My Spirit Guide Decides to Visit.

It was an auspicious occasion this morning. I woke up to the caw, caw, caw of the crows which fill this city like pigeons in NY, but above the cacophony, I heard a high pitched shrill, a scream.

Back in 1978, after finishing high school, I had intended to attend college at Cooper Union in NYC, intern at BBD&O eventually becoming the Creative Director for a number of high profile clients. I simply expected to get in without a problem, so I didn't spend the time carefully crafting my application and presenting my portfolio. Needless to say, I did not get in, and ended up going to a college in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico.

I was only there for one semester, but it was long enough to engage me in Native American studies. One of my classmates, Joe Red Bear, was the first of his family to live off the reservation and they called him an apple (red on the outside, white on the inside). He was a big, burly dude with a huge smile. He was taking criminal science so he could go back to the reservation as a cop. His grandfather was a shaman, an elder who knew the ways of the old medicine, who had taught Joe a lot about his religion and instilled a pride in him as one of the few living indigenous peoples of America. He was willing to take me to see his grandfather.

After many trips to the reservation, speaking with his grandfather about the old ways, I was invited on a Spirit Quest. Typically, Native Americans don't allow white people to participate because many of these new age, yoga practicing, granola eating hippies tend to turn it into something crass. It is a sacred rite of passage and I was lucky enough to be someone that the grandfather had seen something within and granted me passage to this other world.

I can't go into many of the details of this journey - let's just say, there are substances injested that aid in enabling your spirit guide to show themselves. Spirit Guides are typically animals that provide you with their strengths in order for you to reach higher realms of existence. The activities begin in the early evening and go at least all night, but for as long as required. I was told that my spirit guide would appear and show me the way. When I met her, it instantly made sense. I lay there on the ground at the mouth of a cave on the side of a mesa. The red tailed hawk soared above me, slowly circling in the rising heat coming off the desert. She dove down and rose, dove and rose while I watched the sun go down. There is a lot more to this story, but let's get back to Kolkata.

We just moved to Ekta Heights and live at the top of one of the buildings. I woke up to her call, amidst the din of the crows. I sat up, looked out the window overlooking the terrace, and there she was. This hawk was more brown, and bigger. Its talons gripped the pipe fence and it extended its wings to full span. I approached the door expecting her to leave in a flurry of feathers, but she stayed there, looking at me as I closed the door behind me. She tucked in her wings and settled down. She was about 20 feet from the door. The crows were incensed with her. I walked slowly toward her until I was about 8 feet away. She eyed me suspiciously, but stayed motionless, ignoring the crows. I very slowly sat down cross legged on the floor of the terrace still looking at her. I stayed quite still. Suddenly, in a burst of feathers, she flew right over my head, causing me to jump in alarm.

I then realized there were three or four hawks flying in and out among the four towers, chasing crows and being chased by crows. I consider this a most auspicious greeting - to be welcomed by a spirit guide is quite an important affair. I was meant to be in Kolkata, at Ekta Heights, for a reason and I'll need to find out why. Most times, the connections only happen later, with the crystal clear view of hindsight. The last hawk who visited me was in Aurora, IL where we had been living for 4 years. She came to me just before Lee asked me to go work for him in Chicago. While the job was less than pleasant, I met and befriended Jason who was married to a woman from Pune. He was in the midst of moving to India and he inspired me to finally make my move here as well. I wonder what is in store for us in the future. :-)