How 'Omar' Came to Be

Shortly after arriving at a Course in Miracles gathering at Lake Forest College, north of Chicago, I met a woman named Keldwyn Teves. "How did you get that name?" I asked her in wonderment, thinking she might say something like, "My parents gave it to me, you dummy!" Instead, she said:

"I changed my name from Gail about two-and-a-half years ago. I never liked my name much, and one day, I just decided to change it."

I told her that I wasn't especially fond of Howard, my first name. "Why don't you change it?" she suggested. "The hardest part about changing your name is to decide what you want to change it to. Once you have it, new people you meet will know you by it. Gradually, most people who already know you will call you by your new name, even though your parents will probably never accept it. It's easy to change your name legally. Just go to the courthouse and fill out some papers."

"What shall I call myself?" I asked her.

"Why not meditate on it?" she suggested.

With this prompting, I instantly began humming, "Ommmm," which produces a powerful cerebral resonance. In rapid succession, I was reminded of "Oman," an accomplished musician whom I had met moments before. "Nope, I'm not an Oman," I thought.

It was a small step to "Omar." Since I'm fluent in Spanish, I knew that "mar" means sea. The enchanting sea is unfathomably vast and deep, balanced in power and serenity.

"I've got it! I've got it!" I said ecstatically. "It's Omar!"

"Let me write it on the back of your name tag!" Keldwyn volunteered. She wrote OMAR! … with four capital letters and an exclamation mark. Quite appropriate, I thought, considering my childhood shyness.

Pinning my new name tag to my lapel initiated a process of discovery that continued throughout the Festival. As word spread that someone had just changed his name, people congratulated me and shared insights on the meaning of my new name.

1. You've always been Omar, you know, someone said. "No way," I responded, thinking she didn't understand that it was brand new! "Wasn't your name Howard?" "Yes." "Well, drop the 'h' and 'd,' invert the 'm,' and you've got it. You've always been Omar." "Oh my God!" I responded.
2. OM is a powerful meditative chant that produces resonant sounds in one's head. Many times, I'd gotten high meditating in resonant OM circles, where people chant for enlightenment, peace, and unity!
3. Your name has perfect gender balance, someone pointed out. It's got the feminine Ma and the masculine Ra. You're both! Maybe that's why I get along so well with both genders.
4. My son has a name whose last three letters are now the same as mine.
5. O and R appear in GLORIA, my loving, loyal wife.
6. It has the same letters as AMOR, Spanish for Love!
7. Oma in German means grandmother. That's significant, because I have some Germanic blood; my mother's maiden name was Diener, German for servant.
8. It starts with the same three letters as MARia, one of my grandmothers, father's side, with whom I was close! Another Maria was a good friend at the time Omar came in.
9. Years ago, The Omar Man delivered bakery products to people's homes throughout the Midwest, I was told. Three companies with which I was then involved, Food & Energy Breakthru, Inc., Xylan, Inc., and Fiber Farms, Inc., added fiber to baked products!
10. Same letters as in ROAM. I, too, am in the delivery business as a holistic circuit rider. I enjoy traveling to serve. OMAR = ROAM.
11. RAMO is in reverse sequence, meaning branch in Spanish. It also connotes power.
12. RAM is also a powerful name. You've heard of Ram Das?
13. Omar is phonetic and easy to pronounce in Spanish, whereas Howard came out as Oward, since in Spanish, the H is silent.
14. It's numerologically complete. A is 1, R is 9, the second time through the alphabet - the alpha and omega.
15. Omar suggests an Arabic, Middle Eastern quality. I am pleased to be associated with the Middle East and now have a new incentive to be concerned about what happens there.
16. Omar was the right-hand disciple of Mohammed, who spread Islam, one of the world's great religions, across much of the world.
17. I love movies starring Omar Sharif. And have new reasons to explore Middle Eastern stories involving Omar Khayam.
18. If you had seen the name tag with my original name, Howard on it, you would note that O didn't show up well. Someone pointed out, it appears as a premonitory black hole, leading through the name tag to your new name.
19. When Keldwyn wrote my new name on the opposite side of the name tag, it appeared below the symbol 411Y, the building and room to which I was assigned for my first workshop. "You've got the universal information number," she said. "And Y means YES." Someone else pondered, "Call 411 to get whatever you need!" Someone else rebutted, "No, Y means why. No need to call 411. Universal wisdom provides you with everything you need to know."
20. More shared letters: MOAR - abundance, I hope, lies in my future. And I hope one day to visit Rome -- ROMA.

These are highlights associated with my new name since 1987, Omar. If you prefer, call me Howard. Although I don't resonate as well with it, I have not changed my name legally.

OMAR’s Touch Therapy
905 Lorraine Drive, Madison, WI 53705-1133
Cell: 608 658 6718.  eMail: omar@omarstouch.com