TIVI's Origins
The Inner Vision Institute (TIVI) began when a 5-year-old girl had a dream…a dream that continued every fourth night for 7 years. In the dream the girl is standing on a hillside overlooking a mountain valley full of all types of spruce, fir and pine trees. The entrance to the mountain valley is from the East and is full of wildflowers. From her position on the hill she can hear natural hot springs and see their steam rising in the West. A white cliff sits in the North. The South is full of rich earth.
“What is this place?” she asks the spirit standing to her right. “This is the healing space you will create”, said the spirit. A circle appeared in the center of the valley with spokes that connected to four other circles. “The center is the healing energy of Love”, said the spirit. “Each of the four circles represents the different races of people. Each has it’s own spiritual beliefs and customs but they all revolve around the energy of Love which is the greatest healing energy of all.
You will find an Elder for each of these four circles—one that knows the old ways. They will all work together to help those that are sick, those that have not been able to find help and want it. Each circle has wisdom unique to it, stories that show their ways, herbs that heal, games and crafts that hold knowledge.
Create a space with room for all these ways, and the center where all the ways connect with love. People will come to learn ways they are familiar with, then open to new ways of knowledge. Have a place for them to stay while they are there that is similar to how their ancestors lived long ago. Make an area to grow good food to feed the people, and places for them to feel the beauty of nature.
This is what you will create”, said the Spirit.
The Spirit then moved their hand to the right side of the valley to a pristine hillside that began to sprout lots of housing units. I was 5 but knew these were what would later be called “Condos”. “They invade the beauty of the place”, I said, “ Those don’t seem to go with what is in the valley below”.
The spirit said, “People are going to want to live here because of the healing energy of what you create here. They need to feel surrounded by it, and you will need to welcome them.”
Being 5 I did not know how money worked, but knew my family had none so I told the spirit. “This is all going to cost a lot of money—how is it going to be possible?” The spirit said “Someone else will handle the housing on the hill, don’t worry about that. You will create the way for the rest”.
Many years went by, decades actually. The young girl went to college, got a job in advertising, and worked to improve herself, all the while keeping the dream, which would not fade from memory, alive in the back of her mind not knowing how it would come about. As the years went by the dream would fade to the background almost as though it never occurred, then the thought of it would reappear usually as a bidding to study some form of healing, or explore various cultures healing ways. She climbed the corporate ladder all the while exploring the healing arts and spiritual ways that she was attracted to.
One day while sitting on her porch in Topanga Canyon, CA she was pondering the question we all eventually think about…what am I doing here…what is my purpose in life… when that spirit showed up again. ” Your purpose is to help the human beings, if you can, to understand the healing energy of love.” Then the dream flashed in front of her eyes…that dream from long ago that she had put in the back of her mind.
“Well if I’m supposed to do that then you are going to have to drop a lot of money into my hands to find/buy that valley and build all that, because I don’t have the kind of money that is going to take,” she called out to the spirit in her mind (so her neighbor didn’t hear and think she was crazy).
The sky, which had been cloudy magically, it seemed, cleared and this ray of sunlight warmed her face. She felt what seemed like a dark garment lift off of her and felt very light and peaceful.
And so it begins…she thought to herself. I knew if I was meant to do this it would somehow happen.
She looked for the valley but never found the one she saw in the dream. But she did find a valley in New Mexico and a piece of land that seemed the right place to start.
With a prayer she began.