Christoper reached out to connect with me when I mentioned his “How to Become Spiritual” video on Twitter. I belly-laughed through his whimsical presentation in which he took a tongue-in-cheek approach to describe steps many (including me) have taken in the quest for spirituality . . . .
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​After we exchanged a few emails, Christopher invited me on a hike to West Fork in Oak Creek Canyon. Along the way, I discovered that I was, at that time, where Christopher when he was drawn to Sedona in 1998. I told him that — awestruck as I was by the landscape and intrigued by people I met there — I still hadn’t caught my breath. Christopher said he hadn't either, even after living here for 16 years.

“I can say in all honesty that I have never ‘come down’ from my Sedona high. That's what was so confirming and amazing about my decision,” Christopher exclaimed. “I still awaken in wonder and gratitude when I look out of the window — hell, even with the window shut, I still feel it!”

As Christopher described it, he came here because he sensed a “warm presence” in Sedona. "When I first drove through, I remember the feeling of having my breath taken away. I knew this was my home, at least for however long the feeling of ‘home' remained,” Christopher muses. “Sedona was and still is my healing place where I could get away from the world and reconnect and grow my deepest desires in a safe environment.”
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Christopher said that, like many who come here, he was initially searching for truth. "But I got caught up in theosophical induced fairy tales. Still, I would have had it no different because I love the wonder and imagination of the people in this town."

In an article published by Sedona Red Rock News, Christopher revealed that he originally sojourned to Sedona as part of a spiritual journey that gradually prompted him to ponder the impact of spirituality on humanity. “As I went deeper into the journey, I found that lingering under the glam of spirituality was the lost story of the individual,” Christopher told me.
 
Elaborating, Christopher said he now believes that spirituality and religion inhibit the actual healing that needs to take place in the life of a young or adult “primate.” Yet, while spirituality and religion exploit the "split-self," both can serve as a stepping-stone for a reunion of the abandoned magic within us, he said.

Christopher chronicled his personal journey and extensive research in his book, unSpirituality: Permission To Be Human. Choosing to self-publish via Amazon's CreateSpace, he exposes perceived delusions of “the spiritual self and its story” — from religious rhetoric to metaphysical absurdities.

“Self-publishing is great in that it provides a lot of freedom to do as you wish. But reaching a large audience is taxing, to say the least. So I appreciate when the content is shared,” he said. 

Confident that the message in his book is important, Christopher said the small market he’s reached has responded in “life-changing ways.” But getting his message out there on a mass scale has been daunting. “Still, I do trust the process. I am evolving so fast that sometimes I have to catch up to who the improved version of me is, while reflecting upon the funeral of my old self  serendipitously. And sometimes all this happens in nanoseconds." 

To broaden his reach and spur sales, Christopher launched unSpirituality.com, setting the tone for his project with a video he dubbed, "I Am Primate."  He said he was currently working on new musical creations for his unSpirituality content.

“I'm pretty much a born singer/songwriter/guitarist and my music has a story in itself, which I’m just now discovering in a more authentic way,” he said. “But rather than creating this music as a form of entertainment, I’m more about the message, in that the problems of our world stem from archaic child rearing that produces ‘identification’ and a socially acceptable split-self.”

During my interactions with Christopher, something he said struck me. Referring to his current musical endeavors, he remarked, “Mr. unSpiritual is quite spiritual...he just redefines the juice from a natural perspective.”

Like Christopher, in my own quest for authenticity, I scrutinize for clues that help me balance fairy tales with reality. That said, I can't say I concur with Christopher’s philosophies and research.

Something I do agree with, though, is that as writers and as individuals, it’s helpful to “allow the story” to unfold. I sense that when Christopher wrote that line into his "How to Become Spiritual" video, he was only joking.   ❤ v!ctor!a colette

► Postscript: A couple of years after I wrote this post, Christopher changed his name to "ZZenn" and deleted his "How to Become Spiritual" video. Hmmmm. 

Envisioning a gala evening of enlightening conversation and appetizing canapés, off I went.  Google Maps steered me to the West Sedona address that, turned out, was a row of small office suites behind Domino's Pizza. Really Google? Are YOU sure? Approaching the door, I peered through the window and scanned the room. No tables with appetizers or bubbly beverages. And no one dressed in social gala garb. In stark contrast, people were sitting in folding chairs arranged in a circle. Some folks appeared to snooze as one woman spoke in low, modulated tones. 

Awkward! Entering the room, I spotted an empty chair, then took care not to click my heels as I crossed the slick vinyl floor. The talking woman paused to say, “Welcome. Please remove your shoes.” Stowing my heels under my chair, I focused my eyes on her as she continued her discussion — something about planetary matters of great portent and empowered missions. Then she began to muse about entities she referred to as "Ashtar One" and "Galactic Command."

