debramz.com
ASCENT
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SPIRITUAL ANTHOLOGY
Dedicated to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Who continues to be my Guiding Light
“You are a child of God, and it is your God-given role to help others to remember that they are also children of God”
[Divine decree received 2010]
‘Energy cannot be created or destroyed;
It can only be changed from one form to another.
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Match the frequency of the reality you want,
And you cannot help but get that reality.
It can be no other way.
This is not philosophy;
This is physics’
[Albert Einstein]
Why these Writings?
On completion of the Labyrinth here at Jacaranda Haven in 2010, I walked it on my own for the first time and then stood – silent and empty- in the centre. A loud voice spoke telepathically to me:
“You are a child of God, and it is your God-given role to help others to remember that they are also children of God”
Sai Baba had gifted me a pen and vibhuti (sacred ash) whilst leaving Puttaparthi in 1999, renowned psychic Joan Moylan had told me in 1998 to write, and psychic Jennifer Starlight conveyed to me from Spirit in early 2022 that I was meant to write…but what ?
And then I realised that all I could write about to assist others on their paths was my own experiences, teachings and learnings in order to “…help others to remember that they are also children of God”. Hence these autobiographical writings…
Modules
This is but one ‘module’ in this collection of autobiographical writings that I choose to call ‘modules’. Each one stands alone, but some cross-reference others. A completed book is a static thing once finished: however, these modules are flexible in that I can add to them at any time should new experiences/information comes to hand, and the reader can pick & choose which particular modules attract them. The collection of modules thereby constitutes an’ anthology’.
The intent of writing these is to share experiences and teachings that I have been blessed with along the way of a human incarnation – the ascent of consciousness – such that the reader may also benefit to illumine their own path/ascent to the ultimate inevitable goal for all humans: that of ‘self-realisation’.
Belief vs Truth
As a precursor to reading any of these Modules, there is a need to clarify the difference between ‘Belief’ and ‘Truth’: one may ‘believe’ eg it is raining outside by the sound on the roof, but when you actually see the rain falling/walk out and get wet, you actually then ‘know’ it is so – ie it is ‘true’, and so ‘belief’ about that instantly ceases.
Many go through life accumulating fixed ‘beliefs’ about people/things, and, as Krishnamurti taught:”… the moment you arrive at a conclusion/form an opinion/a belief, you block the possibility of further enquiry and discovery”.
So, a hot air balloon called ‘Ascent’ awaits: I invite you to climb into its basket with me, throw overboard the ballast of all those accumulated ‘beliefs/opinions’ you have acquired to feel safe, and therefore allow this balloon to rise free and drift to destinations unknown.
Because, otherwise, some of what you read herein may sorely challenge your accumulated beliefs…
Everything recounted within the Anthology is absolutely true, unless I have qualified otherwise.
John Stephen Butterworth
1996 A Seminal Year
1996 turned out to be a pivotal year for me.
My landscape design practice of some 12-13 years had started to wither away towards the end of 1995 with decreasing work coming in and staff morale also decreasing(including myself) due to the way some clients eg property developers were not ensuring that our design work for their projects was faithfully implemented.
It was time for a change.
I was still active with my ‘Sacred Sound’ activities of workshops/meditation evenings/one-on-one sessions (at which some remarkable things happened eg clients experiencing eyes closed, full colour past life ‘videos’). [This program focused on the potentially therapeutic and conscious-expanding power of both vocal and instrumental sound.]
[Before I move on, I just remembered something that’s worth sharing as an example of the fun that ‘Spirit’ can have with us…and I wish to re-iterate that this story is completely true…
I casually mentioned to someone one day during 1996 that we didn’t really get to hear anything about the Lord Maitreya any more compared to several years earlier when the name often was mentioned in association with those of Ascended Masters; it was also said by some (especially Theosophists) that it was Lord Maitreya who spoke through Jiddu Krishnamurti (as ‘The Office of the World Teacher’) when he spoke around the world.(This can be further researched on the Internet).
At the time, a lady with cancer on the NSW South Coast had been corresponding with me by phone & mail about how she might be able to use sound for therapeutic purposes to augment the traditional cancer treatment she was on…but I didn’t have her phone number.
One day, I wished to phone her about some matter so I rang Telecom/Telstra Directory Enquiries; a woman’s voice answered:
“Maitreya speaking”
I gasped
“Did you say Maitreya ?”
“Yes, whose number do you want please?”
“May I ask whether that is your birth name or an adopted name?”
“Adopted: again, how can I assist?”
I gave her the name and suburb, pause:
“No record of such”
“But she is a very ill lady with cancer, and I have some information that may assist her”
“Then I suggest you connect with her telepathically. Thank you. Good afternoon”.
I was naturally astounded, but probably blurted that I would try as she rang off…
I did try, but never did make any further contact with her.
Spirit truly works sometimes in mysterious ways…][ Maybe they should rename Telecom/Telstra ‘Telepathon’…]
At the beginning of 1996, I decided to try and make ‘Sacred Sound’ my fulltime occupation…
Simultaneously, my then-partner Rosemary Whitfield (future wife to be), myself and 3 others formed ‘The Southern Cross Academy of Light’ following the miraculous meeting that Rosemary had been guided to have with Archangel Michael in Hawaii earlier (see separate module: ‘Archangel Michael and The Southern Cross Academy of Light’).
My eldest daughter announced she was engaged to marry in September ’96 her sweetheart from High School (1988-89) in Omaha Nebraska USA when she was an exchange student there for a year…
Meanwhile, my finances were steadily diminishing as I had little income versus substantial outgoings including vehicle lease debits… fortunately I was living upstairs above my mother who charged me no rent!
As the time for the US wedding approached, and the dollars dwindled, ‘Spirit’ and the goodness of several people stepped in…
A well-to-do close friend gifted me a substantial amount towards the cost of the trip to the U.S.: to her (should she ever read this), I remain eternally thankful, never-forgetting her quiet words as she wrote the more-than-generous cheque:” Archangel Michael wants you to be at your daughter’s wedding”.
