Journey of the Sacred Heart Meditation Retreat Sedona 2016

Opening Ceremony 2016

This was our second journey in September to Sedona: Journey of the Sacred Heart Meditation Retreat. A repeat of our first journey there in 2015. We were a group of 22 on a four-day experience of the vortexes, doing ceremony, meditation, exploration and retreat.

The second day of our journey we had the opportunity to visit the site of the Honanki people in Vista Verde. The ancient peoples lived in a ‘ring’ around Sedona: no one lived there within the vortex activities. The people would come to bury their dead in the niches in the cliffs and to do ceremony. They also came to Mother Earth’s vortexes as access points to give back to Mother Earth  (physical existence) and Father Sky (spiritual existence) in deep gratitude for the many blessings of earthly life and abundance, and to charge the “Earth Grid”.

The ancients knew the earth was held in space/time by consciousness, that their Mother Earth is a sentient being, alive and conscious. They also knew that constant and devoted re-alignment to Mother Earth was necessary in order to nest their consciousness in the harmonious cosmic unfoldment of life and our universe of being. In this light, we set forth. Myself, Deirdre Leighton and yogini Lisa Steels, accompanied by 19 sojourners of the light from the U.S and Canada.

Butterfly Garden Inn

We stayed at the Butterfly Garden Inn, 10 miles up Oak Creek Canyon Road towards Flagstaff. The Inn is a set of lovely refurbished cabins with fresh healthy breakfast (bread made fresh every morning. Gluten free if you wish) delivered in a basket outside your door. Our second time there, it is a lovely setting for quite meditation, where we did ceremony, kundalini yoga by Lisa, and lectures. And it’s out of the ‘bustle’ of Sedona activity.

Each day started at 6:30am with yogini Lisa Steels teaching kundalini yoga for those who wished to participate. The teachings were gentle and guided expertly by Lisa. Then we collectively started with a Mayan Ceremony, setting the intention and sacredness of our purpose to be in the heart and to give back as well as receive from the vortexes we visit.

The first vortex we visited was Bell Rock, one of the four principal vortexes (Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, Boynton Canyon) of Sedona. Though there are many, more vortexes there. Bell Rock is unique in that it has a combination of masculine, neutral and feminine energies, as well as a strong connection to our space brothers and sisters.

We performed a short ceremony there, respectfully asking permission to enter as the ancients before us did. Some of our group did a climbing meditation, some sitting in place on the warm red rocks, others in silent walking meditation connecting with the vortex and the nature spirits there. In these journeys there is time at each vortex for personal reflection and meditation.

The next day, Saturday, we climbed aboard the Pink Jeep Tours  to the land of the Yavapai, the Honanki tribe that lived in the cliffs west of Boynton Canyon and Verde Valley. There we did a short meditation, inviting our four jeep driver/guides to join us, viewed the dwellings and tuned in to the many pictographs (images painted on the stone walls). Pictographs by ancient peoples were often much more than mere images of animals and hunting. There are references to celestial events, the sun as life, animals as totems and guides, nature spirits, connection to Mother Earth and her cycles, and much more. The dwellings were nestled in niches of the cliff walls and oriented along ley line energies in harmony with all nature. We did silent meditation and connection with those ancient peoples, their lives and karma there, connection with the land and the elementals and nature spirits.

Saturday night a group of us went to Schnebly Hill (my favorite vortex) to lay on the red rocks and watch the night sky as we absorbed the loving energy of the area. Sedona is one of 14 ‘dark cities’ in the world. That means there are no street lights or any lights pointing up at the sky. So the sky is dark at night and you can see the stars, the Milky Way, unobstructed. Arizona has four such cities. For me especially, it was very powerful to revisit my old friend Schnebly Hill, as I’ve watched spacecraft fly in and out of the portals in the cliff for many years. Some you readers may find this most difficult to believe! Interesting, too, that in the evaluations we handed out at the end of the journey many of the group wanted to know more about astronomy and the vortexes! Right up my alley, as I used to present astronomy and the Mayan Calendar! So guess what’s on the menu for next year?

Airport Mesa

On Sunday we visited Airport Mesa, did ceremony there and explored the very powerful vortex energies there. Several of our group hiked the short trail from the parking lot near the airport to the saddle of the vortex itself. This was a very powerful day, as later we drove to Cathedral Rock on the west side, where the Oak Creek runs through the park and trails. We did another short ceremony there and our group was given time to explore the trails and connect to the powerful vortex there. Several of our group went into the purifying waters of Oak Creek; some even ‘baptizing’ themselves, if you will, as a commitment to their spiritual path and connection to Mother Earth. There, I had a wonderful meditation, played my cedar flute to honor nature and made my own inner re-commitments!

Monday was our final day in Sedona, we visited Chimney Rock and did a hiking meditation there where people could walk the red trails as far as they wished, time permitting. There is also a powerful Buddhist Stupa there, that we visited for prayer and meditation. Interesting that stupas are white, except the people of Sedona insisted that this stupa be constructed of the red rock material, so it is the only one in existence of such material.

Buddhist Stupa & Chimney Rock: Interesting that stupas are white, except the people of Sedona insisted that this stupa be constructed of the red rock material, so it is the only one in existence of such material.

Our journey ended at the Cabins with a closing Mayan ceremony; we were all clad in white to honor Mother Earth, Father Sky, the commitment to our path to receive and give and live in balance with all creation. That night we had a lovely farewell dinner with several of our group already lining up to come again next year!

I had meditated on taking a group to Sedona for some time, and the ease with which these two journeys have come together was evidence that it was meant to be! It is our time to ‘give back’ through our right action and right behavior the love and respect our Mother Earth deserves from each of us. This is the age of personal responsibility and accountability.

The ancients would deliberately, the world over, go to sacred sites and vortexes to do ceremony and meditation to charge the “Christ Consciousness Grid”, an energy matrix that surrounds the Earth and holds it in space/time. This aligns our consciousness to Earth’s etheric (astral) energy field and nests us in the natural order of the rhythms of the cosmos and its blooming, like a flower. Doing that alignment is cause for our lives to unfold in the most purposeful, aware and awakened manner as we are luminous beings of light who also have a physical embodiment. And our awakening is necessary in this Golden Era of Inner Transformation so that we may, as a Global Human Society, continue the evolution of our consciousness in the most powerful and fruitful way. That is, Heart-Centered.

Our next journey in 2017 to Sedona is September 21 – 26, 2017.

Given in love and in service,

Dr. J