Dolphin Initiation
December 13, 2009
Big Island, Hawaii – Kealakekua Bay
Stepping across the volcanic stones that comprise the beach here, I and my sweetheart make our way to the edge of the gentle surf. The morning is young but the air is warming already. We carefully wade into the water and swim out toward the deeper water of the bay. Near the horizon a mother humpback whale and her calf break the surface and blow a spray of water to great cheers from the small crowd at the beach behind us. Earlier from the shore we saw spinner dolphins leap into the air from the bay we are now swimming in. We are here to meet them, to share the same ocean for awhile and to relate with them if we’re invited.
Carolyn swims out ahead, confident in her previous experience here, excited to once again play with these bright and joyful teachers. Taking my time, I slowly swim and observe small crabs and colorful fish below me on the steeply sloping sandy floor. Looking up across the sparkling surface, I see the heads of a half dozen other snorkelers bobbing and looking about as well, all of us searching for dorsal fins, noses, spray – any sign of the dolphins we’ve come to commune with. Carolyn is out there somewhere among the other swimmers but, in masks and snorkels, to my eye she’s become indistinguishable from the rest. I send her a blessing on her journey today.
I enjoy my solitude as an opportunity to be present in my own experience, open to the community of swimmers around me and the dolphins, whales and other creatures that call this place home. Swimming forward toward the mouth of the bay I say, “What I Am in the highest opportunity of relationship with the dolphins, as Why I Am Here.” I relax, open, feeling my senses beginning to tingle and suddenly without warning the water around me is alive with squeaks, squeals and clicks – the language of dolphins!
Looking ahead and to the right and left, I swim forward but can see no sign of these beings, although I hear them clearly. Now I feel their sonar penetrating deeply through my body, scanning me. But where are they?
Wow! They appear as I never imagined. Swimming from behind me, two dolphins materialize on my right, another on my left. I am escorted out toward the ocean as the dolphins match my pace. They swim forward of me for a few meters, turn around and stop. We face each other for the count of a few heartbeats pounding in my ears. Slowly, gently, one of the dolphins moves toward me and stops close enough for me to touch his nose with my hand though I keep me arms at my sides. He turns his head and looks at me deeply, his right eye gazing, curious. He clicks and moves to my right, swimming around and behind me. The two females introduce themselves one at a time, just as the first did.
As they circle clockwise around me, I spin slowly to face them. Around and around we dance. I open my awareness completely, allowing them to feel who I am, my full presence expanded in gratitude. I intuit their invitation to open to them and as I do, I feel a physical pressure in my brain and a sudden release of energy in my upper chakras. My ears, eyes, third eye and crown open. The connection between my third eye and heart is like a superhighway of energy flowing freely. Still underwater, I laugh deeply and loudly, bubbles bursting around me. The three dolphins swim away from me moving toward the shore and leap out of the water about 5 meters from where I’m hovering. I watch them re-enter the water, bubbles trailing behind them as they disappear into the beams of light filtering down through the surface and out beyond my visibility.
Have I just experienced an initiation? Yes, without a doubt. My body has changed, my awareness has opened. The many stories I’ve heard from others about the miracle of swimming with dolphins suddenly become very real for me. I get it. I get what their excitement is about. In that moment my connection with the others who have encountered dolphins in this way becomes more tangible. I recognize that I have just joined a community, consciously, that has been happily ready for me to follow the call and come out to play.
In the next hour or so, I celebrate as other dolphins come by to allow me to share in their morning play. Some stay out at the edges of my field of vision, others again come near enough to share a gaze. I watch as they swim, leap, spin below and above the water, branch off separately for a moment or, more often, swim together in small groups. I notice a quiet, sweet moment when a single dolphin joins a solitary woman, who I imagine must be a familiar friend, as they swim slowly side by side for long sinuous minutes. I get a sense that they are having a conversation, getting current with each other, sharing news of our respective societies and relating as allies on Mother Earth. I watch and learn.
Later, I sit on the shore and warm my body in the sun, now rising a little higher in the sky. I see two more whales blow near the mouth of the bay as Carolyn emerges from the sea, her wet skin shimmering, her eyes sparkling. She joins me on the beach and we laugh and share the stories of our encounters. Quietly we send a blessing out across the water and down into it, expressing gratitude for this day, and for this opportunity. What a gift of a morning! I think we will come back tomorrow…
