I had an opportunity to be present at training for MARI Cards at the Ursuline College, in Cleveland Ohio this past weekend. My mentor was teaching a group of seventeen students the basics of MARI and she allowed me to come along. MARI stands for Mandala Assessment Research Instrument. I am a practitioner. I came as helper and had a lovely review.

The students, when doing their own MARI cards was very open in discussing what came up through the cards. Two students made us laugh, when they said the “MARI told it all” even though they were determined to leave certain subjects underground.

There was tears and laughter before it was all over. The teacher and the student were good at making that “intuitive leap” when looking at the placement of the cards and the colors and how it might help them make a “therapeutic shift” for them to see and understand their cards.

It was a humbling experience for me to be there and it filled me with renewed passion for the psychoanalytic. I learned I do not have to invent anything for my client as the cards themselves, that the client is drawn to, will access a healing dimension of the client’s energy and they can shift as a result.

I have some letters after my name relating to these cards as I have completed my training.

It is a long way to Cleveland Ohio and I set out on Friday so I could visit Berkley Springs about two hours north of home. I sat in the 70 degree stream, with others including children. Then I went to get a massage.

I was chilled out so I loved the fifteen-minute hot bath offered before the massage.  My massage therapist worked on me for over 30 minutes and declared my right leg to be tighter than the other one. He seemed like a priest of the profession, Japanese, Zen like on initial impression. He laughed when I said so. He told me a dream. 

I stayed in a motel, that I had not booked, in a little town north of Berkley by about an hour. I settled in and rode my bike around. I saw a beautiful sunset and got up early to finish my journey. The turnpikes were not crowded but had high tolls.  The rest stops were easy and even had gas on hand. 

I stayed in an AirB&B in Cleveland on Saturday evening. They were friendly and I had company on the back deck, as I sat out in the evening. There were no mosquitos. My host’s husband was bathing his feet with ice on the deck and offered me some of my own. He said he once stayed covered with ice for almost a minute.

Getting feet into ice, while very chilling initially, was also very relaxing. Severe pain from the ice gives way to a relaxed feeling when the feet are pulled out of the ice. I waited a while before putting my feet into the artic circle again. My host’s husband was from Egypt and I very much enjoyed hearing of his life, dreams, family and religious practices. I was given a bowl of soup, close to bedtime. I slept well.

I brought some food in jars with me and seemed to have enough for a lot of meals. The cooked corn seemed to multiply as I went along. The beans and the “baba ganoosh” stayed fresh enough until I had it all eaten. I finished off my two jars of sprouts, alfalfa and green lentils.

I had rye bread on hand. I got fruit and water from the hotels also. I ate out once – not great, but it filled a spot and I was with my teacher mentioned above and I liked that connection. 

On Sunday morning, the brother of the host was outside. I asked him for a dream. He told me of a healing experience he had with someone else. I though about it. I asked him if he could do this for me. I knelt down. He put his hand on my head. He was tall and blonde and his prayerful words, asking God for help for me, not from himself but from God, was an appropriate activity for a Sunday Morning.

I told him I needed the healing, but I also asked for this to remind him he could do this for people and also that this is the time to bring in this healing, that it is in the air, falling down by tons, and available for us all.  

This is my second time to be at the Ursuline College but did not realize in the past that it was Catholic. There were banners up indicating what the saint said about education. 

I rode my bike all around campus on breaks and walked the Labyrinth in the middle of the day. The statues were beautiful and a group of white lilies and an aspen tree with a white bark were gifts to my sight.

I was twenty minutes from Lake Erie and I decided to go there on Sunday Evening after the training instead of turning for home. I loved the pull of the water while in the lake. I swam for a while before leaving. I saw a group of Irish people who advertised their picnic. They invited me to the pub, which they said they would “open up” at five. I reluctantly turned away saying “I have miles to go before I sleep.” She laughed at me.

My new phone and alarm let me sleep until seven and I had to hustle to get to my part time job and do my group on Monday at eleven. I got there two minutes late.

Almost perfect.

I hope you are finding what heals you and lessening what ails you. I hope you are eating what is good for you. I am meditating to take advantage of the extra energy around full moon and an eclips. I kept trying to meditate after I got home but I kept falling asleep through my practices. The try is counted I am told. I am rested up now. Love you all and am staying awake again as I am praying for my readers. I appreciate the purity of your prayers for me. I feel it. Love from Rose.