The Move to Vista, CA

February 1, 1955

“WE” HAVE MOVED!

Please make note of the new address of the editorial “we,” of the HRA Bulletin. Write it in your address book or on a card to keep in your desk or behind the clock, but don’t let it get lost.

THE NEW ADDRESS IS:
Max Freedom Long
P.O. Box 875
Vista, Calif. (U.S.A. for overseas HRAs.)

HOUSE ADDRESS: (not for mail) 210 North Melrose Drive, Vista, Calif.
TELEPHONE: PAlace 4-2381

OPEN HOUSE for HRA visitors: SUNDAY AFTERNOONS, 2:30 to 4:30 with time out from 3 to 3:20 for TMHG period. If you plan to come to call, please let me know well ahead of time so I can be sure to be at home. (I often go calling myself on Sunday afternoons, you know, if dates are not agreed upon.)

DIRECTIONS FOR FINDING THE NEW PLACE will be mimeographed so that I can send you a sheet when arranging for your visit. Briefly, the place is about a mile from the flag pole in the village, west on the freeway that leads to Oceanside, some 8 miles away. About two blocks after passing the sign “Vista,” which marks the town limits, one comes upon Melrose Drive, which crosses the freeway. One turns north on it for about two blocks, watching for the second clump of roadside mail boxes, and for one in a clump of four which is marked No. 210. Turn left at this point and drive 500 feet straight up the hill on the narrow road. At the top the road turns a bit to the left and a board with the number 210 points to the white house sitting low on the ground at the end of a short drive. Cigbo will probably be sitting on the retaining wall under the big star pine waiting to greet you, or, if you can’t see him, there may be one or several neighborhood cats there sunning themselves. (You will pass two houses on the way up, both on the right, where delightful neighbors live. Our house cannot be seen until you get to the house driveway as it is completely hidden by old trees so keep climbing right up, in second gear, and on faith.) If driving in from Oceanside, count about 7 miles after starting on the Vista Freeway, then watch for a sign saying Melrose Ave. or Drive. If you come to a spired white church on the left of the road, you have gone about two blocks too far and will have to turn around and go back. (Do not let the phone number of PAlace 4-2381 throw you. It isn’t at all a “palace” to anyone but us, and besides, all Vista numbers begin with “PAlace,” regardless. There is no bell to ring. Just toot your horn and yell, “Hay Rube!” like circus folk do in emergencies, and we will swarm out to greet you.)

THE STORY OF THE MOVE AND THE NEW HOME

This story is a testimonial to Aumakuas and the workability of Huna from first to last – a really amazing story.

FOUR YEARS AGO, Mrs. Long and myself, together with our best friend, Miss Ethel L. Doherty, who is our partner and writing teammate in all things from the business of publishing to that of house buying, decided that we had lived long enough in the crowded city, (on another “Melrose Ave, oddly enough) and that the time had come to see if we could exchange our equity in the Hollywood house for something to our liking in the country.

OUR SEARCH TOOK US over most of Southern California, and Vista appealed to us as being the nearest to ideal in climate and elements. It was near enough to the sea to have a mild climate, and far enough away to be quite dry and free from fog. There was light sandy soil to be had for gardening, and the neighborhood is one of low hills and little valleys with many groves of avocados, oranges and lemons. The town served enough territory to have plenty of stores. While many good places would have served our purposes, their water supply was uncertain. We hoped to get a place a little away from a town and not too close to neighbors. We hoped also to be on a hill or high enough on the side of one to enable us to look out across other hills with perhaps a glimpse of a mountain capped with snow in the distance.

WE MADE OUR PRAYERS, HUNA FASHION, asking to be guided by our Aumakuas and helped to find the right place, also to be able to swing some deal to allow us to make the exchange of equities. We found several places which were large enough to hold our things, personal, business, and HRA. But it appeared that half of Los Angeles was looking for just what we wanted, and country properties were going for over twice what city properties would bring. The way did not open and our prayers were not miraculously answered.

DECIDING THAT AUMAKUAS WISHED A DELAY, we rested on our oars, continued to pray and send mana, and did our best to do what kahunas used to do in olden days when they exercised “patience,” (hoo`mana`wa`nui), which is to keep making mana surcharges to send with prayer, over a period as long as time itself, if that became necessary. In other words, we settled down to the work of empowering Aumakuas with mana while holding up to them the general picture of the place we wanted and the deal we wished to make to get it.

