If you have any news to share about births and deaths, or if you have written a book or composed a piece of music you think our community would be interested in, please send it to zephyr@inayatiyya.org with the subject heading “News of the Caravan.” Photos are welcome.
Inspiring Work by Avalon Gallien
Many years ago, while working 40+ hour weeks in Social Work, I was inspired to hear about an older gentleman in Seattle who would go to one of the local hospitals in the evenings to hold babies who needed extra cuddling and rocking. After retirement, in 2021, I contacted a local hospital’s Volunteer program, and I was accepted as a Cuddler Volunteer and trained to hold babies over a period of four hours, now 3 times a month.
The babies are of various descriptions: some are slowly developing “preemies,” some are babies who may need surgeries that keep them in the hospital for many days, some have parents who live far away and have other children to care for and cannot come as often as they may want to, and some of the babies who are recovering from exposure to opioids while in utero.
I am usually handed a baby who is crying and seems inconsolable. In order to calm the baby, I have learned over time to try to gently match a note within their cry and change it to a vowel intonation that they respond to by relaxing. Many of the preemies and long term stay babies respond to “ah” or to “eee” which I softly intone in lullaby form. All of the babies who are recovering from opioid exposure that I have held/cuddled/rocked in the last 4 years, have responded to “hu” by relaxing, and eventually sleeping. The effects of the opioid in one so young means some developmental stages are delayed. In addition to the intonations that I use, depending on the baby’s condition, my awareness of the presence of a young (and sometimes old) soul has become more and more pronounced. Each baby is unique, and brings a new light to this world, some come with huge challenges they must overcome. I have been blessed with a lot of life force, energy, or liveliness, as an integral part of who I am. My inner practice while holding them is to not only share a calm atmosphere, but to gently, silently (while intoning) offer my own life energy for the baby to absorb for their best healing. To concentrate in such a way for the full four hours is like a mini-mini retreat. The nurses refer to me at times as a “baby whisperer.” Just this week, we were informed by our Volunteer Coordinator of a note from the pediatric therapists:
“Cuddling changes outcomes for our neonates….we cannot measure love and the impact of positive touch, but what we can do is recognize and acknowledge how an infant positively responds (heart rate, temperature regulation, respiration, sleep state, improved feeding; all of which lead to improved brain development.”
As a balance to the work with babies, I also joined a choir of mature women, called the “Rolling Crones” – we perform in assisted living facilities, memory care units, and senior residences with about 6 winter performances and 6 late spring performances. I feel privileged to be able to use my growing understanding of sound and healing for calming and uplifting the young babies and our elders. It is the ability to share the deep and rich realizations gained on this spiritual path of the Inayatiyya that allows me to reach beyond the framework of the path into the lives of many beings, and that brings me a deep feeling of the ecstasy of a shared love of sound and music.
Avalon Gallien is a Representative, Retreat Guide, Shefayat, Cherag, and Suluk Graduate, who facilitates the Wings of the Message Center-Inayatiyya/Seattle with her husband Wajid Gallien.
Passings out of the earthly realm
Hilal Olive Mason of Perth, Western Australia passed over the threshold to the arms of the Beloved, in her 99th year, on the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Hilal was a murid of Murshida Tasnim Fernandez, and prior to taking initiation within the Inayatiyya had studied with Bulent Rauf. Sheikh Al Akbar Ib’n Al Arabi remained one of many deep Sufi loves for Hilal. Visiting her included visiting and engaging with quantities of books of Inayat Khan, Ibn Arabi, the Bible, and other Sufi, religious and Jungian philosophers and mystics. A couple of weeks before her passing, she was re-reading a treatise about synchronicity. Hilal said of her life ‘I didn’t plan any of this’. An early farm-child, she became a mathematician, writing texts for students, and life events brought her to the spiritual path, where she read fervently, was familiar with all the sacred texts and wrote a book on Jungian analyst Rix Weaver. Hilal held a Sufi study circle at her home, focused on one of her great loves – the 99 names. She was a beacon of joy – sharing Dances of Universal Peace and the Aramaic Lord’s Prayer/Beatitudes which moved her deeply. As well as joy, Hilal was a fount of both knowledge and wisdom, and took in many young seekers, guiding them to their truest selves. Hilal circled the sun 99 times, and a pall inscribed with the 99 names was placed over her coffin as it took its leave … may she continue to dance, read, study and inspire. And may her secret be preserved.
Hadi Paul Reinhertz (2/8/37 to 9/10/25) worked for 35 years as an Elementary school teacher and progressed to a principal and administrator. He began his study of Martial Arts in 1968 and taught Tai Chi Chuan until the end of his life. He had a daughter Tannis who died in 2019 and a son Noah, from previous relationships. He and his wife, Shakina were married for 30 years. Hadi was initiated into the Inayatiyya in 1982. He was a Cherag, a retreat guide, a Center leader in both San Francisco and Vallejo Ca. He was an Administrator of the Abode and was member of the Board. During the pandemic he became member of the Tech team for Hurqalya. There will be celebration of his life via zoom on November 22nd, 3:00 PM Pacific Time (6:00 PM Eastern): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86133889269?pwd=R2j8iSBQ6b9N0lGqAMagnGP4BD7sbh.1
