When your name is called, do you like its sound? Does it reflect who you are, or know yourself to be? Or does it reflect who you once were, or who your parents wanted you to be, or thought you were? The idea for this article came on a recent visit to my sister's house. My 10- year old nephew came home from school and I greeted him with the usual, "Hi Ben. Nice to see you." He replied, "I'm not Ben. My name is Bob". I replied, "Fair deal…I'll call you Bob if you call me Ava instead of Auntie Joan". My sister was off in the background staring daggers at me for encouraging such behavior. I could only laugh at it all, for symbolically, the name Ben means "Son". He was becoming his own person and felt this knowing inside that he wanted to be his own person, and not the "son'. My sister carried expectations that he continue to be the son she wanted. In my eyes, he was growing up and very aware of the differential between her expectations and how he felt inside with his own becoming and changing. The more she resisted his "game", the more he insisted.
Many people have asked us in our community where we got our names and why and when we changed them. For us, when we made commitments to the Spirit for a life devoted to Its course rather than any personal one, we chose names that "rang in our souls" as our new identity. This is reflected very much in our culture. Many women change their last names when they marry to that of their husband, for that is the identity that they seek. Others, who keep their name, demonstrate that they are not going to change who they are. Some couples choose to combine their names to show that they are merging each into the other, while other couples drop both last names and find a new one to call themselves by, creating a totally new picture for themselves. Throughout our lives, we see many nicknames come and go amidst the people that we know. Professionals add on some titles to their names. Priests become "Father", monks become "Brother", and nuns become "Sister". Devotees in temples are given names. We in our community choose them.
When and how does one choose a name for oneself? Some individuals are able to go to the akashic plane and research the records of past lives and soul names. Khiron was able to do this and did so for us in our community, hence Bill became "Olwe", and Joan became "Ava" and over the past month, Erik became "Pir". With such a name change, the being emerges in a new way, and people begin to respond differently to them. We knew Erik and his ego's limitations and are glad he no longer lives with us. We don't know "Pir" very well yet, and it is always interesting to watch these transformations occur.
If one does not have access to such information, how can one select a name that is "well" and reflects one's inner nature?
Each sound has a meaning, and it is important for us to be conscious of the sounds by which we are called, for it reflects who we know ourselves to be. The original ancient mother tongue of Lemuria, similar to the Hawaiian sounds of today, had sounds that were all well. Today's English language is an amalgamation of many languages, and has incorporated many harsh sounds that were not part of the original mother tongue. These sounds are known as the destructive sounds, namely c, f, g, j, x and z.
- C eclipse, overshadow, dominate
- F madness, wildness
- G fear, anger, violence
- J condemnation, judgement, criticism
- X destruction, death, unmaking
- Z weakness, helplessness, atrophy
In choosing a name for oneself, or in naming a business, one may wish to avoid sounds that bring these energies forward. My birth name, Joan Jason, contained two "j"s. I can describe my life back then with those j's as one that was of a goody-two-shoes, and happy was the day when the burden of that was lifted as I took on the name Ava (pronounced ah-vah for those who have not heard my name called). In the next issue of Spirit-21, we will continue the discussion of the sounds and their meanings.
Until then, just give it some thought…"Who are you really?"