LATE LAST OCTOBER, there came a period of heavy “smog” in the city. It made us suddenly very anxious to move. And here is a very important point from the point of view of Huna. We had all feared the effort to move so much plunder. We were comfortable and our Aunihipilis had shared the reluctance to make the strenuous effort to pack, move, and settle into a new place. The “smog” made us suddenly more than willing to make the move. Aunihipilis of the three of us, who had probably been blocking the answering of our prayers, suddenly responded to the PHYSICAL STIMULUS – of “smog” discomfort – and the prayers began to go through and draw on the cumulative power sent to Aumakuas. We had left a standing order for a place with a realtor in Vista at an earlier time.

SUDDENLY AUMAKUAS BEGAN TO ACT for us. Our Vista realtor phoned that he had at last found a place that he thought filled our description, and at a price which made the deal possible for us. It was, however, tied up in an estate and might take some time to clear. We drove down the next day, which was a lovely, sunny one, and at once fell in love with the old house. It had enough of everything we needed to get past. By using the big garage under the house to stow things, and also the long screened porch, we could manage. The place lay there deep in old trees, so quiet and peaceful, that despite some very strange arrangements and additions, we decided in a matter of minutes to take it.

THEN BEGAN THE BIG EFFORT AND THE APPEARANCE OF OBSTACLES. It was touch and go from the very first. There was trouble with the affairs of the estate at once. They continued with one thing after another to threaten to stop the move. It was a matter of highest bid, and we had no way of knowing whether or not our bid would be topped or accepted, if not topped. However, we had the definite inner feeling that Aumakuas were handling things, and so went ahead, exerting all the faith we could muster, and holding strongly to the picture of the Hollywood place being sold quickly so that we could transfer the equity to nail down the Vista place. We called a realtor in Hollywood and said, “sell.” We chanced selling ourselves out of house and home, with no place to go, but took the chance confidently. There is a certain something or other one can feel when the GUIDANCE is clear and strong.

Hurdles, one after another, came up, some looking like blank walls. We kept the roads hot between Hollywood and Vista. We wrote and phoned and went to see estate people. We prayed and prodded to get people to act. Deeds and notes and other papers were “lost,” and people had to be forced to have them duplicated. In Hollywood we began packing, even with a steady flow of “lookers” passing through the house, my Study and the small storeroom in back of the garage. We kept the book business going, and I got out the December Bulletin. It looked as though no one wanted a house so large. No one could pay cash. No one would put up with the noise of Melrose Avenue, etc. We continued to pack, and pack, and pack.  Also to make repairs. We had been told that the estate would act on the bid and that we could move before Christmas. But it was impossible for us to get sold and ready to move by then. We did not know this, but Aumakuas, with their superior wisdom and power to see ahead, saw it clearly. There is no doubt in our minds now of that. Looking back, we can see how everything was timed to the day and the very hour for us. Exactly, as if on a carefully planned schedule, things happened. Hurdles were leaped one by one. At just the right time the Hollywood house found someone who wanted it and who could pay cash. The moving day was set, and the weather held.

On December 28th we loaded two vans. On the 29th they were unloading at the Vista place and the sleepy old house was being stuffed to the rafters. The heaviest of the two trucks, in negotiating the quite steep and difficult turn-around at the top of the drive, got out of control, but was stopped in time, with only a blown tire cut by a large stone which had saved the van from disaster resulting. The Protection as well as the Guidance never failed from first to last.

THE MATTER OF GETTING A POST OFFICE BOX was a typical example of Help. We were told no box could be had for love or money. Our local realtors tried to pull wires with the Vista post office people, all to no avail. There simply were no boxes. Cigbo’s toy press had been set up and it was time to change the address on our stationary and shipping labels. I disliked very much having to use “General Delivery” on everything. I held up the change and asked Aumakuas to take over. The next morning, when I asked for our mail, the girl at the general delivery window said, “Would you like a box? We have one.” I told her how badly we wanted one and how we had been on their waiting list. She seemed unable to give any explanation as to why or how a box had suddenly become available, but later, the man who changed the combination on the box remarked that it had been “out of order.” It would seem that Aumakuas knew about boxes as well as everything else or were Aumakuas taking us right down the line and through the jumps, one by one, and each on an exact time schedule, to give convincing and undeniable proof of their verity, wisdom and power and to convince us beyond any small possibility of doubt that when we do our parts, they can and will do theirs in the best way for the general good,

