Dear brothers and sisters of the light!

During that amazing week in Crete, I was fortunate enough to see some of you literally stepping into your divine powers in front of my very eyes, and it was such a wonderful thing to be allowed to witness. Over these last few days, you have been joined by so many others here at the Pond, and to those of you who have been waiting – seemingly forever – for us to catch up with you: thank you for blazing a trail and holding the space so the journey could be a little bit easier for us all.

I just wanted to share a little bit more about the ceremony we did at the sacred spring close to the Church of the Five Virgins last Thursday, for there, we met a man who made such a huge impression on us all. The spring is in a beautiful place, and it is guarded over by a huge, ancient tree that is also considered as sacred, for it was at one time split in two by lightning, but both parts lived on and now they form what looks like a portal where the pathway enters the area in front of the spring.

It is a popular place to visit, but while our group was there and we performed our ceremony, it was quiet and peaceful. As I mentioned in my previous message, I had brought with me some water and a small piece of quartz from the area in the Norwegian mountains that my sister and I have been drawn back to again and again to do ceremonies there, for I knew that all the work we had done previously was actually leading up to this moment. I had also brought with me two prayers, one to open the sacred space and also the beautiful Maori Water Prayer that I have shared here earlier. My sister was standing in the middle holding the water bottle, and the others were sitting around in a large circle. Just as I was about to begin reading the first prayer, I suddenly saw a man coming up towards us out from the forest on the path that led to the tree portal. He had long flowing, curly grey hair and a beard, he was dressed in green, and he carried what looked like a shepherd’s stick and he just looked like a god of the forest who had come to join our ceremony. The moment I laid eyes on him, I just knew that his presence at that ceremony was not by accident, and in this, I was proven right.

For he entered our circle and sat down and told us a little bit about himself. His name is Thomas I. Venakis, he has a PhD in Chemistry, he is retired now but for 17 years he had hiked this path every day on his way to his job as a teacher in a small village nearby. His ancestors had lived in this area for many, many generations, and he told us that his mother had given birth to him in one of the caves that was next to the spring. He was passionate about preserving the ancient culture of Crete, especially the traditional music, and his love for Mother Nature was so immense, it was literally like the soul of Crete and Father Earth in one single person had joined us in that circle.

After I had recited the two prayers, I could hear him humming softly, so I asked him if he would like to add his voice to the ceremony, and he did, by singing the most beautiful ancient hymn I think I have ever heard in his powerful voice. It was as if we could feel the very vibration of this ancient land in his voice, and I know I was not the only one crying with pure joy and love as we all listened to him singing for us, for Mother Nature and for the sacred spirits that surrounded us.

When I had finished the ceremony by pouring the water I had brought with me into the source and by placing the white quartz inside it too, we all stood in a circle holding hands. Thomas poured some of his herb tea in a small cup, it was made with wild herbs he had picked himself, and this cup was passed from person to person in the circle, each taking one small sip. When the circle was completed, Thomas filled the cup again and we sent it one more time around the circle in the opposite direction. I suddenly realised that we were all literally drinking in the very essence of this land, suspended in water that had been blessed during this ceremony, and it made it all come together in such a simple and yet profound way.

As we stood there, a young French family came down to the spring, and their oldest son came straight over to our circle. He peered at us from behind the legs on one of us, and soon, he entered confidently into the very center of the circle with this huge smile on his face. His eyes were lit up frown within by such an amazing light, and as one of the others said “look, that is the New World standing here amongst us.” Soon, his mother joined him in the circle, carrying an infant in her arms, while her husband walked around that sacred tree. I looked at this joy-filled family and I looked at Thomas and I just knew that they were all the true embodiment of the New World. This little family just WAS the light, while Thomas was the representative of all of the ancient cultures and knowledge that this land has accumulated over the centuries, the “hidden treasures” The CCs have talked about that now will come out into the open again.

After we had finished, Thomas invited us all back to his house, and there, he gave us a taste of the bounty of the land. For he had everything there from his own garden, fruits, vegetables, flowers and seeds, herbs for tea and home made raki with honey and thyme, and his generosity knew no bounds. He WAS the New World, one that has been waiting for this very moment to arrive, for in us, he has found others who can help his message to come out into the world. Both the treasure trove of Cretan music that he has kept alive, but also his knowledge about old varieties of different vegetables and fruits that others have forgotten about. In addition, he is also a trained scientist that has such a deep connection to Mother Earth, I am certain that he will in one way or the other play an important part in bringing together the old and the new, the science and the spirituality, across borders and across age groups. And he is just one of the many, many enlightened souls out there, all of them getting ready to do what we all will be called to do: to step fully into our powers and start to come together to share our knowledge and our passions, so that we together can build the New World. And as my sister pointed out, his name was just perfect, for he was not the “doubting Thomas” in the Bible, he was the Thomas that cleared away any doubt any of us might have had about the sacred importance of this ceremony. For he told us that he had been alone home that day with no plans when he just felt the urge to walk up to that sacred spot, and his arrival in our circle could not have been more divinely timed.

It was the perfect ending to what had been a week of countless group meditations and ceremonies, all building upon the next, culminating in this blessing and activation of the waters in that sacred spring. And when the rain and the wind and the lightning started in full the next day and lasted for hours and hours, we could all feel the powerful purification and activation that was taking place, and I had a vision of the water pouring out from that sacred spring ever faster, ever stronger, flowing over the land and down into the sea, carrying with it this message of renewal and rebirth, just like in the wonderful little song Ingrid had us all sing at the end of the ceremony. Thank you to everyone present there for helping to make that into such a magical experience, and thank you to everyone else for “entraining” your energies with us in such a way, it did literally feel as if you were all present as well.

With eternal gratitude from me, Aisha

Thank you to Tara and CosmicBear for the photos!

You can read more about Thomas and listen to his music here:

http://www.thomasvenakis.gr/index.php/en/