Dark Lycan (Carpathian)

by Feehan, Christine

  She had felt Dimitri’s pain, so terrible she could barely breathe. Right there, in the college library, she had nearly fallen to the floor, with that flash of pain that wasn’t hers. She had followed that trail back to him unerringly despite his fading light. Over the years of talking telepathically, the connection between them had grown strong and she found him even as his life force was fading away, traveling to another realm. If she could do that, Josef was right, why couldn’t she find him now? It didn’t make sense—and she should have figured that out on her own.

  “You’re too close to the problem,” Josef said, proving he was so tuned in to her he could practically read her thoughts.

  “I don’t like it when I’m not thinking straight,” Skyler said. “He needs me to be one hundred percent on this.”

  “I think it’s called love, Sky, as much as I don’t want to admit you could love anyone but me.” Josef winked at her.

  “Something’s really wrong, Josef. I know it is. How could I find him when he was already technically dead, but I can’t do it now?”

  “Perhaps he’s unconscious,” he ventured.

  She shook her head. “I thought of that. I could still find him. I know I could. There’s something about our connection. It’s so strong, I can follow him anywhere. I could touch him when he was underground, rejuvenating in the soil.”

  Josef’s eyes widened. “No way, Sky. No one can do that. We stop our hearts and lungs and we can’t move. That’s our most vulnerable time. How could he be aware?”

  “I don’t know, but whenever I reach for him, day or night, he’s always been there for me. Always. I can’t remember a single time that I couldn’t find him. Mother Earth always sang to me, a vibration I could feel, and I would know where he was.”

  “Did you tell Gabriel and Francesca you could do that? Could you do it with them? With me?”

  Skyler paced across the floor, looking once more at her watch a little impatiently. “I never thought to tell anyone, not even Dimitri, the how of it. But no, I never tried to wake anyone else. Francesca and Gabriel get very little time alone together these days, so I never considered waking them. It seemed natural to turn to Dimitri. I knew that he needed me as much as I needed him.”

  “All this time I thought you were afraid of a relationship with him,” Josef said.

  Skyler’s smile held little humor. “I was never afraid of a relationship with him. How could I be? We have a wonderful relationship. He treats me like I’m the greatest, most desirable woman in the world. He’s intelligent, we can talk about anything together for hours. He’s kind and gentle. He’s everything a woman could want in a partner.”

  “I’m hearing a ‘but’ in there.”

  “I am not certain I can be the lifemate he truly deserves. I’m great at the emotional relationship and the intellectual relationship, but I have no idea if I can ever be what he needs physically. That’s an entirely different matter.”

  Josef shook his head. “Skyler, don’t get all psycho about that. It will happen when it’s supposed to. Dimitri will never want another woman. Not ever. He’ll give you all the time you need.”

  “I know. I do. Dimitri would never push me and he never has. It isn’t him that’s worried. I just get anxious thinking about it. I want to be the best lifemate possible to him and my mind just can’t go to a physical relationship yet.”

  She glanced again at her watch. “Paul had better get here soon. Are you certain he got away without anyone being suspicious?”

  “Yeah, he’s on his way. Only a few minutes out. You said Dimitri was alive. If he is, we’ll find him.”

  Skyler let her breath out slowly. “I don’t like any of this. I detest the fact that the prince, along with everyone else, has abandoned him.”

  Josef slung his arm around her and hugged her tight. The smile faded. “We’ll find him. We will.”

  Skyler clung to him for a moment and then nodded, straightening her shoulders and stepping away from him. “I don’t like the only explanation I can think of for not being able to connect with him.”

  “What is it?” Josef asked.

  “He’s blocking me.” There was hurt in her voice. “He has to be. There’s no other explanation that makes sense.”

  APPENDIX 1

  Carpathian Healing Chants

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

  1. The Carpathian view on healing

  2. The Lesser Healing Chant of the Carpathians

  3. The Great Healing Chant of the Carpathians

  4. Carpathian musical aesthetics

  5. Lullaby

  6. Song to Heal the Earth

  7. Carpathian chanting technique

  1. THE CARPATHIAN VIEW ON HEALING

  The Carpathians are a nomadic people whose geographic 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—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 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 on the previous page.

  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 netherworlds 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 perso
n 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

  Kepä 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 as described in Dark Secret.

