Breath to Consciousness: Sistar Julia’S Testimony ~ a Soul Journey

By Sistar Julia

This novella passes on knowledge as a reminder to be a conscious being. The memoir begins with a catalyst that possessed me on my soul journey. It happened at a Bob Marley and The Wailers reggae concert in Sydney, Australia, in 1979, when I was fifteen. The hypnotic music, lyrics, Rastafarian culture, and herbs of wisdom had the effect of heightening my states of consciousness. This powerful experience led me to explore.

In order to try to understand this force I had to go back to my roots, my family history. I began to examine and place pieces of my life together like a jigsaw puzzle. I took a physical outward journey in a time when there was no instant society. I traveled to the Caribbean and beyond, where I encountered and reasoned with Rastafarians. Simultaneously, I discovered I was on an inward spiritual journey that was growing in strength through biblical and metaphysical readings. I was transforming my existence and my way of lifemetamorphism.

As an enlightened spirit in the fleshnow with a child to rearI had to share this wisdom. I had discovered the essence of faith, and I endeavored to not get caught up in the Babylonian system and the cycles of a routine life. The grass isnt always greener on the other sideit just may be a bit different.

This is a thought provoking and deeply personal story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Sep 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452524580

Sistar Julia

SISTAR JULIA was born in Australia in 1963. Her love of music has given her a freedom of expression: in poetry, dance, and songs. She held an executive position in a worldwide Rastafarian organization. Sistar Julia also worked for an online website for ?ve years, where she interviewed many of the great reggae artists. Please see the link to Julia Rado’s “Harmony:” http://youtu.be/jxAGf2OvFLg. [e-mail] www.breathtoconsciousness.com

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Copyright © 2014 Julia Rado.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-2457-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-2458-0 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 09/02/2014

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Archangels Michael and Gabriel

Contents

Acknowledgments

Breath To Consciousness

Roots

Growth

The Early Years

Teens

London

Return To Australia

Branches

Trinidad And Tobago

London

Forward To Oz

Acknowledgments

Giving much wholehearted appreciation for all good works, from all who assisted in preparations for this Novella/Book.

Thank you.

This is my personal journey.

The truth may be an offence, but is not a sin.

So let these words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, Oh ‘Fari…

Focus Positivity.

BREATH TO CONSCIOUSNESS

PREFACE

Am I on some kind of spaceship floating amongst the stars? Because I feel like I am. I look up. Oh no, I can’t be. The massive roof is enclosed above and my feet are firmly planted here on earth. It’s just that the vibrations feel so high, it’s mystical.

What kind of phenomenon is this? I’m standing in the front row, an arm’s length away from Bob Marley, yet each and every person in this pavilion seems touched too. He is singing with such a deep passion, hardly opening his eyes.

The stage backdrop clearly has pictures of lions and colours of green, gold and red appear, and a man I don’t recognise stares back at me.

It is April 1979 and Bob Marley and The Wailers are hitting our record charts with Reggae music. I can’t believe these superstars are really here in Sydney, Australia. They are performing in such a foreign way to our typical culture and yet it’s all so cool and professional and addictive. I have forgotten my older sister, my chaperone for the night; she’s somewhere in the huge crowd. I’m so intrigued and mesmerised.

I was captured that night, at the age of fifteen. The music was running and pumping through my heart, blood and veins. Who would have thought these beautiful people would inspire me on a journey – a journey of my soul.

I didn’t realise I was on a journey. But from that night I had so many unanswered questions about Reggae music, black people wearing dreadlocks, marijuana, lions, Rastafari, the significance of the colours green, gold and red… and who was the man on the backdrop?

What led me to be so fascinated? I suppose I should start at the very beginning of my existence, from my ancestral roots. Perhaps from there, I will gain a clearer understanding as to why I was triggered off so immensely. What gravitated me and directed me on this soul journey?

I say a prayer and give thanks for this day.

Feeling inspired to write is an extension, and a result, of a freedom of expression. An expression I feel compelled to release. Everyone has a story to tell. My family has a tradition of writing and passing down their history to the next generation - in my case herstory.

I welcome my readers into my world. GREETINGS. This book reveals my stages of life onto these pages. It is a journey of thought wonderings to physical wanderings. Like a jigsaw puzzle that slowly pieces together, my journey that began with a spiritual essence, enlightened and awakened to a spiritual growth.

I hope my story will inspire and reinforce the need to be a conscious being.

