{"id":317,"date":"2009-07-17T13:19:53","date_gmt":"2009-07-17T20:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/2009\/07\/17\/317\/"},"modified":"2009-07-17T13:19:53","modified_gmt":"2009-07-17T20:19:53","slug":"letters-to-a-goddess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/2009\/07\/17\/317\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters to a Goddess"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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It’s my turn to blog at Sensual N Secret and here is what I posted:<\/p>\n

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I am back in Honolulu and this morning, my favorite partner in crime, my niece and goddaughter Eleanna and I had a sacred visit to make.
\nArmed with letters from friends scattered across the country, we headed to Makapu’u Point and to Pele’s Chair, the point from which the great Hawaiian Goddess still presides, when she sees fit.
\nIt was an interesting experience how we came to bring her mail.
\nEleanna and I always visit Madame Pele but a few days ago a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, asked me if I would take Pele a letter from her and her daughter.
\nHer daughter had ‘souvenired’ some lava stones last year and at my suggestion she mailed them back to Volcano Parks on the Big Island. The girl still feels bad and felt she still needed to apologize.
\n“We’ve both had a rough time lately,” my friend said.
\nI promised to buy her a couple of flowers, too.
\nShe returned a few hours later with the most beautiful little water color her daughter did and a letter written on rice paper and folded origami-style into a crane.
\nIt snowballed. A new online friend (who shall also remain nameless since I believe prayers and offerings remain between the person and God\/Goddess, also asked me to take her a letter.
\nMy sister in law who is in Greece, faxed me a note which is unusual for her.
\n“I just need some hope that things will be okay,” she said.
\nOn the plane yesterday, the stewardess who brought me lunch noticed my letters which had tumbled out of my laptop bag.
\n“You’re going to visit Pele?” she asked. She was so excited, she asked me if I would take a note for her. I was rather jazzed a total stranger trusted me with her private message.
\nI am not a special messenger, but somehow I think, people knew Eleanna and I would truly deliver their messages and we would do it with love.
\nThe stewardess handed me a folded United Airlines credit card application with her note inside.
\nWhen and I arrived on island yesterday afternoon, Eleanna and I put together our letters. 32 in all.
\n32 women, men and children all had messages of peace and love for a goddess who challenges us yet gives us hope.
\nEleanna’s parents wrote her a note this morning and then my girl and I headed out.
\nWe stopped at the ABC near our house and the guy behind the counter asked me where I’ve been since I haven’t been in the store since February.
\n“You been in rehab?” he asked me.
\n“Rehab!” I was outraged. “I don’t have a drug or alcohol problem.”
\n“I’m talking about your Yoo Hoo addiction,” he said. Wiseguy.
\nSome men are known for their boozing and carousing…I, A.J. Llewellyn am known for…Yoo Hoo.
\nAnd for carrying love letters to a goddess.
\nMrs. ABC donated an orange and asked if I would take Pele a note as well. She wrote it on the back of a receipt.
\nEleanna and I bought leis from the fridge, a small bottle of gin (Pele’s favorite) and some island crack seed. We chose li hing mango because it’s our favorite and we hope Pele won’t mind that after our long walk, she was left with only two pieces.
\nEleanna and I took photos for all our friends. We will pass them on privately. Eleanna snapped the pic above and we felt in that moment, Pele was with us. We felt her pleasure and her intense curiosity.
\nI wrote her a note for me and my boyfriend Herve and tucked it in last, hoping she reads that one first.
\nWe buried all Pele’s treasures under a pile of lava stones. Eleanna and I marveled at all the letters we had brought and how so many people in these fragile times need to believe in a higher power.
\nWe need to believe in the future.
\nWe felt Pele’s power, her profound passion in that special place. I hated to leave her, but I know the dreams and wishes of all our friends are in her fiery arms, willing us to move forward, to trust, and yes, to hope.<\/p>\n

Aloha oe,
\nA.J.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/td>\nCurrently\u00a0listening:
\nImagine<\/font><\/strong><\/a>
\nBy\u00a0Eva Cassidy
\nRelease date:\u00a02002-08-20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Letters to a Goddess Current mood:\u00a0\u00a0blissful Category: Life It’s my turn to blog at Sensual N Secret and here is what I posted: I am back in Honolulu and this morning, my favorite partner in crime, my niece and goddaughter Eleanna and I had a sacred visit to make. Armed with letters from friends scattered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}