Crossing the Great Waters was originally initiated in 1992 by a near-death experience, resulting in what I call my awakening. Since that time, I have been continually called to the “betweens” to explore, understand, and eventually perhaps guide souls through these mysterious life transitions. After 20 years of integration, I realized that the time had come to birth this project, intended to guide and assist other souls in navigating these intense and transformational states of being.

Transitional stages such as birth, death, near-death experiences, major life changes, psychedelic journeys, and metaphysical explorations throughout one’s life occasionally call for specific tools that are designed and intended to gracefully guide us through these sacred passages. This CD is created for use during such times.

This CD project, in everything from the circumstances of recording, the musicians who showed up, the title of the CD, the song names, the artwork used, and other details, were delivered in divine timing and in strong waves of synchronicity over the past year, alerting me that there was definite help from the beyond to make this project possible, and that I was simply to be the diligent messenger of the content.

The CD is designed to be listened to from start to finish in it’s entirety, to complete the whole journey through each of the stages. The final song, Together, was a channeled piece, and is intended to deliver the soul to the light– to a reunion with source, with one’s larger family, or the integration of lost soul pieces. Here, we meet and celebrate with our larger cosmic family as they greet us into the new world we are about to explore.

My greatest wish is that this CD can help those in need of gentle but firm guidance during dying, birthing, or any other transitional state that offers the potential for transformation. I encourage you to make copies of this, if you wish, for those who cannot afford or not in a position to purchase this CD, and share it if, you think it can assist their journey. That is the primary intention, vision, and hope for this material.

It has been a great honor to steward the birthing of this project.

May any merit generated through this production be a blessing to all beings.

Blessed be.

Kimba

The Bardos and Perinatal Birth Matrices:

According to the Tibetan tradition, after death and before one’s next birth, when one’s consciousness is not connected with a physical body, one experiences a variety of phenomena. They call this a bardo state, and it has different phases as the soul journeys toward the light of rebirth or reunion with source . The bardo can also offer a state of great opportunity for liberation, because transcendental insight may arise during this time. With helpful guidance, souls can more gracefully find their way through this sometimes perilous passage.

A similar but seemingly very different experience happens during the birth process, outlined by Dr. Stanislav Grof, who is one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology. He describes the basic perinatral matrices that correspond roughly to the different stages of the child’s development in the uterus, and finally it’s passage through the birth canal.

Much of my interest over the years, studying these bardos of the dying process and the perinatal matrices of the birthing process, have influenced this work. Altered states of consciousness also can access our encoded memories of these previous experiences and help us to gain further understanding and insight into our basic nature and behaviors, which can be extremely healing and liberating. Not surprisingly, the different songs and sections of this CD journey ended up corresponding very well with the main phases outlined in the processes of both dying and birthing.

This journey also corresponds well to the mythical Hero’s Journey, describing the entirety of the journey of one’s life– a seemingly more extended transitional state. As defined by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces: “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

From Creation’s perspective, the beginning and the end of any event takes place at the same instant– the Light sees the cause and the result simultaneously… as every detail of a full-grown tree exists within its seed. Kabbalists and Taoists call it “the end in the beginning.”

Binaural beats and suggested listening:

This CD is encoded with binaural beats that start in the upper alpha range and go all the way down to delta, associated with dreaming and deep sleep. It may not be suitable for use while driving a car. It can be listened to in headphones for the optimum binaural effect, but a good set of speakers is perfectly fine for the journey.

Side note:

The title Crossing the Great Waters came to me in a meditation very suddenly and clearly as I was nearing the completion of transcribing this work. It seemed like it had taken enough form to have an official title, and one came in immediately.

The next day, I decided to do an I Ching reading, which I do quite rarely but was needing some guidance. I received the 64th hexagram, which I had never received before. It’s title, Nearing Completion refers to the “Crossing the Great Waters.” As I completed the project a year later, I did another I Ching reading, and received the 1st hexagram, The Creative Power, also referring to “Crossing the Great Waters.”

Many of the song titles are based in guidance from the 64th and 1st hexagrams in consecutive order. Ironically, the journey seems to imply that when we get to the end of a journey (the last hexagram, 64) it is merely the beginning– and when we have just finished the journey (the 1st hexagram), we get to the beginning, only to begin anew. This is a similar process as outlined in the Kaballah: from Creation’s perspective, the beginning and the end of any event takes place at the same instant– the Light sees the cause and the result simultaneously… as every detail of a full-grown tree exists within its seed. Kabbalists and Taoists call it “the end in the beginning.”

Crossing the Great Waters

1. Entering Mystery
2. The Helpers
3. Sancti Spiritus
4. Letting Go
5. Initiation
6. The Center
7. Inbetween
8. The Cosmic Consciousness
9. Inner Truth
10. Celtic Praise
11. Divine Harmony
12. Unified
13. True Freedom
14. End in the Beginning
15. Together

Engineered, composed, and arranged by Kimba Arem
Additional engineering and Mixing by Mike Yach
Additional arrangement by Mickey Houlihan
Mastered by Dave Glasser, Airshow Mastering

Musicians:

Kimba Arem— didjeridu, 4-chamber flutes, vocals and harmonic overtoning, native american flutes, piano, waterphone, keyboards, tingshas, Tibetan bowls, crystal bowls, windchimes
Michael Stanwood— harpsicord
Bonnie Paine— saw, washboard
Luiz Estevao Salvagnini— piano, guitar
Markus Johanson— hang
Danny Cudd— hang
Kailin Yong— violin
Christine Tulis— harp
Beth Quist— vocals
Josh Larson— vocals
Seth Larson— vocals
David Darling— cello
Sam Sidwell— cello