`Aha Update #9: Becoming Mauliauhonua (family intimate with their place)

Red is the color of the sunset

(reflected too, in the skins of Fir and Hemlock)

So red hard to look at

Eyes not meant for

such red.

The forest fires smoke the air, sucking the oxygen from it making it difficult for breathing. I wonder as I write whether it is any less, or maybe, more difficult for the trees to breath. As they sense the burning of their relations, their kin, is there not grief there?

Pete drove me out to The Tilth this morning to gather a few more Mullein Blossoms from our friend Kristen's lovely garden. I am making ear soothing oil from the simple, and gently sedating golden blossoms. A few drops of this oil, though best after 6 weeks, is a comfort to the ears even after a week or two. I am finding the oil a helpful remedy for the smoke's effect on my very generously built ears:)

And, if you would like to read how the oil is also slipping into the making of myth you might enjoy going here. (This myth will become a comic book that I am writing and illustrating, and a Reward for donors when we finally launch our crowdfunding campaign.)

Enjoy a few very short videos of "Mullein Blossom Oil Making"

The process of creating safe passage for Vardo for Two is truly a long-term experience. It is the process of makawalu, analysis. Not quick, and very mindful. We keep open to the clues, and become Mauliauhonua. 

What is Mauliauhonua?

Our kumu teacher Kalei Nu'uhiwa defined Mauliauhonua this way:

1. Learning and utilizing the Kaulana Mahina to note monthly, seasonal and cyclical occurrences. 

Whenever possible our decisions and timing for activity is focused on the Kaulana Mahina.   As an example, we gathered for our first Front Porch `Aha on one of the Full Moons. Then, gathered again to set our intention to ask for Safe Passage for Vardo for Two on the New Moon. We are conscious about not doing new projects, or taking on major enterprise during the po 'ole.

2. Kilo - Making observations. Paying attention and noting what is happening around you.

Kilo is our tap root of daily practice. We kilo everything! This can be overwhelming if you shove all that you observe into yourself all at once, and all the time. That's where the po 'ole comes in very very handy. Smart, our kupuna. They lived wise timing.

3.Collecting your observations and correlating them with the Kaulana Mahina establishes your own foundational understanding of your surroundings. Over time you will be able to see the normal or abnormal trends that are occurring to which you can make adjustments to your practice.

This blog, is one of the major ways I collect and record what I/we are observing. We began when we were living in 'Scout' our Subaru ... house-less yet in preparation for a much different life; a life as mauliauhonua was beginning.

4. Collecting your own data in your own way. Examples of tools available out there to start your data collection would be to begin keeping observations sheets, logs, journals, composing ʻōlelo noʻeau (proverbs), writing moʻolelo (stories), or composing mele (chant, song).

You can also choose to write ʻōlelo noʻeau to continue the practice of creating traditional databases to transfer your observations on to the next generation.

Collecting data in my own way includes tying many angles into a net(work) that appeals to my environmentally sensitive self; being 'Environmentally Ill' takes on a whole new definition and perspective. 

I compose blog posts, and create mythic versions of the mundane and call them medicine stories. That way the multiple reality is given due respect. My kupuna the elders who came before me did this when they composed proverbs, stories, chant and song. I am perpetuating the practice. 

5. Become Mauliauhonua - "Be the App"
The final component is to work towards becoming the expert in your neighborhood or community. 

This is our aim: "Be the App." While we research what it will take for us to experience 'Safe Passage' with our golden wagon built as a refuge, we remind ourselves that it is a process. A lifelong journey of becoming.  

Hope you enjoy the videos. We do a little, or a lot each day, to make our way toward continuing safe passage with Vardo for Two. Dates and specifics are yet to come, but, we are here and connect with you keeping on this spiral path.

Peace and Love,

Moki and Pete