HERE AND NOW

July 2009

Looking Forward

Due to unforeseen circumstances the Huna course is now being held in the third week of July. Still places left so give me a call if you are interested. Off to Germany to catch up with some old friends and colleagues at a Pacific conference in the Goethe Institute in the first week of July. Cheap flight - £0 each way.

June 2009

Magical Times on Skye

May and June are the most wonderful times on the Scottish island that is like Hawaii. The days glow forever and the sunsets light up the ocean and the islands until we are held in a cauldron of magic. Last night the circles on the ocean were like crop circles and the islands rose out of the clouds that borders our reality .... It is still light at midnight and every day is sunny and full of other realities. I sunbathe on deserted beaches and go whalewatching and swimming in the dolphin-dotted seas. Also returned a few times to the sacred island of Raasay where a summer changed my life and led to the move to an island off the west coast of Scotland.

Also went to a couple of great parties recently for the Glendale Story-Telling Festival. Tales of mystery and magic are told in this sacred valley every year by George McPherson and other story-tellers on the third weekend of May every year. Charles Kennedy our local MP (member of Parliament) opened it and has promished to visit our animal sanctuary where I shall offer him a fresh juice. It is now considerably smartened up with a new kitchen in the 100 yr old croft house and vegetable gardens and a herb garden above the sea. Gave a lamb a massage the other night as she had a bloated tummy and our chickens are still getting everywhere. Other animal sanctuaries have much more boundaries for the animals I am sure, but ours are very happy (and yes they do smile).

May 2009

Reluctantly in London

I say reluctantly as had business to complete there. And people don't smile like they do in Hawaii. And the diet is not as healthy. Enlivened by the First Nations Festival though, which brought indigeneous people of wisdom to London from all over the world and showcased it in films, plays and discussions. And met Vili Hereniko again, albeit very briefly on his way to see the Vice Chancellor of the University of London. Travelling Magically appeared in a three page article in the the British magazine Spirit and Destiny.

March 2009

Return to Hawaii

Hawaii of course has been calling me for a long time. And it was wonderful to return not as a niele anthropologist asking too many questions, but as a published author. Was on the Big Island and Oahu. So many special memories and it many ways it was my most guided trip ever. Highlights include an amazing trip to the lava with a guy I had never met before (thank you Albert, now there's a definition of trust). We got real close to the source of the explosions over the sea and my London raincoat got a new use as you can see in the photos. We started to walk onto the lava at midnight with our sticks, lights (including several to guide us back to the car) and water as we were WAY beyond what others call civilization. Albert was a brilliant guide even though we didn't have a chance to visit the cabin yet built out on the lava in a rather optimistic holiday home that WILL be convered by Madame Pele. I feel grateful for that experience - so much has happened since I last visited the lava since the last millennium and for having the chance to return having studied the Hawaiian culture some more.

Caught up with some old friends and made some new ones. Did a lovely book reading at Kona Stories south of Kona (a wonderful place to buy your books, with a great lanai and three magic cats as well as owners Joy and Brenda) which led to oracle and psychic readings. And during the public book reading a hawk (the teller of the true) hovered outside. Stayed with Barbara at THE New Age hangout Dragonfly Ranch with the labyrinth, infra-red sauna and amazing healthy cuisine where she gave me the gorgeous Writers' Suite complete with an attendant kitten Princess Lilioukalani and went swimming with the dolphins. Amazing syncronicities like that abounded. Drove around the island a lot and hiked down lava tubes and through rainforest. Also hung out with some musicians at a nude beach, although I kept my clothes on. Oahu was very special too. Met some old friends from Hawaii and the UK at a conference there,such as Vili Hereniko, my old professor and now head of the Department of Pacific Studies and including one famous navigator and writer, Ben Finney. Back in Manoa where I used to live but I am different now ... still the same hike to go the village, but the coffee places have changed. Still the wonderful mango cake at the bakery though. I cried to leave the islands. Some personal recommendations in the Links sections.