CONSCIOUS: Having inward knowledge (of); being aware (of); having the use of one’s faculties. –NESS the state of being mentally awake to one’s surroundings. (Webster’s New Standard Dictionary)

One can be self-conscious, dealing internally with ego and vanity, and constantly hearing the dominance of self-talk.

One can be conscious, being alive, having the breath of life and seeing and examining the truth all around, as there are many conspiracies in this world. It is a shame to walk around deaf, dumb and blind, making it a great effort to believe hidden truths. It’s good to find the truth for yourself.

Sigmund Freud recognised that consciousness holds only a fraction of things we know and feel. We have subconscious and unconscious levels of thought – cavern systems that contain labyrinths and scary creatures. It’s a place we avoid, pushing dark thoughts into repression. The antidote to repression is expression.

Deepak Chopra writes: There are seven states of consciousness, representing an increase in our experience of synchronicity, and each state moves us closer to enlightenment. (Adapted from The Spontaneous Fulfilment of Desire. Three Rivers Press 2003).

Another consciousness I’ve discovered is a secret whisper in your heart, a force of faith, a pure essence. Once you seek it, you will find it. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (HEB11:1). Where your treasure is, so will your heart be found. He who feels it, knows it.

Throughout this book I may voice passages from The Holy Bible (Scofields Reference Bible - Authorized King James Version 1945 edition) as my journey led me to these readings, through the Rastafarian Faith.

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Like a seed that is planted and nourished, the roots spread and grow to a tree, branching out, flowering with leaves and ripening with fruit. The wisdom of each tree is revealed in its demeanour.

Whilst driving by a forest on a starlit night, the headlights light up the way and for that moment the surrounding group of trees of all shapes and sizes stand firm, upright, proud and strong with life.

Some hover awkwardly.

And so, like a plant, we humans have the same constituents - we also need minerals, sun, water and air to sustain our life force. Our very existence depends on our nourishment, to remain alive.

Part 1 - ROOTS - Family History

Part 2 - GROWTH - Layers of Life

Part 3 - BRANCHES - Seeking - Finding Pieces, Completing a Puzzle

Part 4 - FRUITS - Wisdom, Knowledge & Understanding

ROOTS

Are we not all made from LOVE? Life is a journey - we are all born naked and we will eventually all perish one day. Fundamentally, we all grow up in a family unit, in a world consisting of a mixture of cultures and races. No matter what religious faith we live by, whether it be Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or any other religion, we all follow codes of morality, structures that we live by. In this world, consisting of a melting pot of different ethnic backgrounds, no matter what colour our skin, we are all really one and the same - we are people. My mother says, about life, If we don’t eat, we don’t shit, and if we don’t shit, we die. Like a seed that is planted, roots grow into family trees.

A prominent Jamaican leader, Marcus Garvey once said, A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

My European heritage has been traced as far back on my father’s side, originally from German and then Hungarian roots, to 1547. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was invaded by the Turks, and on our family emblem (pictured), you see a Turkish head spiked on a sword, dripping with blood. The image of one of my relatives, Samuel Rochlitz, dressed as if in fancy dress, was captured in 1797. One can only imagine the scenes and stories lived. My family have some tapestries that are now antique; they were stitched from that very long time ago.

On my mother’s side of the family, my grandfather (Jeda in Russian) came from an influential Russian family. He said his mother was E-Katarina (from the Romanov dynasty), but, he never spoke of this openly as it was always kept a secret. Leonid Wassiljew was born in St Petersburg in 1900. He came from an elite class and attended the Royal Academy. He became a cadet, was well educated and loved his country, but not the Communist system.

My grandmother (Baba in Russian), Akilina Kamchonka, was born in 1911 and came from a farming family.

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Family Emblem

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Samuel Rochlitz

During the Communist regime religion and churches were illegal, so I don’t think my maternal grandparents officially married. During the 1917 revolution many churches were destroyed and priests were shot or imprisoned, but my great grandmother E-Katarina had hid a priest in her home for his safety. There has since been renewed support in Russia and the churches have been revived again.

Fleeing from war-torn Europe, both my parents and their immediate families migrated to Australia. The turbulent years of World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) were devastating. Millions of people suffered and millions of people died. Massive inhumane violations were inflicted upon mankind. A sentence on paper simply cannot capture the turmoil of such an overwhelmingly unsettling period of torture, violence, death, grief and sorrow.

Emerging from this bleak period of history my paternal Hungarian grandparents - Nagypapa and Nagymama, chose to start a new life in Australia. Although they were both doctors in Hungary, their qualifications were not accepted at first. It took some time