A lovely lady in Boulder Colorado, Nancy Day, heard of my sound work and that I was coming to the US, and invited to host me immediately after the wedding in Nebraska…
Whilst booking my flights via a travel agent, a deal from American Express (AMEX) just happened to arrive in the mail offering 2 free nights on the island of Maui in Hawaii and free inter-island flights providing one paid by one’s AMEX card: this I did, and you will shortly see what this led on to…
As the date for my departure approached, I booked an ‘appointment’ with a highly-reputed trance medium (who also practised as a naturopath) that I had been ‘referred’ to (as you could only go if personally recommended). There were questions I had about how any past lives might be guiding my present path and other matters…
[Whilst I was awaiting that ‘appointment’, 2 or 3 people who heard I was off to the USA strongly recommended that I should try to connect with the renowned spiritual teacher & author Connie Shaw who many of us were familiar with from her then-recently released book ‘Mary’s Miracles & Prophecies’. So I took that on board – not knowing how that would play out later…]
The appointment with the trance medium got postponed a couple of times until, at very short notice, it was finally confirmed as being on the day before I flew out.
At this juncture, I need to explain just how this process worked: the trance medium would ‘tune in’ each morning at home to be then told whether he was able to do one/more sessions on that day. If ‘yes’, the client would be phoned and told to be there at X time. What was explained to me later was that these ‘communicants’ of the Spirit world who used the medium’s body knew what the client’s questions/issues were weeks in advance and appropriate ‘communicants’ and appropriate timing were then scheduled – indeed ‘divine timing’.
When I arrived, I was shown into his room and the door was locked with a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign outside. A portly man in his 50’s, he greeted me warmly and succinctly explained that he would lie face up on the massage table in the room and start to make deep outward breaths whereupon his Tibetan ‘gatekeeper’ would take over to guide proceedings. And that the session would last 1 ½ hours whereupon I innocently asked whether I should keep an eye on the time. “Oh the gatekeeper does that” he replied matter-of-factly as he climbed onto the massage table after switching on a cassette recorder.
And so that is exactly what happened: as he exhaled deeply, suddenly a deep voice with foreign accent spoke from him introducing himself as his Tibetan gatekeeper – explaining how there were 2 or more ‘communicants’ waiting who he would introduce in turn.
Suddenly, a totally different voice spoke introducing himself as “Eagle Fishing” and explained that he and I had been together in a Native American incarnation a few hundred years before (1700’s ?). He told me what tribe we were in, my name, totem animal and the years I had been alive for that incarnation. He proceeded to provide the same categories of information for a number of Native American lives that he said I’d had – including Hopi, Nezperce (meaning pierced nose in French), Kiowa Plains Indian, Onandarga, and Chippewa – at which point I suddenly remembered hearing” Chippewa” whispered to me in deep sleep the night before. Commenting on this, Eagle Fishing/a Chippewa communicant said softly: “… we wondered if you were listening”…
Hence it was clearly obvious that ‘Spirit’ was completely aware of my imminent trip to USA and was awakening me to past life connections in preparation. I then asked about the ‘coincidental’ AMEX offer giving me 2 days free on Maui; the immediate response was: “the kahunas are waiting”.
Finally, a different communicant told me about my extra-terrestrial origins which I choose to keep private.
It should also be noted that it was not until 2019/20 that I learned from Sai Baba that every single human is a ‘starseed’ (ref Irene Margaret Watson ‘There Is One Universal Consciousness: I am That One” Vol3 ‘Higher Consciousness’ as dictated though her by Sai Baba). (I had a cassette tape of this session with this trance channel – but unfortunately now mislaid).
The Tibetan gatekeeper then spoke to say he would now bring the trance channel back to room consciousness and started counting down from 21. Part way through, the channel grunted and started moving, then sat up and jumped when he saw me there:” Who are you and what are you doing here?” he demanded. As I stammered an explanation, he suddenly said that he now remembered and smiled.
Amazing experience, and one that I repeated in 2003 – which I shall recount later and thereby reveal its significance.
HAWAII
The next day, in September 1996, I flew to Honolulu and the following day, hired a car to spend the day circumnavigating the island (Oahu). I headed west to firstly stop off at Pearl Harbor where the surprise aerial attack by the Japanese on 7 December 1941 had had devastating effects and triggered the USA to declare war on Japan. When first visiting Honolulu in December 1983, I was passed one day in the street by a severely traumatised older lady who continually re-lived out loud the terror of that attack 42 years later as she walked along.
This had a profound effect on me, and so, when I later read in the early 1990’s that the futurist and seer Gordon Michael Scallion went to battle sites to do ceremony praying for the release of traumatised souls trapped in the astral plane (as they had died in terror and without warning, hence unable to properly prepare themselves for ‘crossing over’), I resolved to do likewise at Pearl Harbor when the opportunity presented itself on this 1996 visit.
I entered the grounds of the memorial where there is a museum and gardens: inside there is film and sound footage of the attack being played continuously, and there are continuous boat trips out into the harbor for those wishing to look down upon the sunken ships icl USS Arizona. I slipped unnoticed (I hope) into the gardens on my right and concealed myself in the dense bushes. I then did ceremony – calling upon and praying for any remaining trapped souls to go to the Light so they may progress with their evolution towards ultimate full merging with God.
It is essential that one who is about to ‘cross over/pass’ is properly prepared and peaceful: this is wonderfully dealt with in detail in Sogyal Rinpoche’s important book ‘The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying’. (First pub.1992).
He recounts at the start of the book when Lama Tseten dies in front of him (p 6):
“…Transfixed, I watched what happened next, and if I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never have believed it: Lama Tseten came back to life (at the bidding of Sogyal’s master Jamyang Khyentse who could see that the Lama was not doing the crossing-over meditation quite correctly)…then my Master sat by his side and took the Lama through the phowa, the practice of guiding the consciousness at the moment before death. There are many ways of doing this practice and the one he used then culminated with the Master uttering the syllable “A” 3 times with the Lama following him the 1st 2 times – then at the 3rd , he was gone”.(text paraphrased slightly).
Sogyal had also witnessed earlier another being precisely guided through the correct stages of dying by his Master (ibid p 4).
I then flew over to the island of Maui that day after that for my 2 ‘free days’ gifted by AMEX.
As my then-partner Rosemary Whitfield (now wife) had been guided to go to Hana at the eastern end of Maui in the early 1990’s by a message from Mother Mary received via automatic writing by a close friend’s teenage daughter in Sydney saying that Archangel Michael wished to meet with her in rainforest…and He indeed had when she went there, I decided to drive there to see if I could find the location of this extraordinary rendezvous (which, incidentally I and others had indirectly experienced in 3 widely separated locations in Sydney). (The detailed account of all this occurs elsewhere (see separate module : ’Archangel Michael and The Southern Cross Academy of Light’).