November 2008

The American Election and a New Start

We live in exciting times. How we do. As the American Election is being fought to the West of Europe I can't help feeling the attention of many different consciousness' is up on us. Barack Obama will bring in a fresh energy to the world, and moreover he does support the Hawaiian right to self-determination and knows at first hand the beauty of the islands - so please do vote for him. I remember the East-West Center in Honolulu where his parents met, and where he spent the first year of his life, well. The towers, the Japanese Garden, Hale Manoa the house of the wide valley. In his time there was the tea-room, now sadly gone due to budget cuts. And beyond the EWC the valley, Manoa Valley, of fabled beauty. Of rainforest and waterfalls and some very nice coffee shops. According to Hawaiian legend, Manoa Valley is also home of the Rainbow Princess who was rescued by Pue'eo, Owl. And on the other side the sea view and the place of the sunsets. Manoa straddles the worlds. As indeed does Obama in his heritage and his beliefs. And beneath it all is the bedrock of strength, the values such as lokahi 'unity in diversity' which give him his ability to work with many different kinds of people and bring them together. The Hawaiian culture, the Hawaiian language, the Hawaiian cause deserves to have someone in power, finallly, after waiting so long, who understands them. I feel the 'aumakua are on his side. Listen to the wind in the leaves, watch the signs - what do you feel? But whatever you feel, please do exercise your right to choose. Vote!

Finally if anyone has any spare money and wishes to donate to a charity please do think of us. Skye is a great pilot project - and we have rescued many animals, given them great lives, explored animal communication, begun a spiritual library and rent out a cottage in the most sacred valley of the Druids. But now we need more land, to enable us to rescue more animals and work with university researchers. Your donation would be much appreciated. And what goes around comes around ... you will be helped in turn.

October 2008

The Month of Opening Arms and Closing Hands

The line above is from Roy Harper, a songwriter I learned to love when I was at Cambridge. It reminds me of autumn mists, walks with my old boyfriend and pubs by the river. How intense were feelings then! Now - maybe it's just growing up or reconnecting to my spirit - many of my strongest feelings are channeled into my writing. And there is always more of that to do.

Went to Frankfurt Book Fair and on TV again - it was a paid for trip. Frankfurt was huge, but had a lovely time and stayed in a lovely house of Crop Circles nearby with a rather motley and interesting group of people! Really enjoyed travelling by Eurostar - so much easier on the vibration than flying - not to mention the planet. Helping to organize a programme of talks for the raw food cafe Dragonfly in North London.

September 2008

Book launch of Travelling Magically, New Website and my first National Review

Had a lovely book launch of TM in the wonderful Highgate Library. Despite it being a Saturday night, the venue was full and many of you got into the spirit, from a young fairy to a Hawaiian traveller. We had people there from all over Europe. One woman was there half an hour early, and said she had found the book in Stansted Airport, and it was the best book on travel she had ever read! A few days later featured in my first feature in Scotland's highest circulation newspaper, The Daily Record. There's a colour link to it on www.rimamorrell.com - new website for the book. Includes lots of photos of my travel experiences and stories in the book - one reason is that sometimes people don't believe me, so though I would get the evidence up! In fact if anything I left stories out, that's what happens when you lead your life on a high vibe!

Also found my book for the first time in 'chain' bookstores such as Waterstone's and Borders. A good feeling! Gave copies in person to Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats and Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet, among others

August 2008

Preparing for Autumn and the Book Launch of Travelling Magically

Well, the summer is drawing to a close, and a much less challenging summer than the one of 2007. We've seemingly been blessed with the only good weather in the British Isles on our part of the Isle of Skye - lots of flooding elsewhere in Britain. Much less work to do than last year - and delighted to finally hold Travelling Magically: How to turn your journey into a life-changing experience in my hands. Looks just like a Lonely Planet guidebook. And I was always very inspired by the Lonely Planet. Guess I'm a real travel writer now ... And I am really, really glad to be able to share my experiences and what I have learned with people, even the mistakes I made. Lots of stories in there, it's a very personal book, but also stories about other people including friends and travel writers (not that travel writers aren't friends, but you know what I mean). I believe it's the only travel book to have chapters on making love, when to say goodbye as well as how to visit a sacred place and prepare for a mystical experience. Not to mention how to sort yourself out when you get back home again - and how to communicate with people. Book launch in London on September 13th, hope to see you there.

July 2008

Castles, a writing course in the Highlands, and a special hotel

This summer, I also discovered an amazing local hotel by a castle on Skye (there are lots of castles on Skye) - adventures always happen to me when I go there, and I meet lovely people. Guess the vibe is just right. Some of us went on a gorgous, sunny walk by the sea (almost too hot), where we saw whales and a buzzard. Everything was blue except the grass which was bright, bright green. In lovely company including Neil of the famous band British Sea Power, who is buying a croft on Skye. Good choice Neil! And a great example of British sea power ...

