He structured exactly what I needed with the time I had available. I had two weeks and adjusted the tears and tapping I had first learned and undertook lotus and jaguar series training. These are designed to be combined with the tears and tapping to magnify the sessions daily. I was surprised that there was anything to add to either initially, but when we began, I realized that both would have been very difficult for me to have remembered in their completion before, so he had summarized them.

The tapping was challenging as it usually is, but I achieved much more throughout the day as far as overall energy than I had before. Everything became consolidated into one really intense daily series, with an added energetic compacting set which I find extremely enhancing, this set is very strengthening. At one point I saw Lujan’s energetic double amidst this. The lotus which integrates with the second half of the tapping, but is strong in itself equated to become another powerful addition which is a daily necessity now for me to feel really awake and balanced. There is a soft yet enduring intensity that I experience now which lasts throughout the day which is exactly what I had been seeking. The tears also had much more to them which increased their effects.

I had difficulty learning the Jaguar series as I have not undertaken much martial arts instruction and Lujan adapted to this by dissecting the form into slow and manageable portions as well as utilizing some awakening swirling movements from the dragon’s breath series which as with the jaguar movements were very potent and immediate in their effects.

I was tired from not having had much sleep coincidentally and I began to have involuntary energetic responses. Lujan saw some white energy which looked like lightening emit from my finger and I began projecting and employing destabilizing techniques I had learned as a child to effectively manage my circumstances. Just one set of movements and I had achieved more than I had with the rest of the system as far as revealing something unseen about myself, yet I was fully aware of what I was doing despite having no intention in doing it. Old memories surfaced and I began feeling unusual and unhinged.

There was orange fire whipping out of my eye he saw used to lash out and suppress. “ That’s interesting, “ he said. “ I’ve been waiting for something like this to come out of you, but it hadn’t until now, this is great. “ I could see the benefit in what he was saying and felt something like a snake inside me ready to strike, it was a form created to fit past circumstances, which had endured, relations and tolerances which should have been adjusted and foregone which had not. But I had talked off and on for nearly three years with him and never had I felt at all uncontained like this.

Something invisible had been shaken free and I felt this was truly progressive for me and saw what had been hidden clearly. Something I had not supported or allowed had invaded and become mine. I discussed with Lujan what had led me to adopting these techniques and he helped reveal how I had been altered and why. This led me to a profound sense of release which aided me in navigating beyond that unseen mold.

I was surprised when he said that very few people had learned the framework of the system which was what I had started. I had been under the impression still that many had learned this entire series, or at least most of it. I again feel compelled to recommend to anyone to see him and if you already have to return as everything becomes much more rewarding. I intend to continue to learn from him again as soon as possible.

Thanks again Lujan

Three-Pronged Nagual
USA

~

My experience learning the first part of the Jaguar Series was very fascinating. Practicing with Lujan had a very surreal quality to it. I initially and still do feel sort of like a rising pressure and heat in the center of my body that is very cleansing, and I’m starting to get a sense of the explosiveness contained within the movements.

Lujan told me when first starting that the mind would shut off during practicing…I’m not sure this completely registered with me until I discovered at one point that I was having trouble thinking of what movement to do next. It was like every time I tried to think of the next step I would get tripped up. However, I quickly adjusted as I found that when I was about to hit a wall or a limit as to what I
could do Lujan magically navigated me around it.

After returning home, I’ve found that my mind just randomly seems to shut off and have no thoughts at times, which is a very pleasant feeling. Which has happened again right now as I’m thinking about the Jaguar Series while writing this! Similarly, after practicing for some time I’ve also noticed that I’ve started to have dreams of just being in a complete black or empty space…like I would walk from a normal dream into a dream that contained nothing or something would trigger the dream to change to one of nothingness.

Having the Dragon’s Tears series I had learned refined was also profound. Practicing feels much more fluid and energetic now…sometimes when the electromagnetic energy is very intense it almost feels as if I’m holding something in my hand while at other points it’s as if I’m running my hand through a ball of heat. I know there was one day after practicing where we went to sit outside with our feet on the tile…which felt warm. Then Lujan mentioned to touch the tile with my hand and it was actually cold. I believe this heat was from the energy generated from the earth, which is pretty amazing.

Tapping never ceases to amaze me as well. I feel it allows me to start each day with a clean slate…very little if anything is carried over from the previous day. And the physical results are very apparent as well. I might have to start buying new clothes soon

Eric Van Houten
USA
mikitzli@gmail.com

~

When I reflect upon my time in Bali with Lujan my body is filled with magic. On my individual path I have gained so much just from being around him, interacting with him, watching him interact with others, his loved ones, and friends. I was skeptical before I had met him, even after having explored his peerless work through the multitude of posts on the forum, and his brilliant book. I am now convinced. This man is an absolute consummate master. A true magician. To bear witness to a man who is divinely connected to spirit was a blessing. I felt cradled in his presence. Unusually at peace.

Through my life I had built up such a rigidity in terms of the conceptualizations that I felt were the necessary outlines one must embody in order to be ’spiritual’. Being around Lujan was radically shifting in these terms, unbelievable, and so pleasantly relaxing. There is such a naturalness with this man, only reminiscent of children at play, liquidity. He started something in me which is still unfolding, the derailment of my past, and its effect on the present moment. My essential self is now within reach through the awakening which is happening all over my body.

I have struggled with deep emotional issues for about 7 years. I was unable to, of myself, come to terms with what was happening within me, I was unable to grasp how I was constructing my reality, I was a very miserable man. Everything has changed since I met Lujan. He was sensitive to my needs, he delicately gave all of his being to my issues and concerns, and made certain I would leave with what it is I needed to start the formless ball rolling. Just writing this, I am becoming filled with gratitude and gracious love.

In Bali I took Lujans Dragons Tears and Tapping classes.

Firstly, Dragons Tears are visually the most beautiful form of movement I have come across. They have the aesthetic semblance of primal eras of wizardry, the mystic feeling of times before time, and the magically powerful ancient texture of being in dreams. After Practice, I experience an overwhelming calmness within my heart region. One becomes collected, and tranquil, and the effects linger onward. This is a gem I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Tapping I see personally as a necessary tool that everyone should be engaging. It is the complete physical and energetic workout and awakening arrangement. In terms of the physicality, every part of the body is strengthened, revivified, stimulated, and activated daily. No matter what I am experiencing emotionally before I commence, after I finish I am contained, and eager for the days events. Energetically I have found that Tapping diverts awareness and energy to necessary elements of the physicality rendering the mind obsolete. The practice is consuming to the extent that one has no choice but to enter the nonce. And once this is experienced, the minds constant direction becomes muted gradually. Vast amounts of awareness can be accessed from this practice.

I have read numerous accounts of the enchantment people were experiencing upon visiting Lujan. I was inspired by them. However, being with him was such a beautiful thing, completely beyond the syntax used to share the experiences. The depth hidden beyond the words presents itself in his presence. This man has been gifted from beyond this world, and it is experienceable in a very real sense. Lujan is a wellspring of hope.

These are the things dreams are made of.

Lujan, thank you from my heart.

Desmond,

Las Vegas, USA

desmondbanner@cox.net

~

I spent two wonderful weeks with Lujan in Bali. We did the Dragon’s Tears and Energy Tapping. The Dragon’s Tears is just beautiful. I was feeling tranquil and hypnotized by watching the hand movements. The movements are so graceful, so nice.

Lujan said, when the hands are performing the movements, they move along the surrounding luminous fibers and leave a trace on the body sphere, like a stamp. This stamp is knowledge acquired by the body, and it is automatically remembered in everyday life. Lujan said, in ancient China calligraphy was the same principle. The graceful movements of calligraphy were accumulated into the body.

The body sphere has numerous possible traces, which correspond to numerous possible ways of movements. They are already there, yet unknown. Dragon’s Tears enlightens what was previously unknown, dark, which means it shifts perception to unexplored territory.

Energy Tapping is difficult but is worth the effort. It is a complete set of internal work. It has such a big variety of exercises that every tendon is engaged and all the meridians are accessed.

The centers are compressed, which cuts the flow to the meridians. Then the centers are released
flooding the meridians, which returns to the person as a feeling of inner calmness and joy. This is how we were, what we’ve lost and forgotten.

Now the body knows what to look for, and by knowing it is becoming it. How we were not strictly speaking in the past, but how we were ideally outside of time. And we have forgotten by being within a linear time line, or, equally, within confined space.

Lujan is a very strong man, and at the same time very kind. He was helping me and encouraging me throughout the whole training. He is strong with people when need be, when people are behaving weak. He is strong for them, not against them, so that neither he nor the other person is weakened. The strength he displays actually is passed down to the other person.

At first I was complaining about the difficulty of the exercises, he said “stop bitching”. Later he said, “your face has changed, where did that bitch go? I see the face of a strong young boy now.”

Another highlight that really impacted me was when he said “turn the pain into power”. Another
highlight: me: “I’m crazy”, Lujan: “That’s the only sensible thing you said today”.

Lujan is really kind and loving to people, and he is giving credit to people’s effort. His jokes made me feel comfortable.

That was it, 2 weeks in Bali. I loved the nature, I loved the food, I loved the girls on the beach, I loved the Tears, I loved the Tapping, I loved the meditation and gazing. Most of all I loved discussing with Lujan.

Till we meet again.

My thoughts after a conversation with Lujan:

A myth is outside of time, constantly reshaping with our evolving awareness. In everyday life, each time an ambitious or predatory person is fluxing inorganic energy to distort reality for his own sake, or locate a victim, a small part of that myth is re-enlivened.

What saved/saves humanity from total degeneration was/is the fighting spirit, the spirit of the Warrior. The fighting spirit within martial arts and within the war dance is more help than one has ever hoped for.

The fighting spirit is undermined by pity. A person perplexed in pity will indulge into the bitter-sweet state of retirement-despair, or will find all sorts of justifications for peoples’ unfair deeds, and because of these and many other complexities, the person will not fight.

A warrior in the place of no pity is free of this perplexing process. His fighting spirit is no longer threatened by pity. A warrior is not cruel. He has heart. Witnessing the cruelty in the world outside of him, his heart is crying. But he has no pity.

A warrior is impeccable, since with his heart open he retains his fighting spirit under the circumstances presented. Over-amplification of the yang element would also mean destruction. The fighting spirit would be replaced by killing frenzy, and carnage will reign.

Today in the world, what reigns isn’t carnage, but cold-blooded stagnant peace-perfection. This is what law enforcement is doing, establishing cold-blooded peace.

Gregory
Greece
konstant@iesl.forth.gr

~

Seeing Lujan again was like returning to see a very dear friend. Because besides being my teacher, that is what he is, a true friend. Always sincere, always helping by doing what is best and not born of personal motives.

The first day I arrived there was a lesson awaiting me. My own stalking was to be shown to me in its subtlest layer. Lujan initially mirrored my emotions to me, which I took to be his. Then in a most graceful maneuver, he pulled the rug from under my feet by showing me just how aware he was. And that his actions were being of service to me and that he in fact was not the emotional perspective he was exhibiting but what I saw from him was reflecting me back upon myself.

To know he had seen me in this way, seen how I was stalking him, was a relief for me to reveal to him. My transparency opened a new door for me with him. And made me respect enormously just how much he sees yet on the surface this is not revealed because it is not a matter of him proclaiming all the time just how much he knows, it’s a matter of his doing what is necessary in a circumstance to help another person, and this puts him in the realm of controlled folly. His actions are not based on self promotion in any way, they are always adapting in support of the being in front of him. One cannot pin point a system in Lujan because he simply has no system. And this is a beautiful thing, because it means he helps in proportion to what is needed, always.

Later that first day, after I had revealed my emotions through transparency and we had an open and honest chat that warmed my heart, he appeared like an elderly man, gentle and calm. I thought to myself “Lujan has changed since I last saw him.” But again I was left wondering at a later time, “was that simply a reflection of my own calm at that time?” because at other times during my visit, he was different again. At times he was like a youthful man, playful and not resembling the elderly presence I had observed the first day.

Lujan remarked to me on about the third day I was there “it’s strange how I’m always different yet the same.” And I thought about it too. Yes, he was different each time I saw him, but always the indescribable foundation of nothingness was there to be felt. Nothing stuck to him, no matter what he said or did, and the fact that he always was changing in terms of his presence, there was a consistency but such a consistency could not be understood, only felt as a feeling of abandon.

No matter what he said, I knew it was gone as fluidly as it had arrived. Sitting with him and having discussions, I felt the same within myself. Nothing I said was going to stick around and dig its heels into me, why should it?

Aside from all the events that transpired while I was there, my primary reason for going to Bali this time was to learn Dragon’s Tears. The movements are magical. When I practice them my body feels a kind of joy. It likes to move this way is the best I can describe it. And the air around me gets a thickness and I can feel substance in various areas as I move.

My body has a sense of being concentrated after I practice. There is a firmness to my walk and overall a feeling of strength that is not muscular, but is energetic. I would say it is a type of confidence, not of the mind but of the body.

The grace the movements impart carries over into the rest of my day. I move with fluidity and the hand gestures become subconsciously incorporated in my daily activities. Again the best I can describe this is to say my body wants to move this way, it likes these movements and this is separate from “thought”. And the movements are more than just enjoyable, among other things, they increase longevity via the redeployment of electromagnetic energy to the body.

I had a night of gazing with Lujan. He showed me many things about the world around me, how magical it is if we only know how to look at it. What stands out is how he kept instructing me to gaze at something different, to not get caught upon one object of interest. Consequently, I realized that the way I had been taught previously by all that raised me was to stare at an object of interest to make it adapt to one’s needs, to force compliance upon the world at large through a type of linear mentality that has at its core an insistence on getting “its way”. Instead Lujan was inviting me to wake up to the magic around me by forgoing this need to control things for an outcome and instead acquiescence which is where our real magic lies.

On many occasions he revealed what I had been thinking. We had a funny moment one day when I had used his bathroom and then the next day he said to me “by the way, thanks for complimenting me on how tidy my bathroom was.” And I just busted up laughing when he said this because I had in actuality not said anything verbally to him but the day earlier I had looked around as I was in their liking how everything was arranged.

I was trying to be careful where my eyes rested upon objects because I knew of his ability to see through another’s eyes. So when he revealed to me what I had been thinking I had to laugh, and partly because a simple thing such as using a friend’s bathroom takes on a whole new meaning around him.

There is so much more I have to say about this visit, so many things transpired. Since I cannot possibly reveal all the events without making a very long account here, I will summarize by saying that around Lujan the frequencies are purer and on a higher level of operation.

Amazing things happen and people behave in ways as to reveal lessons continuously while he is present, and at the same time, those people are given lessons if they are able to see what is being shown them. And it was all these lessons which I absorbed and became a part of my experience as much as learning Dragon’s Tears.

So what I am left with and what I wish to share about my experience is it’s not just about learning movements or being taught something specific, it’s about being altered in his presence, being opened to see more and more what is around. To get beyond the programming we all received and live the way we are meant to live, as seers, as magical beings in a magical world.

The danger is many people seek out magic, seek out techniques and ways and means. Lujan is not about all this. And being with him does not get one more of what they expect to get if they have such expectations. It is the opposite, when going to see him, one gets not all what they expected, they get what they truly need and what gives them the capacity to live in their authentic power.

Lujan, thank you for being the real deal, a true nagual. For being in your integrity, your absolute emptiness which is a gift opening the door for me to fully step into mine. I look forward to my next visit to see you, it can’t come soon enough. You are a true friend, a powerful teacher and I have never met anyone like you, and for this reason I realize I am fortunate to know you.

Love always,

Tiffany
China
Tdriggers71@cs.com

~

The time I spend with Lujan learning Dragon’s Tears and Tapping was extremely intense and I think saying that what I came away with is very valuable is an understatement.

The first week involved learning Dragon’s Tears. I started out a bit slow and am not sure how I got everything in one week…I mentioned to Lujan that I think he must’ve been doing something that I didn’t perceive so that I caught up.

I haven’t been able to figure this one out yet as well…but the first time I met Lujan and probably 95% of the time I’ve seen him after he is a few inches taller than me. But the other times he’s either been smaller than me or the same size as me (and I went through the usual suspicions such as checking the ground, etc. with no luck!)

In the second week, I found the Tapping practice on a whole another level than what I had been used to physically. To put it lightly…almost anything involving legs for the first week wasn’t my forte but I improved a bit by the end of the week, and at times I was pretty much watching in awe what Lujan was capable of doing.

Also, I recall there were a few times where I seemed to have “leaked” out of my body. One such instance happened when I was next to Lujan and we were just finishing with the morning session for the day. It’s hard to explain but I felt like I was being unavoidably drawn towards him. Not really knowing what was happening I started to panic a bit…and I think I was trying to pinch myself to “get back into” my body.

I was relieved afterwards when Lujan brought this up and mentioned that he has a very strong magnetic field and I was drawn to this. I additionally found that coincidental or synchronistic experiences increased during these 2 weeks I was in Bali and for some time after returning home: I had experiences of dreaming of someone and meeting that person, thinking something and then have someone come to me with an answer, and needing something and having it seemingly
just pop-up out of the blue.

In practicing on my own, I fairly quickly came up against or was confronted with what’s been holding me back (and it wasn’t what I expected). I’m not sure if it was that I didn’t have the capability to
deal with it, or didn’t want to deal with it, or just forgot about it for some time but then I was brought back to it…and the process afterwards has been interesting, although I’m at a bit of a loss to
describe what is happening.

Also, this was very interesting to me but a number of times in the past I’ve encountered beings in my dreams who I viewed as antagonistic (now, I realize or was told they are mostly playful), but before this realization I would always try to struggle when seeing them. The only success I’ve had with keeping them away in a dream has been with Dragon’s Tears, which they tried to stop me from doing after the first time that it worked so well but after I decided to or became able to not fear them it wasn’t necessary to struggle with them anymore.

The physical effects of the practices were very immediate too: on the day I left from Bali I had to wear a belt for pants that I had thought fit pretty well before and shirts that were previously too big now fit decently well.

Eric

New Jersey, USA

mikitzli@gmail.com

~

Click here to purchase the Japanese version of The Art of Stalking Parallel Perception.

Discover the calm vitality of Dragon’s Tears and the profoundly energizing and strengthening effects of Energy Tapping with the Nagual Lujan Matus in a two-week intensive shamanic workshop in Cape Town, South Africa in April 2010.

Participants have the choice to attend for one week only to learn Dragon’s Tears or to become immersed in the two-week workshop and also undertake the Energy Tapping instruction.

Visually, Dragon’s Tears resembles the ancient practises of Qi Gong and Kung Fu, but has its own unique fluidity, directness and propulsive power that distinguishes its characteristics and results in a timeless form that flows like water, generating powerful and soothing energy which courses in and around the body.

The energy that is accessed when practicing this movement series is immediately tangible and transforms into a sensation of calm vitality. Regular practice of Dragon’s Tears will dramatically impact your life, clearing stagnant energy, strengthening the body and enhancing perception, health and longevity.

Energy Tapping compliments the practice of Dragon’s Tears by continuing to promote the flow of energy through the body’s energetic pathways, releasing stored tension and cultivating a greater sense of clarity and wholeness within the body, the mind, and the heart. In this series of Energy Tapping Lujan will be teaching a method to develop the upper vest, which is connected to three external chakras located in the luminous field.

Dragon’s Tears with the Nagual Lujan Matus

My name is Lujan Matus. The lineage that I am immersed in is based on the transmission of awareness that is found in the deepest reservoirs of one’s heart. Connecting us; individually and collectively, on the level of intention.

The Dragon’s Tears series is the first part of an ancient movement and energetic practice which I was introduced to more than 25 years ago. Until recently these powerful and sacred practices were never made available to the public. I now offer this teaching to you.

Dragon’s Tears Workshop

Cape Town, South Africa

April 12th-17th 2010

$695 US

Early bird special $600 if registration is completed by January 31st 2010.

Energy Tapping Workshop

Cape Town, South Africa

April 19th-23rd

$1100 US

Early bird special $1000 if registration is completed by January 31st 2010.

Click here to register for the shamanic workshops in Cape Town, South Africa.

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

Lujan Matus is now offering a certificate course in shamanic healing. This course is suitable for beginning students as well as experienced health practitioners.

Undertaking this course will give you a unique qualification that will enable you to boost your income potential. As a qualified shamanic healer you will have the opportunity to create a flexible work schedule and you may choose to pursue employment in health centers and spas or alternatively to become self-employed.

On average most people who work in the fields of healing and bodywork will earn a minimum of $30,000 a year for a weekly work schedule involving just 15 hours a week. This will give you the ability to pursue your own personal development while also supporting yourself financially in a career that will bring you fulfillment and allow you to enhance the life of others.

Click here for more information about the Certificate of Shamanic Healing.

photo credit: Eddi 07

By Leia Norton

Click here to read part one of The Nagual’s Double.

Click here to read part two of The Nagual’s Double.

Click here to read part three of The Nagual’s Double.

“Close your eyes.” I realize I am staring at him. It is a simple request…”listen to the music.” For some reason I wonder where this is going. Lujan appears far away and giant at the same time, a sign I have come to recognize signaling shifts in awareness. I close my eyes and immediately feel myself being split. One part moves in stillness with the music while the other part sits moved to distraction. The second part feels foreign, invaded by static. The duality itself feels strangely familiar. I sense I may have dreamed this way for a long time, lost to myself. My awareness ping pongs between the two.

“Open your eyes. You can bring what you have captured within the music into this room.” I hear him but don’t believe this can happen. I feel if I open my eyes I will loose the “me” that exists within the music. As I open my eyes the distracted me dissolves while the stillness expands becoming my totality. The feeling is brand new. No thing is out of place. The feeling is an absolute knowing within reflected back to me from everywhere. Joy arises within me.

Lujan is smiling. ‘How do you feel?” I have no desire to speak. I am at peace. There is nothing happening all at once. I am happy gazing into my own ‘being-ness’. “Are your legs buzzing?” He asks. They are buzzing. So are my arms, chest and the top of my head. My whole body is buzzing. “Do you feel high?” Clearly I am very altered. I start to laugh. I am very high. It is a kind of high lucidity.

“Look around the room. We are here, present but not interfering.” He is right. There is no interference. Nothing, absolutely nothing is going on. Stillness exploding. I am at ease and possess a profound sense of wellbeing. I enjoy immensely the feeling of being inside my body. I can sense everything about the room and everything outside the room and in the garden. Time stops to explain each moment.

In this moment Lujan reveals many things about eternity, awareness and the natural world. I know the truth of his words but do not have enough personal power to maintain the information in a linear way. He doesn’t stop to ask if I understand. It feels like he is talking to my energy body as much as to my intelligence. I am able to listen intently without effort, receiving his words into my heart space. His revelations make me laugh out loud. Joy envelops me.

I ask Lujan if he altered my awareness by some means or by transmission. He explains that although his presence is a catalyst, it is our neurotransmitters, which have a receptor site that welcomes naturally produced DMT from the pineal gland, that produces this state of awareness. He said that his benefactor took him and they traveled this way, in a bubble.

“I have been traveling ever since. I never came back. You don’t have to come back. It is a choice. You can just keep going, and never come back.”

photo credit: alicepopkorn

Ancient shamans used recapitulation to retrace life events so as to recover the essential energy that has been relocated and thereby is unable to be consciously accessed.

Death is the primary component that a warrior must become acquainted with before death’s inevitable embrace. Recapitulation provides the ways and means to facilitate the awareness of what will eventuate at the end of one’s life.

Upon recognition of this profound state the shaman initiate will become emptied of emotional conditioning, which may be acting as a barrier to one’s innate ability to travel the universe at large, in all its diversity.

Lujan Matus is now offering the opportunity to learn alternate recapitulation techniques that were passed to him from his benefactor. These techniques are not to be mistaken with the recapitulation technique taught to Carlos Castaneda.

These techniques employ the elements of fire, plants, darkness, sound and starlight as the primary components for these deep relaxing meditative practices that relocate the warrior’s minds eye to an alternate perspective.

The gazing technique that Lujan utilizes opens the primary quadrants of each eye. These are divided into 18 segments to open up the panoramic view permanently.

The immediate result of these techniques is that the internal dialogue vanishes without a trace while delivering the shaman initiate to the most profound state of formlessness.

Lujan will also introduce harvesting and skimming techniques; hidden stalking principles that have not yet been taught to the public.

In addition Lujan will teach an ancient guarding mudra which shields the warrior. This mudra is the beginning of a set of mudras that will be taught in the future.

These techniques will help the initiate shaman deal with the pressure of eternity. What the initiate can expect from this is an enduring calm, where one’s heart speaks as the eyes see what presents itself through the pressures externally applied to the seer’s energy field.

The Recapitulation Program is a five-day program and is available on a private basis or for groups of up to four people. Discounted prices will be offered for groups.

This program is also available online.

Click here to register for the Shamanic Recapitulation Program.

By Leia Norton

Click here to read part one of The Nagual’s Double.

Click here to read part two of The Nagual’s Double.

“Look at me.” He is standing at my feet. The voice conveys a sense of urgency. “Take a look at what is in this room. See what is around you!” Lujan’s face moves like a mirage. I realize I am dreaming.

“Yes, I will.” I reply. Inwardly I do not feel up to the task.

“Quiet! Don’t say anything.” He commands. I become alarmed by my circumstance, remembering he has previously instructed me on the uselessness of talking instead of acting. My words cannot substitute for doing the thing now, without mental interference. I am already at a disadvantage. I have lost time.

My focus turns to the room. I struggle for a foothold into my surroundings. A fluttering brushes my left side but I cannot see what it is. My eyes are useless but I can sense its identity. I recognize it as a kind of emotional feeling. It is formless. I want to tell Lujan but he is moving and not receptive to words. He relocates around to my left and stands behind me. There is no time to turn around and view him. Many “feelings” are gathering in the room. They advance towards me. I use my arms and hands in a brushing motion to sweep the sensations down and away as they present themselves. With great effort I achieve some success.

“Leia,” I hear my name and awaken. “Leia,” a voice again calls my name out loud. “I’m here,” I reply. I am talking to myself. I hear the call of a gecko. Yes, I think to myself, I am awake now. Sitting up I look around the bungalow. My last memory is of lying down in the afternoon to rest. Night has come to the field. The plants are glowing under a blanket of mist, still warm from sunning themselves. I leave to go see Lujan.

NIGHT GAZING ONE

He sits cross-legged on the path facing the field. I sit down. There is a full moon overhead. The cricket’s opus is underway.

He directs me to look at a very bright star. “The big one there?” I ask. “Yes that one.” He affirms. I move forward to remove a telephone wire out of my line of vision to the star. Lujan adjusts himself in the other direction. “I want you to keep looking at the star. Just keep watching it.”

After a few minutes the star begins to shrink. “You see the star shrinking?” He asks. “Yes.” I tell him. “Now it is almost gone, it is disappearing,” he continues. I nod my agreement. “Now it is getting bigger again. It is forming a hourglass shape like it is going to split in two.” He narrates exactly what I have seen seconds after I witness it. “All right. Now I want you to shrink it back to its original size.”

I commence efforts to shrink the bulging star. I have no idea how to do this. It returns to its original size. “Keep watching it. Gaze directly into it.” He doesn’t miss a beat. As I watch, the star begins to weave to the left and then to the right. Lujan describes the movement. It weaves more drastically back and forth left to right until it is swaying like the pendulum on a grandfather clock. Lujan says as much. “It is moving faster now…tick tock tick tock,” he keeps time with each swing. It quickens and shortens from side to side until the star is vibrating rapidly, then stops.

“Now let’s have a look at the moon. This is a very powerful moon,” he says. He guides me through a series of gazing maneuvers with the moon. He then directs me to gaze at a point below the moon. I lower my eyes. The moon begins to move up. It is rising in the sky. Then it stops. I am just about to say something when it starts moving again. It is swimming like a tadpole quickly climbing up, then stops. It feels like my heart has climbed with it. My heart feels lifted, ascending with the moon. I turn my head to look at Lujan, wondering if he has seen. “Keep watching,” he whispers. In a burst it is on the move again, swimming quickly up it seems it might disappear. It has gone up but also out, away from us, settling deep into space.

“Look at the star.” He directs my attention back to the original star. “Do you notice anything?” He asks. I am still in awe over the moon. “Look at the position of the star,” he coaxes. At first I don’t see anything. Then I notice the star is way back under the telephone wire. I distinctly remember the star was over the wire when I gazed at it. Its position has shifted dramatically.

I wonder if we have been out here for a longer time than I realized. “We have been out here for 10 or 15 minutes,” Lujan answers my thought.

“What happened in the sky is a movement in the fabric of space.”

NIGHT GAZING TWO

Lujan sits in the grass behind a little rise of earth and motions me to join him. He is in silence for a long time. My mind wanders. I look out over the rice field. I can see the lights of my bungalow and the shirt I hung out to dry after washing. There is no wind. The stream is making a splashing sound on the other side of the path. After awhile it begins to sound like music. “The stream is singing Om Padme Siddhi OM.” Lujan says, breaking his silence. “It would be good to just lie by the stream all day and listen.”

“Can you see my shadow on the tree?” He asks. I hadn’t noticed it. In fact I didn’t even notice there was a huge tree just a little ways in front of us. Lujan’s shadow is positioned perfectly within it. He looks at me to make sure I see and focuses back on the tree. “I am going to make my shadow very still, very crisp,” he informs me. As I watch his shadow seems to darken, forming a sharp outline of dark against the tree. It is clear, like a figure in black on white paper. There is something tranquil about the shadow. It gives me a feeling of confidence to look at it. As I watch his shadow it begins to vibrate and expand. It starts to move like an image on the surface of water that has been disturbed. He narrates exactly what I am seeing. His words disturb what I have told myself, that I imagined what I saw.

Something begins to move on his shoulder. His shadow seems to be growing there. Then something leaps out of his shoulder. It has the shape of a gopher popping out of a hole. It is very pronounced. Again, he verbally confirms what I have already seen.

“Lets switch places.” He says, like we are playing a game. We trade places. He tells me to make my shadow move the same way his did. “Picture raising your arm above your head but keep your arm relaxed.” He coaches me. Nothing happens. After several minutes I manage a small bulge from the top of my shoulder. “Make your shadow very clear and still.” He switches my task. I watch my shadow become more solid with a clear outline. It appears calm and peaceful. “Now make your shadow vibrate.” He commands. I look at my shadow and tell it to vibrate. It seems to work. I can see it vibrating. I receive a “good” from Lujan.

We switch places. Lujan tells me he wants to make flames come out of his shoulder. “No,” he says, “I’m going to try something else.” I watch his shadow intently, waiting to see what happens. Suddenly a light appears on his shoulder. It fans out like an accordion and drops down six or seven folds of light from the top of his shoulder. It finishes in a ball of light, then evaporates into the darkness.

This time I’m sure I have imagined the effect. Again, like subtitles in a movie, he recites exactly what I have seen, narrating each detail. Very purposefully he explains that he has corroborated what I have seen. In fact, he has corroborated everything I have seen.

Click here to read part four of The Nagual’s Double.

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

By Leia Norton

Click here to read part one of The Nagual’s Double.

“What are you thinking?” he asks. I stop to examine my thoughts. My brain feels inert. “I’m not thinking anything,” I tell him. “Good,” he says. “Power never presents itself to those who are accessible.”

He motions me to a massage table in the middle of the room. I plop down looking at the floor. A reprieve.

“Do you feel that?” His hands are on my shoulders.

“Yea.” It feels altogether unique.

“That is my energy.” It streams in circling to my feet returning in my head. He withdraws his hands. “Can you sit up?” He is handing me a pair of headphones. “This will last about an hour. Just listen and relax.” He leaves going up a flight of stairs.

I hear the sound of rain. The room is womblike, a refuge, dimly lit with cobalt blue walls. It seems aware of itself. Protective. I allow myself to drift.

A sudden presence enters the room startling me out of my solitude. It is a force that flashes through me. Opening my eyes I am surprised to see Lujan standing on my right. It is Lujan but not Lujan. There is something strange about him. Then he vanishes. There is no one there.

“How are you doing?” Lujan is walking in.

“I just saw you in the room a minute ago!” I blurt out, part confession and accusation.

“Really?” he asks, surveying me intently. “What did I look like?”

“You looked exactly like you, only bigger.”

“You saw my double,” he says.

“Your Double.” I repeat as a kind of joke. A windy feeling becomes a highway through my abdomen.

“I heard the noise outside and knew you were distracted so I came down. My Double just got here first.” For some reason I laugh, aware there is no point. Recalling the noise I had forgotten, it is now a vivid memory. My mind drifts leaving my body there to face the situation. Lujan laughs. He stands in front of me, omnipresent. There is a bouncy feeling in my heart center and my limbs are buzzing. A part of me comes unhinged and roams out to meet him. It feels like going out to play as a small child.

He observes me closely then pauses as if to make a determination on some matter. “Go ahead and listen to the soundtrack. I’ll be back to check on you in a little while.” He leaves me with a pat on the shoulder.

I replace the headphones. Loud splats of rain are coming down. I hear African chanting in the background and focus on it to distraction obsessing about whether it is real or imagined. An internal trembling makes me fidget.

Suddenly the air in the room seems to rush past me coming from everywhere. It is the speed of the movement that is so startling. I open my mouth to gasp but make no sound. There is Lujan again. It’s as though he flashes into form for a second and then disappears. I stare at the empty space. Moments later Lujan is coming down the stairs. He walks over to me with a huge grin on his face.

“I saw you again.” I hear my voice from within a tunnel.

“I know. You saw my Double again. No one has ever seen it.” He seems excited. “Take those things off so you can hear me,” he taps on the headphones. “This is very interesting, very unusual,” he continues. “You beckoned me and so I came. My Double arrived first. It is always ahead of me, or just outside waiting.” He speaks to me as if revealing a secret.

“I don’t remember calling you.” I respond.

His laughter reverberates in the room. It’s contagious. I giggle, feeling elated and ridiculous at the same time. “Is there African chanting on the rain soundtrack?” I feel high, stoned.

“You are having quite a day, aren’t you?” He beams at me, not answering the question. “There’s another ten minutes of sound. Do you think you can listen awhile longer?”

I want to ask so many questions. I answer “yes.”

