The Saint, the Cave and the Shamanic Initiation

2026-08-19 22:55 by Gudrun Graf (comments: 0)

After almost three years in Morocco, I received a visit from my Moroccan friends.

I was very happy to see them. I think many expats know that it is not something to be taken for granted to build close friendships with Moroccans. As a woman, perhaps even more so.

First came Ismail, the sculptor, whom Leo still had the chance to meet.

Then Khaled came with his family.

We have known each other since 2009. In between, there were many years of silence. And yet that feeling of familiarity was immediately there again.

We drank tea and talked about the past, about music, about dreams, about politics and, above all, about Islam.

A few days later, I spoke on the phone with my dear friend Adela.

As so often, our conversation led us from one subject to another: Jesus, Mary, the Essenes, the mystery schools, Morocco and Burma.

We talked about a mysterious saint in Morocco, about a deep lake in the Atlas Mountains, about little people who are said to live there, and about a spiritual master in Burma who comes down from the mountain only every few years to bless and heal people.

Do these people really exist?

I don't know.

But I do know how much respect Adela and I have for stories like these.

And suddenly, it was there again.

The cave.

The Lamprecht Cave.

To this day, the most beautiful and profound experience of my life.

The underground lakes in different colours.

The enormous stalactites and stalagmites.

The thundering waterfall.

The adventure.

Then the overhanging rock.

The leather glove.

A slip.

When I regained consciousness, I was lying on my back.

Water was running over my face.

I was alive.

One week later, the cave was flooded.

My friends were still inside.

Perhaps it is only now that I realise that this fall was much more than an accident.

Perhaps it was my shamanic initiation.

And who knows?

Perhaps one day, together with my spiritual friends, I really will meet this mysterious saint somewhere in the Atlas Mountains.

I would certainly be very happy about that.

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