41 Kumalak and me: A personal account

Lessons from the kitchen table

My first exposure to 41 Kumalak was when my mother opened her pouch of stones at home. She wanted to check on the safety of my older brother who was late returning home from the army. I watched with my 6 year old eyes as she divided 41 stones onto a cloth to reveal that my brother was returning soon and safely.

She was astonished that I was able to follow the process she used to distribute the stones. Seeing that I understood more than she anticipated, she shooed me away. Perhaps she was protecting me by limiting exposure to 41 Kumalak at such a young age. At that time in Soviet Kazakhstan, it was best to hide an interest in ancient readings.

41 Kumalak revisited


Later, as a school boy, I heard the kobyz, an instrument traditionally used by shamans, for the first time. I still remember the haunting sound that moved something within me. To this day, it is an instrument which I associate with the sound of Kazakh shamans – the sound of 41 Kumalak.

My curiosity about 41 Kumalak returned in university when I visited the Green Bazaar in Almaty. I had a BIG question on my mind about the prospect of my future education in Turkey and I visited a local 41 Kumalak reader. Her answer? Yes, I would study in Turkey, even though there were obstacles to overcome. She was right.

I would return to her again and again. Each time, the stones provided information she could not have had known. Each time, she accurately told me what to expect in regard to travel documents, scholarships and employment opportunities.

Enlarging my world

From 1991 To 1998 I embarked on one educational foray after another in Uzbekistan, in Turkey and eventually to the United States. And, each time I pursued advanced education I enlarged my world view. I was also pursuing an interest in Buddhist meditation through some fortunate contacts with Tibetan practitioners. Travels to Canada, India, Thailand and Peru brought me in touch with genuine healers. Each of these healers encouraged me to develop my own healing skills.

Then, in Ontario in 2004, an extraordinary event happened that reminded me again of 41 Kumalak. One night a co-worker invited me to a party where a psychic was doing readings. I was her last partygoer of the night and she told me she had been anticipating my arrival. She had sensed my spirit guides – guides I was barely aware of at that time.

Being ever practical, I asked about job options and possible moves. Her response was favorable on the job front and I was pleased. But then she said something that seemed to surprise her as much as me: “You must develop your gifts in geomancy.”

Frankly I didn’t have a clue what geomancy was but when I later looked it up, I was astonished to find that it was very similar to 41 Kumalak. Geomancy, practiced in the Middle Ages, incorporates signs connected with the earth. Geomancy practitioners look at the arrangement of markers thrown down at random before a reading, just like the stones in 41 Kumalak.

Why did I take her message seriously? Because she proved she was channelling my spirit guides by producing a family name for my sister – one that only I would have known – and she wrote it in the Kazakh language.

Answering the call


All along my attitude was one of acceptance but inaction. More signs came until I was eventually compelled to delve more deeply. I began to remember the accuracy of previous 41 Kumalak readings.

And so started a new chapter for me – I began to listen more closely to my intuition. It was wonderful and satisfying to call on ancient ways and to recall my own experiences with 41 Kumalak. I did more readings for both friends and clients who seemed to find value in the guidance of 41 Kumalak.

Consciously, I altered my lifestyle. I began studying massage and shamanic healing. With shamans in Peru, I experienced personal healing for my body and found clarity about the path I was on.

The ability to be open to spiritual messages was definitely available to me and I began to feel a physical presence. But my personal visions showed me that I was still somehow stuck.

I made what turned out to be a momentous decision. I decided to return to Kazakhstan.



Initiation


This time I went back to Kazakhstan with a purpose, beyond seeing my family. I focused on learning more about the country’s shamans and 41 Kumalak practitioners. While their readings varied with their personal skill and depth, they all had a message for me: “One cannot simply learn 41 Kumalak – you must be chosen and initiated. “ The knowledge of 41 Kumalak, even to those who have the gift, comes from the spirit guides.

To move to the next phase on my journey, I needed to seek out a ceremony to initiate me as a healer.

And so I visited the grave site of Eset Batyr, revered as a holy place, to participate in a unique ceremony designed to connect me to my spirit guides. Meditating there, I fulfilled the ceremony of Shirak Zhagu by burning 7 hand-made torches. As the fires subsided, I began to feel a presence of generations of guides from both my own family and my country. When I awoke from my dream-like state, I had total clarity about my future.

Validation


Near the end of this exploratory visit in Kazakhstan, I visited a cousin’s wife, Marzhan. As I was sharing my experiences, she smiled. She had expected my return to Kazakhstan. She said that when she visited Eset Batyr, a shirakshi (a holy man) told her that her relative Murat (my birth name) had a special gift as a healer and would come visit Eset Batyr to do the ceremony to embark on his journey.

Sensing that I had many of the puzzle pieces of my life in hand, I realized I needed some final step to help me assimilate all that I had experienced. I decided to see a well known spiritual medium, Marzia. In communicating with my guides, she pointed to specific times that the guides, most especially my great grandfather, had tried to impart the potential of shamanic divination in me. Then she told me, “There are no other places or people you need to seek. You have all you need.”

Surrendering and coming home, in so many ways, I felt a symbolic completion of my initiation through spontaneous tears. I felt sure that I was finally doing what I was born to do.

Now, back in Canada, my extraordinary experience has strengthened my perceptions during the massage sessions I give. It has also enhanced my confidence and accuracy with 41 Kumalak readings.

If you would like to benefit from the gifts I have been privileged to receive, please call or email me.
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