2024 is my celebration year. Each month I have planned a significant event to celebrate the ALL of life expressing itself through me. So, for the month of April my celebration “event” was a short trip to Japan with my son Ramin. It was his destination of choice. It was a beautiful experience with so many layers of joy. We spent most of our time in Asakusa, Tokyo wandering all the side alleys that always looped us back to the Sensoji Temple. A one thousand year old temple in the heart of Asakusa. It was stunning. We sampled all the street food and just ” felt” Japan. Not having a set plan was great as we experienced the temple at different times of the day. The early morning with the hustle and bustle of tourist. The mid afternoon as the sun was setting and in the evening, majestically lit up by lanterns. The trip felt like a homage and a purification.
One highlight for me was getting my fortune read at the temple. It was quite the ritual. Firstly, you sent your intention with a 100 Yen coin, asked your question or made your wish and then dropped it in the box. Next there was a hexagonal cylinder with sticks in it and a small hole underneath. Keeping what you asked for clear in your mind you then had to shake the cylinder until a stick came out. On the stick was a number. The final step was to match the number with a series of drawers and pull out your fortune. I was overjoyed when my fortune was granted and good luck would follow me home. However, for those who received bad luck, it meant that what they asked for was not yet ready to come into manifestation. Yet there was a loop hole. You could leave your mis-fortune behind at the temple by tying it to a rack and the negative energy of the bad luck would be absolved. That was such a life lesson for me. When something is for you it will follow you home and if something is not for you, leave it behind. Don’t carry your bad luck around. We are always winning!
It certainty felt good to know there is always a way of steering your course to calmer waters. Having spent so much time in just one place I could feel the energy of the land in a greater way. Japan is a busy place and Asakusa is a very popular tourist stop with many key landmarks with the fusion between old world Edo Period and Modern Japan. It felt like we stood on the crossroads of time. I really loved how, despite the busyness, it was a clam place. There was a tranquility and flow to everything. If you are thinking about going to Japan I highly recommend it. There is something really precious about this land.
We arrived just at the end of Sakura season ( Cherry Blossom) I did however, find some still blooming at the Skytree. The composition really felt like the meeting of the divine masculine and the divine feminine. The balance of Yin and Yang energy. Japan is a very sensual place. So much beauty and artfulness. I will definitely return as we only saw one place, and yet it stole our hearts.
Until the next celebration…be well beloveds and remember to leave your back luck behind.
Nazanin Marashian 