Being at Uluru

Yesterday whilst I was walking around Uluru and observing the other people, some climbing, some walking. I asked the ancestral spirits for permission to climb the rock, I wanted to be respectful of their customs as the big sign was saying they don’t want people climbing the rock and they had fears of people falling. However, they were allowing it. I just wanted to make sure I was in harmony with this site and asked for a sign.

In the middle of the night I awoke from a dream. Definitely indigenous women came to me and they impressed upon me to walk around the base. They didn’t actually say don’t climb the rock but the feeling was to walk around it. I noticed in the dream they were very gentle.

So when I went today my feeling was to just walk and feel the energy of Uluru, to take my time, not talk just be with this site. It is really an incredible monolith, it has so many markings on its sides, like craters, chips and patterns. There are water marks where water has slid down and large round holes which give it a moon crater appearance. I was told today that it is the tip of a massive underground mountain range. It just looks so out of place in a flat terrain with nothing other than the Olga’s (Kata Tjuta) and Mt Connor that look remotely related. The rest is flat country with mulga bush, gums, flowering plants etc. Essentially the terrain is flat.

I walked and sat under trees feeling the wind curl around the rock. I listened to the flies, watched the butterflies defying gravity and looked closely at the plant life. Little purple flowers, yellow flowers, pink puffy flowers and trees with fruits. The grasses had green tinges and the diversity was simply breathtaking. When you take the time to really look and be in nature you see more. I remember thinking I know nothing. We were not taught about what these plants mean. I knew nothing about the natural world. I thought of my education and I thought of indigenous women and their expert knowledge of what human’s could eat and what all the plants and animals were. This is really knowing your world. I can give you a rundown on economics and politics but it is not the real world. Where I was today gave me the feeling of peace, in being still. I sat under the tree with no thoughts and imagined indigenous people walking for long periods and just sitting no hurry just sit and rest. You see them do it naturally all the time. I really felt the peace in the place. I saw little caves, pock holes (maybe birds live there), I saw large bolders just on the ground, huge they were. Perhaps they broke off and rested on the ground. The rocks had many rock pools without water made me think of water running over the surface. I went to a little viewing section where aboriginal art in ochre and white chalk was on the walls. Another time, such a different perceptual space. I felt gratitude that I have come now, the weather is perfect, not too hot nor dry. Just beautiful.

I said gidday to a few people as they strolled past. I felt as if I was walking through a painting. It was so beautiful and peaceful, not millions of tourists, so you could have quiet space. I walked for a couple of hours and then headed to my car. I felt fullfilled that I had honoured the dream and felt the country within my spirit.