Odyssey of the 8th FIre

"For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies...

"...Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise."

- John Rutter

Day 185 – Sunday, December 24, 1995 – The walkers settled in even more deeply at their base camp in Cornville, Arizona. They began preparations for ceremony and feasting tonight and tomorrow.

The walkers contacted Tom and supporters to invite them to sit down and share a Christmas turkey and trimmings with everyone. Both the main walk and Tom's small group are encamped here in Cornville—neighbors for the Christmas holiday. The two camps are just a short distance from each other.

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The Sacred Beauty - of Sedona, Arizona is touching the souls of the Sunbow 5 pilgrims as they walk the magnificent pathway between the red buttes.

Meanwhile, the walkers continued to make steps toward the west, today walking in Sedona, in Arizona’s northern Verde Valley, a location often referred to as the most beautiful place in America.

Sedona's stunning sandstone formations, the farmous red rocks, appear to corruscate in brilliant red and organge tones when they are illuminated by the rising or setting sun. The rocks form a breathtaking, all-encompassing environment of staggering beauty.

Over the years Hollywood producers have journeyed here to film many of the classic westerns, notably the 1950’s Broken Arrow, starring Jimmy Stewart. Sedona’s open desert landscape and towering red rocks provide a dramatic setting.

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Coffee Pot Rock - familiar Sedona landmark in the light of the setting Sun.

The landscape of Sedona was formed over eons by surging progressions and regressions of ancient seas—setting one age apart from another. The seas eroded the sandstone into, fantastic, magnificent forms. Volcanic eruptions and lava flows have also had a hand in sculpting the land.

For the last 6,000 years or so, according to acheologists, Native Americans inhabited the region. They lived often in caves, some of which still exist today.Yet other peoples lived in architectural marvels, such as the Casa Grande ruins, and Montezuma’s Castle—structures that rise four or five stories above the valley floor. They were constructed by aboriginal cultures such as the Sinagua, Anasazi and the Hohokam.

A local woman of Sioux, Choctaw-Cherokee and Scottish heritage, Sakina Blue Star, says that as she understands it the Sedona area was once called Nawanda, and it was regarded as sacred by tribes all across Turtle Island (North America).

From all over the continent, she says, Native people would come on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to seek a vision of what the Great Spirit wanted for their lives.

Between 1870 and 1900 the first non-aboriginal settlers to the area began to homestead in the Verde Valley. Because of the remoteness of the region, initial growth was slow at first, but over time as transportation improved, more and more settlers arrived.

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Vortex view - a wide angle view of Sedona and its famous red buttes from the Airport mesa energy vortex.

By the time our Sunbow 5 walk arrived in December of 1995, Sedona had become home to large a population of artists, musicians, mystics, and real estate agents. It had established itself as a tourist destination not only for people in search spectacular scenery, but also for people intent on spiritual experience.

The spiritual seekers are drawn in the understanding that the earth's energy, as it flows around Sedona's famous red rocks is concentrated into vortices—subtle but nonetheless intense whorls of energy, either spiraling up from the earth or spiraling down from the majestical firmament.

Bell Rock - Acknowledged as the location of one of Sedona's vortices.

Vortices, it is said, can be found all over planet Earth, but to find a place with an intense concentration of vortices such as in Sedona, is rare. Local geomancers say there are five major vortices in Sedona: Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, Boynton Canyon and Schnebly Hill.

Many people report that they experience vortex energy as profoundly powerful, and they say have beeb gifted with insight and uplifted feelings while visiting these sites. A vortex can be an aid to spiritual awakening, they say.

Vortexes are swirling centers of subtle energy, geo-electric magnetic maelstroms with mystic frequencies. They are places to be approached with preparation and respect, just as one might approach an electrical transformer with care.

Some people say they feel nothing when they approach or enter a vertex, and allege that the claims for vortices are just a load of mystic bunkum designed to lure tourists hungry for authentic spiritual contact.

For our Sunbow pilgrimage there is no debate, only immediate shared recognition that Sedona is luminous—a place tangibly pulsing with telluric and spiritual power. After all these days and all these miles, we have learned to recognize the sacred.

Sedona is a site where the Sunbow pilgrims instinctively know that—to magnified effect—they can lift up their joyful hymn of praise.

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Read Day 186 -- Odyssey of the 8th Fire