The GENERAL GOOD is most important. Aumakuas never rob Peter to pay Paul in answering our prayers. The natural law seems to be, at east on the physical level, that one must pay in kind for what we get from others, be it a house or their time or love or understanding. In our case, we had to wait until our monthly payments on the Hollywood house built up a sufficient equity to make it possible to handle the Vista place (even though the latter was a bargain, as prices go – a bargain which Aumakuas knew about). We must also recognize the fact that, on the mental level, one must pay in the coin of mind. Hate will not buy love On the level of Aumakuas, the coin of purchase of seems to be that of love and faith with no doubting or Aunihipili holding back. In addition, the decision must be made and pictured to show as nearly as possible the good things we want and will do our utmost part to try get or to bring to pass. Then there is the matter of sending enough mana to Aumukuas to enable them to work for us.  Mana is needed to move a muscle on the physical level. It is needed to think and so to plan and build up the Auhane form of  “will” to cause action. It stands to reason that kahunas were right in stating that mana was also a necessity on the Aumakua level.

In passing , it may be said that the person who asks for something, be it a home or healing, help for a loved one or even a stranger, but WHO OFFERS NOTHING in return, be it in effort, thought or mana, gets only as much as is paid for. Personal healing, we see more and more clearly, is purchased with the coin of change in thought patterns, action patterns and of complexes and spirit associations. The mental cause of illness must be removed before the vibration can be changed to bring healing. A book could be written on this angle alone. When I receive letters from strangers, asking that the TMHG be used to heal them or their circumstances, and making no offer to lift a hand on their part, even to learning to take part in the TMHG effort, (usually without the customary return envelope for a reply) I fear that they are the kind who remain beyond our ability to assist. I have come to believe more and more that miracles come only after a long and careful preparation, consciously or subconsciously made and with the little payments made over a long period of time love and mana (emotional or Aunihipili love-plus-mana-force) to Aumakuas. However, it also becomes evident that Aumakuas, at times, can act on their own to help us and guide and put jam on our daily bread in the most amazing and delightful manner, with Mrs. Long and Miss Doherty frequently called to cut them, as it was as much their move as my own.

Or I consulted our three astrological charts, trying from the indications to anticipate events to come and the outcome of pending matters of many kinds. The over-all readings told the general story of what was to come. It was incorrect on some minor points, and it was evident that the cards often reflected our hopes and fears of the moment, although they steadily predicted that the move would be made under highest Guidance (the “Hermit” and “Temperance” cards of the major arcanum of the Tarot) and that all would be accomplished swiftly and with only minor upsets. This will sound like a strange recital to those of you who are unfamiliar with this line of investigation, or who may consider it superstition and nothing more. Some fine day I must do a small book on the Tarot myself and give the secret key to the occult meanings of the major cards – a key which I came upon by chance years ago when trying to use the cards to set up a form of horoscope for one’s “soul” to give its  standing in terms of progress through incarnations and in terms of inner self evolution or growth. The key shows clearly that kahunas of old had a hand inventing the Tarot, and that, as was their invariable custom, they built in a secret set of symbols aimed at preserving the knowledge of Huna for generations still to come. How well they built may be seen when the key is applied to the modern set. (Sets of Tarot cards have been advertised by FATE in recent issues, but no ad for them appears in the February number for some reason.) (The set published in England and imported by dealers for American trade is the best. It was drawn by P. Smith under the direction of Waite, and usually has a small book to accompany the set, retailing for around $5.)

THE NEW BOOK which I had hoped to complete, has been held up by the move despite all my best intentions. My plan is to get off this Bulletin a bit ahead of its date, so that you can all have my new address, then let the settling-in process wait while I get on with the writing and Mrs. Long and Miss Doherty (Ethel D and Louise L, to their friends) get the editing done. Then off to the printers and, I hope, ready for release in April. It will be very simple and will serve several purposes. Primarily it is intended to give daily readings with instructions to help you bring your Aunihipili into line by easy stages so that it will do its part in making the proper Huna-type prayers. It will be a shorter book, and will probably sell for $3. As a Primer of Huna, it will avoid the abstractions and so be simple and direct and fitted to the needs of the many whose Biometric reading falls below the 330 degree level. Below this level it is all but impossible to grasp abstract ideas. This book can safely be placed in the hands of a 288 degree person – these “salt of the earth” neighbors of ours far outnumbering those above 330, the level where the HRAs start and from which they rise to as much as 550. My standing is 382.

