Day 1028- Sedona Revisited

Two years ago, on our first family vacation without Shayna in the body, we stayed in Phoenix and took a trip up to the Garland Canyon, stopping in Sedona for a night and a day. This trip for, for the HPH conference, we decide to take a day trip to Sedona. Kayla had hurt her ankle on the way to Phoenix, so we did not get the chance to visit a vortex while we were here last time. We pack up for the day. I’m trying to decide whether to take my favorite sunglasses or not. They are very fragile, irreplaceable, and precious to me. I even hesitated to bring them to Arizona. I commented several times that when they break, I’m going to be devastated. I don’t take them places where I’m going to be putting them on an off. I put them in a hard case deciding they are no good if I never wear them.

We get the chance to hang out with Nicole Reilly, a New Orleans medium we all met at AREI last September. Since then Nicole has worked quite a bit with HPH. Tracy, my little sister that I bicker with constantly, Beth, the Air Force Colonel, Tywana, and I pile into Nicole’s rental for the two hour drive from the low desert to the high desert. At 4,000 feet the scenery in Sedona is quite amazing and this time I’m not driving so I get to enjoy the sweeping vistas and watching as the landscape and vegetation changes as we make the climb.

On the way up, we talk about HPH, the state of the mediumship industry, whether reincarnation is real- you know the small stuff like that. It’s been fascinating engaging in conversations with so many mediums over the last couple days. In our community, mediums are treated a lot like pastors. They can be put on a pedestal. People forget they are human, full of human foibles. They have egos. They have to make a living. They are not omniscient. And, sometimes mediums forget these things too. First and foremost they have a sacred obligation to serve Spirit. The back biting, the accusations of fraud, the jealousy, the prima donna behavior, it’s disappointing. But, they are humans. We all do the best we can with what we’ve got.

We get to Sedona and decide to hit a vortex first. But, it’s confusing as to how to get to one. The crowds are incredibly large for an overcast, chilly Monday. It’s barely over 70 degrees. Everyone is wearing jackets. There is no sun. We spot the Chapel of the Holy Cross and make our way up there. We find a parking spot, barely, and make our way inside. It’s overcast, the chapel is dark. I take off my sunglasses and put them in my pocket. A couple of people mention they are feeling dizzy. I don’t comment as focusing on the lightheaded feeling I have when I travel like this only exacerbates it. I feel it too as we climb up and down to and from the chapel. As I head down the stairwell to the gift shop I lightly brush against the handrail. I hear a faint pop as one of the lenses pops out of the glasses. They’re broken. Oh well. Maybe I manifested this by talking about it so much. I look on the bright side though. Ironically, the bright side is it’s completely overcast in Sedona and I don’t need them. Maybe I’ll have them repaired for the third time. Maybe it’s time to let them go.

We decide spontaneously to take a desert Jeep tour. I don’t do spontaneous, but I’m outnumbered four to one. It’s just after noon. There is no way, as crowded as Sedona is, and as late in the day as it is that any of the Jeep rental places will have room for five people. The first place we call has room for five on their 1:30 tour. We have to check in by 1:00. I guess it was meant to be.

We do some shopping. I am able to dart in and out of the various locations in this little outdoor mall, not having to stand in one place for to long. Moving helps with the dizziness. As Tracy and I are standing in one shop, she points out a toy gun that she says she would have bought for her 29 year old son, Aymen. Aymen went to the University of Alabama and the entire family is all about Alabama. Just as the name Aymen passes her lips, on the store’s music system Sweet Home Alabama strikes up. Tracy looks at me, eyes wide open, mouth agape. I said “Tracy, you just spoke his name and the song started playing.” On the way home we will discuss how these things work. My theory is that the song was in the queue already. Aymen didn’t make the song play. But, he might have manipulated us into this shop at this moment and put the thought into Tracy’s head in perfect timing. This is one of innumerable synchronicities from this weekend.

We finish shopping and take the Jeep tour. The tour was great. We laughed and laughed. Between the laughter and the kidney destroying bumps, it was a memorable tour.

Finally, after the tour, we make our way to Boynton Canyon vortex. We park the car and take the trail up to the vortex. As we are walking along the path, a guy stops Nicole and says he has something for her. He hands her a heart shaped red rock made of the native sandstone. Then he hands one to each of us a begins his speech about unconditional love, transforming the world, the Masters all taught this same thing, yadda, yadda, yadda. We all nod in agreement and maybe he could tell from the looks on our faces and how Tracy was tearing up that he was indeed preaching to the choir. We thank him and move up the trail half expecting that if we turn around, he will have disappeared.

As we make our way up the trail, I spot an agave plant about to bloom. These plants live for usually 10-25 years. Sometimes as long as 80 years. They bloom once in a lifetime. Once they bloom, they die. I learned this on our Jeep tour. So, it’s really cool to then see one growing the stalk in preparation for that once in a lifetime event.

We reach the apex of our climb and move off the trail where we find a fallen tree that will make a nice bench for our meditation. Nicole, a hypnotherapist as well as a medium, leads us in a guided meditation. As she begins, our eyes are closed, and we are taking in our first deep breaths, birds start to sing. We have heard no bird songs since we started the hike. I am tempted to open my eyes and look to see where the birds are, but I keep them closed and express gratitude for the serenade. As suddenly as they started. They stopped.

I hold my hands out and try to feel Shayna’s hands in mine. I hold her hands and feel the energy of the vortex enhancing my connection. Nicole asks us to imagine our kids forehead to forehead with us, touching. I feel Shayna there and hear her tell me that she is proud of what I am doing, not just at this moment or even this weekend, but overall. And she tells me I don’t have to come here or go anywhere to feel her because she is always with me.

The meditation ends all too soon. I could stay in this state for hours. The women start to chatter. I dry the tears that are rolling and sit in inner silence for a while. Nicole hasn’t had a child transition, but her father recently crossed. She got her first visit from him during our meditation as he pressed his forehead to hers. Father to daughter, for her, daughter to father for Shayna and me.

I find out Tywana has brought some of Shayna’s ashes with us as she pulls them out to spread them under the tree we meditated under. Tracy and Beth are headed back down the trail like two women on a mission. Nicole lingers behind as Tywana and are checking out the vegetation around. Nicole says she feels like there is something she is supposed to find. We start to help her look even though we don’t know what we are looking for. As Nicole reaches the spot where Tywana was sitting she bends down and picks up a perfectly heart shaped rock. At the same moment, I see one at my feet.

We descend the trail, get back to the car and Tracy and I begin bickering again, entertaining ourselves on the drive back to Phoenix. Sedona was magical the second time, too.