The Desert
"The spell of the
desert comes back to me, as it always will come. I see the veils,
like purple smoke, in the canyons, and I feel the silence. And it
seems that again I must try to pierce both and have the strong, wild
life of the last American Wilderness ~ wild still, almost as it ever
was."
~Zane Grey
Being born into the
magic of the Mojave Desert in 1977, spawned the sandy spirit within
my own soul. The desert is a highly spiritual place, where my senses
become stronger and peace is discovered. These special places of
Earth hold spiritual wisdom, if you only open your self and listen.
Take a long morning walk through the majesty of desert life. Camp
under the clear, starry sky, and feel the cool night wind.
In 1997 I had what I
consider, so far, the most spiritual experience of my life. There is
a magical canyon, located within the beloved desert of my birth, the
Mojave. The walls of this canyon hold sacred images called
"petroglyphs". These are basicly primitive "etchings" created by
unidentified ancient people. As you walk through the canyon, you
feel, hear, and see the spirits of this magnificant place. I think it
must be one of the MOST INSPIRING places of this beautiful planet.
There are a few
theories pertaining to why the images were created. The two main
theories are "Hunting Magic" and the "Religious Theory". Now I
believe it was probably a little of both, spirit being a prominent
quality of the canyon. The images would have taken days to create
EACH one, and there are multiples of thousands of them. It is
possible that the constant echo of sharp instrument against rock
created a type of trance within the artist. These artists created
images that appeared as shamans, different animals, and tools. One
animal depicted most often, was the big horn sheep. It is known that
these people did not hunt these animals, perhaps because they were so
highly regarded.
My hike through the
canyon led to a peak overlooking a sandy gully surrounded by high
mountains. This was an overpowering experience but theres more. Being
there allowed me physical meeting with my most prominent, life-long,
animal familiar, the wild horse. Wild Mustangs roam these lands, I
looked at them, absorbing and admiring thier wildness and freedom.
Once my body was asleep and my mind on a wholey spiritual plane, I
had a special visitor in my dreams. She was a white mare, the
ultimate beauty, simply there to comfort and renew my soul, and to
speak with me. I awakened the next day refreshed and one with the
wild horses.
The desert is
obviously awesome, vast, and inspiring. I love all of natures bounty
and magical places, however, the desert will always hold special
meaning to me.The home of my soul, spun with wild horses... the
magical desert.
Petroglyphs
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