The Hana ‘Highway’ winds its way narrowly along the steep sides of the Haleakala volcano at the eastern end of Maui and hence can be sometimes very intimidating if a bus or large truck suddenly appears around a bend. Arriving in Hana, I enquired about where Rosemary had stayed (I thought The Sheraton, in a bungalow in the grounds?) but extraordinarily and totally illogically, drew a blank to all my enquiries…as I sat having lunch in a café, it suddenly dawned on me that it had been her personal experience that I had no business to be pursuing any further.
I then started to enquire about any kahunas in the area, as the communicant through the trance channel had told me when enquiring as to any significance in getting 2 free days on Maui that:”…the kahunas are waiting for you”. A lady finally directed me to go further along the main road beyond Hana and told me of a particular house (the location of which I choose not to reveal).
I turned into the driveway, got out of the car and saw 2 ladies sitting at a table under the carport doing craft work. As I walked up to them, I confessed rather self-consciously what I’d been told by the communicant back in Australia…
“Ah”, said the Hawaiian, a beaming lady in her 40’s, “we’ve been expecting you” !!
I was understandably stunned that she knew of my coming but, by the time I reluctantly left her later as the afternoon was drawing to a close, I was all the more wiser to the ways of Spirit.
At this, the European lady excused herself and left, saying that we two needed to have time together.
Amongst all that we shared over the next few hours, she (whose name I shall withhold for privacy reasons) told me of her remarkable earlier life which brought her onto her true spiritual path.
As a teenager, she was wild and uncontrollable – much to the despair of her father.
In desperation, he finally rang a Catholic convent in Honolulu (on the nearby island of Oahu – remembering that Hawaii is a chain of islands all of volcanic origin) if they would take her in and train her as a nun. This was agreed and off she went – probably protesting all the way.
She said that, on arrival, she had to wait in a Reception area and found herself seated next to a priest who politely asked all about her.
“Oh”, he exclaimed, suddenly realizing who she was,” you are the miracle child of so-and-so (parents’ name)!!”
Bewildered, she asked him what he meant.
“Your mother gave birth to you after being pregnant for only 4 months , not the normal 9 months full term, and you miraculously survived to grow into the fine young woman you are today! The Church regarded this as miraculous”.
She replied that noone had ever told her this before, and probably found this revelation suddenly very sobering in all her wildness.
She recounted that she was then taken in by the convent, and dressed daily in nun’s traditional garb. All went along steadily for a while, until one Friday, blood suddenly started issuing for the from her breast nipples… and did so every Friday from then on.
No matter what anyone did, the other nuns couldn’t stop it nor conceal it as it leaked through her clothing despite even wearing nursing pads. This was the stigmata phenomenon unlike any that had ever been seen before.
She was kept out of public sight. The Church just didn’t know how to best handle the situation.
In desperation at being locked away, she eventually phoned her father back in Hana on Maui.
Her father as a tribal elder (if that s the correct terminology in this situation) told her to get some of the reddish-orange volcanic soil that characterizes all geology of volcanic origin therefore including Oahu, put some into a glass, fill with water, shake well and swallow.
Bewildered, she nevertheless trusted her father’s spiritual wisdom, and love, and did so.
The bleeding/stigmata phenomenon promptly stopped.
She then left the convent and returned to her tribal lands in Hana at the eastern end of Maui.
As she shared this extraordinary story with me in September 1996, I realized the profundity of what had occurred: the Hawaiian soil ‘potion’ had reconnected her with her true spiritual roots – of her Hawaiian kahuna ancestry and role. Now in 2022, I still feel very privileged that Spirit arranged this whole scenario: that I be guided to Hana and that this special lady be told in advance of my arrival and told to share both the above story and other information about her life’s role and activities which I am not at liberty to divulge but which enriched my own spiritual path and understandings.
As I drove back westwards along the Hana ‘Highway’ just after sunset, I looked down Haleakala’s precipitous slopes maybe 2 thousand feet to the calm ocean in an inlet below to be delighted by the momentary glimpse of a mother whale and her calf frolicking: a wonderful blessing to end a remarkable day.
MAINLAND USA
The following day, I flew to San Francisco and immediately took a $25 Vanguard Airlines flight to Kansas City that my engaged daughter had booked for me months earlier. At those prices, they weren’t going to last in business very long! [Reportedly ceased flying 2002]. My son-in-law to-be picked me up and we went to his apartment to stay briefly until driving up to Omaha Nebraska for the wedding the next day. Wedding over, I needed to get to Des Moines Iowa as, to my frustration and amazement, there were no flights from Omaha direct to Denver Colorado – my next destination in order to link up with my hostess Nancy Day. A wedding guest just happened to be returning home to Des Moines and agreed to take me: yet another ‘happy-stance’ where seemingly impossible travel needs were met ‘out of the blue’ by Spirit at the last moment. And some people think they’re not cared for!! If it’s meant to happen for your highest good, it happens…
Arriving at Denver Airport, I took a bus to an agreed location, where Nancy arrived, greeted me warmly then drove to the large house she rented outside Boulder along with 2 other ladies on a cost-sharing basis.
The agreement was that she would host me for a week or so during which I would conduct at least one sound evening for a group of invited guests and perhaps one-on-one sessions. It should also be understood that, due to weight limitations, I was only able to bring a very limited range of my exotic sound instruments (mostly metallic, hence intrinsically heavy) with me including a Chinese tam tam gong, Tibetan bowl ,bell and smaller bells etc.
She was a wonderful hostess – taking me with her into Boulder most days during which sometimes, she’d go off to attend to anything she had to do and I’d be free, then meeting again later to drive back home. She even helped me to get a game of golf !!
When I had first arrived from Denver, Nancy had loaned me 2 books which she highly recommended I read. One was called ‘Plant Spirit Medecine’ about Eliot Cowan in the jungles of South America learning from the indigenous peoples that one has to connect to, and work with the Nature Spirits and the Devic Kingdom to correctly utilise specific plants for medicinal purposes – and not simply extract the active ingredient(s). Fabulous book which is still available online. Highly recommended especially for naturopaths/herbalists/Chinese medicine practitioners etc.
