Not your average tour in the American Southwest, EarthWalks has taken a turn in the road to be at Canyon de Chelley, Arizona for this full moon. Yesterday I was perched high on a sandstone ledge, sun setting in the west and moon rising in the east and playing flute softly to the Spirit of the land. I have had the pleasure of meeting perhaps the youngest National Parks and Monument ranger who is from the Canyon area and well grounded in his traditions and history. He will lead a hike into the Canyon tomorrow. November is Native American Heritage month…what a great place to celebrate the culture and contributions of the First Peoples of the nation.

To create your own special journey and pilgrimage in the American Southwest, contact info@earthwalks.org. Picture yourself above!

Spider Rock at Canyon de Chelley, Arizona…an awesome sight at any time of the year, day or night.  EarthWalks will be traveling to this spectacular red rock canyon on Full Moon, November 6 2014.  We will journey through this part of the Southwest not on a typical “tour” but as pilgrims on sacred travel.  From Santa Fe, New Mexico we take a spectacular route around the Jemez Mountain Range, cross the Chama River near Abiqui (the home of the late artist Georgia O’Keefe) and Ghost Ranch.  We will be under the gaze of Tsi Ping mountain (known to the Spanish as Pedernal), a site sacred to Native Americans in the area.  Here is a photo:

It is said that some Dine or Navajo people believe this is the home of Changing Woman, the mythical figure who was responsible for many transitions in life, including the seasons:

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Changing_Woman-Navajo.html

On past Chaco Canyon, then driving close to the mythical Shiprock, a volcanic feature that resembles not a ship but rather a huge bird with outstretched wings…relating to the Dine/Navajo legend about this spectacular feature. Below is a photo of this great winged messenger:

Then it’s on to Canyon de Chelley for walks and talk with Dine Parks and Monument Rangers.  Stay tuned for a “broadcast” from the Canyon on Full Moon!  In the meantime, contact EarthWalks if you would like to create a journey in the American Southwest for you, friends, family or business group.  info@earthwalks.org

Craig Childs, author of “The Secret Knowledge of Water,” has written another book called “Soul of Nowhere.” It is worth a read. Here in the Southwest US we come face to face with the bare Soul. The wind, sun, bare beautiful bones of the earth. Here is a passage from Craig’s book:
“This is the place (Native American desert location) where every disparate thread of life is gathered to a single point….This is a thing that humankind has always quietly wished for, a way of living that does not obstruct the path of nature, or even more, is not at all different from it. We want an enduring relationship with our surrounding world….What is here is a necessity that comes before food and shelter: the barest need of life, to be awakened.”

Earth Walks, based in Santa Fe,  New Mexico can help you create this kind of experience in the American Southwest. Contact us at info@earthwalks.org to explore where your inner journey can take you.

Come join a special two day Spirit of Place: an Earth Walks gathering at Ghost Ranch Wednesday and Thursday, September 17-18, 2014. Participants have the option of staying on the Ranch or another location of their choosing. The experience will be woven together with humor, quiet time on the land, active learning and the inner sacred dimension.

On Wednesday we will be joined by a group of Tesuque Pueblo elders who will share their earth-centered traditions and values through conversation and  “talking with the clay”  as we create pottery. On Thursday we travel to a little known but highly significant ancient pueblo site high atop a mesa with commanding views of the area. The area is off limits to the general public but our group has special access by permission. (This involves a short hike down a switch back trail. Please be aware of this if you have any serious physical limitations.)

The gathering includes dawn ceremonies and several optional evening videos…and the best darn popcorn on either side of the Rio Grande!

If you are interested, contact us at info@earthwalks.org.

On a recent Earth Walks visit to the Post Classic Mayan site of Maypan, a most amazing occurrence:  I was prompted to walk up to the top of the largest pyramid from the west side.  Stopping to quiet myself, I asked from which side should I begin my diagonal ascent.  Diagonal, because years ago I learned from the writings of a Mexican anthropologist that the ancient priests ascended in a diagonal fashion going up one side, then descending the opposite side in the opposite diagonal.  When these two patterns are then placed together, they form a diamond, the symbol on the back of the rattlesnake, one of the main cosmological symbols of the Mayan culture.  It has been said this forms a DNA pattern as well.

