The hike took place on the fall Equinox of 1990, when six courageous souls trekked through the Bandelier National Park to a place known as the Stone Lions Shrine. This was a sacred place close to the Yapashi Pueblo, with evidence of human existence dating back 11,000 years. We would hike a total of 13 miles that day, with more than 7,000 feet of elevation changes. I carried an 80-pound backpack with little awareness of what was ahead. The Mid-Alamo Canyon was 500 feet of switchbacks down one side and 500 feet back up the other side. We hiked the canyon twice that day!
We left before sunrise and finished the pilgrimage an hour after sunset by the light of the Harvest Moon reflecting off the cliffside dwellings on the final descent. Only crazy people would make that hike in one day (tee tee). Our guide was a longtime friend named John Myrick, who had made the hike several times but never in one day. The discussion of turning back came up more than once, as I recall. That one great adventure became some sort of eternal bond with the six souls of the group, and an amazing accomplishment that still holds a place in my heart.
We found out that John died suddenly under the Harvest Moon leading up to the Fall Equinox, and all the memories came pouring back from that experience. I never looked at John the same way after that hike and was lucky to have seen him in the last two years. People grow apart geographically, but you always know that person with whom you share such a life-changing experience. What energy is forged upon the soul when you journey beyond the imagination?
Life is all about the journey, the people who walk with you, the lessons you take from each experience, and the residual energy of your triumphs. Your journeys can become an unintentional pilgrimage of the subconscious mind. Those who journey alongside, giving you the courage, the dedication, the commitment, and the inspiration, become partners in your spiritual growth. Those partnerships connect you both to an indelible imprint at the core of soul.
Six souls vibrating as a unit in movement toward a common goal creates synergy. Like a flock of birds or a school of fish, the group becomes one in spirit, one in consciousness. That oneness unites and ignites energy to vibrate at a higher spiritual level. Synchronization occurs within a resonant frequency, and an eternal bond is formed in the etheric body memory and re-corded in the Akasha. Overcoming obstacles to arrive at a place held sacred for thousands of years is stepping into a Universal energy field that is a fabric without time and space.
The union of souls becomes an influence by entering the magnetic domain created by naturally occurring geopathic energy. The movement of tectonic plates beneath the Stone Lions Shrine is the force that drew the Native American people to sense that this was a magical place created by the Great Spirit. Such a journey transcends the human spirit with life illuminated.
Whenever you move beyond your comfort zone and enter a realm that doesn’t seem possible, you expand human consciousness. The meaning of your existence is to discover who you are, your ability to persevere, and to stand in the light of your true self. Those moments of awareness create the eternal bond that forges the awakening soul. Now that’s love!
Note: John's in the blue shirt in the middle of the image on the right and The Stone Lions Shrine is below.
Bring joy, ease suffering and create beauty, then dance like you mean it!
Blessings, Russell
“Within minutes my 115-mile walk through the desert hills becomes a thing apart, a disjunct reality on the far side of a bottomless abyss, immediately beyond physical recollection. But it’s all still there in my heart and soul. The walk, the hills, the sky, the solitary pain and pleasure—they will grow larger, sweeter, lovelier in the days to come, like a treasure found and then, voluntarily, surrendered. Returned to the mountains with my blessing. It leaves a golden glowing on the mind.”
― Edward Abbey, Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside
