Text and Artwork © Olivia Robertson
(included at her request)
Some months before my visit to Hawaii, a young man told me: "Pele is running again!" This meant nothing to me. But when Loreon informed me that I was to include a visit to Big Island, there to stay on a Volcano's rim, I protested! Why an extra plane trip? I did not at all like this stay by a volcano's rim... Long ago I had decided never to go on any trip to Vesuvius or Etna. And this volcano was not only far bigger, but "running again." Loreon simply stated: "You said you wished to visit Pele. So you shall!" My friend deTraci, also on our trip, felt as nervous as I was.
However, we both loved Big Island far more than the tourist filled Honolulu. Here were no tourists - only Back Packers. Volcano Village was inhabited by artists, sculptors, writers - our sort of people! I even enjoyed Volcano Hotel which was literally on the rim, and from Volcano Road we saw orange flames leaping into the sky from the new lava flow - too fierce for anyone to approach save by helicopter.
But it was not on my favourite Big Island that I had one of the most extraordinary and unexpected experiences I have had. We duly reached Paradise Island, Kuaui, to stay with our FOI Priestess, Catherine. On my first morning, in a cheerful bedroom overlooking a mountain, coconut palms and sea - Something happened - on this Wednesday, the 17th of October.
I received the word "Loa". I can equate this with my experience of Yemaya of the Ocean, which I was given in 2005. What I understand is this. The Loas - Nature deities - do not punish us for wrong-doing. But the earth herself and all her elements are part of our own being. When we transgress the laws of love and goodness, this produces repercussions throughout earth. After various turbulences - possibly an axis shift - a new and nobler humanity will emerge from the old, as the veil between our physical earth and the etheric realm will dissolve. Hence there will be no "death" but soul transference. We only die because we identify with our physical bodies. So there is hope. And creativity will pour forth in rainbow beauty.

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