Posted by Lani on October 24, 2000 at 00:26:23:
In Reply to: Re: Firewalk Initiation 3 posted by Lani on October 23, 2000 at 05:29:38:
Firewalk #4
The Firewalk on Broken Glass
I had been worried about this test since I had first heard about it about six months before the actual event took place.
There are two reasons why it held so much emotion, other than the fact that it is just rational not to walk on broken glass shards if at all possible.
There was a series of films that I saw after my graduation from high School. They were all called the "Mondo Coni" films, or something like that.
In one of them, there was a vignette about a small medieval city in Italy. Here on Easter morning, the local Catholic older boys wake up early and leave their homes. They have prepared wooden disks with pieces of broken glass. The movie showed close-ups of these brave boys tapping the glass pads onto the soles of their feet. Their flesh shreds. Their blood flows. They run through the village up to each home's door, then from there to the town's Cathedral. When the folks leave for Church that morning, they see footsteps in blood going from their door to the Church. Symbolizing Jesus' walk to the crucifixion.
While I appreciate them. It still makes me shiver to see them tapping the glass shards into their feet.
Another time I was still at home. My beloved sister had married and moved out. My brother-in-law was a glazer and came over one night to replace so cracked window glass we had. He did his job and left. I went outside, barefoot, to see what he had done. It was night. He couldn't have known about the pistol shaped and sized piece of glass in the grass.
I stepped on it and it completely penetrated my foot except for the upper layer of skin. It was stuck in there, and I had to grab it by its handle and tug it out.
But everything seemed to be OK. Mom went to bed, and a little later I went into the kitchen to graze on whatever I could find.
As I stood with the refrigerator door open, I felt some stickiness on the floor. This annoyed me. I looked down and I was standing in a deep puddle of my own blood.
Boy did I freak out. My shout woke up mom, and she came in a panic to see what was wrong. Standing on the wound had simply opened it up.
I still shudder at that one too.
So my poor little Unihipili has been traumatized by images of bloody feet.
In some of my dreams of the last six months, I see me and others leaving bloody footprints after the Firewalk on Broken Glass.
Now it was time to go from those metaphors into the reality of it. The pit of broken glass was before me, and the other haumana there.
Kahuna I Ke Umu Ki, Michael McDermott, DD (which Keonaona says stands fro Dare Devil!), has made a pit from a sheet of plywood about 4feet x 8 feet by about 4 inches deep. This has all been lined with sheet metal. He pours broken glass shards from a 50 gallon drum he has to save the glass in.
He starts to talk to us. He always seems to be our loving older brother and Prison Guard. The more he talks the more I want him to talk. So long as he talks, I don't have to walk on it! I still see flashes of bloody footprints. There is a part of me that wants him to stop talking. This is the part of me which wants it all over with. No matter what the outcome, just get it over with!
There seems no part of me that is enjoying this or is really really happy about it all. No part which is excited.
Then he slowly walks across it. He had the Fireimmunity and is unharmed. That a lady haumana goes for it. I am ashamed that I was a little relieved that she took the initiative.
She did a perfect job. Even started to dance in the glass at the end. She was unharmed. I don't remember now if Keonaona went in front of me, or behind me.
I "saw" Wahinenuiho`alani throw a beige blanket over the glass to protect me. This was a thing that happened. For some infantile part of my, it seemed to be of no comfort.
I let it be like standing before the sentient fire. I just stood there. In time I felt a spirit wind blow my soul across the broken glass. My fear arose to suppress by body from following, I suppressed my fear. But I didn't try to walk or not walk. My body was on the other side of the broken glass, but I don't really remember do it.
I just remember starting to take a step where a tiny tower of glass found the ball of my foot. I became aware, but surrendered. All my weight came down on that knife, and my skin remained intact.
The Firewalk of Body Piercing
I don't know why the Firewalk of Body Piercing should have the effect it does on me. Perhaps that, perhaps unlike the others, it is devoid of all possibility of deceit or mistake.
Anyway it is very simple: your kumu hands you a 5 inch needle. You talk to your body to let it know that this isn't a punishment of any find. You enter into the fireimmunity relationship. You push the needle through your hand. There is no pain nor blood.
Simple. I sort of failed it though. The fireimmunity was only partial, and there was pain, VERY much pain when I was coming out from the inside of the palm of my left hand.
Our kumu then had the pin remain where it was for about ¾ of an hour. My hand fills up all golden like, all warm and tingling with joy and deep pleasure. I would love to have my whole body feel that wonderful, but it would require so many needles piercing me at once…er, forget it!
Then he had us pull it all the way through. I don't know why he wanted it to come out in that direction, instead of being pulled out. But anyway, there no pain in it.
It was grim to look around the room and see all these flashes of long steel hanging out of everyone's hands.
But there was a few moments of pain for me in it. So I took the needle home with me. I can't find it at the moment, but I'll have to do it until I am competent in establishing the sacred Fireimmunity.
And for practice, it is a LOT easier than a Firewalk on fire, or even a broken arrow.
Oh yeah, there was no blood. And except for that one moment, no pain.
The Firewalk with the Rebar
I wasn't scared of this test, maybe that's why it almost did me in.
You're seen rebar, it is those iron/steel large rods sticking up out of concrete constructions. Indeed that what its name, "rebar" stands for: "reinforcement bar".
The length cut into thirds, each length is about 6 feet long.
It's easy. You stand at one end of it, your bud stands at the other end. You both place the ends into your "v" at your neck. You both lean forward a little to trap it in pressure than diet go it is and put your hands down. There's a little patch of clean cut sweat sock between the end of it and your soft neck. It just helps protect your neck from the sharpness of any metal pieces.
When you see your bud go into Fireimmunity and you feel yourself do likewise, you both walk forward towards each other. One of two things happens. If there is supernatural protection, you both keep walking until the ends of the rebar are bent into a hoop and you hug each other-or the rebar collapses your windpipe (Trachea) and you die of asphyxiation, or you might be fast enough to beck off to relieve the pressure before you are clearly damaged.
It starts. Suddenly my fear pops up and stops my walking. Fireimmunity fails. The rebar is choking me. I quickly pull back. Choking and coughing. Keonaona is watching me. Worried.
I recover. My breath returns and I'm game again. I didn't invest all this fear to get nothing in return. This time everything works as advertised, and I get to hug and get hugged by my kumu Michael.
Now it is Keonaona's turn. She and her bud do it correctly on the first try! I'm so proud of her.