There are no coincidences
The other was called ‘Talks with Jonathon’ Book 1: a Guide to Transformation’ by Robin Miller (available online) channelling a being from ‘the other side’ called ‘Jonathon’ who provided guidance to humanity. I got to read it right through all the while, for some reason, assuming that ‘Robin’ was a woman…
Then at the end of my week there, Nancy and I went to an evening ‘recital’ at a B & B in Boulder and sat up the back as the room was packed. Out front, there was a man playing wonderfully improvised, and seemingly divinely-inspired, music on an electric piano through an excellent sound system he had.
At the conclusion, being a fellow musician, I strolled up to thank him and ask whether I could help him pack up and load his vehicle – as I had done so myself for 2-3 decades as a part-time professional bass player and now those days, a presenter/performer of sound with numerous exotic instruments…
He accepted without hesitation, and then I saw a small stand with books on for sale that couldn’t be seen from up the back: lo and behold – the ’Jonathon’ book!
I told him I’d been reading it all week, and he smiled, saying “I wrote it” – and I suddenly realized that ‘Robin’ was the male spelling of the name!
We loaded his gear into a distinctive black station wagon with tinted windows, shook hands feeling good about each other…
Jumping ahead, a couple of weeks later, I was in Sedona, Arizona late one afternoon – a long way SW of Boulder Colorado – on my ‘odyssey’ through the US South West. Strolling along the mainstreet, I started to cross a small side street with a restaurant on the corner. My head was drawn to swivel to the right… and there was that same distinctive black station wagon with the back doors open, with Robin lifting his gear out.
“Can I help you carry in?” I asked him from behind.
Robin swung around and laughed” You again!!”
And as we walked in side-by-side each carrying keyboard and sound gear, I’ll never forget him looking up at me saying:” There are NO coincidences!!”
Connie Shaw
Back at Nancy’s in Boulder CO, I managed to obtain the phone number of Connie Shaw (www.connieshaw.com) who lived (I believe in Johnstown) with her husband Jim Wright – not far north of Boulder. I had read her remarkable book ‘Mary’s Miracles & Prophecies’ not long before coming to the US which had deeply impressed me, plus I had been advised by people on 3 separate occasions to make contact with her once there. Remembering that mobile/cellphones and the Internet were ‘in their infancy’at that time, I rang Connie by landline and, having briefly told her about myself and how I came to be in the Boulder area, she started to talk and spoke virtually non-stop for about 40 minutes.
Being highly psychic and knowing what little I’d told her about myself, she told me of the potential future path she could see for me plus provided some contact names and addresses. The principal thing she foresaw as a potential was that I could choose to link up with a Macy Jozef and others to work with them with my vocal & instrumental sound therapy/healing for disabled people who Macy’s organization transported to Isla de Mujerres (the Isle of Women) in the Gulf of Mexico where they also were fully immersed to allow the dolphins to also provide healing.
What then progressively evolved was just fascinating and rich in the way Spirit works…and remains so to this day 26 years later.
I was coming to the end of my stay with Nancy and she politely suggested that it was time for me to move on from her place as I’d been there about a week. I instantly agreed and started to think how I would explore the US South West. As I was on a very limited budget, car hire seemed prohibitive so I thought I’d book a Greyhound coach southwards. I went to the terminal in Boulder and was disturbed to discover the types of people I would be sharing with (drunks/drug addicts/derelicts)– as indeed I suddenly remembered I’d done in 1983 in San Francisco, and had retreated back to my hotel to book an airline flight to San Diego.
So suddenly, once again, as had happened in Omaha, I had no idea of how I was going to travel…but Spirit had it all under control…
My hostess Nancy had invited Macy Jozef (who she just happened to know and that Connie Shaw had told me about) to come to the sound evening for a group that I had just held at Nancy’s but she was unable to make it. So Nancy recommended to her that she come to her place for a one-on-one sound session with me.
This she did, and then asked me to a nearby café to talk further.
A strong, weatherbeaten woman in her 40’s, she explained that, one day several years before, she was sitting in her backyard perplexed as to what she was meant to be doing with her life that would be meaningful. Suddenly, a voice from out of nowhere called out to her that she should be facilitating healing work for physically-incapacitated humans with dolphins.
She and her then-husband, the now late Dr Steve Jozef then set up the Steve Jozef Foundation dedicated to assisting the healing journey for those in wheelchairs by working cooperatively with the dolphins at Isla de Mujerres in the Gulf of Mexico. [Ed: unable at time of writing in 2022 to find any reference on the Internet] . Working with a clairvoyant lady, she would take patients to the island where a range of therapeutic modalities would be employed including immersion in the water to permit close contact to the loving energies of the dolphins.
I don’t recall whether she then asked me to consider whether I would come and work with them (as indeed Connie Shaw had seen as a possible path for me to follow) but, in any case, I made it clear that, as attractive as that proposition sounded in theory, I had my partner Rosemary, my aging mother and my youngest daughter back in Australia – plus we had just birthed The Southern Cross Academy of Light there. So, “Thanks but No thanks”, Australia was to remain home for me.
The other notable thing that happened at that café was a story she recounted to me which is important to record for what can be learned from its telling…
She, her lady assistant and mother all lived in a rented house at Red Rocks, Morrison near Denver (near the natural amphitheatre which is a famous outdoor concert venue) (her husband Steve had died in recent years).
The house and the desert-like land (seen by me at the end of a hot, dry summer) it sat on, belonged to a man who loved that area with a passion: he felt deeply connected to both house and lands. The area was indeed remarkable being characterised by rock outcrops that looked that they had been carved as beings/humans/creatures: quite amazing.
One day, he flew his plane straight into a cliff face in the Rocky Mountains to the west and was killed instantly.
Shortly after, Macy said that she started struggling for energy as though carrying a heavy load and became continually very tired. Her clairvoyant assistant told her that she could see that Macy had an ‘entity’ in her energy field – then realised it was the spirit of the man who had just died – well physically died anyway.
Macy then started to talk to this ‘entity’, telling him that he had actually died and to please go to the Light.
You may recall me discussing this phenomenon when I was at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii – where so many had likewise died in an instant without the forewarning to have any preparation to cross over smoothly, and hence can be left in limbo, trapped on the astral plane. Day after day, she continued to ask him to leave but to no avail. Finally, she went to his grave in the cemetery just nearby (which incidentally looked just like one from a Western movie – being gravestones on a barren rocky hillside surrounded by a simple low fence) and pointed down at the grave telling him yet again that he had died in the plane crash and his body was buried there – and to please go to the Light.
