Ashes to Aloha – A Soul Unfiltered™ Homecoming
- Brainz Magazine
- Jun 12
- 6 min read
Faye Lao is an Integrative Wellness Practitioner and Transformational Coach who combines intuitive insight, energy healing, and spiritual guidance to support emotional wellness and conscious leadership. Through her practice, and as a host on News for the Soul Radio, she creates sacred spaces for healing, growth, grief support, and soul-aligned living. Her upcoming show, Soul Unfiltered™, explores real, raw, and liberating conversations at the intersection of healing and spiritual truth.
This first Soul Unfiltered™ story invites you into a sacred return to Maui, my spiritual home, where a wave of synchronicities and spirit-pranks transformed a farewell trip into a soul-led pilgrimage. After the sudden passing of my husband, Mike, what unfolded was more than healing, it was a homecoming. Guided by Spirit GPS and carried by nature’s elements, I followed laughter through the fog, blessings in the mist, and love woven into every step.
What if the sacred moments you’re seeking are already seeking you, one sign at a time?
When spirit books the trip
When Mike died while on an overseas trip, my entire world went into overdrive. Months later, I felt a powerful pull to return to Hawaii. Maui was in peak season, and I reserved the breadcrumbs for hotel accommodations.
I was a practical griever—numb, calm, functional, barely sleeping. My life shrank to workaholism and midnight cat food runs. Crying? No time. Meltdown? No way.
Susie, our Hospitality department assistant at the college where Mike and I both taught, was the daughter we never had. I invited her to join me, both of us missing him.
Screams and a red parrot
The trip began with a scream. I opened the door to our rental, and someone was inside! She screamed. I screamed. We both screamed. Followed by nervous giggles. The housekeeper from Brazil, like me, had just walked into a Brazilian Aloha moment.
Then, déjà vu! Hanging from the kitchen ceiling was a red plastic parrot. In the bathroom, a pink orchid wall piece. This was the same condo that Mike and I stayed in for years. Just days earlier, my travel agent called with a sudden cancellation in Kihei, right where I hoped to stay. Perfect.
I smiled. I suspected Mike had gotten to work. He always fixed all things hospitality. This was his magic, my angel of tourism, working from the other side of life.
Related: Responsible travel in Hawaii
House of the sun, ashes in ziploc
Ready to relive Maui again, Susie and I drove to Haleakalā Crater, or "House of the Sun" to scatter Mike’s ashes, sealed in a Ziploc and tucked inside my backpack. Susie felt a little carsick as we climbed, so I pulled over at Leleiwi Lookout. There was the promise of a beautiful view at 9,000 feet. Susie stayed behind for a nap.
Forgiveness in the clouds
I hiked alone—but not really, to a breathtaking view of Maui. The wind, sky, and land felt alive and nurturing. Oddly, I felt happy and peaceful, just a little hot from the afternoon sun. I mused “would be nice to find a shady place to sit…”
Just a few steps away, I found a rock. And then, as if on cue, a mist began to roll in. A soft breeze carried in the clouds, and within moments, I was wrapped in delicious fog. I sat cloaked in cool, breezy privacy. The land had heard me, and my wish became Mike’s command. I was sitting in a little piece of heaven, ready to say hello, and goodbye.
In my own sacred space. I asked Mike for forgiveness, wrapped him in love, and thanked him for our life together. Twenty-four years was just not enough, but out came the Ziploc and a big soup spoon… and the island floated Mike’s ashes towards the heavens. See you later, Mike. And with that, the clouds cleared, and the sky turned blue.
Maui wrapped us in her blessing.
Flying bones and a backseat driver
As I returned to the car, a sign translated Leleiwi as “flying bones,” a sacred site honored by Native Hawaiians where trade winds meet earth and sky, mist and clouds release spirit and ancestral blessings. In that moment, I envisioned Mike in the wind, joyfully flying across Maui.
I had no idea.
Mike led me there, the backseat driver.
Black sand beach with an epic spider
A few days later, Susie and I wandered into Waiʻānapanapa’s black sand beach. Lost on the way to ʻOheʻo Pools, I turned down a narrow road marked “State Park,” unsure where it led, and found myself at an old cemetery. Déjà vu again. I remembered Mike and I had been there years before. This was the path to the black sand beach.
Susie, eager to see the black sand beach, quickly walked ahead, heading down some stone steps. A few steps in, I called out, “Wait!” and as I caught up, I said, “Stop! Don’t move! Now, slowly look ahead.”
Sacred screaming
And that’s when she shrieked! She screamed and screamed, head tilted back, eyes squeezed shut. I’ve never seen Susie lose it before! Inches away was the biggest spider web I have ever seen, as tall as Susie! At its center: a stunning, enormous spider! Pure pastel minty green, ethereal, elegant.
And hairless!
For an epic scream, divinely timed.
Still scary. Must be sacred.
Mike! He was all over it. On campus, Mike and Susie shared an office. He would sneak plastic spiders on her keyboard, under her notebook, on her chair, amped up during Halloween. Susie was laughing mad, ranting on the way to the beach about every spider prank Mike had ever pulled.
Gentle waves and sacred cliffs
Then, standing at the black sand shoreline, feet in the surf, we said another goodbye as the waves carried Mike out to sea. I didn’t know then that Waiʻānapanapa’s cliffs are sacred ground, with ancient burial sites resting quietly above the beach.
Mike led us there.
Classic backseat driver.
And the green hairless spider?
Its web blocked the steps leading to those sacred cliffs.
A guardian of sacred ground.
Sacred moments often come in trinities, and for me, they come in three sacred places. First, at Leleiwi, where wind met sky and I scattered ashes into mist. Second, at Waiʻānapanapa, where the sea carried Mike out beneath ancient cliffs.
And the third called from Iao Valley.
The last goodbye where royalty dwells
My final stop was Iao Needle. Mystical. Moody. Spooky. Years ago, I’d gotten stuck on river rocks, water rushing around my legs. This time, I stayed dry, slipped through a handrail, and leaned in to release the last of Mike’s ashes into the river. He had now returned to all the elements: fire, earth, wind, and water.
I didn’t know it then, but Iao Valley is sacred ground, an ancient burial site for Hawaiian aliʻi, where royalty rests in hidden places, in the mist surrounded by ancestral spirits and their blessings.
Mike was home.
Related: The Power of Releasing Grief
When goodbye is a homecoming
This wasn’t a goodbye, but a homecoming. Every step of my journey had been Inspired, leading me back to Maui, our soul’s home across lifetimes.
Soul mates and soul families never truly leave us. We’re spiritually connected, no matter how long it takes to reconnect. Spirit sends us signs, if we’re open to seeing, hearing, and feeling, and willing to follow them home.
Aloha is the breath of life, the Spirit of connection, the voice in the breeze that says: you are never alone.
And when we feel lost, somehow, we still arrive, led home by love.
Aloha Maui
Aloha ‘Oe
If this message resonates with you, I invite you to stay in touch. Connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn, or visit my website or email at fayeinspiredhealing@outlook.com to explore more resources and reflections. Let’s continue the journey together.
Read more from Faye Lao
Faye Lao, Integrative Wellness Practitioner • Radio Show Host
Faye Lao is an Integrative Wellness Practitioner, Certified Grief Educator, and radio show host who blends intuitive healing, energy work, and transformational coaching. She helps individuals reconnect with their soul’s wisdom after loss, life transitions, and emotional overwhelm. As the creator of Soul Unfiltered™, Faye shares real, raw, and sacred stories of grief, healing, and spiritual truth.
Learn more at fayeinspiredhealing.com or contact her at FayeInspiredHealing@outlook.com.
