Dark Curse 19

by Christine Feehan

  «His parents, with gratitude.» Jacques and Shea looked at one another with joy.

  Nicolas felt the emotion spread through him. Joy. He knew the meaning of the word and it was Lara.

  Appendix 1

  Carpathian Healing Chants

  To rightly understand Carpathian healing chants, background is required in several areas:

  The Carpathian view on healing The Lesser Healing Chant of the Carpathians The Great Healing Chant of the Carpathians Carpathian chanting technique

  1. THE CARPATHIAN VIEW ON HEALING

  The Carpathians are a nomadic people whose geographical origins can be traced back to at least as far as the Southern Ural Mountains (near the steppes of modern day Kazakhstan), on the border between Europe and Asia. (For this reason, modern-day linguists call their language, «proto-Uralic,» without knowing that this is the language of the Carpathians.) Unlike most nomadic peoples, the wandering of the Carpathians was not due to the need to find new grazing lands as the seasons and climate shifted, or the search for better trade. Instead, the Carpathians' movements were driven by a great purpose: to find a land that would have the right earth, a soil with the kind of richness that would greatly enhance their rejuvenative powers.

  Over the centuries, they migrated westward (some six thousand years ago), until they at last found their perfect homeland-theirsusu –in the Carpathian Mountains, whose long arc cradled the lush plains of the kingdom of Hungary. (The kingdom of Hungary flourished for over a millennium-making Hungarian the dominant language of the Carpathian Basin-until the kingdom's lands were split among several countries after World War I: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Austria, and modern Hungary.)

  Other peoples from the Southern Urals (who shared the Carpathian Over the centuries, they migrated westward (some six thousand years ago), until they at last found their perfect homeland-their «susu»-in the Carpathian Mountains, whose long arc cradled the lush plains of the kingdom of Hungary. (The kingdom of Hungary flourished for over a millennium-making Hungarian the dominant language of the Carpathian Basin-until the kingdom's lands were split among several countries after World War I: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Austria, and modern Hungary.)

  Other peoples from the Southern Urals (who shared the Carpathian language, but were not Carpathians) migrated in different directions. Some ended up in Finland, which accounts for why the modern Hungarian and Finnish languages are among the contemporary descendents of the ancient Carpathian language. Even though they are tied forever to their chosen Carpathian homeland, the wandering of the Carpathians continues, as they search the world for the answers that will enable them to bear and raise their offspring without difficulty.

  Because of their geographic origins, the Carpathian views on healing share much with the larger Eurasian shamanistic tradition. Probably the closest modern representative of that tradition is based in Tuva (and is referred to as «Tuvinian Shamanism»)-see the map above.

  The Eurasian shamanistic tradition-from the Carpathians to the Siberian shamans-held that illness originated in the human soul, and only later manifested as various physical conditions. Therefore, shamanistic healing, while not neglecting the body, focused on the soul and its healing. The most profound illnesses were understood to be caused by «soul departure,» where all or some part of the sick, person's soul has wandered away from the body (into the nether realms), or has been captured or possessed by an evil spirit, or both.

  The Carpathians belong to this greater Eurasian shamanistic tradition and share its viewpoints. While the Carpathians themselves did not succumb to illness, Carpathian healers understood that the most profound wounds were also accompanied by a similar «soul departure.»

  Upon reaching the diagnosis of «soul departure,» the healer-shaman is then required to make a spiritual journey into the nether worlds to recover the soul. The shaman may have to overcome tremendous challenges along the way, particularly: fighting the demon or vampire who has possessed his friend's soul.

  «Soul departure» doesn't require a person to be unconscious (although that certainly can be the case as well). It was understood that a person could still appear to be conscious, even talk and interact with others, and yet be missing a part of their soul. The experienced healer or shaman would instantly see the problem nonetheless, in subtle signs that others might miss: the person's attention wandering every now and then, a lessening in their enthusiasm about life, chronic depression, a diminishment in the brightness of their «aura,» and the like.

  2. THE LESSER HEALING CHANT OF THE CARPATHIANS

  Kepa Sarna Pus(The Lesser Healing Chant) is used for wounds that are merely physical in nature. The Carpathian healer leaves his body and enters the wounded Carpathian's body to heal great mortal wounds from the inside out using pure energy. He proclaims, «I offer freely, my life for your life,» as he gives his blood to the injured Carpathian. Because the Carpathians are of the earth and bound to the soil, they are healed by the soil of their homeland. Their saliva is also often used for its rejuvenative powers.

  It is also very common for the Carpathian chants (both the Lesser and the Great) to be accompanied by the use of healing herbs, aromas from Carpathian candles, and crystals. The crystals (when combined with the Carpathians' empathic, psychic connection to the entire universe) are used to gather positive energy from their surroundings, which then is used to accelerate the healing. Caves are sometimes used as the setting for the healing.

  The Lesser Healing Chant was used by Vikirnoff Von Shrieder and Colby Jansen to heal Rafael De La Cruz whose heart had been ripped out by a vampire in the book titledDark Secret .

