"Spiritual
energies of the universe flow in a powerful, direct way from Source
through Nature. She resonates in every fiber of my being and is
calling me, calling each of us, to be more than we know we are.
I invite you to seek out places that fill you with passion and longing
and go be in loving communion with your soul and nature. "
ANCIENT
CALL OF THE CANYONS
There
is a great circle in the Southwest Colorado Plateau region into
which many are now being called. They were also called hundreds
of years ago. To this day the Hopis sit at the center of an ancient
migrational cross within that circle. Sedona is not only within
this circle but is one of the most powerful gate ways. It is not
an accident that you are here now or on your way. And like so many
others, is it a homecoming? The earth is alive and in Sedona she
speaks loud and clear: come home. There is a presence here that
quickens your senses, that calls you home.
The
Colorado Plateau, the second largest plateau in the world, is a
place of mysterious beauty, alive with Creation stories and with
eons of the Earth's creation exposed in sinuous canyons--rugged
mountains upside down. A primordial force of crystalline rock embedded
with prayers from many millenia of humans honoring this sacred earth,
her energies vibrate at a cellular level in those who come in pilgrimage.
The
Colorado Plateau is connected to the center of the backbone of Mother
Earth, the Rocky Mountains, which extend from Alaska to Chile in
a north-south direction. On the opposite side of the earth is the
Tibetan Plateau, largest in the world, connected to the east-west
chain of the Himalyas. These two great mountain chains form a cross
of the 4 Directions. It is no coincidence that two ancient mystical
cultures--the Tibetan Buddhists and the Hopi Indians--were guided
by Creator to anchor and enhance these powerful natural energies.
Elemental
forces sculpt a dreamscape radiant with sun, quickened by lightning.
The wind that shapes the wondrous formations gives voice to the
indwelling life that Navajos call Nilchi'i, the inner spirit of
humans, the mountains, the stars and all of creation. It's easy
to have that experience of having left the ordinary world behind
and stepping into the non-ordinary world. Here ancient knowing is
stimulated. Who are we? Why are we here now?
Canyon
de Chelly surrounds you like a red-walled womb towering 1,000 feet
overhead. Prehistoric cliff dwellings and other-worldly images painted
on canyon walls evoke the presence of the advanced cultures who
came before. "The Holy Ones created this as a place to nurture the
body and spirit." Words spoken with such reverence by Daniel, my
Navajo friend, come to mind. A spiritual leader, he honors us with
fire blessing ceremony, opening a doorway for us, the respectful
visitor, to connect with the spiritual presence of the ancient sacred
place.
EMPATHETIC
UNITY
Trips
into the world of wild nature and Native cultures of the Colorado
Plateau open people to a felt experience of empathetic unity, which
is central to indigenous thought and being. The welcoming smile,
the wise eyes that see right into your center invite people to feel
at one with each other and the world around them. Love is directly
felt and imprinted forever.
Medicine
people, seers, are clear channels for these spiritual forces to
flow through. Centered in the heart, they practice deep listening
and radiate compassionate acceptance of each of our role in the
circle of life. Wild beings, trees, canyons, streams have a consciousness
that communicates with us in dreams, vision and daily life in a
thousand unseen energetic patterns or resonances. Moving fast, living
in our head, we in the Western world seem to have lost touch with
direct knowing of the heart, of trusting our own instincts. Subtle
signs come to us constantly from nature, in our dreams, in the words
of friends and co-workers. Do we slow down enough to listen?
The
microcosmic world of our cells, our body is organized along the
same principles as that of the earth, the stars and the solar system.
Our galaxy is a spiral form as is our DNA. Physics is now verifying
what ancient people of the earth have always known: we are all connected.
We are vaster than our mind, than our body. And in the purity of
wild nature we have a direct pipeline to Source. As you relax, quit
thinking and doing and just be alive to the moment, Nature always
gifts us. With every in-breathe liquid light from the stars, the
sun, the mountains feeds you. With every out-breath, the whole of
the cosmos knows you.
Words
of a Hopi medicine man come to mind: "We send our messages from
the center of Mother Earth to infinity. Since time immemorial Hopis
have maintained their sovereign status given to them by the highest
leader who is always there for everyone."
THE
TRUE HEART
At
an historic Siberian-Native American meeting at Hopi on November
4, 2001. Milan Kynyraa from Tuva culture in southern Siberia said
"I came here to remember we are all one." Milan spoke of the degradation
of his culture: "We have lost our spirituality; our children don't
feel it inside--this is dangerous. The changes in lifestyle are
consuming more from nature. I have studied my own culture and realize
the importance of ritual and ceremony. The main purpose of my visit
here is to see how North Americans preserve their rituals so I can
try to restore that in my home lands."
