My story... I was asked to give you the details.
December or January(?): I heard about Cougina from my dear friend Tom, and received a necklace that Cougina had made for me at Tom's request, which had particular personal resonance that Cougina could not have known about. Tom told me that Cougina was an across-the-country bicycle-touring 87 year old hermetic. I am skeptical of paths and teachers, but the apparent reference to Hermes Trismegistus provoked an immediate google search. I thought his blog personality was a bit on the extreme side, but sympathetic to my worldview. I looked forward to meeting him. Maybe a suitable teacher had appeared.
Late February: Cougina appeared in Houston, and I went for a reading. He pointed out an issue with my left shoulder that he could not have known about through the five senses. He told me that I would meet a potential partner in the next six weeks, someone who I had not met before, and that this might lead to me moving to a different geographic location in the next three months, if I so chose. I asked him if he would teach me, and he said yes. He invited me to call him while he was out of town, and to read the book Tarot, by Mouni Sadhu. This led to a few phone conversations.
Late March: Cougina had returned to Houston, and I saw him for the second time. While we sat outdoors at Cha Cha's, he invited me to be his student in whatever way I wished, whether seeing each other occasionally in Houston, or by going out on the road together as partners, rather than as teacher and student. It seems that we made the agreement to be partners that evening. For the next month, even though we were less than five miles from each other, we honored other commitments, seeing each other no more than once a week, and having occasional brief phone conversations.
Late April: During the semester break in my graduate program (marriage and family therapy), I took all the remaining vacation at my job (geophysicist), and we left Houston for Arizona in my car. I wanted to get outdoors and have a break from the stress of work and school, but our main goal was to sort out whether we could function comfortably as partners, and for me to experientially confirm the validity of hermetics. As of today, we have been on the road together for two weeks. I will tell you my story of our journey in future posts.
Today, I commented on the speed with which we have moved into full partnership. Cougina replied that he had never moved so slowly. He said that most people do not consider the duality of time and space. Cougina has gone to bed, and I do not recall his words exactly, but I believe that he said that it has unfolded rapidly in space at a given time. I said that it has unfolded rapidly in time in a given space. I said that it has unfolded naturally, and he said that it is what people call destiny. He said that this could be a future blog discussion, so I am getting it started before the idea gets lost.
I also appreciate your support as our partnership unfolds.
Agnes