  Kepä Sarna Pus (The Lesser Healing Chant)

  The same chant is used for all physical wounds. “Sívadaba” [“into your heart”] would be changed to refer to whatever part of the body is wounded.

  , nélkül sívdobbanás, nélkül fesztelen löyly.

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

  Ot élidamet andam szabadon élidadért.

  I offer freely my life for your life.

  O jelä sielam ot ainamet és ot élidadet.

  My spirit of light forgets my body and enters your body.

  O jelä sielam pukta kinn minden szelemeket .

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

  o susu hanyet és o nyelv nyálamet sívadaba.

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

  Vii, o verim o verid 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 netherworld, 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—every 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 Latin ex 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.

  Something 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 the axis mundi (the “axis of the worlds”), Ygddrasil (in Norse mythology), Mount Meru (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’s Divine 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 farther 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, the axis mundi of the cosmos also corresponds to the spinal column of the individual. Journeys up and down the axis mundi often coincided with the movement of natural and spiritual energies (sometimes called kundalini or shakti) in the spinal column of the shaman or mystic.

  En Sarna Pus (The Great Healing Chant)

  In this chant, ekä (“brother”) would be replaced by “sister,” “father,” “mother,” depending on the person to be healed.

  Ot ekäm ainajanak hany, jama.

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

  Me, ot ekäm kuntajanak, pirädak ekäm, gond és irgalom türe.

  We, the clan of my brother, encircle him with our care and compassion.

  O pus wäkenkek, ot oma , és ot pus fünk, álnak ekäm ainajanak, pitänak ekäm ainajanak elävä.

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

  Ot ekäm sielanak pälä. Ot päläja juta alatt o jüti, kinta, és szelemek lamtijaknak.

  But my brother’s soul is only half. His other half wanders in the netherworld.

  Ot en mekem : kulkedak otti ot ekäm päläjanak.

  My great deed is this: I travel to find my brother’s other half.

  Rekatüre, saradak, tappadak, odam, o numa waram, és 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, és mozdulak, jomadak.

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

  Piwtädak ot En Puwe tyvinak, alatt o jüti, kinta, és szelemek lamtijaknak.

  Following the trunk of the Great Tree, we fall into the netherworld.

  Fázak, fázak nó o .

  It is cold, very cold.

  Juttadak ot ekäm o akarataban, o sívaban és o sielaban.

  My brother and I are linked in mind, heart and soul.

  Ot ekäm sielanak engem.

  My brother’s soul calls to me.

  Kuledak és piwtädak ot ekäm.

  I hear and follow his track.

  Saγedak és tuledak ot ekäm kulyanak.

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

  Nenäm , o kuly torodak.

  In anger, I fight the demon.

&nb
sp; O kuly pél engem.

  He is afraid of me.

  Lejkkadak o salamaval.

  I strike his throat with a lightning bolt.

  Molodak ot ainaja komakamal.

  I break his body with my bare hands.

  Toja és molanâ.

  He is bent over, and falls apart.

  Hän .

  He runs away.

  Manedak ot ekäm sielanak.

  I rescue my brother’s soul.

  ot ekam sielanak o komamban.

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

  ot ekam numa waramra.

  I lift him onto my spirit bird.

  Piwtädak ot En Puwe tyvijanak és saγedak jälleen ot elävä ainak majaknak.

  Following up the Great Tree, we return to the land of the living.

  Ot ekäm elä jälleen.

  My brother lives again.

  Ot ekäm jälleen.

  He is complete again.

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

  4. CARPATHIAN MUSICAL AESTHETICS

  In the sung Carpathian pieces (such as the “Lullaby” and the “Song to Heal the Earth”), you’ll hear elements that are shared by many of the musical traditions in the Uralic geographical region, some of which still exist—from Eastern European (Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, Croatian, etc.) to Romany (“gypsy”). Some of these elements include:

  • the rapid alternation between major and minor modalities, including a sudden switch (called a “Picardy third”) from minor to major to end a piece or section (as at the end of the “Lullaby”)

  • the use of close (tight) harmonies

  • the use of ritardi (slowing down the piece) and crescendi (swelling in volume) for brief periods

  • the use of glissandi (slides) in the singing tradition

  • the use of trills in the singing tradition (as in the final invocation of the “Song to Heal the Earth”)—similar to Celtic, a singing tradition more familiar to many of us