10 MYSTICAL PLACES IN THE US FOR SPIRITUAL ENERGY RENEWAL

Airport Mesa Overlook

map of 4 Vortex sites in Sedona

In Sedona, I attended a lecture entitled “Scientific Vortex Information.” The speaker was author Peter Sanders Jr., an MIT Honors graduate in Brain Science. After, I wanted to find out where in the US are the mystical places he talked about. The following is is a list of ten. The first four are right in Sedona, the second three we have been to are elsewhere, and the final three I have now added to our bucket list:

1. Cathedral Rock
2. Bell Rock
3. Airport Mesa
4. Boynton Canyon
5. Mt. Denali
6. Serpent Effigy Mound
7. Mt. Shasta
8. Lady's End Labyrinth
9. Ringing Rocks State Park
10. Mt. Kilauea

Mt. Denali

He defines a vortex as an area of high concentration of energy that can enhance prayer, meditation, and creative thinking. Both Sanders, who has lived in Sedona for 35 years, and Bob, our Pink Jeepney Tour guide, say that the area's spiritual heritage goes back thousands of years. It is believed that the Sinaguas, who lived around Sedona circa 500-1400 CE (as evidenced by the ruins that circle the city), regularly traveled to the red rocks for their rituals. In the 1960's, word spread around the US about this mystical place and Sedona has since become a major destination.

The word vortex comes from fluid dynamics. It’s a region in which the flow revolves around an axis like in stirred fluids, smoke rings, winds surrounding a tornado or dust devil, and whirlpools in the wake of a boat. Sanders classifies mystical vortices as either Upflow or Inflow, matching the topography and color of a place to the types of prayer or meditation one can seek from it.

Serpent Mound

Sedona's Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, and Airport Mesa (headline photo) are mountains and mesas that give Upflows because they soar high. One is supposed to get a feeling of reaching up beyond the physical. Boynton Canyon, on the other hand, like canyons or valleys, are for Inflows. One is supposed to go inward to find healing from within. Furthermore, colors like red or energy, yellow for happiness, and orange, a combination of both, can increase oxygen supply to the brain to produce an invigorating effect. Sanders says Sedona, rich with red rocks, be they mountains or canyons, is blessed with eight mystical places, with the four as the most well-known.

Mt. Shasta

There are three we have previously visited although we didn't know they were considered mystical places at the time. Mt. Denali is the highest peak in North America and is believed to be the home of many spirits by Native Americans. Serpent Mound in Ohio is the largest known serpent effigy in the continent, symbolic of the large serpent with supernatural powers in Native American folklore.  In northern California, spectacular Mt. Shasta stands as the home of the Great Spirit for all Native Americans. When we visited these three places, we experienced highs but we attributed them to the usual feeling people get when they see majestic sites.

Lady's End Labyrinth

Ringing Rocks

To complete my list of ten mystical places, I have chosen the following and put them on our bucket list. Lady’s End Labyrinth is on a rocky mountainside, a few minutes from San Francisco, in a public park sitting right above the crashing waves of the mighty Pacific Ocean. We will try to go to this site in the first week of September when we are in the area.  Ringing Rocks State Park in Pennsylvania is a park filled with rocks, a third of which vibrate and ring when struck by an object. Last but not the least, Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii is a sacred place because it is home to Pele, the volcano goddess. We were supposed to see it this December but we canceled our trip due to the recent eruption and lava flows.

Mt. Kilauea

Sanders' first book bears the same title as his lecture which is held every Monday at Los Abrigados Resort & Spa. The public is charged $15 but it is free for Diamond Resort timeshare owners like us. He has written two others where he describes his free soul method to meditation. I bought one of them, Access Your Brain’s Joy Center, because I felt good when he showed us how we can free our limbic brains from worries and panics (which is totally me). Besides, Sedona is so near to where we live, just two hours away, that, if it is true, I can make frequent trips to her mystical places. Maybe I can even buy his other book, You Are Psychic. But, no, I don’t want to be that spiritually enlightened. I just want to travel to mystical places to get highs, maybe even renewing my spiritual energy.

10 RED ROCKS FOR OUR 10th ANNIVERSARY

Last week I wrote about an inner journey that was evoked by our week-long stay in Sedona. Now let me talk about the outer journey that inspired me to write it. 

There are so many outstanding red rock places in the US. We have been to twelve, listed below, but there are still a few more pending on our bucket list. This post is about the last on the list.

 1.  Little Grand Canyon in Hawaii

      2.  Painted Hills in Oregon

      3. Valley of Fire in Nevada
  4. Red Rock Canyon in Nevada
  5. Garden of the Gods in Colorado

      6.  Arches National Park in Utah 
  7. Canyonland National Park in Utah

      8. Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah

      9.  Monument Valley in Utah and Arizona

    10. Grand Canyon in Arizona     

    11. Painted  Desert in Arizona

    12. Sedona in Arizona     

     
 Sedona is a city in the northern Verde Valley region of Arizona. Its resident population is a little more than 10,000. But the sandstone formations that glow in brilliant orange and red, especially when illuminated by the rising or setting suns, attract hordes of tourists at all seasons. These red rocks form a spectacular backdrop for many activities including hiking, biking, and photography. And there is another attraction: heightened enlightenment at places which exhibit the so-called scientific vortex phenomenon.

the other six, from upper right, clockwise: Thunder Mountain, Castle Rock
Cathedral Rock, Steamboat Rock, Snoopy Rock, and Wilson Mountain

The city is just two hours away from where we live so we have visited the area three times. But they were short trips and we got to know only four of the famous red rocks: Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, Slide Rock, and the Buttes of the Chapel of the Holy Cross (headline photo of last week's post). 

On the occasion of our 10^th anniversary last week, we decided to spend the whole week in Sedona. It was my mission to complete ten red rocks, one for each year of wedded bliss. See the collage of the six other red rocks we came to know on this trip.    
   
     But the week was not all a hunt for red rocks. We also celebrated our anniversary, of course. First was the lunch at the only creekside restaurant in Sedona, L'Auberge. It is right on Oak Creek at the Canyon of the same name. The second was the dinner at the Mariposa Latin-Inspired Grill. It has a patio with spectacular red rock views at sunset. Its interior is fabulous with over twenty unique crystal-embedded artwork worth thousands of dollars each. 

  
     Finally, we gifted ourselves with the popular Pink Jeepney Tour that we had seen plying around whenever we visited Sedona. It was fortunate that the regular driver/guide we were assigned to did not arrive. Bob, a senior guide who was sitting around for situations like this, got lucky and drove us. He told us all about how the unique geological landscape evolved, interjecting it with interesting info about the flora and fauna that inhabited the land.  The best part was the noteworthy Jeff Foxworthy "red neck" jokes that peppered his stories. There are several routes but we chose to go deep into the Coyote Canyons. 

There are more red rocks to explore. We plan to time another long trip during fall when it is not too hot and the colors of the trees and plants make the rocks look even more breathtaking. Bill is interested in hiking some trails not only among the rocks but also among the red canyons which we have just begun to discover. We also hope to experience the spiritual vortex phenomena at the enchanted places. We will share with you each special experience. Each will be further proof that Sedona is a blessed place.  

the trick photography c/o our guide with the Pink Jeep Tour that took us deep into Coyote Canyons

HEADLINE PHOTO: Bill trying to be awed by the spectacular view at Slide Rock and not by the bathing beauties right in front of him. Guess because I was around and it was our 10th anniversary!