The Ladies…

On day 2 of our arrival, what I'd been hunkering for many years seemed to manifest in a hazy dream before me. We were blessed with the arrival of six Aboriginal women and a little tiny girl called Tespina. Dorothy Napanjarti was the 'head honcho' of this mob, even though she seemed by far the youngest (except for Tespina). But I found out she was boss because she was a successful artist and the white fellas throws lots of dollars for her paintings. I soon found out that Dorothy financially takes care of all her relatives. So Dorothy and her Aunts arrive at our camp. But there's a big divide between the two camps. We were shy and I guess they were shy. 'A matter of trust' hung in the air of my mind. They hung out in their camp and we in ours. Tespina, the little one hung out in both, smiling charmingly and in constant search of playmates. John, our fantastic macrobiotic chef went out of his way to make sure they were happy with what they ate. So, whilst we ate veges and rice with beetroot chickpea salad and miso soup, John fixed the women some steak, sausages, white bread and garden salad. We all ate together in the dining area.

We were all bursting at the seams with curiosity. To me, they appeared not to give a toss about us. Nevertheless, I had the feeling that we all had a desire to connect. I felt like a bumbling fool, not much different from those days of first dates, where you don't know what to say, where to look, how to move and constantly overwhelmed with shyness.

The first time I saw them they were sitting in a circle singing and painting each other's bodies. The sun was setting, thus casting a soft glow on the group and the orange red sand they were sitting on. For the first time in my life I understood what 'belonging' was. It was rock sunk in earth. It was trees knitted into riverbed, it was these desert women singing in this very landscape. Ahhhh! Sigh. Silence in my soul. Peace. These women belonged here and had forever. They moved in harmony. They even smelt like the dry dust of the desert. As a group there seemed to be a symbiotic relationship. Of course this has a lot to do with witnessing the 'other' and we can get all psychoanalytic and cynical about this. But bugger that! For I was awestruck! Their mere presence softened my heart and soothed my prickly tensions. A vast and subtle understanding came into me, about the vastness and diversity of life. Once again as so happens every now and then in my life, I saw through spirit eyes, saw our earth story from outside of my puny limited self. Ah! What a gift…

The next several days I rode the magic carpet ride of ecstasy. Extasis: to stand outside of oneself.