Robbie Holz - Aboriginal Secrets of Awakening: A Journey of Healing and Spirituality with a Remote Australian Tribe

This book is dedicated to Gary, Mother Mary, the remote Australian Aborigines, and the rest of my spirit team (you know who you are). I love you.

ABORIGINAL SECRETS OF AWAKENING

Get comfortable and start reading. Youll be transported into a dynamic world that gives insight, value, and hope for a future you can help design.

DONNA SEEBO, HOST OF THE DONNA SEEBO SHOW

In this book, Robbies surrender to the transformative power of love shines a bright beacon on our own quest for wholeness.

JIM MACARTNEY, AUTHOR OF CRISIS TO CREATION

Aboriginal Secrets of Awakening is a profound journey into the ancient Aboriginal healings and the power of the human spirit and mind in the ability to heal as choice not chance. A must-read for anyone challenged with a chronic illness.

SONIA TREJO, HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH AND FOUNDER OF THE ALCHEMY OF HOPE AND HEALING

If you have ever wondered Why do bad things happen to good people? then Aboriginal Secrets of Awakening will help you to understand how all exists for a higher good, which is the basis of All that is.

SUSAN E. KOLB, M.D., F.A.C.S., HOST OF TEMPLE OF HEALTH RADIO SHOW

From the first page, Robbie draws you so deeply into experiencing her life that by the final page you feel a connection with her husband so palpable you can feel his presence. This book is a must-read for spiritual seekers, those curious about alternative healing, and anyone who savors romance.

LEAH GRANT, INTUITIVE, SPEAKER, AUTHOR, AND CREATOR OF ECSTATIC MEDITATION

Gleaned from the timelessness of ancient wisdom, Aboriginal Secrets of Awakening holds the key to understanding self-healing on a mind, body, and spirit level.

LINDA MACKENZIE, HOST OF GM-HEALTHYLIFE.NET RADIO NETWORK

This book will take readers on a journey as they learn to live their passions and free themselves from their health and life challenges and move from sickness to wellness.

STEPHANIE E. TIPPIE, RRT, COHOST OF AGING YOUNGER RADIO

A moving memoir of an extraordinary journey, courageous in its intimacy, this is a story of miraculous healing and an adventure into the world of spirit that demonstrates the challenges and the rewards of the sacred quest for wholeness in mind, body, and spirit.

MARILYN MCGUIRE, FOUNDER OF NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS

Brilliantly reveals the secrets of the spiritual worldhow to live an illuminated life. Well done!

SONJAN DAVID CHRISTOPHER MCCOMBS, COAUTHOR OF APPRENTICESHIP OF THE SOUL

Aboriginal Secrets of Awakening is beautifully written. An inspiring memoir that will move you deeply.

KAREN R. PERKINS, D.B.A., CPM, PERSONAL GROWTH CONSULTANT AND TRAINER

Beautifully told, Aboriginal Secrets of Awakening ranks up there with the most compelling books to cherish.

STARFEATHER MARCY, SPIRITUAL TEACHER, HEALER, ARTIST, AND MEDICINE WOMAN

Aboriginal Secrets of Awakening not only makes me grateful for my own health and for those around me but also captivates and inspires further hope beyond the traditional medicine approach.

JEN BLAU, CPT, WELLNESS COACH

As with any memoir, the stories in this book are true.

With the exception of Gary and myself, the names, physical descriptions, and in some cases the occupations, of the persons in this book have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

Also, to protect the privacy of individuals in the small towns where we lived and practiced, Archer, Benton, Keyserville, and Richards are fictitious names for towns in Washington state. Eleanor is a fictitious name for a town in Canada. However, their settings and attributes are real.

The name Jaripuyjangu, which is used for the name of the Aboriginal tribe that hosted our group of women for ceremony, is also fictional. To protect the privacy of the individuals involved, I have combined selected syllables from the names of several Aboriginal tribes to create a fictional Aboriginal tribal name. However, the tribe is real, as are all the experiences in Australia that I describe.

The testimonials and thank you cards that were received from grateful patients and included in this book are real. They are reprinted here in their own words with the patients permission. Only the names and initials have been changed to protect their privacy.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book exists because of the dedication, skills, and support of many people.

I am deeply grateful to my dear friend Christiann Howard for using her extraordinary talents and tireless devotion toward creating this book.

I wish to express particular appreciation to Ron and Barbara Carstens.

For their immeasurable contributions to this book, I am extremely grateful to the following: Helen Howard, Kim Votry, Janette Turner, Charles Noble, Billy Heath, Laurie Holderman, Raven Neumann, Danielle Gibbons, Olga Teisseyre, and Kathy Logan.

I extend heartfelt gratitude and love to all of you.

PROLOGUE

JOURNEYS AND WINDOWS

One summer when I was a child, my family took a car trip across the Painted Desert to the Grand Canyon, and we kids fought constantly over the window seats. There were five of us kidsfour in the backseat because there were no seat belts back thenand after every rest stop, getting us back into the car was a tussle.

You get in first, Ann. Its my turn to be by the window.

It is not.

You were by it before lunch!

And you were by it all morning before Albuquerque.

Mo-oooom! Its my turn.

Adult intervention: Robbie. Get in the car.

But

Adult determination: I dont want to hear it. Get in the car!

You get the idea. We used to fight for the window seats. The thing is, I have no idea why.

I didnt actually enjoy looking out the window. The desert stretched away on all sides in folded layers of fantastically colored rockrust red, smoky gray, and ochre yellowbut I didnt see the beauty. I only saw a barren desert. I just wanted to sleep through it.

Wake me up when we get there, okay?

All across the Painted Desert, eating spam sandwiches in the heatthats what I remember. Not the spectacular Grand Canyon.

Wake me up when we get there.

Then life proceeded. And somewhere along the lineafter I grew up, and managed to achieve what I had been striving so hard to achieve, and then found that my achievements didnt bring me the meaning and joy I had hoped forI began to wake up to the trip.

I woke up to a whole universe behind the universe. I woke up to the pattern and the presence of the Divine behind all of creation, behind everythingeven behind me! And thats when I discovered that a desert isnt really a desert at all.

My husband, Gary Holz, made his own trip into the desert. He journeyed to the Australian Outback in 1994 to stay with a remote Aboriginal tribe. He was seeking a cure for his progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). In Australia, he experienced a miraculous improvement in his physical condition. Feeling returned to parts of his body that had been numb for seven years. He had been bound to a wheelchair for two years and, on the trip home, he clumsily walked down the airplane aisle. The first book we wrote together,