She recalled that she was woken that night on the stroke of midnight and felt him finally leave.
I also have experienced this phenomenon a number of times over the years but to a much lesser degree whereby I suddenly feel very inexplicably tired but know what to do.
I go into an acoustically and visually private space, call on all my ‘circle of light’ including Sai Baba, Jesus, Holy Mother Mary and Saint Germain, and start to drag upwards off my body/energy field all discordant/disharmonious energies, outward along my arms and flicking it upwards declaring out loud that I refuse to allow such to remain in my energy field, and finally clap my hands over my head with arms extended 3 times out loud. I then command that I be wholly encapsulated in fluffy pink light, encased in turn by intense violet light, and complete by devoutly thanking all those present for their assistance/facilitation. Very effective for me at least.
Macy and I then left the café and she dropped me off at Nancy’s on her way home back to Morrison… with me still not knowing how I might travel to the South West.
The next morning, the phone rang whilst we were breakfasting and Nancy took the call. She came back into the room, saying that it had been Macy, and told me that, in sleep the previous night, Macy had been clearly told to gift me an older model car which had been sitting unused at her place at Morrison – probably since her husband died. The conditions of the gift were that I could drive it anywhere within USA but I, in turn, had to gift it to a Native American of my choice before leaving the country. We needed to arrange hardcopy documentation that I would carry certifying Macy’s permission as the registered owner for me to drive it into any State, and then separate written authority for me to give it to anyone of my choice.
Needless to say, I was astounded and thrilled at this turn of events which was yet a further demonstration of how we are always provided for when we are living righteously and with pure intent. It turned out in retrospect to be Spirit’s way of ensuring I reconnected with my Native American ancestry from previous incarnations whilst on this trip plus resolved any attendant karmic debts/imbalances.
I rang my partner Rosemary back in Australia to tell her of what had eventuated and she was able to tell me it was also a test of trust in Spirit/God as I headed off into the unknown. Connie Shaw had also advised similiarly.
Rosemary’s guidance also said that, whilst trusting Spirit, I had to be totally grounded and practical in ensuring the vehicle was in reliable working condition plus all legal avenues were covered with correct comprehensive documentation. These latter matters are second nature to me anyway as I am a very practical person.
I accepted Macy’s generous offer so she came and picked me up from Nancy’s, and headed back to Morrison.
She allowed me to stay with them whilst we booked the car – an older model large sedan (?American Motor Corporation –‘Matador’, I think?) – into a workshop for thorough mechanical check up and servicing: Macy kindly agreed to share such costs with me. We also went into her bank head office in Denver where we had to get a Notary Public to execute the permission to drive and eventual hand -over documentation. Whilst there standing in the background, I clearly was given to understand by Spirit that her late-husband Steve had been the one who had instructed Macy in her sleep to gift this surplus car.
The South West and Hopi Heritage
Instructed as I was by Macy that this car had to be handed over to a Native American of my choice before I left mainland USA, I knew in my heart that this would be a Hopi (in my trance medium session just before leaving Australia, I had been told of a number of previous lives I had had as a Native American- 2 of which had been as a Hopi) – though how I would gift it to that person challenged me.
So, as I started driving south west from Morrison, I decided to phone the Hopi Nation offices to say that I had this car to give to one of their nation. This became almost a daily call as I was informed that the tribal council were away dealing with another matter (Grand Canyon lands handover to regional tribes by US Govmt?) and hence the matter would have to await their return. The lady who took the phone calls each time ended up advising that I would just have to allow myself to be guided to whom to gift the car …
A couple of days later, I arrived in Taos New Mexico where I discovered there were 2 Native drum sales outlets: one was very large with shelves of thousands of drums which had a rather commercial feel to it. The other however was connected to the Taos Pueblo which the home base (as it were) of the local Native tribe – a small village of wonderful rendered mudbrick buildings. I had it in my heart to be led to a frame drum for me – if that was appropriate.
In that trance medium session back in Australia, I had been told of specific details for each past life as a Native American: tribe, years of birth & death, totem and tribal name. Grizzly bear featured prominently in a number which I have been given to understand signifies strength, courage and leadership. I was drawn to a frame drum which had grizzly bear depicted on its skin: what happened next was very touching and amazing.
The sales assistant– a man in his 40’s (?)– took off a pendant from around his neck, and gifted it to me – saying that this has to be yours now. On the chain was a grizzly bear claw – which I still wear to this day every day and which, upon my death, will be offered to a step-grand-daughter who has an extraordinary affinity with animals; when she first saw it years ago, she instantly connected with it ). Her inspirational life to date has been characterized by determination, strength of conviction and courage – qualities attributed to the grizzly bear.
I headed for Flagstaff, Arizona as a motel base and in sleep that night, had a very challenging experience.
In a lucid ‘dream’, I saw a man of robust build, stripped to the waist with tanned skin and short black hair coming in through a doorway into the room I was in, come towards me and then merge fully with me! I woke up in fright sitting upright in bed very shaken…
The next day, I headed back east to Winslow (where I had stayed in a motel the previous night). I turned left and headed for the Hopi Nation. That area is an amazing landscape with mesas (flat topped hills) scattered throughout the desert which was largely devoid of vegetation (being September, hence the end of a hot, dry summer). The Hopi Nation is partly surrounded by the Navajo Nation and, after a while, I suddenly found myself passing a large complex of single storey buildings, sheds and open air parking all surrounded by high chain mesh fencing: the Navajo Police Force. It is very surreal to see such dropped into the desert – just like Woomera in South Australia.
Coming to a ‘T’ junction, I took a left and finally found myself driving over a low rise to be presented with a similar sight to that of the Navajo Police: before me down below on the desert floor was yet another small group of single storey buildings and bitumened parking area with lots of parked cars: it was the Hopi Nation Government Offices surrounded by desert.
I drove down into the carpark and went into reception. I explained that I was the Australian man who had been phoning to say I had a car to gift to one of their people. And that’s when Spirit stepped in…
A man in his 50’s neatly dressed in white shirt and tie stepped quickly forward, took my arm and steered me back outside to where the car was parked. He carefully turned his back to the office buildings as he said that probably everyone inside was watching us, and introduced himself (I choose to keep his identity private) – saying that his niece was single, pregnant with her 7th child and had been praying for a miracle to assist her and her family in their plight.
