This blog post is my insight on exploring The Unknown. 

You ready?

I know this will sound a little crazy, but it is what it is, and I wish to share with you my experience as I recollect it. Make of it what you will!

The year was 2010, and I'd just found out I was going to India. Now, being Indian means, you will likely make at least one trip in your lifetime to India to see where your ancestors roamed around. I'd heard stories about the villages my grandparents came from, and quite frankly, it sounded alien. I may be brown, but I'm from Hertfordshire, England, so epic stories of relatives sleeping on rooftops were greeted with more of a 'what ya doing mate'  type of response. I chuckle now as I sit here and write this because there I was, in my early 20's (some time ago now), getting geared up for my first visit to this motherland, and little did I know, my life was about to change. That kid had no idea.

India is a beautiful place - a country with deep history and connection to spiritual teachings. India is a Hindu country - the majority mistake Hinduism as a religion.

In contrast, it is a way of life. I've never been religious and nor will I be - but spiritual, yes. I didn't know about spirituality or what 'being spiritual' really meant. I was a kid, so the raw truth is I was more interested in getting smashed at university and partying with my friends until the next day, where we would do the same. I will take a moment to remind you that I am British. Thankfully, I didn't take it with me to adulthood (I discovered the coriander). However, let's get back to India; otherwise, I will go on to discuss how a Snakebite drink used to cost me one squid back in the day - unheard of now!

I remember landing in Mumbai and walking through its airport. The first thing that popped into my head was, 'is there a Maccy's here?'. Perhaps it is a British thing, but when travelling, you generally always check out the Macdonalds in the country you are visiting. Not only is it guaranteed to have better options than anything in the UK, but you get this slight tingle from seeing something new or different on the menu. If you told me then that I would be vegan and seek answers to life's most fundamental questions in a decade, I would most likely have called you a sausage.

I knew we were all in for a ride as soon as the taxi showed up. Two fellas were fighting over who would be the one to put our luggage on the top of the cab. The guy had got some cardboard, tied a rope around it and secured it to the roof of the car. That was his luggage carrier. He looked chuffed with himself, so off we went to our pit-stop hotel (an experience in itself, but for another time). Despite being hungry, this was no time to think about a curry - we were travelling the next day, ha.

Let's fast forward a week or two now, so I can get to the main bit and not leave ya hanging. At this point, I've gotten used to my environment. Even the language barrier loosened its strain a little when I realised I could use head movements to communicate much better than words.

One evening my pops took what seemed like, half the village out to a local restaurant and decided to feed them all - fair play to the man, help out where you can and what-not. That evening, my folks told me we'd be travelling to a particular place in the morning. I would have to partake in some ceremony, most likely involving chucking things at a fire. At this point in my life, I got used to my rents throwing random stuff like this at me - you learn to go along with it. It turns out this place was also where my old man's old man had his ashes scattered. I guess this place had some meaning. Oh, and it was in the middle of nowhere. It was a 5-hour drive from where we were - or 'down the road' as our driver had put it.

As we entered this area, you could sense its energetic imprints. When I was standing, it felt a little confusing - it was peaceful yet eerie. A calming river was on one side of the entrance and a large empty field on the other, with nothing but a wooden hut situated in the centre. Odd hey. Like something out of a movie.

Having been greeted by the local priest who would perform this ceremony, he ushered us across the field. At this point, I thought to myself, 'obviously, we are going to the hut in the middle'. As we were waiting outside, the priest told us a story - a legend of a great warrior who walked this same field millions of years ago. It was once a battlefield where people were at war against forces that were trying to manipulate humankind.

And you know how it is with these stories, there will always be something which throws you off. With this particular one, the guy eventually tells me that a white snake roams these fields, and all that have seen it have died. Yep, you heard me. And his tone suggested this was a very 'normal' thing.

I thought I was in the Chamber of Secrets with the possibility of a Basalisk waiting to jump out. Now, I understand that these things are said to be tales of folklore and what-not. Still, the last thing I wanted to hear was that a mythical creature was knocking around the corner, in the form of a white snake, waiting to kill us. If you've been to India, you know, something like this is possible. The Eastern world is different - you have to experience it for yourself. It is magical.

Anyway, we entered the hut. One thing that struck me was the sheer amount of pictures & statues of various types of deities covering the whole wall. And although the majority of these gods and goddesses whose origin was of Hindu mythology, there were also shrines dedicated to other beings - such as Jeshua (Jesus) and Gautama (Buddha). It was pretty overwhelming. I'm not used to seeing the rawness and openness of how people connect to their truths. You wouldn't stumble across anything like this in the UK.

There were 7 of us altogether, and we all sat down facing this wall. The priest began to mutter incantations in Sanskrit. The ancient language of the Vedas. The Vedas have a fascinating story that is worth exploring!

After some time absorbing the intense chanting, I began to feel uneasy. I noticed that something was wrong. Something didn't feel right. 'Where am I' is what was going through my noggin. The whole room started swirling around. The next bit is a little more challenging to describe. Something appeared, almost like the genie that came out of that lamp. It wasn't physical; it seemed more etherical - like the energy was made from something faded, there but not there.

The energy that was present felt feminine and also appeared angry. It's like I could feel the anger. It seemed directed at me, but at the same time, I became this thing. The energy then started screaming. And the next thing I knew, I was physically bellowing out this scream, disrupting the ceremony as everyone stopped. The what-ever-it-was started screaming through me, and I had no control over it. I let out a mono-tone cry, and then it moved through the air and straight into me. Now that I think of it, this also reminds me of another Potter scene, lol, in movie one at the end when Voldy goes through Harry - something like that.

As it moved through me, I felt an energetic push that knocked me over, and I fell straight into my mum's lap, who was sitting behind me. My sister, situated on the right of me, felt the force of this energy as it knocked into her. As I became more conscious about what events were taking place, I turned to my rents, begging them to make this stop. I then felt my focus 'slip' (for lack of a better word) back in. My awareness was back, and I felt like I just ran a 400m track day. My whole world shattered because how could I make sense of this experience? 

I didn't want to carry on with the ceremony we were doing, so I left the hut, sat outside and then remembered there was a blooody white snake on the loose, looking to end our lives. I'm sure that didn't help the panic.

Was all this in my head? Yep. The experience, however, was real. I sensed it. I felt it. What happened? Did I experience an energetic shift in the room and tap into a different dimension? Or did I start accidentally channelling? Whatever occurred, my life had evolved from that moment. For it was my journey into The Unknown.

On that note,

Much gratitude for reading.

Remember who you really are.

For there is only ever one of you.

One is All & All is One.