  Kepa Sarna Pus(The Lesser Healing Chant)

  The same chant is used for all physical wounds, «sivadaba"note 1 would be changed to refer to whatever part of the body is wounded .

  Kunasz, nelkul sivdobbanas, nelkul fesztelen loyly.

  You lie as if asleep, without beat of heart, without airy breath.

  Ot elidamet andam szabadon elidadert. I offer freely my life for your life.

  O jela sielam jorem ot ainamet es so?e ot elidadet. My spirit of light forgets my body and enters your body.

  O jela sielam pukta kinn minden szekmeket belso.

  My spirit of light sends all the dark spirits within fleeing without.

  Pajnak o susu hanyet es o nyelv nyalamet sivadaba.

  I press the earth of our homeland and the spit of my tongue into your heart.

  Vii, o verim so?e o vend andam.

  At last, I give you my blood for your blood.

  To hear this chant,visit: http://www.christinefeehan.com/ members/ .

  3. The Great Healing Chant of the Carpathians

  The most well-known-and most dramatic-of the Carpathian healing chants was En Sarna Pus («The Great Healing Chant»). This chant was reserved for recovering the wounded or unconscious Carpathian's soul.

  Typically a group of men would form a circle around the sick Carpathian (to «encircle him with our care and compassion»), and begin the chant. The shaman or healer or leader is the prime actor in this healing ceremony. It is he who will actually make the spiritual journey into the nether world, aided by his clanspeople. Their purpose is to ecstatically dance, sing, drum, and chant, all the while visualizing (through the words of the chant) the journey itself-ever)' step of it, over and over again-to the point where the shaman, in trance, leaves his body, and makes that very journey. (Indeed, the word «ecstasy» is from the Latinex statis , which literally means «out of the body.»)

  One advantage that the Carpathian healer has over many other shamans, is his telepathic link to his lost brother. Most shamans must wander in the dark of the nether realms, in search of their lost brother. But the Carpathian healer directly «hears» in his mind the voice of his lost brother calling to him, and can thus «zero in» on his soul like a homing beacon. For this reason, Carpathian healing tends to have a higher success rate than most other traditions of this sort.

  So
mething of the geography of the «other world» is useful for us to examine, in order to fully understand the words of the Great Carpathian Healing Chant. A reference is made to the «Great Tree» (in Carpathian:En Puwe) . Many ancient traditions, including the Carpathian tradition, understood the worlds-the heaven worlds, our world, and the nether realms-to be «hung» upon a great pole, or axis, or tree. Here on earth, we are positioned halfway up this tree, on one of its branches. Hence many ancient texts often referred to the material world as «middle earth»: midway between heaven and hell. Climbing the tree would lead one to the heaven worlds. Descending the tree to its roots would lead to the nether realms. The shaman was necessarily a master of movement up and down the Great Tree, sometimes moving unaided, and sometimes assisted by (or even mounted upon the back of) an animal spirit guide. In various traditions, this Great Tree was known variously as theaxis mundi (the «axis of the worlds»), Ygddrasil (in Norse mythology), Mount Mem (the sacred world mountain of Tibetan tradition), etc. The Christian cosmos with its heaven, purgatory/earth, and hell, is also worth comparing. It is even given a similar topography in Dante'sDivine Comedy : Dante is led on a journey first to hell, at the center of the earth; then upward to Mount Purgatory, which sits on the earth's surface directly opposite Jerusalem; then further upward first to Eden, the earthly paradise, at the summit of Mount Purgatory; and then upward at last to heaven.

  In the shamanistic tradition, it was understood that the small always reflects the large; the personal always reflects the cosmic. A movement in the greater dimensions of the cosmos also coincides with an

  internal movement. For example, theaxis mundi of the cosmos also corresponds to the spinal column of the individual. Journeys up and down theaxis mundi often coincided with the movement of natural and spiritual energies (sometimes calledkundalini orshakti) in the spinal column of the shaman or mystic.

  En Sarna Pus (The Great Healing Chant)

  In this chant, eka(«brother») would be replaced by «sister,» «father,» «mother,» depending on the person to be healed .

  Ot ekam ainajanak hany, jama.

  My brother's body is a lump of earth, close to death.

  Me, ot ekam kuntajanak, piradak ekam, gond es irgalom ture. We, the clan of my brother, encircle him with our care and compassion.

  Opus wakenkek, ot omas arnank, es ot pus funk, alnak ekam ainajanak, pitanak ekam ainajanak elava.

  Our healing energies, ancient words of magic, and healing herbs bless my brother's body, keep it alive.

  Ot ekam sielanak pala. Ot omboce palaja juta alatt o juti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak. But my brother's soul is only half. His other half wanders in the nether world.

  Ot en mekem? ama?: kulkedak otti ot ekam omboce palajanak. My great deed is this: I travel to find my brother's other half.

  Rekature, saradak, tappadak, odam, ka?a o numa waram, es avaa owe o lewl mahoz.

  We dance, we chant, we dream ecstatically, to call my spirit bird, and to open the door to the other world.

  Ntak o numa waram, es muzdulak, jomadak.

