Tree: Part III

Click here to read Part I.
Click here to read Part II.


Sunday 14/11:


After the festivities of the night before, I woke up around 9:30 to a large dog named Taco (owned by Carly's housemate, Sharna) licking my face - some may say gross, some may say free facewash! Carly had left early and gone to work at her families camera store in the Melbourne CBD - finishing at 4 that day; meanwhile James and I had more spiritual adventures to partake in.

James in some mower trouble...

First off was a quick meditation session lasting 30 minutes, and then to James' house that he was moving out of in Thornbury for one final crack at mowing the lawns (alas it was not to be, the mower just wasn't co-operating).

We bid farewell to the house in Thornbury and hopped on a bus, a tram, and a train into the CBD - we were running a little late for our first visit to a spiritualist church...

James had read about the location of the church on the internet (Victorian Spiritualists' Union), and as we were running about 10 minutes late we briskly walked out of the station, out onto bustling Elizabeth St, around a corner, and there was this non-conspicuous looking building with some old dudes out the front.
"First time?", one old man asked to James.
"Yes", James replied.
"Please come in, the procession is about to begin", the old man politely said as he showed us the amenities, and led us up a staircase into a medium sized hall with a stage up the front, on which 2 mediums were sitting in large chairs (almost like Queen style).

We arrived just as the announcements were being read out, followed by a large round of applause for each one (the organ player was especially popular with the old ladies sitting down the front). After the "sermon" by this lady from England was finished, a man from the church's book-club 'came on down' to the tune of some corny song by John (organ player). Lastly the 90 minute procession concluded with a medium channeling the spirits of the deceased, and picked out members of the audience to inform them of family members or friends that have passed, with a message for them - she even made one lady cry.

From the procession we went downstairs to find some tea and cake (it was a very old person vibe), and I bought two books from the 'book-club'. Carly met us there, and we travelled from the CBD into Fitzroy/Collingwood to meet up with my good friend Tree for a tarot reading.

It was around 6pm, and we hadn't had dinner yet, so after meeting Tree we went to a Japanese restaurant on Smith St, ate some delicious food, and talked. Tree was planning on doing the reading at the restaurant, however decided against it during our dinner as the vibe wasn't quite right. Tree was an amazing character - exuding life and energy in great abundance around him, it was actually quite intoxicating being in his presence.

During dinner Tree was asking me questions about my cancer, job, and basically my life. We quickly came to the conclusion that the only reason I chose accounting for a degree at uni was that it was the safest option for me, and even though I was good at it, it didn't really align with my other passions (i.e. film, art, music, history, philosophy etc.). This in itself was a major revelation to me, and instantly I was a changed man - that was the power of Tree, the reading had not even begun and I was transformed.

After dinner we decided to go to a cafe to do the reading; Tree knew of a place nearby called the Alchemist cafe, only a few blocks away. Walking down Smith St I suddenly found myself get really excited about life, and the possibilities and opportunities that were in front of me; all I had to do was get off my arse and stop playing video games and make my life worth living.

The reading began with Tree getting me to select 13 cards from his tarot deck. He then placed them face down in a configuration on the table, and begun his process of flipping them over one by one, with sometimes significant pauses in between to ask me questions and to make predictions about my life that ended up being so close to the truth it's not funny - he was truly in touch with his spiritual nature it was inspiring.

In between each card we delved deeper into my true being, and found out more about who I was and what my 'purpose' is on this Earth in this lifetime. One particular card that was selected second (not sure what the significance is there..) really confirmed something I knew, and influenced me to take it further. It was the card of the Hierophant - a wise religious figure, that can be interpreted many ways (Read the wiki article here if you wish). Tree interpreted it for me as being a spiritual teacher, and this was later confirmed as we completed the tarot reading.

Tree would ask me very direct questions, most of them shocked me quite a bit, and got me to think about why I'm on this Earth. For example he would ask what subjects I did in high school, and what interests I had. It actually all came back to a point when I was entering year 12, when I dropped Drama over Business Studies - purely because I knew that I could obtain a higher mark in Business Studies (with the same amount of effort) as I could in Drama (again, taking the easy way out). This brought about a string of decisions in which I discovered that I had been doing this for the majority of my adult life, and I had never really been following my passion.

In the end, Tree summed up the reading as positive, and said, "You didn't really get your arse kicked in this reading", something that he sometimes has to do to his subjects to spin their life in another direction. Tree said that I needed to get passionate about something, make a goal for myself, and to research, travel and experience everything about spirituality that I can - whether it be numerology, ancient mayan/aztec civilisations, massage, tai chi/ qi gong, further meditation etc. etc., basically anything in which I would be following my passion.

From this life changing experience I returned to Sydney with a new outlook on life, created my own blog (Cancer Passion), and looked into massage courses, dance classes, had a piano lesson, among other things that have really changed my life - thank you Tree.

After the reading we returned back to Carly's house, and watched a documentary called Esoteric Agenda (watch it online here for free) - basically covering various pieces of US history that are not talked about, such as the Illuminati, control of the media, food production, just to name a few. It was amazing, you need to see it!

I fell asleep with a large smile on my face, and some grand plans for the future.

Monday 15/11:

Monday was my last day in town, and I had only a couple of hours in the morning before my flight left. Luckily Carly had a car and was able to drive me to the airport. We stopped by another of James' friends place in Thornbury first, as he had made me some liquid crystal drops (go here to read about what it is) called St. Germains Purple Flame of Transmutation - I take 7 drops morning and night, the healing power is amazing.

I made my flight in perfect time, bidding farewell to James and Carly at the airport, embracing in a long 3-way hug (that's right, a 3-way...), and thanked them for an amazingly life-changing weekend.

Apparently in the 260 day Mayan Calendar, the Tzolk'in, Monday 15th November was the first day of a new 20-day cycle. Just as I was making my way home on the train, my good friend Hamish informed me by way of a text message that he had proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Brooke earlier that morning - truly a beautiful way to start the week, the 5th moon in the Tzolk'in, and my new life as a spiritual teacher.

- Russell