I’ve taken many spirit-inspired journeys, traveling and camping with animal companions and communicating with trees, mountains, rivers, wild animals, and other elements of the land to help me on my way. When I moved from California to Arizona in 2006, I made many pilgrimages to places in the Western United States. Here is the story of one of those magical journeys written for Species Link, Issue 69, Winter 2008
Islands of Calm Spirit invited the Traveling Trio (Sherman orange tabby cat, Belinda dog, Penelope human) to take another autumn tour this year through eight western states in our Honda van. Just before the journey, a wave of intense planetary energy precipitated health difficulties that required me to rest more and held up the planned departure date. I viewed this as a needed step of the spiritual journey and in perfect timing.
When we began our journey on October 1, I had a glorious feeling of being free and open. During the 15 days of our 4,400-mile journey, my body was strong and flexible to meet the physical challenges of long driving days and camping.
After loosely plotting our direction and destinations, I looked forward to the spiritual mystery and mastery these journeys reveal. On previous trips, I experienced that Spirit disclosed the specific purpose of the trip as the journey unfolded with a crescendo of understanding at the end.
Heading north from our home in Prescott, Arizona, our first stop was Wupatki and Sunset Crater National Monuments north of Flagstaff. At these sacred Native American sites, it was natural to feel how the spirits of the ancestors inhabited trees, rocks, land, and animals. A hilly field of junipers pulsated so brightly with the light of these ancient spirits, that I expected the trees to lift up their roots and dance. My cells seemed to ripple as I meditated with these tree spirits. Together, we infused and anchored sunlight and starlight into the land.
Timing and Spirit Care The timing of events on these journeys continually confirmed that Spirit was directing our progress and taking good care of us. When I needed to see the ruins or views on trails where dogs were not allowed, Belinda quietly kept watch instead of protesting as she sometimes did when I had to leave her behind in the van. At these times, the weather spirits also arranged for clouds to shield the sun, so the van stayed cool for my two furry friends.
In the late afternoon, I continued north on the road through the Navajo Reservation. I experienced concern near sunset since there are few camping areas or places to stop on this road. I headed to the Navajo National Monument, which featured ancient Pueblo and Hopi ruins in Tsegi Canyon. As I turned down the road toward the monument, thinking I might have to tuck our van to the side of the road to camp for the night, I discovered a beautiful campground overlooking the canyon.
After we found a campsite, Belinda and I took a long walk. Then Sherman explored the site on halter and leash, enjoying the tang of juniper and sage. We relaxed, ate dinner, and tucked ourselves in our cozy bed in the back of our van. I studied maps with my hand-cranked flashlight and watched the stars until my bones sagged from the day’s long drive, and the dark night lulled me to sleep.
In the crisp morning air among the stunning shapes of the native plants, I walked down a trail behind the visitor center to a viewpoint. Across the canyon, I gazed upon Betatakin, a colossal indentation in the mountainside encompassing some of the most preserved cliff dwellings in the Southwest. The life of the people who used to live there magically played before me like a video.
Ancestor Spirit Homes As we continued north through Monument Valley, I witnessed massive stone features. There were stately, meditative rock formations, some appearing to interact with one another in embrace, conversation, singing, or dancing, and others in repose. These formations appeared to be animated by communities of ancestor spirits. I felt the qualities of the stones attracted spirits who appreciated those qualities. The spirits also shaped the stones to reflect the features they wished to express.
Gazing at the landscape of Natural Bridges Monument in southern Utah, my observations of this phenomenon amplified. At the dramatic wonderland of Arches National Park, the Ancient Ones spoke to me of how the rock came to be shaped like people. They intoned that from the beginning, spirits indwelled in form—not just human form, but plant, rock, animal, wind, and water.
Spirits, who have formerly lived relatively short lives as humans or animals, sometimes chose to gather among the more lasting rock formations and land areas. There they meditate through the ages and silently interact with the spirits of water, wind, air, fire, and other elements to form the shape of their being in stone.
Humans generally explain the process of mountain, rock, or land shaping as the action of wind, water, and air on minerals. The underlying spiritual reality reveals that the rocks and the spirits inhabiting them shaped each other by their mutual purpose and their dance or meditation together. While humans can cut away at plants, animals, and mountains, forms can endure as energy in other dimensions and continue to influence the elements of the physical area.
Materialistic views separate forms into living and “inert matter.” There is no inert matter.All molecules and the tiniest particles are alive and moving in the universal dance. We can share and enjoy the dance when we look through the lens of spiritual awareness.
I experienced joy and wonder as I continued my northward journey through Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, stopping to visit friends and enchanting places. From my northernmost destination in Washington, I returned southward, gathering insights as Spirit led me from place through this beautiful country.
King and Queen United I approached the glory of California’s Mount Shasta from Highway 97. My body vibrated with chills of awe as the snow-covered giant loomed clearly.
I had always experienced Mount Shasta as a strong masculine presence. From this angle, I felt compelled to address “her” as Queen—strong, feminine, and regal. Then I realized that the mountain always had both masculine and feminine aspects, but the masculine was previously predominant. In this age of movement toward unity, the masculine and feminine sides of Mount Shasta had integrated. The great mountain was now king and queen united. Mount Shasta exemplified the evolutionary change in our being and all forms as we chose to shed the linear demarcations of duality in favor of the intertwined qualities of unity.
Circles of Existence Another highlight was our visit to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. I sang with the giant Sequoia trees and performed shamanic circling and chanting rituals as the trees directed. The last giant I visited early in the frosty morning at 7,000 feet elevation before heading down the steeply winding mountain road was the General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world by volume. The trail spiraled down to the tree’s base like a vortex. After I circled and sang with this majestic spirit in tree form, spirit guides showed me the higher purpose of this Traveling Trio journey and how it was fulfilled.
I saw the ancient trees in circles of existence, extending out in energy patterns to embrace other circles. Spirit showed me forces creating great changes in the earth in times to come. My travels in my van and walking on directed paths created spirals of energy that strengthened connections among life forms and created islands of calm amid future destruction. They showed me how great streams of light came into the earth wherever I traveled, stood, sang, slept, or walked, similar to the light gathered by the ancient tree giants. My travels in human form helped to both anchor and set free the energies needed for multi-dimensional sustenance on our evolutionary path. Shamanic masters, Sherman and Belinda, assisted in forming the love connections among all cells or nodes of life. Sherman shared the name and calling of the last ancient Sequoia we visited.
A Piece of the Puzzle I have been aware of my spiritual path and purpose throughout my life and that my leaps in spiritual awareness affect all beings. Each of us holds a piece of the puzzle. That piece is our destiny, joy, and forward motion in the web of life that contributes to all.