“Alright. Keep your eyes closed!” He leans in emphasizing the word “closed.”

Alone, I prop myself onto elbows and look around the room scanning and circling. Minutes pass. Nothing happens. Tiring of policing the circumstance I close my eyes. Bells are ringing in the rain. The chanting ceases. A bird just outside the door sings out and light floods the room. I wonder if the door is open and consider looking but do not.

He is here again. The Double. I feel the rushing sensation and a flash of panic. I fling my eyes open. He is closer this time, standing at arms length. He vanishes.

I wait for Lujan. He never comes. The rain stops and a night chorus of crickets begin. The sounds bring a memory of last night. I am upstairs in the bungalow and awaken to the cricket’s song. Climbing out of the mosquito netting I go to the open window and look into the rice field. A small section of plants come alive for the wind while the rest of the field remains motionless, witnessing itself. The wind moves like water on the plants in a glow of moonlight, swishing and swirling the delicate tips of the stalks. Lujan enters.

“Very unusual.” He seems contemplative. “Are you ok?”

“Yea, I’m ok.” I keep quiet about this last sighting of him. He takes the headphones, intently observing me. A lengthy silence ensues. “I know you saw me again,” he says finally. “You called to me. My Double was there but I decided not to come down again to talk.”

“Oh.” I say. “That’s ok.” I saw myself “calling” as he described and it dawns on me. He has seen me when I am not there, too.

I search for some words. “Nothing is hidden,” he offers.

Click here to read part three of The Nagual’s Double.

photo credit: Temari 09

By Leia Norton

I am making my way up a narrow path through green rice fields. A little stream flows briskly along to my left. The night chorus of crickets has given way to a loud call and response of roosters. They seem to remain unseen, like so much of Bali, behind a veil. It’s one o’clock in the afternoon and I feel the warm sun overhead. I turn left onto a smaller path going to meet Lujan Matus. After crossing a tiny bridge I arrive at an archway. A black dog announces my arrival. Not wanting to upset the dog I stay still, waiting. After awhile Lujan appears, greeting me with a hug. The dog falls silent.

I perceive him differently from yesterday. He seems larger somehow. Massive even. I become aware of a pressure inside my chest. The feeling quickly enlists my abdomen, which I can feel tightening as I follow Lujan. We walk past some workers and little children playing amongst baby chicks and many plants. Beautiful birds are singing. I notice there is a very good feeling in his space. He motions me to sit down.

“What’s going on?” He asks.

“Huh? Oh, I feel fine!” I respond with too much enthusiasm.

“You are different today. You have changed from yesterday. You heart space is spinning differently,” he relays to me, very matter of fact.

“Yea.” I turn my full attention to the unpleasant feeling swirling in my chest. “I am feeling somewhat nervous.”

“O.K. He seems to welcome my comment. “What is it”?

“I don’t know” I say flatly.

“Yes, you do know. You must tell me what it is.”

His pointed inquiry is increasing my anxiety. “It just happens to me,” I begin, searching for words to fit the feelings. “When I perceive myself going beyond my limits, a fearful feeling begins to arise. It increases until I am subject to it. It surrounds me. It has happened my whole life.”

“Where does it come from? What is its source?” He is regarding intently.

“I don’t know. I have just always had to deal with this. It comes up and envelops me as if it is a part of me.” I can feel the hopelessness of my words.

“You know where it comes from” he insists. “Something happened to you. This thing is not a part of you. You did not have it yesterday. You were yourself completely. Now this has entered. Tell me what it is.”

It appears I will have to answer. He is waiting, studying me. I want to escape his gaze. It feels as though he is reading my thoughts.

Nervous, I glance at him. He meets my eyes but I look away quickly, lowering my head. Gazing at the floor I am suddenly in the hallway of my house when I was 15. My father is there preventing me from going up the stairway. His presence is very oppressive and dangerous. I am cowering inside. He tells me he is going to break my spirit. I just look at him. I know he cannot do this, yet I feel my spirit move up within me and go out the left side of my body. I feel it hovering a little above me on my left. I become gripped with fear knowing my spirit is out of my body. I am in a cold sweat. I am paralyzed.

“What is happening?” I hear Lujan’s voice. It sounds far away.

I tell Lujan I know where the feeling comes from. I tell him about the encounter with my father.

“He is feeding off of your energy” Lujan announces. It is more of a pronouncement.

“Right now?” I ask.

“Yes. When this site is triggered within you he takes your energy. No one has the right to take your energy, Leia. This must stop immediately.” He seems to be talking to my body. “You have to seal yourself.” He falls silent and looks off to the side. Addressing me again, he says he can see visually what was occurring. He describes a chest of drawers. Some of the drawers are pushed in, making my energy available for taking. He tells me that now the drawers are going to go back into their proper position.

A picture flashes in front of Lujan as he speaks. The picture contains images that describe my energetic situation, and its resolution. Within the images is information conveyed as feelings being sent directly to my heart center. The pictures convey to me a feeling of how to seal my energy body. They also show me my energetic body sealed in an original state. The feeling is transferred to me, bodily.

“You just saw the pictures in front of us, didn’t you?” He knows the answer.

I confirm that I saw.

“What appeared in front of us confirms that you are now sealed.” As Lujan speaks the tattoos on his forearms lift up a foot and hover there. It feels like they are participating or making a statement. As they hover I feel the echo of my own feelings, a tremendous surge of love within my heart. “Your tattoos” I point out to him. He is observing them in silence.

I look around the room. It is very dreamlike. I look at Lujan. His eyes hold me within their kindness. I look within them for a long time. He beckons me to travel there and I travel, into nothing. His eyes are filled to the brim with emptiness.

“Shall we begin?” He asks.

Begin? I wonder what he means.

Click here to read part two of The Nagual’s Double.

photo credit: stuck in customs

Excerpt from the forthcoming book ‘Medicine Child’ by Ray Stewart.

Click here to read part one.