Did a little travelling around the Highlands, for instance to a wonderful writers course with the Arvon Foundation in Inverness-shire. We were taught by the inimitable and enigmatic Rory Stewart, he who walked alone and unsupported across Afghanistan and wrote rather a good book about it, and is now walking from Scotland to London. The guest writer was the adventurous Nick Thorpe - who took a raft from South America to Polynesia, and wrote another great book. Wish we could have talked about Polynesian navigation at the time, it's one of his interests too ... It was a fascinating course and the famous 'Arvon magic' was definitely there. Everyone seemed to live in two places at once - perhaps not surprisingly for a travel writers' course. For instance Rory lives in a mud-fort in Afghanistan and Harvard, Karen in Crouch End and Spain, Bridget in Sri Lanka and Cornwall. Why am I doing a writers course? Well, there's always more to learn. And it gave me lots of good ideas, including for how to write a book about Scotland for the future. Started work on a new, more commerical, book already, to be out in 2009. That's going well. And hopefully might be getting an agent, the right agent. More later.

June 2008

Film-makers and a month of magic

In June, we had not one but two lots of film-makers to stay on the croft, the animals were the true stars, especially the pigs! Although I discovered they don't like to be filmed every day, they prefer one day on, one day off ... I guess every star needs their space. The weather was wonderful for the film-makers, and one day we all went walking to a nearby valley like a Tolkien valley, and swimming at a little cove I know, by the fairy waterfall (the one featured on Huna courses and in Travelling Magically). I love the feeling of swimming in the sea and seeing the cliffs as the land recedes, it reminds me of my time in Hawaii, and it's definitely possible to do it in Scotland. Although in Hawaii I am not so cold afterwards!

June was a really special month actually with teaching Huna and seeing people's faces suddenly light up ... We did some powerful meditations too. There were the most amazing, blissful sunsets - will have to get some photos up - including one memorable evening (and of course we're in the land of the midnight sun) where the birds were flying at midnight, and the clouds started scudding towards me, changing shape, including into the shape of pigs!

May 2008

Sunny London

Gorgeous sunny weather in London, lovely country walks and fields of bluebells and a feeling like I'm held in a cloud when I lie down in them.

April 2008

Art and Tulips

April brought the London Book Fair, which was as inspiring as ever, and met and re-met some lovely people. It also brought a very interesting trip to the Netherlands, the country of my birth in the time of tulips and the full moon. And of course the canals are always a mirror ...

March 2008

Dr. Janez Drnovsek, President of Slovenia with Dr. Rima Morrell, Presidential Palace, Llubljana, Slovenia, Dec. 2006.

Well, this is quite a roller-coaster year, everything we left undone last year seems to be rising up and needing to be dealt with - quite a few people are finding that.

The President of Slovenia and a greater spirituality

In February I was very sad to find out from a friend in Slovenia that my friend, Dr. Janez Drnovsek, the former President of the Republic had died. I had interviewed him and we had a real connection. When we first met he burst out laughing and laughing for several minutes. He was really warm towards me (I thought he was always that way but apparently has a reputation for being cold) and I believe uniquely for a writer, even invited me to lunch in a castle, in the same dining room where he introduced President Bush to Vladimir Putin. He later entertained Prince Andrew of England and Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands there. It was a wonderful lunch, he was very intense, yet always courteous, a true statesman. We spoke about many things, some of which I will keep confidential. Yet he also trusted me to write what I want without going through his aides in the office, which is a great honour. In the grounds of Brdo castle, as the pine trees loomed in the mist, we said goodbye and I am sorry that we will never meet again.

Dr. Drnovsek was a man who was very successful in the world, he spoke six languages, helped found a country, was a master politican and statesman, and author of a scholarly book on the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, of which he was also President. After his terminal illness was diagnosed in 2001 he changed. He moved out of the Presidential Palace to a house in the mountains, changed his diet and spoke about the importance of using our intuition. He also set up a charity, made many visits to hospitals and even monasteries and wrote three spiritual books, which are not available in English yet, but are best-sellers in Slovenia and Croatia. He described the difference between his writings before and afterwards as that between 'my knowledge' and 'eternal knowledge'.

He was a man who went in his own way, which some people did not like after his 'remarkable spiritual conversion', but he was always true to himself and spoke out for what he believed in. Some people called him the Western Gandhi, and indeed in his last year in office he spoke at a conference on Gandhi in New Delhi and much of his life was very similar - he loved to meditate, ate simple vegan food and most importantly he really cared about the world, both people and animals. That became really clear at our lunch. His efforts didn't always work (Darfur is still an ongoing problem) but he did his best, and his intentions were always good. I would say that he was a man on the side of the angels who heard and followed the inner voice - so valuable in a political leader, and sadly so rare today. His last blog was written a few days before his death:

The President's last blog

''We are afraid of death?''
Because we are attached to material existence.