My mind’s eye pictured some giant mothership that would soon hover over Sedona and provide refuge for those who are, as the speaker described it, “aligned with the intent to take our designated places and where everything we need is provided for our enlightenment.” Rest assured, she emphasized, “we will ascend gracefully into our new levels of empowerment for our intended missions, journeys and service roles.”

I became aware of this site during a magical mystery tour with LaLa and Emmy. During our outing, I also learned about a Native American practice involving circular patterns, cardinal directions, cyclical seasons and the rhythm of life. 
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LaLa navigated our way to the obscure site, which she previously visited with a hiker friend. The less-traveled path is accessed via a dry desert wash adjacent to a private residence. Hiking up the rocky trail, we passed fallen trees and prickly pear cactus that seemed to point the way. Once we found the site, sun rays beamed directly into the center of the medicine wheel. 

​To many Native Americans, the term "medicine" refers to forces of nature fused with our personal power for spiritual well being and healing — which starts from within and expands outwards. As I understand it, a medicine wheel is used for meditation, prayer, introspection, enlightenment, and healing. The wheel (also referred to as a circle of life) involves the Great Spirit and one's own spiritual universe. Some believe the wheel facilitates physical connection points with the spirit world, and creates a healing energy vortex that flows from the earth and spirals into the environment — benefiting every living thing. 

​Mirroring the shape of the moon and sun, the meaningful design of a medicine wheel incorporates ... 

• four directions ~ east, south, west, north 
• four elements of life ~ earth, fire, water, wind 
• four colors representing sacred races ~ red, yellow, black, white 
• four seasons ~ spring, summer, autumn, winter 
• four times of day ~ sunrise, noon, sunset, midnight 
• four stages of life ~ birth, youth, adult, death 
• four trials ~ success, defeat, peace, war 
• heavenly beings ~ sun, moon, earth, stars 
• numerous other symbols and elements​ 

Emmy taught us that the medicine wheel involves a ceremonial ritual in which everyone participates. Empowered by her training in spirituality, shamanism and other woo-woo stuff (a phrase attributed to certain "spiritual" practices in Sedona), Emmy conducted our ceremony — maximizing potent precious rocks she brought with her, along with cornmeal and dried white sage.  
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I was aware of smudge sticks used in numerous Native American traditions to summon positive energy. Smoke from the burning smudge stick is believed to bless, cleanse, and heal the person or object being smudged. (I often used them to rid my home of negative energy when I lived two blocks from the U.S. Capitol.) 

Before we stepped inside the medicine wheel, Emmy smudged LaLa. Working in a clockwise fashion, she “wanded” the burning sage while simultaneously "sweeping" the smoke — to drive out negative energy and summon positive influences. After Emmy repeated the ritual with me, I smudged her in turn.  

Once purified, we approached a painted boulder designed as an altar, to offer our gifts before entering the circle. Chanting a blessing, Emmy sprinkled cornmeal onto the altar and then offered a rock as her gift. Following suit, I placed a freshly picked branch of lavender from my garden, along with an apricot from a neighbor's tree. 

​Stepping into the circle, Emmy perched on a rock, pulled out a couple of tuning forks, and began to meditate. Sitting cross-legged, LaLa meditated on the magnificent vista from this high desert hilltop. Awed by the beauty surrounding me, I turned my attention to artistically painted boulders arranged at cardinal points of the circle. 

 
The unknown individual (or group?) who designed this medicine wheel is clearly passionate about nature and art. I was captivated by the boulder painted with a multi-colored tree of life. Within its center, there’s a double-triangle Star of David. Drawn at the base of the tree of life, Mother Earth stands her ground. Broader brushstrokes within the overall drawing depict forces of nature — among them, lightening bolts, snowflakes, rain, and a rolling river. 

​S​hutterbugging as Lala and Emmy sat beneath a twisted juniper tree, I captured rainbows, sunbeams and orbs in my photographs, which we like to think indicates we summoned the great powers that be. Fusing these forces with our own energies, it was our intent to harness spiritual powers aligned with the natural order of nature.

​After our ceremony as we trekked back down the wash, we built a cairn to express our gratitude. While gathering stones for the cairn, I found a fragile spiral amongst prickly pear cactus and glittery red rocks. Fittingly, I later affixed that spiral (with découpage) to the heart-shaped red rock that summoned me to Sedona.