“She really needs this car, so here is her phone number to call to arrange to meet up” he said discreetly slipping a small piece of paper into my hand. I replied that I intended to stay that night at the Hopi Cultural Centre accommodation nearby and would phone her once in my room. I also told him of the lucid ‘dream’ I’d had in sleep and wondered if it had any significance: he suggested that I stop by a small roadside shop I’d seen on my way in and speak to the owner.
With that, he left me and went back inside to work whilst I headed for the roadside shop. Going inside, I found that it sold primarily jewellery – much of it turquoise and silver, so traditional to the US South West.
She asked what I wanted so I said I had been recommended to ask her about my ‘dream’.
She turned partly away, looked out the window and seemed to go, as it were, out of focus…she then said to me in a distant voice: “ It was just you meeting yourself in a previous incarnation” (ie a life when I was a Hopi).
I thanked her and left feeling blessed at Spirit reconnecting me to a part of my heritage that I was only just coming to learn about.
That evening I rang the number for the niece (identity once again kept private), told her what it was all about and she agreed that I should come to her place the next morning and take it from there. I asked how I would find her place and she replied:
“Just head for Keams Canyon, and I’m in the house under the tree”…when I queried but which tree, she replied calmly:
“It’s the only tree you’ll see”….
As I drove along through the tree-less desert the next morning, sure enough, there was one large spreading tree started to appear on the left and I pulled in under its welcoming shade.
She appeared at the door of the very simple single storey, weatherboard house with a small boy who was not yet old enough to go to school and bid me enter. She was a shy, quiet lady in her 40’s perhaps and thanked me for bringing the car to her – telling me that she had been praying intensively for months for a miracle.
We then agreed how to next proceed: would I please drive her along to the hospital in Keams Canyon for a routine pregnancy checkup, and then back up onto First Mesa (where I had stayed the night before at the Hopi Cultural Centre) where, after inspecting Walpi, we’d meet up with a cousin of hers (female) and her boyfriend. We’d then have lunch at the Centre and then would all travel in the car back across to Flagstaff where I had booked another room. I would hand over the permission -to-drive documentation etc that the Notary Public had prepared back in Denver and they would drive back home to the Hopi Nation. Job done…or so I thought.
As we left her house, she gave me 3 gifts as a token of her gratitude for the car: a Hopi rattle made from a small dried gourd and decorated with Hopi symbols and feather, a small woven shallow basket, and a Penguin paperback copy of ‘Book of the Hopi’ by American historian Frank Waters (pub. 1963). The latter, she said, was to help me better understand my Hopi heritage. It was times like this whilst I was in the Hopi Nation that I realised that those Hopi I came in contact with knew that I’d had past incarnation(s) there without saying anything directly about the subject.
At the hospital, I sat with her son whilst she had her checkup then we drove back up onto First Mesa where she and her son took me on a walk around the ancient village of Walpi during which we passed the entry ladder to the underground kiva where ceremonies are conducted connecting with the Spirit world.
We then met up with her cousin (a lady maybe in her 40’s) and Navajo boyfriend.
After lunch, we headed off to Flagstaff when suddenly, whilst we were still up on First Mesa, her cousin took ill in the back seat and I immediately pulled off the road. We all got out and found her cousin was struggling for breath. I then instantly knew what I had to do, and, saying to the others:” Trust me, but this is part of what I do” (or words to that effect) (ie as a sound therapist), having invoked higher realms, started to energetically scan her body slowly up and down with my voice toning glissandos intensely and focusing in wherever there appeared to be ‘sticky’ zone, varying the volume up and down, thence moving elsewhere once the sound for that zone became clearer. Finally, it was done: I gave thanks to all those higher realm entities who had assisted/toned through me, and stepped back.
She was visibly much better and breathing easily once again.
I realized later on quiet reflection that it had all been a setup by Spirit/divinely ordained – and that in some way, I was repaying karma due from past event(s).
We resumed our journey, and taking a shortcut they knew across the desert (rather than the longer way via Winslow), made a beeline into Flagstaff to my motel where I took them into my room and used some of the instruments I had in my luggage eg Tibetan bell/bowl etc to provide further relief to her. (The little boy with us was to later give me a wonderful compliment by calling me ‘medecine man’ to someone else: that’s when I really felt accepted!).
Armed with the handover documentation and the car, they took their leave to drive back to the Hopi Nation.
The next day, I hired a small car and drove to The Grand Canyon which is quite close to Flagstaff. The sheer scale and magnificence of it is beyond words: I took lots of overlapping colour print photos and, back home in Sydney, assembled these as a very large photopanorama on a wall of my office (as I had done so many times over the years as a landscape architect). The result was just amazing and breath-taking.
From there, I headed back through Flagstaff and headed south to Sedona which I had heard so much about in recent years in the New Age movement. The drive descends a total of about 3,000 feet in altitude including traveling through the beautiful Oak Creek Canyon. I found that the town centre and mainstreet of Sedona was very commercially tourist-oriented and didn’t appeal at all. I parked and got out, only to be met by overwhelmingly oppressive heat which was a huge shock to my system after the mild September climate I had experienced in Flagstaff and the Hopi Nation. I immediately got back in my car, turned up the air conditioning and just drove straight ahead ending up in Cottonwood where I took shelter in an air-conditioned Sizzlers restaurant for several hours – thinking about what to do next.
I decided that I’d retreat to Flagstaff’s milder climes back at higher altitude that afternoon to possibly play some golf the next day before driving down to Phoenix wherefrom I was booked to fly to San Francisco on my way home. Well, that was my leftbrain plan…
As I came back into Sedona in the later afternoon, I decided to try stopping again and talking a walk along mainstreet as it had cooled off somewhat. After briefly browsing in a New Age type bookshop, I walked along and that’s when I encountered Robin (‘there are no coincidences’) Miller unloading his music gear and helped him for a second time – as described earlier above.
I drove back to the same motel in Flagstaff, parked and headed into Reception with my luggage.
The receptionist looked up and recognising me, said :
“ Ah, Mr Butterworth: welcome back!”
