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From the year 2005 through the year 2008 I was in contact with a man known as Spirit Eye, or John. This man and his brother in law Jake came into my life in a flash of synchronism and mysticism. Be they frauds or be they legit it did not matter, the lessons that I learned during the years that they spent in my life where life changing and I will never forget them nor the influence that they had on my life.

The story starts out silly enough- The date was January 10th, 2005, I was twenty one years old at the time and was a student in college. I was still coming out of the fluff phase of my draconity beliefs having slowly been spooked out of a prior year of physical shift experiments and other such fluff, at that time in my life I was still egotistical and prideful in my studies of energies and metaphysics. Hell, I was a dragon, the metaphysical world was mine to control in those days.

So, here it was the afternoon of January 10th in my hometown outside Phoenix AZ. It was a weekday evening and I had invited a friend to hang out with me after school had ended. Around 5pm a thunder storm was brewing and we felt it was time for my friend to leave. I live on the outskirts of my city in a rural area and he lived seven miles north of my location. Considering the on coming storm I had volunteered to accompany him home, it would be dark soon and it would be rude for me to abandon him in such conditions.

I tossed on my dragon ring and dragon pendant, (never left home without them) then grabbed my staff and a digital recorder and we set off on our long walk. I recorded the first sixteen minutes of our journey as I was on an EVP kick and recorded everything back in those days.

Upon passing the region where my medicine wheel was located I pointed out some lightning nearby and jokingly exclaimed that the gods approved of my paranormal studies. I got an EVP at that moment "dickfucker, no I didn't", this EVP remains available for download in the Spirit Circle / EVP section of my site. Soon the weather got worse and it begun to rain so I turned off the recorder to focus on our walk.

After the first hour or so of walking the rain begin to come down fairly hard, I hid my staff in some bushes and we took shelter in a gas station for a brief while, eventually the rain died down and we continued the journey, it was now nearing seven in the evening and the sun had long since set. We came to an intersection on Main street and crossed the intersection through the rain to take shelter at another nearby gas station where we took a second break outside the building to wait out the storm a bit.

It was at this time that a tan car pulled into the gas station and parked in front of us. An individual in the passenger seat motioned for me to come to the car. He explained that the driver had wished to speak to me. The driver was a heavy set man adorned in jade stone jewelry wearing a black cowboy hat. I noted that the passenger had a crystal tipped staff much like my own and coincidently had the same dragon ring that I was wearing.

The driver explained that his name was Spirit Eye and that when they saw us crossing the street, they saw in their minds eye that I was glowing bright like the sun. They claimed that I was incredibly unique and that they had to speak with me more in depth, he gave me his address and his phone number and then requested that I visit him the next day. Then with no further explanation they drove off.

My friend obviously thought that they were freaks and a threat and encouraged me to ignore it and pretend it didn't happen. I escorted him home and returned home myself. The next day I had no classes. So I took the risk that evening and rode my bike to a shabby trailer park a few miles from my home. Finding the proper trailer I knocked on the door and a woman answered, her name was Becky and she was caring for two young children both infants. She welcomed me with open arms and was glad that I came. She explained that her husband and brother were at the library researching Superstition Mountain.

She poured me a drink and helped me get comfortable, before calling Spirit Eye and her brother Jake to return home and speak to me. By the time that they arrived the sun was beginning to set. Spirit Eye introduced himself as having been the son of a Cherokee medicine man and having been trained as one himself, he was essentially a shaman with some Mormon leanings.

He claimed to communicate with the spirit world and that his brother in law Jacob, whom acted as an apprentice was a sensitive and self identified Kitsune-kin. Spirit Eye then proceeded to give me a vague poem that he had written for me the night before.

"Here is a question, will my temper get the best of me? Has my destiny already been decided or is purgatory what is meant to be? Will my redemption be had, or will I be kept guessing? Will things ever get easier or will things forever be pressing? Will I finally know peace and have my soul be redeemed? All lessons come hard but not nearly as hard as I dream? Here is one last question, I ask, will the spirits see I'm enduring and reward the hardships-the pain? If so-when will this happen - hopefully...."TODAY" !!!!"

After giving me the strange poem, Spirit Eye continued to introduce himself and tell his story, but as he was doing so, Jake who's otherkin name was Kendall was showering me with gifts, a medicine bag, a leather pouch with SpiritEye's eagle insignia, some incense and misc metaphysical trinkets. After a brief history, Spirit Eye concluded by explaining that he had just moved to my town from Las Vegas were he had formally worked as a cop and that they were on their way to Brigham Utah but had stopped in the Phoenix area for spiritual reasons.

