In April, I attended a meeting held at the home of Cheryl Hardy in Eckert, Colo. The speaker, Jim Solo, came from Colorado Springs to tell a gathering of 25 to 30 people about his experiences with awakenings. Jim is a master of awakening intensives, where a small group of people gather for a week and learn how to give awakenings, while receiving them from each other. Arda Golden Eagle Woman, a master of awakenings, lives in nearby Cedaredge and was instrumental in organizing the meeting. She and Jim gave awakenings together to recipients all the following week.

     Energy work is an important dimension of health and healing. We all have bodies, minds and spirits. So often the body gets treated for an ailment without considering the mind or the spirit. In reality, it’s our attitudes that manifest dis-ease in the body.

     The awakenings started about 25 years ago, with a group of people in Georgia who got together to do some aura cleansing. Jim began to tell how he got into this kind of work. Born in Trinidad, Colo., he grew up in Pueblo. He was always very interested in sports, but ended up becoming a schoolteacher and coaching in Basalt, Colo. Later on, he went into real estate.

     "I had everything," he said. "but I hated my life." One day he attempted suicide. He took a shotgun into the bedroom and was about to perform the sordid deed when his golden retriever came into the room and stopped him by climbing on him and whining. As a result, Jim came to his senses. He then decided he needed to seek assistance through self-help gurus.

     He went to a week-long retreat in Denver and woke up in the motel room one night, in the dark, with a vibration in the room. When he asked, "What is it?" the vibration suddenly vanished. Jim tried everything he knew to try to get that feeling back. He prayed, he meditated, and then he began doing -- of all things -- sit-ups! That’s when he had a vision of a bloodshot eye, from which a tear rolled out. He saw a man on a cross, bleeding, dying, in the wind, in darkness and in shame. Then, suddenly, the vision ended and Jim found himself out in the middle of the universe. He saw stars and space, and then he saw in the other direction a huge brick wall, which was green. But there was a crack in the wall, from which bright light emanated, and the feeling (love) returned. He felt peace, and his heart was quiet. He came out of the vision and cried.

     "A wall keeps all of us out of the place of ease and happiness," he said. "No one is your guru but you." We are all attempting to break down the wall to find out who we are. Finding our spirit is up to us, and we are all responsible for our own spirituality.

     Jim met Arda Golden Eagle Woman a decade ago, when she and Kimi Martin were looking for property to build a healing center. He described what it was like to be invited out to their car, where the trunk was open, and asked to select a crystal out of a box of stones. He was told that there was one in there that called to him. Skeptical at first, Jim was surprised to discover that, indeed, one crystal was calling to him.

     Arda and Kimi invited him to Santa Fe, because the awakeners were in town, and he went. There he met Jim Rountree and Helen Reid. He then experienced his first awakening. Subsequently, he moved to Tucson, then to Salt Lake City, and then to Denver. They kept inviting him to come to an awakening intensive. Finally, in February 1992, Jim went to one. He had experienced six awakenings up to that point.

     Now he is a teacher of the awakening intensives. His life has changed and, for the last eight years, he claims he has found happiness in his life. "Trying to escape this planet is a mistake," he says. He has observed that there are many people who are unhappy. But, he says, "you can know what balance is -- being centered -- if you live in your spirit. We are reflections of all that we think and do." Once we realize we are Creators, we can change our lives, for we are the only ones who can do so.

     When you have an awakening, one of the first things you are asked to do is to draw a picture and color it with crayons. From this drawing the awakener can analyze the things in your life that are blocking you. Next, you discuss the things that are bothering you, or what you want the awakening to do, whether it’s to clear out negativity or get you in touch with your guides, or resolve past-life issues. After a short counseling session, the awakener washes your hands and feet, and then you lie face up on the table and close your eyes. Music selected by the awakener begins to play, and crystals are placed around you as you relax. Then the awakener says a prayer, calling in the Masters and guides, asking for protection and healing, acknowledging that he or she is merely an instrument in this grand process. What follows is brushing (feathering) and movement around you as you simply lie there and let Spirit take charge.

     The process of an awakening may take over an hour, in some cases. In my own experience, there comes a point when I reach an emotional height in which I release "my stuff," usually through tears, sobs, or anger. It’s amazing how it happens. Sometimes there is a tendency to hold back, to resist the letting go. I’ve had visions while on the table. I’ve seen faces and scenes from past lives, or gone into a memory from this life and received insights that relate to what is happening currently in my life. The feeling of love from caring guides and angels surrounds you, and when the awakening is over, you are left with such a sense of tranquility, such peace. You truly do feel like you have been relieved of your cares and your worries. The best analogy I’ve heard is that it is like peeling an onion, where layers of negativity are stripped away so that you can once again be that pure spirit, that innocent child of the universe, and see more clearly.

     In an awakening you see the full essence of who you are. The love energy is very powerful, and you learn what a moment of silence really is. Silence is internal, and happens on the inside, not the outside. Our minds are often too busy. Once we realize we have the ability to take charge of our lives, and we know we can do better, our attitude changes.

I recommend an awakening from Jim Solo or Arda. Cost is around $100, but it is well worth it. It can be literally life changing. Contact Arda Golden Eagle Woman at 970/856-3090, or write to her at P.O. Box 885, Cedaredge, CO 81413.