As I started to say that I planned to try and get a golf game the next day (a Saturday), she continued, saying:
“ I assume you’re back for the Hopi Harvest Festival tomorrow”…
I probably stammered and, realising in a flash what Spirit had set up, I surrendered and acquiesced.
Once in my room, I rang the lady to whom I had gifted the car, and asked about the Festival.
“Would you like to join us?” she asked. I smilingly said OK.
The next day, I drove back east to Winslow, then north through the desert to her house (beneath that tree) hence not hard to find…
On entering, they were all just finishing a cooked breakfast.
I was introduced to her mother who within minutes was chiding me sternly for making too much eye contact with her. I then realised she was an elder and, knowing my Hopi heritage, expected that I was au fait with protocols…
Which I wasn’t fully by any means and was learning on the run…
[I then remembered being similarly reprimanded in the late 1980’s in North Sydney back home by a highly spiritually-aware man who ran a small watchmaker’s shop. On entering for the first time, I recall he scanned my aura before beckoning me close to the counter where he immediately started teaching me about esoteric/spiritual matters – even though I’d gone in to leave a watch/clock for repair. He also had later rebuked me for making too much eye contact and I have in the years since, heard of other situations where people are required to bow their heads in the presence of spiritually advanced persons.
Which takes me to a similar issue – if I may digress for a moment.
It has been my observation and direct experience that the world of Spirit also expects that those committed to their spiritual path know much about their past lives and protocols: this was of particular relevance when my wife and I were guided to the land where we built a house, gardens and farm and still live there -where the Ancestors of the Worrimi Nation got very angry with my ignorance of such protocols and responded accordingly. This is explained in detail in a separate section/module entitled ‘Jacaranda Haven’.]
I then drove my hire car to the foot of First Mesa whilst the others drove the gifted car: all cars were left there as we were conveyed up to Walpi by shuttle bus and joined lots of others arriving. The village square in this ancient village was mostly encircled by single storey, flat roofed buildings. There were ladders propped against the streetside of each and we climbed up to then sit down with an aerial view of the earthen lined square below.
Throughout the day, male dancers from all the attending SW Native American tribes (including Navajo, Zuni etc) would be announced via a PA system and one or more would shuffle out into the square, shuffle-dancing in time to the hypnotic rhythms of one or more drummers beating with only 1 mallet on casklike upright drums. Towards the end of each dance, the dancer’s eg grandmother would join him in a unison shuffle – dance by his side and unobtrusively slip some cornmeal or tobacco into his hand. I had the benefit of having the lady I had gifted the car to explaining to me the significance of various aspects of the day. My presence was accepted without murmur by all (I was not permitted to take photographs) even though I must have been highly conspicuous in my white Greg Norman broad-brimmed mesh hat! I sure was the only one wearing such! And I felt that I was with family; very comfortable in that tacit acceptance – knowing that many present would have known who I was and how I came to be there.
During the day, noone ate anything that I saw and there didn’t appear to be any food available. I was ravenous and my host took pity and got me some cold roasted corn on the cob which I really appreciated.
As the day moved on, I knew I had to take my leave so said goodbyes, excused myself and got a shuttle back down to my car.
Whilst at the Hopi Nation, I had observed people seemingly ‘poor’ by Western standards , but very rich in terms of their culture, heritage, family and community and I felt likewise enriched by my brief time with them and honoured by their acceptance of me.
POSTSCRIPT
[Back in Australia, I received some months later a lovely handwritten letter from the lady I had gifted the car to telling me of the successful birth of her 7th child, what Hopi & Western names they had given him and thanking me yet again; I have kept that letter to this day. I mailed her family photos, magazine articles and the best book I could find about Australian Aboriginal peoples, but never heard back as to whether it was all received…She had mentioned they she and her family might move NW to Tuba City so perhaps that is why. I also years later sent a letter to her uncle at the Hopi Nation Government offices asking after her and the family but have never received any answer…the karma is obviously complete.]
Once in Flagstaff, I headed straight to a vegetarian restaurant I’d heard of: the food was absolutely delicious – all the more so due to my hunger. And an interesting thing happened: I always ask for a blessing for every meal whereby I bow my head, close my eyes, cup my hands discreetly over the meal and silently/out loud say a prayer of gratitude asking also that the food be blessed. To my surprise, and that of many of the diners, one of the waiters who was obviously highly clairvoyant, called out loud:” Wow! Did you see the light over that meal when he asked for a blessing just then!” Whilst I was momentarily, and understandably embarrassed, it was the first time I’d ever heard anyone describing such an observation – and serves to reinforce to us all the power of a sincere invocation.
[Digressing momentarily, I was leading a ‘Sacred Sound’ healing meditation circle with instruments and voice in the hexagonal Quakers Centre in Canberra one Friday night some years prior (as I usually did as a precursor to a weekend Sacred Sound Workshop) when one of the tealight candles caused a laminex tabletop to crack loudly from extreme heat beneath. This immediately caused restlessness in those present that threatened to break the otherwise deep meditative atmosphere: I instantly called silently with total sincerity on ascended master St Germain to bring forth intense violet light to transmute the restlessness back to peace. Calm prevailed thereafter, and as I was packing up afterwards, a lady stepped forward ushering a rather shy lady.
“Tell John what you saw happen” she insisted.
The other lady very humbly and quietly said:” When that disturbance occurred, I instantly saw intense violet light around you”. I then learned that she was the current leader of the Spiritualist Church in Canberra who was obviously highly clairvoyant.
I’d had a similar experience around that time when conducting a circle in a church undergoing restoration (‘Chalmers’) in Launceston, Tasmania where a clairvoyant likewise saw deep violet light around me when I was calling on St Germain.
Hence, never doubt the power of sincere intent nor doubt that the Masters, Archangels, angels, and your spirit guides and teachers are always with you and there to be called on when needed.]
The next day, I drove direct to Phoenix Airport, and dropped off the hire car (which attracted a hefty dropoff penalty for hiring in Flagstaff and leaving in Phoenix! Unlike UK and Europe where I never encountered such, hence felt somewhat financially ambushed!)
I then flew to San Francisco(SF) via San Diego which was memorable flying north up the coast hence permitting sight of the sunset over the Pacific Ocean out the port windows and the twinkly lights below/to starboard of urbanization.