So, up slowly and prayerfully I go.  About halfway up, a bright flash of light in my eyes.  Looking down, I find a tiny silver fish that had come off someone’s bracelet or necklace.  The fish symbol was highlighted in an exhibit in the Mayapan entrance as being another of the main cosmological symbols.  I just “happened” to be there at that time of day, with the sun at exactly the right angle and at exactly the right step along the way for the reflection to meet my eye.  I consider it a great blessing, as well as the meditation that came to me on top.  In the meditation I recalled a talk given some time ago:  “It is said that the continuation of the human race is largely due to the quality of forgiveness.”  From the top of the pyramid to my heart and from my heart to the heart of all.  May we live in compassion, peace and harmony.

Contact Earth Walks: info@earthwalks.org, if you would like to create your own special journey in the American Southwest or some areas of Mexico.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayapan

This may be of interest to you. I have been to Mesa Verde numerous times, once leading the Institute of Noetic Sciences on an EarthWalks tour of the Southwest area.  This research makes some inner sense to me.  If you or a group you know would like to create an EarthWalks journey, please let me know at info@earthwalks.org

From the Journal of Archaeological Science, April 2014 | Abstract

Native American traditions in the desert Southwest speak directly to our contemporary concerns about climate change and sustainability.  Without the benefit of irrigation canals, huge water reservoirs and other technology desert urban dwellers have come to depend on, Native American desert dwellers lived in harsh yet spectacularly beautiful environments for thousands of years.

Their artifacts, pictographs and petroglyps left behind tell us there is a way to live here.  Swimming pools in every backyard, “misting” of grocery store parking lots and other practices completely ignore the environment where we live.

There is a way to experience the Spirit of Place that can help us be in tune with the environment and understand how to co-exist with this land.  If we take the time, everything we touch in the environment has a message for us.  This requires quieting our minds, listening and observing–realizing we are not separate from this world, but a part of it.

The EarthWalks journeys we have taken in the U.S. Southwest and Oaxaca, Mexico have helped us on the “inner earth walk”–accessing our intuition and personal knowing.  Let me know if you, your family or organization would like to develop an EarthWalks experience.  This does not mean difficult hikes or strenuous physical endurance tests.  It does mean traveling on the land and visiting with local cultures not as a tourist, but rather as a fellow traveler and pilgrim.

Contact me through EarthWalks: info@earthwalks.org

Between AD 900 and 1150, Chaco Canyon located in New Mexico and the American Southwest was a major center of culture for the ancient Pueblo peoples.   Chacoans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling fifteen major complexes that remained the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century.

Many Chacoan buildings may have been aligned to capture the solar and lunar cycles, requiring generations of astronomical observations and centuries of skillfully coordinated construction. Climate change is thought to have led to the emigration of Chacoans and the eventual abandonment of the canyon, beginning with a fifty-year drought commencing in     1130. In future blogs, I will discuss how we as modern civilization can learn sustainability principles from ancient cultures in dealing with major climate change.

I have taken many EarthWalks journeys to Chaco, and some were to observe the amazing phenomena on Summer Solstice when the first light of dawn strikes an interior niche in the large kiva of Casa Rinconada (see photo of this and aerial overview)

At a large butte in the canyon there is a petroglyph with two spirals. At spring and fall equinoxes, a spear of light bisects the one of the spirals. There is some evidence that lunar events are marked here as well.

What is the purpose for these incredible alignments?  There are many thoughts and ideas, but I suggest you journey to the sacred landscape of Chaco yourself and experience the Canyon in its silent conversation.

Perhaps you will discover an “inner alignment” that will assist in your own personal questions and search.  If you have your own thoughts, please add them to this conversation. More: info@earthwalks.org