Sedona Insights, Part I
My timing couldn’t have been better. I hit Sedona just as the desert was beginning to bloom. Isn’t that amazing? I didn’t plan it that way. It just happened that I was invited to speak at the Desert Rose chapter’s conference, Desert Dreams, in Scottsdale, the last weekend of April. After the con wrapped up, my BFF Michele and I rented a car and drove up to Sedona with a day and a half to enjoy it. And the cacti welcomed us with their rarest and most beautiful display.
The Chapel of the Holy Cross is built right into the red rock formations of Sedona. We hiked up to the chapel and went inside, and I dabbed Holy Water on my wrists and third eye, and lit a candle of gratitude. Looking out the glass front of this building is nothing less than a spiritual experience.
Across the street from the chapel, is this 25 million dollar mansion, complete with its own manmade waterfall, multiple fountains, a coy pond with three foot long fish, (in the desert, mind you) indoor pool, and its own observatory. I added it to my wish list. It was built by a Romanian inventor who holds patents to several important medical devices. There’s a gate with an intercom, and of course, the owner’s initials. I felt a little guilty, taking pics of someone’s home, but then I thought, why build it directly across from a huge tourist attraction unless you want attention? I still snapped fast and moved on though. Breathtaking!
The Red Rocks of Sedona and surrounding areas are one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, and they took my breath away just as much on this, my second visit. In fact, by the second visit, they seem to be saying, “Welcome back.” I’m not kidding about this. I felt like a hometown kid, having only visited once before, as if those rocks and I had bonded the last time. It’s like they imprint on you, or you do on them or something. There’s a bond after you’ve been there once, and you feel it again when you return. They say there are energy vortices here. Well, I have to tell you, I believe it. There’s certainly…something. A very powerful something.
Tell me this isn’t a goddess image! It’s clearly a Yoni, that crevasse in the rock, and if the cactus guarding her, um, entrance is anything to go by, she’s the Virgin Goddess! The delicate plant with its tiny white flowers at her base represents the Maiden. The Ancient rock calls to mind The Crone, and the living cactus plant, is as protective as The Mother. Talk about beauty. Talk about sacred!
But they were everywhere. Big round bodied red-rock goddesses shaped like Big Willie–er, pardon me–The Willendorf Goddess were everywhere I looked!
The locals see women in the rocks. These formations are known as The Nuns. Did I have a spiritual experience there? Yes. I think the beauty of this place is enough to induce a feeling of ecstasy with or without an energy vortex. But did I feel the vortex? Did I notice anything different? I’m saving that for another post, folks. As you can imagine, I’m way behind and have lots to catch up on. I will only say for now that I did climb Bell Rock, and I definitely felt something up there. Something that’s still vibrating in my chest 33.3 hours later. (Interesting that, I just did the math as I glanced at the clock. Yes, there’s something going on here.) I need to sleep on it a bit. But I’ll post more tomorrow, and more pics, too. I took more than 400! After an all-night flight, three days worth of email, one blog post, a couple of daughter catching up phone calls, (and more to go when they get home) an ongoing discussion with my editor and agent, and a partridge in pear tree, I’m going to sign off for a little nap. More soon! Maggie
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