  I mount my spirit bird and we begin to move, we are under way.

  Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvinak, ecidak alatt o juti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak. Following the trunk of the Great Tree, we fall into the nether world.

  Fazak, fazak no os aro. It is cold, very cold.

  Juttadak ot ekam o akarataban, o'sivaban, es o sielaban. My brother and I are linked in mind, heart, and soul.

  Ot ekam sielanak ka?a engem. My brother's soul calls to me.

  Kuledak es piwtadak ot ekam. I hear and follow his track.

  Sayedak es tuledak ot ekam kulyanak.

  Encounter-I the demon who is devouring my brother's soul.

  Nenam coro; o kuly torodak. In anger, I fight the demon.

  O kuly pel engem. He is afraid of me.

  Lejkkadak o ka?ka salamaval. I strike his throat with a lightning bolt.

  Molodak ot ainaja, komakamal. I break his body with my bare hands.

  Toya es molana.

  He is bent over, and falls apart.

  Han cada. He runs away.

  Manedak ot ekam sielanak. I rescue my brother's soul.

  Aladak ot ekam sielanak o komamban.

  I lift my brother's soul in the hollow of my hand.

  Al?dam ot ekam numa waramra. I lift him onto my spirit bird.

  Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvijanak es sayedak jalleen ot elava ainak majaknak. Following up the Great Tree, we return to the land of the living.

  Ot ekam ela jalleen. My brother lives again.

  Ot ekam wenca jalleen. He is complete again.

  To hear this chant, visit:http://www.christinefeehan.com/ members/ .

  4. LULLABY

  This song is sung by the Carpathian women when a woman is miscarrying and they are trying to save the child. Because these babies can hear them inside the womb, the women sing them this lullaby saying, in essence: Stay-you'll be protected by love even from inside, until you are born.

  Odam-Sarna Kondak (Lullabye)

  Tumtesz o wake ku pitasz belso. Feel the strength you hold inside.

  Hiszasz'sivadet. En olenam g?idnod. Trust your heart. I'll be your guide.

  Sas csecsemom, kunasz.

  Hush my baby, close your eyes.

  Rauho jo?e ted.

  Peace will come to you.

  Tumtesz o sivdobbanas ku olen lamt?ad belso. Feel the rhythm deep inside.

  Gond-kumpadek ku kim te. Waves of love that cover you.

  Pesanak te, asti o juti, kidusz. Protect, until the night you rise.

  To hear this song, visit:http://www.christinefeehan.com/members/ .

  5. SONG TO HEAL THE EARTH

  This is the earth-healing song that is used by the Carpathian women to heal the soil that is filled with toxins. Although referred to as a healing song, the women dance to heal the earth while singing.

  Sarna Pusm O Mayet (Song to Heal the Earth)

  First verse

  Ai Ema Ma?e, Oh, Mother Nature,

  Me sivadbin lanaak.

  We are your beloved daughters.

  Me tappadak, me pusmak o ma?et. We dance to heal the earth.

  Me sarnadak, me pusmak o hanyet. We sing to heal the earth.

  Sielanket jutta tedet it, We join with you now.

  Sivank es akaratank es sielank juttanak.

  Our hearts and minds and spirits become one.

  Second verse

  Ai Ema Ma?e, Oh, Mother Nature,

  Me sivadbin lanaak.

  We are your beloved daughters.

  Me andak arwadet emanked es me ka?ank o

  We pay homage to our mother and call upon the

  Pohi es Louna, Ida es Laas. North and South, East and West.

  Pide es aldyn es myos belso.

  Above and below and within as well.

  Gondank o ma?enak pusm han ku olen jama. Our love of the land heals that which is in need.

  Juttanak teval it,

  We join with you now,

  Ma?e ma?eval. Earth to earth.

  O pira elidak wenca.

  The circle of life is complete.

  6. CARPATHIAN CHANTING TECHNIQUE

  As with their healing techniques, the actual «chanting technique» of the Carpathians has much in common with the other shamanistic traditions of the Central Asian steppes. The primary mode of chanting was throat chanting using overtones. Modern examples of this manner of singing can still be found in the Mongolian, Tuvan and Tibetan traditions. You can find an audio example of the Gyuto Tibetan Buddhist monks engaged in throat chanting at:

  http://www.christinefeehan.com/carpathianchanting/.

  As with Tuva, note on the map the geographical proximity of Tibet to Kazakhstan and the Southern Urals.

  The beginning part of the Tibetan chant emphasizes synchronizing all the voices around a single tone, aimed at healing a particular «chakra» of the body. This is fairly typical of the Gyuto throat-chanting tradition, but it is not a significant part of the Carpathian
tradition. Nonetheless, it serves as an interesting contrast.

  The part of the Gyuto chanting example that is most similar to the Carpathian style of chanting is the midsection, where the men are chanting the words together with great force. The purpose here is not to generate a «healing tone» that will affect a particular «chakra,» but rather to generate as much power as possible for initiating the «out of body» travel, and for fighting the demonic forces that the healer/traveler must face and overcome.