Being required to be less active at the temple over the next 6 weeks turned out to be a blessing more than the curse I thought it to be then. “Shang Li, it has come to my attention that you are not able to continue your combat training. I shall instruct you in the ways that a Shinto priest deals with the things that do not belong here.” Said the headmaster seeing me mopeing about the temple in my bandages. He lead me to one of the smaller courtyards within the temple complex as the large courtyard was in use treating the victims of a fire that broke out while the occupation forces were looking for a “war criminal”. “Here you shall learn the ways of the Kami.” Said the headmaster as he lowered himself to the ground and lit a stick of incense. As the scent of the incense wafted up he began a low melodic chant similar to the prayers I had already learned to pay respect to the ancestor spirits. While he chanted I began to notice a change in the Chi of the area.
With the flow of chi changing at an increasing pace I began to notice my vision changing to show me the flow and level of the chi in the area. One of the first things I noticed was a small fox sitting before me – or at least it’s chi and form was there although there was no physical body attached to the form. “Hello again silly. I see that he found you the big nasty that you looked for.” Said the bodiless fox. “This is a kitsune. They are lesser spirits, friendly and helpful if somewhat flighty” said the headmaster. “I am not kitsune old man, I am Okikan, we have names you know. And as for flighty is it our fault that you people are so boring and ignorant – ohh a rabbit spirit!!!” as the kitsune Oikan took off at a speed almost too fast for the mind to follow. “The fox spirits see the world differently than we do. This is why it is wise to cultivate a friendship with them. They feel the flow of chi as clearly as we feel the wind blow across our skins. Their vision is keen and can see things of spirit and energy as easily as we can see the world around us. They can smell not only our physical odors but also our chi which also leaves faint traces on our environment as we pass through. The kitsune might not be able combatants but there is little that can capture and harm them. Thus ended my first lesson in the ways of the spirits.
Over the next six weeks I learned the prayers and rituals to call my ancestors for advice, aid, and luck. I was also taught the rituals of communing which allowed me to contact the kami of objects and places to ask them for information. (ask me later about the perils of awakening the kami of powerfull places – the 1st and only time I have done so was in southern Washington on a spring morning in 1980)
Who i am part 2
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Shang Li
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Who i am part 2
Understanding, is not a thing that comes swiftly, but rather in stages, a journey that once begun, must be seen to it's end.
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Ron Caliburn
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