emotionally healthy until we were well into adulthood… We live out here in the big bad world and we have to deal with constant stress and disappointment every day and it gets heavy love, mainly if you’re a perfectionist, I hear you. But how we deal with the constant pressures of this world is also our choice…It’s our choice alone. 

I’ve been hiding behind Netflix for a while not wanting to have this talk with myself. How have you been avoiding your existential crisis? We can use many techniques including alcohol, drugs, entertainment, social media, tv (Netflix), sex, food, extensive sports, all sorts of outlets to numb the pain we absolutely don’t want to feel… So much so that we begin to forget it’s actually even there. We forget where it lies in our body as we simply disconnect until we don’t feel it anymore, as it grows beneath the surface. 

So tonight, after my disgraceful binging episode, I picked out an oracle card and heard the message so loud and clear that my entire body trembled as an electric-type shock went through my heart space. KALI, the Goddess of transformation reached out for me to call upon her. Think of Kali as the mother who loves you so much that she knows when you need tough love. She can cut things completely from your life to put you back on track. It is said not to invoke Kali unless you are absolutely ready for change, cause the change might not be gentle, but will ultimately bestow its blessings upon your life…But you know…with a good kick in the butt first! 

I wish to share with you the automatic writing that came through to me after pulling out her card and creating a ritual invoking and celebrating her with fire. 

_____

Kali, I shall celebrate you, Divine Mother, along with the changes and storms of deep transformation like death and rebirth that you represent, for I must be born again. Like the snake, it is time for me to shed new skin. I call upon you Mother for this process is never-ending. I am willing to accept its cyclic nature therefore I shall humbly bow down to your command and accept a new stage of deep transformation in my life. 

“Burn it all away, Kali, burn it all away. If it doesn’t serve us, then burn it all away”… 

I am ready, oh great MOTHER to cry, to scream, to release and let go all of my past and present. I am ready to dance with my beating drum to the rhythm of the winds of change you carry. I will look deeply and fearlessly into the fire and let it take away old patterns and ways of being that no longer serve me. I shall rejoice and sing, knowing that in your presence, I am constantly born again. 

Invoking Kali is like finally saying “FUCK IT!” after you’ve been holding on for too long. Holding on to a habit, to a way of being, an idea, a person, a job, a home, a friend, love affair, a dream or anything that is now hindering your growth and no longer meant for you. You must make space and empty out the closet before filling it up with beautiful new garments. Kali will help you make that necessary space. Invoking her is like ripping off the band-aid and allowing your wound to breathe, preparing or the last phases of healing to begin, freely. She will bring you where you need to be if you truly SURRENDER and accept Her way. Remember she is doing this out of Love FOR you. Sometimes, we must walk through the darkness to reach the brightest light. Explore your shadows dear one, sit with the pain without numbing it, dive deep into yourself and observe the root cause of all your suffering and then, just as Mother Kali kisses your forehead, exhale and let everything go! You are here right now. That is all you need. TRUST. 

To reach your highest potential and get to the best, you must let go of what isn’t, no matter how difficult it is to abandon. Once you’ve let go of your fears and faced the ways in which you are holding yourself back and keeping yourself small, you can start claiming and bringing in all that was truly meant to you. What belongs to you by Divine Right as a child of the Great One. 

“Bring it all in, Kali, bring it all in. If it’s gonna serve us then bring it all in”. 

Observe. Surrender. Heal. Transform… 

With love, 

Karine xx

 

Photo credit: Julien André Mégoz (used under authorization)