To learn more about our ceremony, peruse my captioned photo-backstory about the medicine wheel in the Village of Oak Creek. ❤ v!ctor!a colette

Accompanied by their canine companions, we  headed into the wild via Bobby’s beat-up van that he fondly refers to as the “HEAP” (Heavy Equipment Excursion Platform). Unfortunately, the HEAP lacks roll bars, which would have been helpful during the jolting ride along rugged Forest Service roads 618 and 645A. 
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After reaching Red Tank Draw, we disembarked and hiked down a steep, rocky canyon. Along the way, they pointed out several varieties of cactus and other desert plants. (Tami has extensive knowledge as a former guide for a Sedona jeep tour company.) Seeing that I lacked a hiking cane, Bobby scouted a piece of dried wood to steady me on the rubble of rocks in the wash.

"What's the difference between a wash and a creek anyway?" I asked.

"A wash is where the water runs. A creek is where the water is," Tami explained.

"Go figure," I mused, seeing the creek bed was completely dry. Bobby assured me that during monsoon season, water gushes over these rocks, and the creek is deep and fierce.

When we reached our destination, I was awestruck by intricate carvings of deer, elk, antelope, turtles, lizards, people, crosses, spirals and other mystical depictions chiseled into 40-foot high sandstone canyon boulders. The Southern Sinagua culture — ancestors of the Hopi — created these petroglyphs between A.D. 1150 and 1400.

After we climbed and descended the ancient site, Bobby led the way to a swimming hole deep in the canyon. As he stripped down to his skivvies and took a dip with the dogs, I found a spot under a shade tree and practiced the local preference to "Don't just do something...sit there!"

Later this afternoon when a new acquaintance stopped by for tea, she told me that in some cultures, the spiral represents the flow of water. Digging deeper, I read that in every ancient culture in the world, spiral petroglyphs can be found. Spiritually speaking, the spiral symbol can represent the path leading from outer consciousness (materialism, external awareness, ego, outward perception) to the inner soul (enlightenment, unseen essence, nirvana, cosmic awareness)."

Gratitude to Bobby and to Tami for sharing this rare experience and for treating me to lunch after our hike. To round out my slideshow, Bobby uploaded images he captured as I pondered the significance of chiseled spirals that, to me, represent happiness on the rocks. ❤ v!ctor!a colette

​I was intrigued by the way m!nx!e described their hike in Boynton Canyon vortex, during which a kindhearted hiker appeared out of nowhere and gave them heart-shaped rocks. "He told us that we take the energy back with us and that it will always be with us," m!nx!e wrote, explaining the concept of Sedona’s potent vortex energy.

Enclosed with the brochure she created for me, m!nx!e gifted me with a red rock she picked up during her hike in Boynton Canyon. She'd taken the stone home and asked her husband stuART to whittle it into a heart shape for me. For several months, that rock sat vibrating on my desk as I wrestled with the vicissitudes of life in America's capital city. All the while, I was clueless about the rock's energy and spiritual significance.

During that six months, a series of events compelled me to move to Sedona. When I announced that intent, m!nxie told me, "I hoped the positive energy I sent in the form of the rock would take root for you while you were still on Capitol Hill. But I guess you do have to open yourself to it. And maybe the energy just isn’t transferable. Or maybe you just had to journey through all that other stuff first." 

In retrospect, if "all that other stuff" hadn't happened, I probably would not have opened my mind to other possibilities elsewhere. And as the details of my relocation fell magically in place, the heart-shaped stone played a mystical part.  ​

Five years have passed since m!nx!e picked up that rock for me in Sedona's Boynton Canyon, where I frequently hiked while living in Sedona. Since then, I've relocated several times and currently reside in the southern foothills of Tucson's Santa Catalina Mountains. In May 2018, I took a road trip to Sedona and hiked again in Boynton Canyon, where my paths crossed with m!nxie's kindhearted hiker. His name is Robert Sechrengost and he is actually a bit of a celebrity in Sedona. (I previously met Robert when I lived there.) Since 2010, Robert (born in 1952) has been handing out his heart-shaped rocks to hikers and playing his Native American flute atop Sedona's red rock vortex spires. 

As I reached Boynton Canyon Vista trailhead, I could hear Robert playing his flute. When I reached the summit, I found a safe perch on the rocky ledge, cradled within the exposed, brawny roots of a twisted Juniper tree. I watched in awe as Robert balanced cross-legged atop the rock formation known as "Kachina Woman" and played his melodious flute tunes.  Later, Robert scrambled down from the formation and gifted me with a heart rock that, as he explains it, "embodies the energy of the vortex and represent unconditional love."

Yet again, I find joy and inspiration from these heart-shaped "milestones" that likewise inspired Happiness on the Rocks.

❤ v!ctor!a colette ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