I was met in SF by a dear friend of my partner Rosemary, Debra, who taught yoga at the Integral Yoga Institute where she had arranged for me to stay for a few days before flying back to Australia. Rosemary had first met Debra in New York some years prior when Rosemary had followed divine guidance to fly there from Australia to do intensive daily healing on a man called Peter she had heard was very ill with AIDS: not that Peter knew Rosemary! She just arrived on his doorstep one day unannounced. But that is another longer story told in her book ’How To Move Forward’ by Rosemary Butterworth and in a separate module:‘Rosemary’
I felt very cared for, being able to sleep in the loft & use the amenities of this wonderful yoga centre which was housed in a very large, multi-storey former doctor’s residence in the hilly suburban areas just behind the city. One night, Debra drove me out to a grassy hillside far beyond the infamous SF fog layer where along with many SF residents, we watched a full lunar eclipse accompanied by a South American man drumming quietly and singing:”La Luna, La Luna!!” I was loaned a pair of binoculars to watch the moon re-emerge glowing ruby-red from the cast shadow of the Earth: just awe-inspiring and unforgettable!!
After several days, I flew back to Australia with another 1 day stop over in Honolulu where I spent the day simply strolling around Kalakaua Boulevard and the beachfront including a brief swim! Very relaxing!
OVERVIEW OF THE TRIP
So what is to be learned from this journey? I thank Spirit for utilising the journey to allow me to reconnect to both Native American and Hawaiian heritage from past lives and completing some karmas. Whilst I had no idea what the future held for me upon returning to Sydney, I nevertheless felt very enriched , cared for and a sense of ‘belonging’ which I feel we all crave deep down – as I’ve never always felt quite ‘right’ in Australian/Western society with its emphasis on materiality.
It had also been a powerful exercise in trust – demonstrating on numerous occasions that I/we will always be cared for and guided if we are committed to a spiritual path.
A NEW OPPORTUNITY EMERGES
I arrived back home at my mother’s house with very little money left, and no clear idea what to do next. A close friend who had expertise in career guidance offered to spend time with me to help me. She explored what training and skills I had, and then into what she termed ‘value added’ territory to see if any new opportunities emerged.
As a result of this kind assistance, I prepared a brief CV with photo and mailed it to 17 carefully selected Sydney metropolitan area Councils offering my services & experience as landscape architect/design practice director/expert witness in the Land & Environment Court/University & college lecturer etc either as a consultant inhouse/external or employee.
I decided that, if this exercise yielded no results, I would then direct the same offer to relevant State, then Federal Government departments. Not necessary, as I received an almost immediate request to attend a job interview at North Sydney Council as they just ‘happened’ to have an appropriate vacancy.
This I did and was successful, starting in Feb 1997– although initially just as a rather strange combination of landscape/urban designer handling some aspects of streetscape improvement projects (which I’d had plenty of experience in) and as the Local Emergency Management Officer which I had no experience in ! This latter was a role that every Council has to provide for and I was given it as seemingly noone else wanted to. I had to convene regular meetings of the Local Emergency Management Committee etc and, as I was simply grateful to have a financially-secure job, I grudgingly went along with it. However, Spirit was afoot as always…
In September 1997, I had to attend a 1 day training course offsite with many other emergency personnel and heard that day sometimes harrowing firsthand accounts spoken by rescue/ambulance/police of the eg the Thredbo disaster when buildings at this Snowy Mountains ski resort had collapsed with loss of lives, injuries and trapped people. It was very humbling and,at the end of that day, I suddenly felt privileged & enriched to be with all these silent heroes.
And that was the turning point that Spirit/Sai Baba was waiting for me to accept and surrender to this ancillary role I had been given.
I say “turning point” because of what immediately took place.
To provide context, Council had commenced undertaking 3 major construction projects simultaneously being upgrade of North Sydney Olympic Pool, reconstruction of much of the Council Chambers and a new Indoor Sports Centre at Crows Nest on top of an existing multistorey parking station – in total at least $20million worth.
Council had been endeavouring to hire a project manager on a short term basis (?18 months) to run one/some of these and had two failures in quick succession. I said to my Director a number of times that a far better solution was surely to engage someone for, say 3 years initially. He apparently took that on board because, shortly after the second failure, he called me into his office and told me to shut the door.
He said that he’d had discussions with his boss, The Town Clerk, and they had agreed that my suggestion was the best option for Council. Then came the bombshell:
“We’d like you to be that person!” “And you’ll naturally have a higher salary, plus ample administrative/clerical support”.
I was stunned as I had NO prior experience in project management but only experience being Director of my own landscape architectural design practice with a small number of employees. (I do recall now some 25+ years later that I had earlier told my Director at Council that I needed to earn more as what they were initially paying me wasn’t making ends meet).
I went home to my partner Rosemary that night with my mind in a spin and shared with her details of the offer.
We decided it was too good an opportunity to decline and so accepted.
Thereafter, I was North Sydney Council’s Projects Manager managing building, fitout and streetscape upgrade projects for 20+ years until I ‘retired’ in August 2017 when Rosemary (at that time my wife of 19 years) put her foot down and said she was not prepared to continue traveling 3.5.hours on Friday evening to our house in the country and then 3.5hours back on Sunday evening to Sydney where we rented – as we had done for 13 years since buying the land (except for holiday periods there of longer duration)…but that is another story recounted elsewhere.
Suffice it to say, during that tenure, I learned on the run (an understatement) and managed the design, tendering, contract administration and construction of dozens of projects of varying types and budgets: from large scale construction (worth $millions) through office re-fitouts to streetscape upgrade projects with large/sometimes more modest budgets – and everything in between.
So, in retrospect, was there REALLY more to all this than first meets the eye?
On the face of it, sadly 20 + years at a computer & desk left me round-shouldered (photos show what erect posture I’d had prior) but it had provided us a steady, reliable income flow plus benefits (incl a Council vehicle totally free for unlimited private use NB 600km travelling every weekend for 13 years, superannuation, annual & Long Service Leave etc) that permitted me in 1997 firstly to move in with, then in 1998, marry Rosemary (as directed by Sai Baba), to rent us varying good quality accommodation in Sydney suburbia, some overseas travel, and ,after each of our mothers died, 3 months Long Service Leave to allow the country house to be built etc.
Hence, the job had meant we were financially secure and comfortable…but there was karmically much more to it than that (as explained in the separate module:’ North Sydney’).
[Last edited March 2024]