Sedona Lesson #1: Do not EVER mock the vortex

Sedona is known as a powerful spiritual center. Where else can you get psychic readings on every street or buy crystals at hundreds of little shops, or shop at a Metaphysical Department store? Drumming circles, sacred chanting, are all available here. Guided sacred vortex tours are also big around here. We didn't know what vortexes were or that Sedona is a center of four powerful vortexes. Here's a desciption from a local website: "Vortexes are areas of high energy concentrations, originating from magnetic, spiritual, or sometimes unknown sources. Additionally they are considered to be gateways or portals to other realms, both spiritual and dimensional. Vortexes typically exist where there are strong concentrations of gravitational anomalies, inturn creating an environment that can defy gravity, bend light, scare animals, twist plant life into contorted shapes, and cause humans to feel strange. Many vortexes have been shown to be associated with Ley Lines and have been found to be extremely strong at node points where the lines cross. " Anyway, Bob and I were yucking it up about vortexes, on a hike this morning . I even took a pic of a twisted tree and no sooner had I sarcastically said "OOOOh, look at what the vortex did to this tree, it's all twisted!" than I lost my footing on the broken red rocks and took a dive face first into the red rocks covering the ground. I am fine - stratched, sore, glasses scratched - and totally fearful of THE POWER OF THE VORTEX! I do believe in vortexes! On another hike we came up lots of rock cairns and medicine wheels that people had constructed at the foot of one of the mountains. Here's another quote for explanation: "Simple cairns and similar assemblages have recently been adopted by the Deep Ecology movement. Stacked or balanced, these offer places and moments for reflection at spiritual-environmental retreats." It's possible that Sedona may be a bit too spiritual for us.