There is much to be done after the book is off to the printer. As we are now publishers as well as writers, and must also be sellers of the books, there is advertising to write and get printed, then sent out by scads to rented name list of buyers of books in this end of the field. Much work ahead, but this is our business, and it is the way we now make our living. Should letters to me remain unanswered for a week or two, and then bring only a mimeo sheet with a post script typed on the end, bear with me and know that I would love to write at greater length to all my friends if possible.

THE HRA GROWS SLOWLY and progresses a little at a time. From the new readers of the two books already written on Huna, there come new members to fill our ranks, and many of these are seasoned students and active workers. The HRA groups at Chicago and Boston are composed almost entirely of such new members and their friends, and have been organized by energetic new members.

THE DREAM OF A HUNA LABORATORY has not yet been materialized, but may come in due time if we keep the need in the back of our minds. Frequently I have the promise of funds for the starting of the Laboratory providing the one making the promise makes good in some business venture. Just now a gold mine is in the TMHG for abundant production, and should it pay off as hoped, a liberal starter for the Lab may be presented.

Four HRAs have said in recent letters that they would be interested in having the tape lectures taken off and the material made available in mimeographed form. As the demand is so slight, the project may be allowed to rest until a much later date. Perhaps it might be better to wait, then make a small book of the lectures. This would reduce the cost and also make the material more easily available to the HRA as well as to the general public. Little by little Huna is entering the list of systems which include Theosophy, New Thought types of “science” religions, and Spiritualism.

THE WORLD’S YEAR OF 1955, which largely lies ahead, promises well, as I see it. Our TMHG prayers for world peace and the return to sanity after the mad orgy of wars for domination may have counted far more than we realize. In any event, personal danger to any leader of aggression is now so great, with hiding places so insecure since the advent of the H Bomb, that men like Hitler will think twice before setting out to conquer the world. Given peace, even of the uneasy “cold war” sort, the human values begin to emerge. The individual who became merged or lost as “cannon fodder” in the past century of war, again assumes importance and has a voice. We learn again that we are our brothers’ keeper. Once more we can pause and turn our faces upward into the light to see that, as HRA Olga Rosmanith put it, “the stars are still there.” MFL

YOUR MANY CHRISTMAS CARDS were a great pleasure to me. They came during the packing period when things were rather thick. Thanks to good friends and good HRAs, our Christmas was made bright although we made none of the usual plans and sent out almost no cards. Belatedly, but with warm alohas, let me now return your good wishes to the best of my ability.

THOSE OF YOU WHO REMEMBERED THE “CIGBO” WORK FUND or who sent me personal gifts, have all had a mimeo note in reply to express my thanks and those of the HRA “kitty.” You may have been agents of Aumakuas, for the expense of moving the HRA files, press, cutter and the like was greater than Cigbo had planned in his kitty mind. By the way, I ask forgiveness of any of you who resent our imaginary cat, “Cigbo,” who is supposed to be in charge of the HRA work funds which are kept in a cigar box, together with our stamps, paper money and the like. I have never quite grown up and the whimsy of an aka cat has pleased me. It has also pleased many HRAs, but not all – I had a letter recently from Australia from one of the oldest (in terms of membership) members, in which I was scolded roundly for having invented a fictitious “kitty” to “pass the hat” instead of passing it myself. In the same letter I was called upon the carpet for my failure to carry the banner of Huna brilliantly and as becomes a great leader such as Jesus or Gotama. Should other HRAs have in mind similar objections to the faulty way in which I play my part, I apologize also on that score. Meantime, my thanks grow even warmer and louder to those of you who ask little or nothing of me, and who expect only that I do what I can and that I both share my own thoughts and findings with them and act as a center of sorts to keep the Huna work rolling. (The incorrigible Cigbo speaks up as I write, from his place beside his cigar box atop my desk, to say that, as he owns no hat to pass, he is guiltless. He admits, however, passing his cigar box with an eagle eye for buttons.)

THE TAROT CARDS have been discussed in two articles in the February issue of FATE magazine. The lead article is most unusual and it is by one of our own well seasoned HRAs, Irys Vorel. Her article is unusual in that it gives information obtained from a Gypsy woman who had used the cards to tell fortunes for years, and who could and did give her the traditional Gypsy meanings of the cards and tell how to lay them out for simple future-telling. Many of the meanings given are new to me although I have studied and used and lectured upon the Tarot for over thirty years. She shows some of the simple lay-outs and offers for the use of the amateur a special set of cards with instructions and a fine cloth to go over a card table. On the cloth is printed the “station” places and other needed things. The cost of the entire set-up is $5, post paid.  A set may be ordered from her by addressing Irys Vorel, 403 – Sevillia Hotel, 177 W 58th St, New York 19, N.Y. A few years ago she sent me her first set, and just before Christmas a sample of the new and more elaborate set just now released.

