After IETF 91, I spent some time vacationing in Hawaii.. I love the ocean.

I've always connected with Venus rising from the foam on the sea. It seems a much better creation story than a love goddess rising out of the blood of castration. I've found the ocean to be a place for meditation, relaxation and healing.

The FOV community has focused on fire as a transformational symbol, and I've found power there. However, take a moment to ponder the sea. The sea is a birthplace of life, an environment where complexity has evolved, ever changing. Magically, we have the joining of earth and water. The strength of salt, the change of water. I can connect with Love springing forth from blood, sex, tears and life-giving water. Or if love is the goddess fracturing so that the lover and beloved could embrace change in order to sacrifice and know love, well, I can see that too in the sea.

I've found it easy to reach out to Venus in the sea and ocean. More the supportive goddess, Venus of the cauldron filled with the universal potential of love than Venus of the flame, the spark that chooses one love, making it real.

I got a lot of time to spend in the ocean. I was there floating, meditating letting hmy consciousness wonder, touching, being touched by spirit. I spent a couple of hours in this space over my stay. It was very healing. The first few minutes especially were quite intense. I needed to relax, to remember the Three Truths; to offer these truths back. I found that.

Later, I was on a boat; a brief pleasure trip. I think there were about 30 people on the boat. We were running into the wind at between 17-20 nauts in what I'm sure was light chop for the Pacific. However, I was enjoying myself and sat on the front-most seat. As the ride became more rough, I found myself alone. My world shrunk to the throbbing of the engine below me, the tossing of the boat, my hands holding me in place, and a face full of wind and spray. It was wonderful, exhilarating. I found myself truly in the moment, and reached out to the spiritual with a heart filled with joy. I laughed. I sang to Venus, thanking her for an improved ability to enjoy moments like this. I honored the ocean, but most of all, I simply was.

I like these experiences because they combined both very modern elements with very spiritual elements. I am very much a creature of technology, of the modern world. I'm happy that I can have a spiritual experience at a resort beach that is carefully maintained and that is nice to swim at. For good and ill, we are part of the world; we change the world and reshape it just as it shapes us. My spirituality isn't something only to be found in woods or ocean untouched by man. I'm pleased that when I reach for it, it's there. Similarly, I'm pleased that even on a party cruise, if I can get a little distance, I can find it there. However, I'm also pleased that the ocean has deep roots in time and legend. It's still the same ocean, dangerous and healing, whether approached with all our technology or approached many years ago.