Terran note: I don’t know if the custom found in this dream actually exists in Japan. Perhaps it once did. Is this is a memory returning? I really don’t know. Source takes us through lives that polish our being. We don’t always understand the why of it during the life. I've had two known lives as a Samurai during the shogun era, one of which was as a the head of a war lord's guard. Prior to now, no memories have returned except that I have this huge appreciation for Japanese gardens, woodworking and Craftsmanship. And I've got a penchant for watching Toshiro Mifune Samurai movies. There is an aspect of my nature that has roots in Bushido. The warrior culture of the Samurai. Ganesha recognized it in me, by the actions I did not take during the churn of events in the last days of Morocco. He told me it’s why he invited me to the Italian Alps to stay with them in their Chalet. Ganesha has that aspect too. Ganesha is a zen sea of calm. He and his wife are wonderful beautiful people. We are changed by each life, and I have had so very very many incarnations.
In this region of Japan there was an honor custom. Before you could take any action against a man, whether bodily or in a court of law, you had to carve a representation of the situation and a chain to it out of a single block of wood and present it to the person who wronged you before taking whatever action was on your mind.
If you did not do this, your friends and family would consider whatever action you took next dishonorable.
This custom made no proscription against whatever action you took, but you had to carve the situation from a single block of wood including the links in the chain. There was no requirement that the carving had to be a good one or even artistic. Just the best you do with your hands.
So I decided to create a representation of the man’s car with 3 or 4 wooden chain links attached to it. I got a block of brown hard wood and sketched the rough outline of what I’d have to carve away. I was allowed whatever woodworking tools I needed, whether power or hand tools. If I in any way broke the chain while carving it, I had to start over. The chain symbolized the attachment the event has to the person.
I was industrious and had the beginnings of a rough outline in the car in no time. Woodworking is my thing. But the chain is difficult, for you must sketch in such a way to allow enough room for the space between links to be carved into individual links. I used a Dremel tool for much of it.
As I carved and the days wore on, my anger dissipated into the wood. I began to see things in my own nature, my impatience at how long this carving took. My frustration with this honor tradition of carving a block of wood and my anger for the vehicle and man who drove it. Which was the whole point of the exercise. The custom created a space of time for an individual to cool off and to see themselves.
By the time I finished the carving I saw the man for what he really was. I saw the event for what it was. But more importantly I saw myself and my emotions about it all for what it really was. By the time I presented the carving to the man I simply bowed to the man and left.
ここにいてくれてありがとう