''But every existence is material!?
It can also be spiritual.

''What kind of existence is spiritual existence?''
The one that transcends the material one.

''How can it transcend it?''
By transcending attachment to it.

''Even attachment to life?''
Even attachment to life!

''If we are not attached to life, then we are at peace?''
Then we are at peace. We are not afraid even of death, let alone anything else.

''Is this the meaning we seek?'We seek such peace.
If we don't find it we are prisoners of fears and worries.

''But, does life without attachment to material truly make sense?''
Do fears and worries make sense?

''Besides being at peace, there must be something else that gives meaning to our existence!?'Indeed...kindness.

''Kindness?'
We must create good. That gives meaning to our lives.

''Thus peace and kindness?''
Peace and kindness!

Peace and kindness. Those were his last written words. "pocivaj v miru", go well into the light Mr. President.

Barack Obama and Hawaii

Another man on the side of the angels in politics is Barack Obama. I first heard about him on my trip to Central America last year, where the young Americans were so inspired by his speeches and said he was a leader like no other ... I'm not normally a betting girl but when I returned I placed a rather large bet that he would be the next US President. And if you are American do vote for him.

I have been following the run-up to the American presidential elections (how I loved these, when I used to live in America I was even able to go into the voting booth with an American scientist friend). I really missed not being in Hawaii for this round of voting. Not only did Barack Obama study in the same university in Hawaii as me, his mother also has a Ph.D. in Anthropology and believed in a greater spiritual reality, but not one that can be easily defined. I know many people in Hawaii who know him and his family. We both lived in Jakarta, Indonesia and used to hang out in the swimming pool at the American Embassy, so we have a lot in common ... I feel he would be a wonderful President, not least because of the brilliance of his book 'Dreams from my Father'. Not only is it very well written, I would highly recommend it, but it shows great insights and connections between different spheres, again so rare in a leader today Whereas Hillary Clinton is associated with her husband who apologized to the Hawaiians for the overthrow of their government in 1993, Barack Obama also supports the Hawaiian right to self-determination, so that in itself would get my vote.

Other News

Not much other news. Glad to have finished Travelling Magicallyand starting a new book. I've never found it so hard to write a book, but by the end I was really enjoying it. The new one is going far more easily. I guess I must have changed a lot in the ten years since I wrote the first version of TM. Also the 60 page resource section took up a lot of time, but it's great, lots of really useful stuff. Great to catch up with friends again and back to belly-dancing, hiking and other good stuff ...

Aloha,

Rima

December 2007

Well, doing some last-minute adjustments to my new book Travelling Magically as the publisher has changed, so they have a new way of doing things ... Judy Piatkus sold her outfit to Little, Brown, apparently they have very good distribution so hopefully everything will work out for the best, my book is advertised in W.H.Smiths already! The Huna books have been good steady sellers, and I get a regular flow of emails (thank you)! hopefully this one will sell more as the potential readership is far wider - travel is the biggest industry in the world. I say it's for flashpackers, backpackers, gappers, career-breakers empty-nesters - anyone who wants more verve and meaning in their life! I've really enjoyed reading some travel books for it, and there's even a whole new genre of 'spiritual travel' which has grown up since I first wrote it in the mid-nineties - why do Aquarians often seem to be ahead of their time???

Excited to find my first book The Sacred Power of Huna, is the 'conference book' for the International Assocation of Defense Counsels of America at their meeting on the Big Island in February, so a copy will be distributed to every delegate. They commented it was 'an anthropological perspective on the religion and customs of Hawaiian culture - an interesting read that is sure to lend itself to a lively and fun discussion. The book’s exploration of Hawaiian language and philosophy is a window into the universal mysteries of the human mind and soul. It is an easy read and sheds light on the magic we all will feel when we visit the islands known as Hawaii'. I'm sure learning more about Huna will be really good for defence lawyers - and their clients - and I'm really glad it's been described as an 'easy read' - that was my goal in writing it.

Looking forward to doing some skiing in Scotland, can't wait! To have a day on the slopes then nice open fire and company at night, nothing better! I must say Scotland does do Christmas and New Year jolly well ... Nice and cold now of course in Britain, I didn't used to like the winter until I changed my attitude, now I love it, although autumn still remains my favourite season.

Teaching a Huna course in London from January until March, so if there's anything you'd like more of in your life give me a call and come along.