The
Hopi medicine man who hosted this circle responded with radiant
confidence as he voiced a universal wisdom that is true for all
of us: "Someone with a good heart, with no anger can persevere and
will succeed in fulfilling what needs to be done. Have kindness
from the heart and faith. Always pray when you start the day. Rest
when the sun goes down. One or two can succeed for their people.
We all carry the seeds within us. We each came in with different
things to fulfill. Knowledgeable people sit on their knowledge,
but sometimes they take off the mask and become their true self."
He was
encouraging each of us, of all cultures, to express our true heart.
This is our gift to the world that changes everything around us.
We all left deeply touched feeling, seeing the truth of his words.
ACCESSING
SOUL WISDOM
When
your heart issues that call to pilgrimage and you answer and go
to a place with great natural energy, you receive cellular level
stimulation, awakening. Ancient, universal ways I use to assist
people coming to Sedona to access their own soul wisdom include:
Opening
Perception
Entering with a child-like sense of awe, heart wide open, in reverence
and prayer opens the door. Simply being alive and fully present
in the moment opens a direct connection to all of Creation which
shamans call a state of ecstatic union. If you can feel this even
for a moment, it will change your life forever. In the seeming simplest
ways is hidden profound wisdom. In this state of heightened awareness,
you walk in extra-ordinary reality aware of signs and symbols and
energies coming to you constantly. But like shamans of old, we also
walk firmly grounded in this world, taking care of the needs of
the physical world too. It is easy for us to soar with the eagle,
but the bigger task is to bring this inspiration down into our body
and daily life.
Shamanic
Journey
Shamanic journey to the drum is a meditative technique we use to
travel in our spirit body to access inner guidance and wisdom. Traveling
on the wings of your intention and focused attention, you attune
to subtle energy flows in your body, colors, emotions, presence
of spirit guides, sounds, shapes, images. These are all clues to
unlocking your soul's code.
Ceremony
Ceremony is the conscious use of symbols by humans combined with
action. In this physical enactment, the symbol comes to life, movement
is activated or acknowledged. The intangible becomes real, something
we are part of. We come into knowing that we are the center of our
universe, a sacred circle connected to all the circles of life,
past and present.
The
Medicine Wheel Ceremony I conduct is a focused, reverent experience
of ancient, cross-cultural ways for working with spiritual energies
and intention. Within our circle, we create a magnetic attraction
which concentrates and consecrates the natural energies for the
highest benefit of each participant and Mother Earth. How rarely
today do we get a chance to work together as a tribe feeling how
healing energies are magnified as we work as one for the benefit
of all? Flowing together as a unit, each becomes a hollow bones
for spirit to flow to the other. In this giving, you receive too.
This
is not just a symbolic circle. We actually invoke powerful cosmic
and earth healing energies for the benefit of all. I have led wheel
ceremonies for more than 16 years and find it constantly to be evolving
in depth and form. No two ceremonies are alike. I hold the space
for the renewed balance of each of the the participants and when
so guided, conduct shamanic healing.
 |
This
is an original logo representing our journey around the
spiral of life to the 4 directions and the in-between places
connecting us to the stars and the circle of the earth and
our own center.
|
Ceremony
is an integral part of ancient cultures such as that of the Hopi:
"Their existence always has been patterned upon the universal plan
of world creation and maintenance, and their progress on the evolutionary
Road of Life depends upon the unbroken observance of its laws. In
turn, the purpose of their religious cermonialism is to help maintain
the harmony of the universe." (Frank Waters, Book of the Hopi)
Physicist
Dan Winter says, "Tribal ceremonies send heart energy out into the
cosmos...these energies are amplified in an expanding wave and have
the power to create stars."
I hope
for each of you that you feel a sense, if even for a moment, of
being connected to all of Creation and feel the stars inside you.
Sandra
Cosentino, native to Arizona, created Crossing Worlds Journeys
10 years ago to share her intuitive insights and informed passion
for the spirit, lands and cultures of the Colorado Plateau. Her
lifelong mystical relation to Nature led her to sharing of friendships
and knowledge with Native peoples of the Southwest, Peru and Alaska
and with universal wisdom keepers of many paths. She conducts
journeys, retreats, and earth-spirit experiences in Sedona, Hopi
and on Navajo lands in Canyon de Chelly and other places of natural
power and beauty on the Colorado Plateau for individuals and groups
from around the world . A former teacher with an M.S. in Natural
Resources Planning, she has worked as a natural resource manager
for the State of Alaska and for Native tribes in Alaska and Arizona
posted
Nov. 13, 2001
updated March 3, 2008