He then asked about me in the most peculiar fashion. He asked if I would like to tell him about myself, or if I would like him to tell me about myself. I being a bit blown away by the whole situation decided to test this fellow and asked him to tell me about myself. He pointed out a back pack that I had brought with me and was accurately able to predict that I had a laptop in it, a book of magic the gathering trading cards, a collection of my dragon art and several of my stories. He was then able to successfully assume that I was otherkin like his apprentice and that I had formally meddled in negative metaphysics.

Surprised by the accuracy, if not suspicious of possible shenanigans, I asked him what he knew of my energy work. He explained that I had opened a very dangerous spiritual portal. Immediately assuming he was referencing the poltergeist activity occurring at my Spirit Circle, I tested him some more and asked where this portal was located. Jake jumped in and said it was In the desert to the South, pointing in the correct general direction. I explained that they were right and then told of my failed P-shift attempts from years passed and about the activity that had resulted.

Spirit Eye nodded and pulled out a little black box, he handed it too me and told me to open it. Inside was a glass sphere with the Earths globe laser etched inside. He told me that if I stayed and studied under him, that I could hold the world in my hand just as I held that crystal ball. Jake then randomly gave me several more gifts, containers of quartz shards, sage and various stones while SpiritEye asked for permission to visit my Spirit Circle. I said sure and asked when. He said immediately.

He took a native styled cane made out of antler and wood and lifted himself up, retrieving a native flute from a cabinet he invited me into his car. I took the risk and piled in with him and Jake and we drove to the location of my medicine wheel in the desert.

When we arrived at my circle of stones Spirit Eye asked that I and Jake stand outside the circle. He walked into the center and said he was going to play a melody to sooth the spirits. He played a melody and eventually paused, he said now that he was going to play a melody to exorcise the location. With this next melody from his flute something amazing happened.

In the dimly lit night as Spirit Eye played his flute a shadowy tendril or tentacle about a foot wide begun to emanate from the soil of the circle, slowly it en-coiled around him until he could barely be seen at all. Then suddenly as he finished his song, the shadow that coiled around him vanished and he was seen perfectly in front of us.

Jake looked to me and asked if I had seen it too and I asked what he had seen and he said he saw a shadowy spiral. I agreed and we returned to silence. Spirit Eye then gave a small speech, where he asked that the spirits be placated and then he stated that the ground of my circle was like any other. He destroyed the circle of stones and came to confront me. He placed his hand on my chest and said that the worst of the threat would be over.

I invited him then to my home and introduced him to my family he and Jake where well accepted and a family relationship begun. Those were only the first two days that I knew this man. Life remained like something out of a new age enlightened fantasy for the next three years, the stories are too countless to recall all here, but the lessons learned are what matter.

Spirit Eye lived in poverty with his family and there were many times in which he was in dire need of help. At many points his Mormon church had refused to help him as he could not afford to tithe, as well he could never seem to find any long term work in my small town and yet, through it all he always remained positive, during the few times that he was doubting somehow it seems that I would always show up at his side at just the right time.

Through watching him during those experiences I learned to always stay positive and that worrying could not change circumstances, that I should always try to have faith in a better tomorrow and to remember that there is always someone, somewhere who cares, so alway have faith.

Spirit Eye lived in a world of spirit, but he was also a realist, he always looked for the rational explanation before assuming a spiritual cause, however he also always taught me that for every physical event there was likely an underlying spiritual relation.

By watching his reactions to abnormal or negative events that occurred, reffered to him as the work of "Coyote's". I came to learn that although there may be a spiritual correlation it is most important to solve the physical problem at hand first as it is often the most evident and pressing matter. Then afterwards you should seek to try to understand the spiritual relation so as to prevent the problems from returning.

Those were just some minor examples, but the most important lessons that he taught me were some of the simplest. In those days I went at him expecting to gain the spiritual keys and power to change my form and the world, to become a mighty dragon and bring magic to this dying realm in ways nobody else could. He however never made me an epic dragon god or stroked my ego, rather he only taught me humility. His lessons revolved around nature and balance.

He taught me to stand silent and listen to the sounds of the wind through the leaves of a tree, the flowing of streams passing rocks and similar exercises. He taught me to feel and sense the life and energies in things that seemingly had no energies, to listen to stones and to plants and that everything was about sensing and nature. His lessons eventually leading up to an understandings of the interconnectivity of all things.

