The City of Refuge is one of the most sacred places on the big island of Hawaii.  In ancient times, it was a place of healing and forgiveness.  We were told that warriors would be sent there to heal on all levels—physical, mental, emotional, and spirit before being integrated back into society. Today Pu’uhonua o Honaunau is a national park with the bones of 17 generations of Kahuna entombed there.  Because this was a place of many healing rituals, the land itself still carries that energy. If you enter with intent, you can allow the land to absorb any unresolved emotions.

Our Huna course took the trip to the park, and congregated in the mini amphitheatre where we had a teaching about the land and its history.  We were each given a ti leaf to take with us as we walked the land and then sat to meditate. If you are sensitive to energy, you can feel a difference as you step off the walkway onto the sand.  For me, I felt almost an effervescent tingle move through my body from my feet up as I first stepped onto the sand.  This truly is a special place.

After perusing the grounds with the class, I walked along the lava rocks that framed the shore.  I walked for some time until I came to a place where it felt right to stop.  As I sat, I kept hearing this little voice saying, “Pick me up. Pick me up.” I looked down to see a palm-sized rock, almost triangular in shape; swirls of black and white, half coral and half lava.  I looked at this rock and thinking that I can’t pick it up—this land is sacred, what if someone sees me? Whoever is prompting me is very persistent, so I give in. I picked this rock up and held it in my right palm as I sat on a lava rock, supporting the side of my arm with my leg.  All of a sudden the rock started to vibrate, slightly at first, then harder and faster, almost like a jack hammer. Then it would slow until it stopped and was quiet for a bit until it started to vibrate again.  It did this for some time. I kept asking if it was finished and I could set it down, but the answer was always no, not yet.  Finally it was complete and I gently placed the stone back in its place.

I knew it was doing something—I just wasn’t sure what! I thought perhaps there were some major unresolved emotional issues it was pulling out and releasing.  As I shared my experience with one of my teachers, it was suggested to me that the stone was not pulling out but putting in… that the stone was actually assisting me to integrate my shadow.  This is an ancient shamanic teaching, to accept and integrate the shadow so one resides in wholeness.