JAN-FEB-MAR-APR-MAY-JUN-JUL-AUG 2023
In the early morning of January 18, 2023, I dreamed that three Rabbis prepared a unique, round wafer for me to eat. As I picked up the wafer and put it in my hand, I could tell it was very delicate. The Rabbi asked me then if I was ready to be a leader. I told him that I was ready. It was close to the thirteen-year anniversary of the first dream back in January 2010, a month before embarking on 72 Days of God.
The following day, I began my 30-minute walk down the mountain to the nearest store. I was on the verge of tears. I was uncertain about my future and had no clear direction.
While on my walk, I saw two things that gave me hope. The first was a purple iris blooming on the side of the road, and the second caught my attention: a Red-Shouldered Hawk that flew down to the ground directly in front of me to make me aware of its presence. The purple iris was my mother’s favorite flower, and the Hawk was my animal totem throughout my journey. Suddenly, hope was restored.
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, I took another walk. During this hike, I noticed that Iris’s number had increased from one to many, which I took as another positive sign.
That evening, Madonna published The Enlightenment on her YouTube channel.
On January 27, 2023, the rare green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passed by Earth’s outer space for the first time in 50,000 years. It was the 12-year, 345-day anniversary of starting the 72 Days of God adventure. Twenty-one (21) days later, I celebrated the 13th anniversary.
In mid-February, Ricardo and I hired three guys to dig out the basement to add three additional bedrooms, a kitchen, and two bathrooms to the house. It was a huge project, but it gave me a purpose, something to focus on besides my uncertain future. Once again, I supervised the project while Ricardo was at work. In dreams basement represents the unconscious mind and intuition, so I used this project as a metaphor for expanding both.
My dear friend Philip (Ahote) at Hopi passed away on April 9, 2023. (This photograph was taken in 2012 before The Harvest.)
I posted the following video in his honor.
On May 30, 2023, I received the following results for a Y-DNA test that a Ray family member on Ancestry.com purchased for me at ©FamilyTreeDNA.com. This distant family member reached out to me via the Internet. He wanted to see if he was related to my birth father.
Y-DNA matches reveal a common ancestor on the direct paternal line, showing common ancestors that can be recent (within a generation or two) or more distant (living up to around 1,000 years ago). The tools and data from a Y-DNA test help us learn more about patrilineal family history.
The YDNA results confirmed that my distant ancestors were Nordic. (See 02:30 through 03:33 of The Enlightenment.)
While most people had hundreds of matches in their results, I only had two.
I was completely mystified when I noticed Morocco was listed as a Paternal Country of Origin, so I contacted Mr. Mustapha to try and get more details.
I quickly learned that my birth father and I were possibly related to the Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed ben Abdallah, who fled Morocco due to a Civil War and came to the shores of South Carolina in the 1700s as indentured servants. According to the results of my Y-DNA test, the genetic distance was very recent, as recent as 1650 or 1700, so Mohammed ben Abdallah could very well be a recent ancestor.
I needed to determine if these ancestors were Muslims from the Black Berber tribes of Africa, African Jews who studied Practical Kabbalah in the High Atlas Range of Morocco, or Turkish people who settled in Sumter County, South Carolina. The additional research would require an upgrade to the Big Y-700 test, which was ultimately out of the spending budget.
And as far as my mysterious Madonna connection goes, Madonna celebrated her 60th birthday in Morocco five years earlier, in August 2018, just a few months after I received my first DNA test from ©Ancestry.com.
As fate would have it, my niece called on June 1, 2023, to offer me lifetime rights to become a caretaker for a house she owned in Wilmington, North Carolina. I had no bad memories in that part of North Carolina, so I liked the idea. It would be a brand new start for me—a clean slate—a new adventure. I was reminded of the dream I had on November 7, 2021.
I figured I could start drawing Social Security and be close to family and friends on the coast of North Carolina. Since I had no other opportunities, I had to trust that I was being led in the right direction, so in June 2023, I started making tentative plans to move back to North Carolina. I had to postpone the Big Y-700 DNA test for the time being because, as of July 2023, my main focus was saving enough money to move back to North Carolina.
I continued to move through the next few months very organically. There was no rush, no haste. I did my best to remain flexible and adaptable. I was hoping for the best but always remained open to unexpected change. I sold my van on July 3.
On July 22, 2023, I turned 62. After completing The Star year, I transitioned to The Moon year.
A few days after my 62nd birthday, in early August 2023, I walked to the grocery store, reflecting that I had not visited North Carolina since December 2015. It had been 7.5 years. As I was trying to figure out the possible time for my return, I walked past a parked vehicle in the parking lot with the following license plate.
Apparently, according to the Matrix or my mother’s spirit, my estimated time of arrival (ETA) would be the ninth month of September if I was “Doin’ It Right!” This was perfect for The Moon year.