Click here to read part two.

Click here to read part three.

I reached the room and greeted my wife Maerin and my friend Mountain. They had been on a walk, they said, and found an interesting spot by a creek. I told them things had gone well and it was nice to get to talk to Lujan.

Then we decided to go up to the market for some groceries and supplies. We walked a short distance down a stone path to another series of stairs. There were many and the surrounding area had tall trees grown thick with vines hanging down like long locks of hair. It was very dim and there was moss and small plants growing anywhere possible, all taking their chances between every stone crack and over every statue. I liked to stop and examine the micro landscapes. The scale was shifting to view up close.

We walked on and the steps led to a street. It felt strange stepping out like that into a town. We hiked up hill navigating the inconsistent sidewalks. Stone slabs were irregular varying in quality as some had aged and broken partially; some gone completely leaving gaping holes over sub surface drainage channels.

We reached the market and bought our supplies and as soon as we started for the exit, it began to rain heavily. We stopped under the eave and waited for a moment to assess the situation. A man took advantage of this and offered us a taxi, which would have only taken us back to the stairs so we declined. He gestured that the rain was relentless and as if we had no choice staring fixedly at us. We waited and hoped it would cease but it continued.

The rain began to blow and poured violently rushing through the parking lot. Maerin had an umbrella and we decided to walk back through the storm. It wasn’t that far, we agreed, and we enjoyed the warm rain, as it was cold and arid back where we were from.

The taxi driver tried one more time and laughed as we entered the rain. People were gathered waiting it out as if they were afraid of getting wet. By the time we reached the street, we realized why everyone had waited. The water was rushing so fast and with such volume that it pushed against our feet and rose above our ankles.

Walking was difficult in this manner and we were getting drenched everywhere except for a small area under Maerin’s umbrella. It was quite amusing seeing her walk with a small umbrella amidst the torrential storm. She had a dry head and shoulders and nothing else.

We pushed on sliding down the street and stopped on the stairs as the trees deflected some of the rain. We climbed up and reached the hotel and the employees were all gathered and laughing. We got inside and made some food after changing.

It was around dusk when we finished and had some tea. Maerin went to sleep and we decided to go for a walk. The island really came alive at night and had a sort of glowing feeling to it. The darkness felt like it had so much mystery and depth; it was breathing and warm.

We walked down to the stairs again and listened to distant metallic chiming sounds that made strange songs and turned around curious as to where the road led in the other direction. The sounds of frogs filled the air from the surrounding rice fields. Small geckos were like sentries stationed on the edges of illuminated areas; still in the shadows cast by light bulbs, waiting for insects to come near and stealthily grasping them as quickly as they would land on the walls. Toads hopped across the path also hunting near the lights.

I had always read about this studying lizards and frogs as a child and enjoyed observing it firsthand. The geckos made a loud barking sound resembling a chuck earning them the name chuck chuck. Lujan had said on another occasion that they were indicators of truths; whenever he would say something auspicious they would concur with a bark he said.

All the calls mixed and saturated the darkness. The night volume seemed to have turned up yet another notch as we ventured further down the path. We reached an opening on the side of the trail and Mountain told me that was where he and Maerin had gone that led to the river. We had a small key chain light, which we used to see going down the twisting stone steps. The thought of snakes crossed our minds, but we were curious and felt safe.

We made it to the bottom and there was a level stone area with a small site for offerings with an ornamental umbrella and statues. We went and sat on some boulders next to the moving water. The sound of the water merged with the others, ebbing and flowing in harmony. We sat quietly for a while in the dark and felt the fullness of the place, neither of us spoke and I didn’t have any thoughts.

Eventually our eyes became accustomed to the moonlight and the steam rising from the dark water contrasted with the dark silhouettes of the tall twisty trees and vines above against the moon. This moonlit steam looked like thick white smoke rising and the black masses of branches with hanging vines alive and aware. They reached up from the earth’s darkness seemingly extending this nothingness in all directions.

I felt I had no reference point and was observing everything including myself from no fixed location, as if I had become everything entirely around me floating. The steam moved high above becoming low clouds drifting through the magical forest. I felt my awareness descend like soft gravity back to where we sat on the boulders.

Mountain and I had been friends for a long time. We had been in a sweat lodge, camped high in the mountains and worked and lived together in our youth. It was exciting to be there seeing what might happen next.

I told him that the small river was like our paths which had flowed through time and brought us there, feeling deposited into this heart of experience, into this current of eternity which it felt like we were caught by. We discussed how everything had led up to sitting there in the dark under the trees. We had the feeling of arriving somewhere, which was final yet fleeting and being constantly renewed. I felt it was what Lujan meant by the death and rebirth of each moment escaping us.

Listening to the river without seeing it gave us the feeling of traveling without movement and we sat absorbing it all for another long span of silence. We were there for over an hour and then I felt alerted. I got the sudden urge to leave as I felt there was something there in the darkness: something human watching us or in our vicinity, aware of our presence as well.

We looked around and didn’t see anything, just faint white lines around the water and shimmering from other wet surfaces reflecting moonlight. We felt it best to return to the hotel, as we didn’t want to surprise anyone who would be coming down to seek privacy there.

We talked about control and how it was interesting that we were never really in control. I said that all we could do was account for ourselves and surrender to the designs of the universe. He asked me to repeat this and I did and as I said we are not in control, the universe is, I fell to my left off of a path, next to a tree. The roots of it had heaved the stone upward and I had tripped over the rise and fell into the irrigation ditch landing in the mud.

We both laughed hard at the timing of the joke. It was as if the tree had put its roots out just for that insight of non-control. I said see, even though I know I’m not in control and surrender, that itself is still not control. I kicked the mud from my foot and soaked it in a nearby stream. We walked back slowly ascending to the room and sat out on the balcony watching the green fireflies float and flicker above the rice fields. Mountain smoked while we sat and talked some more then we retired to sleep.