He taught me how spirits worked and existed and how they connected to objects and locations and thrived on select energies and emotions which allowed them to interact with our world. He taught me how to counteract negative entities with positive thoughts and how to benefit and cooperate with positive spirits and entities that I may meet at times.

He always taught from a perspective of humility and lead through example. Although he was poor he was always giving, in exchange I was always giving as well, we entered into a symbiotic relationship. Over time I helped him and his family to move into an apartment and he lived a good life, he and a roommate named Mathew even had a short lived Podcast for awhile. Through it all, Spirit Eye never stopped striving to share his wisdom and friendship with me, those were some of the best days of my life.

Over the course of the years and towards the end of his time in my life he taught me the relevance of music in spirituality and the supreme importance of balance - that everything is in balance and that both good and evil are necessary in order to gain true wisdom and lessons through ones life. Both the light and dark must be accepted and experienced in balance and that it is how you react to and accept the experiences that shapes your spirit and path. He always taught me to seek to have balance and patience in all things.

Some of the last lessons that he taught me where of my own personal spirit, that we all exist of the creators energy and that we are all a part of the creator, existing in our present lives and forms in order to experience and learn the lessons and sensations which incorporeal spirits cannot.

He taught me that as we are all comprised of spirit, that within each of us exists all the knowledge of all our past and future lives, as well, that in a sense we are all like individual computers and that if we can acknowledge the interconnectedness of all existence, that we could connect to a metaphorical spirit web and achieve any knowledge or answers that we may seek.

The key to such he explained was through understanding, patience, balance, focus and melody. It was through this individually subjective method of trancing out and focusing on the interconnectedness of my own spirit that I had gone into self induced trances to seek answers about my own perceived spirituality. Most of which lead to a present day more realistic understanding of my beliefs concerning my possible life as the dragon Kora and one of which resulted in the controversial trance awakening to my possible later existence as the dragon Rashau.

Back to topic, As stated, I knew this man and his family for some three years, but it soon came time for them to depart from my life. SpiritEye was still hoping to eventually move to Brigham Utah and also had business to attend to in Florida. In order to assist him in saving up finances I allowed his family to move in with me for a couple of months, soon the time came for them to depart. He had struggled in terrible poverty while in my town and had overcome three years of hardship as well as given me three years of friendship.

I gave him a few hundred dollars in donations so that he could have the gas to get out of state, he in exchange gave me all his worldly possessions at the time and thus, one Spring morning in 2008 he and his family packed into a van and as they were preparing to leave, I retrieved from my room the poem that he had wrote for me the night that we had met three years prior and returned it to him as a reminder.

Spirit Eye then pulled out some sage and burnt it, he said "You always burn sage when you meet a new friend, and when you say good bye.." He burnt half the sage and gave me the half that remained and with the burning of the sage he left my life forever, never to be seen again. I still hold the sage that he burnt - to be finished should he ever return to my life.

He would call me on occasion for a few months afterward. His travels took him to Monticello Florida where he tried and failed to obtain land on a reservation. From there he continued on to his original journey to Brigham Utah. There he built a new life. He told me one week that he was going to get a new cell phone number, he sent me one last text message of one of his daughters and then I never heard from him again..

There is no trace of him or his families existence on the Internet beyond what is on my web sites, his former room mate's podcast (TheKramMan.com) is now long since forgotten by the web. I never learned or recalled John-Spirit Eye's last name, only his first. I knew Jake was in the navy in the past but I found no record of him, it is as if none of them ever really existed outside of my life, they are all gone from the world without a trace. If it where not for the countless gifts and lessons that they taught me I would say that they were all imagined.

The biggest lesson that the shaman taught me in those few years is this: To be unique and be yourself and to shine brightly through the darkness of the storm of life. Shine so bright that others will find and join you, to share their lessons and help you grow together. As well, remember always that although they may leave you someday, the friendships will last forever, because we are all one.

Always have balance and patience in all things and never forget that despite all the mendacity, life is an adventure to be lived, so never fail to find time to lounge in the trees or to listen peacefully to the sounds of flutes or the leaves rustling in the breeze of the four winds. Seek out nature, explore what was sacred to the ancients, the spirits will thank you for the visit and remember to always approach life with humility and hope.

Most importantly - always in the darkest of times- never forget to shine in the storm.