I will need a car so I contact Naoko, who rings in the evening of the accident to tell me that she has fixed for a car to arrive at OIST at 10:00 the next morning, Sunday. She is super efficient. She will pick me up at 9:30.

Naoko is a very spiritual person. She is very worried about me and explains that I have left part of my soul behind during the accident. I must go through a ceremony to restore that part of my soul otherwise the rest of my life will be damaged.

Okinawa has its own system of spiritual beliefs based on ancestor worship, which is still very much respected. Naoko, is a very good friend and we worked gleefully together for about 6 years. She is a priestess, her title is Kaminchu. She is not able to do the ceremony herself and asks Miki san, who is an Uta, to take charge.

Naoko takes me to a quiet place overlooking the sea, outside the OIST campus where she sets up an altar with incense, sake, and rice sweets. Miki san is on the phone giving instructions.

So, my attempts to describe and explain the ceremony will probably fail. I do not think the vocabulary necessarily exists in English, even the concept of soul is probably not accurate. However I hope to remain completely respectful.

Miki san’s spirits are in communication with both Naoko’s and my spirits. She explains I was seconds from death but was saved by a very powerful intervention by my Mother’s spirits and also spirits of Nature. My Mother’s spirit was there and guarded me.

Miki san explained that I had travelled around the world walking in and looking at Nature. My presence had been beneficial to Nature, the Nature spirits wished to protect me.

She told me that I had been thinking of death immediately before the accident – true. She continued that my soul had been damaged three times and not healed. These three wounds to my soul manifest as different colors, green, blue and translucent. The green and blue were the two car crashes, one in California 5 years ago and the blue, the crash yesterday. She had no information on the translucent.

Both Naoko and Miki san feel strong pain in their left temples.

Naoko kneels in front of me, I am seated on a bench. The atmosphere is very intense and there is not the slightest hint of chalatanry. Suddenly Naoko catches an invisible but clearly heavy weight. This she slams onto my chest over my heart. The weight is the green, blue and translucent wounds to my souls. These had been left behind but were now restored.

I had to place the rice sweets in a location designated by Naoko and also sprinkle the sake. The incense I had to take with me.

Naoko then prepared packages of salt, one she kept, one I keep, one stays in my rental car. We then drove down to the wrecker’s yard where she sprinkled salt on what is left of the car.

Thank you Okinawa. I feel honored that you cared enough to heal me.