THE SECOND FATE ARTICLE on the Tarot is signed by Hettie Chesney and seems to be a condensation of the standard books on the subject. It will be noted that many of the meanings given in this article are not at all satisfactory to one trying to use the cards for predictive readings. Major arcanum card No. 12, “The Hanged Man,” for instance, is described as “A strange and concerning card.” Either this is a misprint or a very muddled statement. The rest of the description includes, “Some authorities say it represents martyrdom, self-sacrifice and atonement. Others give it a more subtile meaning.” This more subtile meaning, is not touched upon, but is left to the reader to wonder about. On the other hand, HRA Vorel goes right to the point and says, “12. THE HANGED MAN: Confused conditions obstruct your progress. If the Trump lies upside down – chaos can be adjusted.” My personal reading for this card would be long and involved if I were to give the Huna key meaning for this card. For predictive purposes, my reading would be that one will get into a trying situation from which it will be hard to work out. The motto for the card might well be, “That’ll larn ye!”

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE TAROT AND ASTROLOGY, for what it may be worth, is that both are outer expressions of veiled “magical” truths and that, in the hands of psychic and expert users, they form valuable tools with which to probe past, present, and to a degree, the future. All during the hurdle-leaping course of the move from Hollywood, I ran the cards

AS A VERY YOUNG MAN I became very curious about a silent old railroad man who always rose on Wednesday night prayer meetings to give his never changing testimony in a voice vibrant with some strange inner conviction. He would say, “I stand here tonight, a monument to God’s mercy.” It was whispered about that he had come out of the gutter in a great city because of prayer, and that he had come through wrecks and train disasters time and time again, unscathed. So let me testify in my turn.

HUNA IS TRUE AND WORKABLE. THE AUMAKUAS ARE ENDLESSLY LOVING, WISE, FORGIVING AND SO VERY KIND.

Considering the experience which I have been describing, that of the move to Vista, and a long list of related or similar experiences in which others have been involved, especially in the help called down through our Telepathic Mutual Healing Group work, I am strongly inclined to mark this move as a milestone of experience. A good friend and HRA has suggested that we call the old house “Huna Haven.” And I am wondering whether or not to give our HRA Bulletin the new name of “THE NEW VISTA” for certainly we are by now beginning to see more clearly and much farther into Huna. What would you think of such a title? There is no need to answer, but I share my thought in the matter with you as I sit here in the blessed quiet of the fresh countryside and look out through the soft winter drizzle to the misty hills. How I wish that every one of you of the HRA could be so happily situated and could share with us the freedom from the odd and disquieting psychic cross-currents of the city. Aumakuas seem very real and very close down here, and where they are, the inconceivable Highest God must be. Rejoice with me, and share my pleasure if you can.

PICTURING the new place, so that you can share it with us in your mind’s eye will be more or less a picturing that will vary with each of you. I will not try to describe the place in more detail except to say that it is between Los Angeles and San Diego, and is much nearer the latter city. For the rest, do not try to picture us as we are at present, camping here, surrounded by stacks of boxes and bundles and with only the first and most necessary steps taken to make places for things and restore order. Rather, picture the place in terms of the house in the country of which you may have dreamed. But whether you dream of it as a castle or grass hut, be sure to include love in the picture. This place seems to vibrate softly with the love of the old Swedish gentleman who built, planted and owned the plot with the house and lived here and loved it long. His aka threads remain fastened to a host of things, as he built with his own careful hands, and planted and loved each bush and tree – He had a bent back and was very deaf and quite alone in his later years. But that he was a philosopher, I have no doubt. Everyone who speaks of him will show that they loved the man. In their love, he built his own monument. His flavor lingers in the carefully fitted doors and windows, and in the craftsmanship of two closets lined with cedar. I have found his wavering signature on a bit of paper, done in ink, and some fine day, when I can discover in which box I have packed Biometer and pendulums, I shall run a reading on it. I am sure I will find his “personalitv pattern” large and round clockwise and good. I wish I could have known Nils Pearson.