Practical spirituality in a complicated world.
***image1*** As I begin writing today's column, we've just returned from a really refreshing holiday in Arizona, our neighboring state. We spent several days in the Sedona area, and stayed in a beautiful creekhouse, directly on the creek, at the Junipine Resort, in Oak Creek Canyon, about six miles north of downtown Sedona. We felt extremely pampered staying in this townhouse. It boasted two fireplaces, and a wrap-around redwood deck, with a private hot tub. It was quite relaxing falling off to sleep with the sound of the creek right outside.
The drive over to Sedona is a beautiful one. The mesa country around Laguna, Acoma and Grants is stunning. Frankly, Gallup always seemed tawdry, and a relief to get past. This time, we stopped for a bit, and I was surprised by how much cleaner it was than I remembered from earlier visits. This area has perennial highway construction, much like Albuquerque. It's good not to be in a hurry going through there. Between Gallup and the Arizona border, there are some gorgeous red sandstone cliffs. At one point, the highway comes almost within touching distance of some red rock formations. Driving through there, you know you're not in Kansas any more.
We didn't stop at the Petrified Forest National Park or the adjoining Painted Desert National Park, as we've visited them several times in the past. There are some Indian pueblo remains in the Petrified Forest, on the usually dry Rio Puerco. Right next to the old pueblo walls, pecked into the limestone, are some of the most intriguing petroglyphs I've seen. These alone, make a visit to the Petrified Forest worthwhile. If you're a Bette Davis fan (one of the stereotypes I fit), you'll remember her early film,
Petrified Forest
, with Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard, while you're driving through that empty land. Farther down the road, you'll come to the exit for the meteor crater. The meteor crater is privately owned, and rather pricey, but worth seeing once in your life. I remember flying to Los Angeles years ago, and the pilot announced on the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you look out to the right, you'll see the famous Arizona meteor crater." A young lady looked out, saw the crater, and loudly exclaimed, "Wow, it like almost hit that highway down there."
Just outside Flagstaff, there is a most wonderful place to explore, called Walnut Canyon National Monument. I first visited there many years ago, and I love going back. The canyon is rather steep, with rugged limestone cliffs. There are beautifully preserved cliff houses there. They were constructed by ancestral Hopi over 700 years ago. This is one of the special places I've visited, where the very moment I arrived, I knew I'd been there before, long, long ago. It will always be a special place of spiritual power for me. The Island Trail, which loops around a mesa in the canyon, can be taxing, so bring water along, and take your time on the stairs.
Flagstaff, like Gallup, has always seemed a place to get through on your way to some place else. This time, I saw it a bit differently. It has its own charm, and in future, I'd like to spend a few days there just exploring Flagstaff. The main thing I noticed is how friendly people are, and how reasonably priced accommodations and restaurants are, compared to Santa Fe. For example, $5.95 for a Chinese buffet really surprised us, plus the food was much better and more varied than we have here.
I am not a stranger to Sedona. I've visited there many times, and have had several clients from the area. The red rock of Sedona is spectacular, to say the very least. I'm not sure I understand about all the energy vortexes you hear about there, but I do know energetics. There is an exceedingly powerful healing energy there. Of this, I have no doubt, as I have personally experienced it. Others have told me that they felt an oppressive energy there. I suspect that is because they are resistant to some urging within themselves. At any rate, the physical beauty, combined with the ancient energetics of Sedona, make it a must on your spiritual pilgrimage through the Southwest. Actually, I would say the same thing for Santa Fe, although the energies here are quite different. Many people come here "to confront their stuff," and the energetics of Santa Fe speed up that process of confronting and clearing, sometimes quite painfully so. Sedona and Santa Fe both attract spiritual seekers, and they both seem to deliver on their promises.
As I wrote previously, we stayed a few miles outside town, in Oak Creek Canyon, but Sedona, itself, offers lodging in every price range. You'll also be struck by how open and friendly the people are. When you go into a restaurant or store, they actually smile and speak to you. Coming from Santa Fe, this is a refreshing change. I think we forget how often we encounter rudeness and hostility here. We just sort of get used to it, and accept it as normal. When we go someplace else, we're reminded that the whole world doesn't have a chip on its shoulder. Oh well, I won't get off on that too much, for I recently got some interesting emails about that, and I'd rather devote a column to the topic. Suffice it to say, that we found Sedona to be, by and large, a friendly, happy and cheerful community.
One morning, we drove about 25 miles south of town, to Montezuma's Castle National Monument. It is on the banks of Beaver Creek, and contains some beautiful cliff houses, built by ancestral Hopi. The archaeologists call the builders
Sinagua
, a Spanish term for "without water." This is strange, for the pueblo is on Beaver Creek. So, now you know that these people didn't "mysteriously disappear." Their descendants live on the Hopi Mesas to the north, to this very day. We'd consider it odd if archaeologists and anthropologists went to the ancient ruins in Rome, and speculated as to why they were abandoned, and the people who built them "mysteriously disappeared." Why do they engage in that foolishness here? In fact, the name of the cliff house, "Montezuma's Castle," was given by early ranchers, for they couldn't imagine that the Indians they saw around there could have been "civilized" enough to produce such architecture. They figured it must have been done by Aztecs from Mexico. Ranchers in northwestern New Mexico did the same thing with the magnificent pueblo ruins at Aztec National Monument. I don't believe we should continue calling these places by misnomers. The Hopi elders still know the names of these ancient settlements, as well as the clans who built them. Why don't the archaeologists just go ask?
The drive back from Sedona to Santa Fe was uneventful, except for coming up over the edge of the West Mesa outside Albuquerque. It was breathtaking. There is a wall of mountains along the Rio Grande, as far as you can see. The Sangre de Cristo and Jemez Mountains to the north, the Sandia Mountains looming over Albuquerque, and the Manzano Mountains marching off to the south, rival any vista, anywhere in the world. Ascending La Bajada, once more upon our mountain plateau, we knew we were home. Our holiday was fabulous, but it was good to be back in Santa Fe. I may grumble a bit here and there, but this is my home, for better or for worse. And, all in all, it's a pretty good place to hang your hat, isn't it?
OM
To ask Robert a question, visit his Web site at www.RobertOdom.com, email desertrj@msn.com or send mail to PO Box 33, Santa Fe, NM 87504.
