A Divine CallIng

My lomi journey started in late January 2020, almost nine months before I received my first lomi lomi massage. The ground around Reykjavik shook with thousands of earthquakes. She was coming. My dreams were a chaotic tumble of fire and desire. In my pocket an unseen hand blocked the number of my massage therapist.

As I was unable to reach my therapist and book a session, my body began to ache more and more. I suffered from chronic backpain from a sliding disc. On my worst days I struggled to walk with pain shooting down my legs. I felt I was headed for surgery unless I took drastic measures. I began the search for another therapist. After testing 15 different therapists from various modalities, I found Aloha Magdalena, a lomi lomi nui practitioner and teacher, on the outskirts of Reykjavik.

My journey began in earnest, but Magdalena’s schedule was full and in the first month I was only able to get three session with her, but fate cleared her schedule with a Covid lockdown and when she resumed her practice I booked her service twice a week. In 10 weeks I was completely healed. My chronic backpain was gone for good. My dreams had become even more intense and the ground continued to shake. I felt compelled to learn this magical bodywork. I hoped to be able to pay my good fortune forward.

What surprised me most about receiving lomi lomi frequently over several months was not the physical healing that I received, but rather the spiritual awakening that was brought on by countless journeys. My heart expanded and my candle started to shine brighter. I remembered that life is magical and I started to believe again in intuitive heart-based knowing.

In February 2021, five months after receiving lomi lomi for the first time from her, Magdalena taught me to open my heart and touch with loving tender care. I was being transformed from the inside out. Nothing would remain the same. I ordered a lomi lomi massage table. The day after the table arrived, an eruption began 30km outside of the city. For the first time in 7000 years we had a Hawaiian-style hot spot mantle eruption. Pele had come for a visit. I woke up sweating from my dreams. I had to go and meet the goddess.

I trekked 5 kilometers into the lava fields and on a barren hill I looked into the womb of creation. New land was birthed and I felt a powerful nod from Pele herself. I was on the right track. I focused on practicing as much as I could and I began my personal journey of healing with my paralyzed mom by massaging her twice a week.

The first year of practice was a bit of a struggle, but slowly I got into shape, my technique improved, and confidence grew. I was ready to learn more. After a mentorship course with my teacher I felt I had addressed my weakest points and was starting to believe in myself. Pele came for another visit, opening up the ground again. I had a powerful dream and woke up knowing I had to go and learn from the Hawaiian legend Uncle Harry Uhane Jim.

A month later I went to a remote farm in the Vermont countryside where Uncle Harry helped me to birth my power. After I returned from this workshop with Harry my lomi lomi became my own. My sessions started to be transformative for the receivers.  My faith became stronger and my confidence skyrocketed. I stopped second-guessing my intuition. My dreams with Pele kept inspiring me to dive deeper into the practice.

I stumbled upon a painting of the Volcano Goddess by Michelle Bird a painter living in Iceland. I recognized her immediately. This was Pele as she appeared in my dreams, an Icelandic incarnation that looked like she was born from the Icelandic landscape. I bought a print from Michelle and hung it up in my studio.

The third time that Pele arrived with eruptive force on the outskirts of Reykjavik, I again felt compelled to go and meet her. This time the trek was an arduous 20 km long hike. It took all day, but when I got back I knew that I had to learn more. I looked to the source and went to Poland to study with my teacher’s teacher, Kumu Susan Pa’iniu Floyd who was visiting from Big Island Hawaii.

Studying with Susan became a yearlong adventure that took me to Volcano Big Island to the home of Pele. And there I knew that I had completed the journey that Pele had called me to. I had come home. Home to my heart, home to my spirit, home to my purpose.

And this is my divine calling to spread Aloha, through touch, through presence both through my practice of Mahalo Asgeir and in co-operation with my partner through the Lomi Lomi nui Academy of Hawaiian Healing Arts. I feel like this is my contribution to making this a better world.

Mahalo nui.