Nine women, all of us Norte Americana Somatic Experiencing Practitioners, arrived at the Spiritual Center high in the mountains outside Bello Horizonte, Brazil in the middle of the night, in the middle of our lives, in the middle of a lightning storm that took out the electricity for two days. We bonded with our host community by lightning flash, candle light, and warm hugs in the cold rain. Inside, there were wonderful aromas coming from something bubbling on top of the wood-burning stove.
By candle light, we enjoyed savory soup and freshly baked bread. We were welcomed, warmed and reassured that this was our “home away from home”; a safe haven for our 11 day visit.
The third night of our stay, after yet another delicious meal, we nine women sat on our cots just outside the kitchen. We began to explore the “why did you come” question. To the last participant, not one of us could state why… only that we couldn’t NOT come to Brazil to study with this man, of whom our teacher and founder of Somatic Experiencing said, “If you ever get a chance to study with Henrique, take it! He’s a bonafide shaman who has great skill in guiding people toward healing. He covers all that you’ve learned in my courses, but from a shamanic perspective.”
So, we all came to Belo, were met in the airport by strangers wearing white who soon became friends. In the pouring rain, they drove us up the mountain to this emerald enclave where our minds were blown and our hearts touched by grace. Everything grows here, even in July, their winter. Chickens, ducks and turkeys wander the grounds.
Henrique, serves as pai (spiritual father) to the community. He met with each of us visitors individually over the course of two days. He threw the buzios (shells), and through our translator’s tireless efforts we were able to write down his karmic book vision version of where we’d come from, where we were in our current life, and where we were headed.
His ability to see into the present moment somewhere else, or into the future was beyond belief. Unlike anything I'd ever witnessed. During my turn, he had only the name and birthdate of my husband, but was able to tell me that my beloved needed to watch out for his kidneys. I didn’t then know, that at that very hour, allowing for the time differential between Belo and Los Angeles, my husband was being driven down the mountain from summer camp, where he was serving as a volunteer counselor, to our home in North Hollywood. He had a raging kidney infection. When I returned home and found out, every hair on my body stood on end. Henrique's accuracy was eerie and unexpected. He told me things about my family and about my own path which have been so helpful in the intervening thirteen years. Because he invited me to a broader view of what’s going on - what each person’s struggle is guiding him/her to do - it has been easier for me to be with each process, even if the process itself may be unpleasant in the moment.
His gift of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience gifted me with the possibility of a higher perspective. At least I know I will never know all I want to know, but the pressure is off. Someone else will know what I want to understand and I can ask for help.
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Ceremony supports healing. Community holds the shattered bits of our soul so tenderly that the pieces come whole again in joy and celebration. We were witness to what some would call the miraculous. One person came with hearing loss in one ear and left with it restored. Another came with wildly fluctuating blood pressure and left on a much more even keel. Still another was in the midst of profound loss and grief when she arrived, but during the course of the stay was given real solace, real healing, and real perspective which is a balm to the soul. I left with a certainty about my path, and a healed right leg with which I can step out confidently on that path.
Using his understanding of Candomble, the religion that came with the people whom the Portuguese enslaved in Angola and brought from Western Africa to Brazil; Umbanda, the rituals and beliefs of indigenous Brazilian tribes; and Catholicism, the religion of the Portuguese conquerors, Henrique makes a weave.
He taught us about the Orixás (the deities), the unseen mentors who guide him in the healings, herbs and mandalas to use for healing, prayers and songs. He enlisted our skills to be present for one another during the evening healing rituals, when each of us in turn would lie on the table, covered with a clean white ironed sheet on which fresh flowers, stones, crystals, wooden beads, and herbs were arranged in mini mandalas.
Sometimes the ceremonies went on until the wee hours of the morning, yet the community was with us every moment. The musicians played drums (tabáque) while we danced in a circle. Henrique pulled from the Source and graciously gave sustenance to all participants… singing and singing… in a rich velvet baritone, in Portuguese and in Latin. He incorporated what was happening in the moment! “Ah, the rooster is crowing! The sun rises”
Each of us nine left behind cherished friends in that community who were unconditionally loving and so generous with their time and energy and devotion to our healing. It was a tearful departure. Each meal was prepared with such love and artistry it nourished us to the bone and essence of our being. I was so taken with the whole experience that I made repeat journeys to study further in 2005, 2009, and 2013. There’s yet another trip to Belo Horizonte in my future. I don’t need Henrique to tell me that, I feel it in my bones!
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