A very happy celebration to everyone.

Aloha, Rima

October 2007

John Lennon Northern Lights Festival

Enjoyed one of the best weekends of my life at the Northern Lights festival in the very north of Scotland at the end of September. It was wonderful, wonderful. Perfect weather, with the sun shining on the north sea in the day and turning it into scoops of molten gold under the full moon at night. I went camping, and hung out with John Lennon's relatives and friends (he's always been a bit of a hero of mine). The same woman sold me sweets in the local village shop who sold them to John! Danced to the quarrymen, his original group in a cave by the sea and chatted to them afterwards. Danced to a rather Germanic Beatles Tribute band and saw Donnie Munro of Runrig, my favourite British musician today (he reminds me of Hawaiian music in his heart-piercing love for the land and his native language, Gaelic). I was also lucky enough to spend several hours in a car with him chatting, on the way back to Skye in a wonderful ride through the highlands, and hear more about the island from his native view. Everything flowed, and I even got the awful virus on my computer fixed effortlessly and new programmes installed for the grand price of a tenner! Just goes to show it's really good to have time off - it was my first time off since May. And I'm really glad now for the virus, or I might have thought I 'should' have carried on doing my book!

September 2007

Hard-working Summer of Writing

What a year! Have written my third book for publication, Travelling Magically: How to turn your journey into a life-changing experience, to be pubished by Piatkus. I'm excited about it, and it's been great fun writing, enabling to see a pattern to my early travels and spiritual quest I was maybe unaware of at the time. On a more mundane level it's enabled me to get in touch with some people again I met on my trips, also thank to the 'net which of course wasn't in use then. It has been great, finding out what everyone's up to now. It's much more personal than my other books, and holds the principles of Huna without necessarily stating them directly, so hopefully there'll be a wide market, particularly as it's the only 'how-to' travel book in the world. You will be able to order it from the website soon - when you order from me directly, not only do you get a signed and dedicated copy with my energy to help you expand your trip, but you also help support my chosen career path, so a twin win situation!It was actually the hardest-working summer of my life, including even when I finished the Ph.D! Gave talks on Huna and the charityin the Festival of Life in Islington, and I gave some oracle card readings. Met some lovely people - hiya! and had some visitors here up in Scotland.

Lots of Beauty

One interesting thing about this year is the weather has always been sunny wherever I've been! Interesting, because waaaay back in 99 I used 'sunshine' as a moniker on one email address. This year it's been lovely in London when I've been there and grotty when I've been away on Skye this summer, where we had a wonderful summer, and then good again in London when I got back in September, and bad on Skye. Interesting! But nice! And yes, a lovely October on Skye. Saw an otter in the ocean two minutes walk below the croft the other day when I was meditating. It was almost too beautiful, the blue sea seemed like it was in suspension and it blended into the blue sky. The only sound was the noise of the waterfall. You could have been in any century, anywhere in the world. Isn't it wonderful that beauty, and learning, aren't restricted to Hawaii?

Aloha,

Rima

June 2007

Had a lovely trip to the Pacific, even if it was not quite what I expected! Ate some lovely raw food in Los Angeles, bathed in the Pacific and Caribbean oceans and visited some old temples. Also had a wonderful trip down a river, and swimming behind the boat with crocodiles in the water, lizards walking on the water and toucans in the emerald trees. In America, got some insight on something that happened in India in the last century. So it was all perfect in the end, even if it didn't seem it at the time.

March 2007

Well, looking forward to going back to the Pacific, so photo above bringing back memories. It's snowing right now in Britain so some silky sand and sea will be wonderful. Not sure exactly where I'm going yet, but more fun that way! Been commissioned to revise my book Travelling Magically for publication in Britain, Australia and New Zealand in December 2007, so got a good excuse, not to mention more Polynesian books of course.

An interesting time in Britain, a bit like swimming through treacle in that things I want to move fast are actually going quite slowly. I really want to get away but about six separate things are holding me back. A bit annoying as I have to be back for lambing, but maybe there are experiences/ meetings I'm really meant to have in April that just wouldn't have been there in March. Huna is very much about making the best of whatever situation you find yourself in.

Spent a bit of time in Cambridge and been skiing in Aviemore in Scotland, which was great, even if very white, and got me thinking more about all the meanings of white of which I wrote about in the last chapter in The Sacred Power of Huna. Many thoughts too about water and emotion and all sorts of things. Wishing everyone a wonderful spring - or autumn - wherever you are in the world.

Onwards and upwards!

Aloha,

Rima