Connecting to the Ancients

Yesterday, I hiked a trail that I had been on a few times before.  The greater area where I was is called the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, and the area I hiked from is the White Reef Trailhead.  There are quite a few trails that branch off from there, and I have been trying to explore all of them, especially since the spring wildflowers are in bloom, and I am having a great time trying to identify all of the ones that I can.  You have already seen many of my photos of this area, with the white sandstone reef, the red cliffs and the snow covered mountains behind. 

Each time I go there, I almost expect that the trailhead and parking lot will be closed off, since Washington County, the next one south of here, has asked that their state parks be off limits to all non-county residents.  But this is not a state park, and I routinely run into people riding bikes or horses, or walking their dogs.  In fact there has been a sign at the entrance that says that this is a very busy time of year, and to please park in the designated areas and not on the side of the road.  Ha!  The last few times I have gone there, there has been only one other car in the parking lot!  I guess people are taking the stay at home suggestion seriously. 

This area has obviously been inhabited in the past, as there are several places that I have hiked through where there are lithics scattered on the ground, meaning that the ancient inhabitants were chipping local stone to make spear points and arrow heads.  There is a ruin that one can hike to, and also that extensive petroglyph panel that I had written about in a prior post.  These all have previously been labeled Anasazi, but the current trend is to label these sites as belonging to the Ancestral Puebloans.  The modern descendants of these people are the Hopi, Zuni, and all of the Puebloan tribes along the Rio Grande River in New Mexico.  There are 2 year round creeks here also, which makes it a prime habitation location. 

As regular readers know, I have written extensively about the sacred sites I have visited just across the border into Utah from where I used to live.  These include archeoastronomy alignments, rock art, standing stones, villages, kivas, and stone circles.  There is so much like that in the 4 Corners area that quite a few people retire there just to enjoy archaeological field trips.  In light of that, I didn’t expect a lot of that in my new area. 

So yesterday, I repeated most of a trail that I had hiked before, and then added an extra extension that I will explore further next time.  On the way back, I was on a trail on top of a sandstone ridge called Leeds Reef that I had used maybe 3 times before, so I was not really looking for anything new and exciting.  Just hauling it back to my car.  Suddenly, off to my left just off of the trail, I saw a stone circle outlining a round sandstone outcropping.  That stopped me in my tracks.  Had this always been there and I didn’t notice it, or was this something that some hikers had just created?  Nevertheless, it had the energy of a sacred site.  It would be a perfect place to just sit and meditate or tune into nature.  

On top of that, it was within sight of the big petroglyph panel that was on top of the next ridge to the west.  Hmmm!  Here is a link to my post on that.

I decided to wander and explore, because if this were a sacred site of some sort, there might be other indications here.  We all have a guidance system that can lead us to our intended target, no matter what that may be.  (That is how I ended up here in Cedar City!)  Sure enough, I didn’t have to go very far.  This is what I found. 

First of all, there were very few big rocks exposed like this in this area, so it would be a perfect place for something special to be created.  I headed over to the first big rock, and looked behind it to find the second smaller rock.   I was kind of shocked, as I was looking at the classic male and female archetypes of the natural kingdom that were revered in shamanic ceremonies.  The female is always wider and rotund, and the male is generally skinnier and pointed, although this male rock was more like a phallus in shape.

What clinched the deal was the bowl shaped scoop on the top of the female rock. 

The feminine has always been revered more than the masculine in most native traditions, and this is where offerings were made.  I was thrilled.  Here is a place that was easy to get to and where I can do my own ceremonies.  After tuning in and giving my gratitude and appreciation to this pair of sacred rocks, I left a small offering in the bowl.

It is also worth noting that there might be some sort of alignment between this site, the petroglyph panel on the next ridge, and perhaps the Summer Solstice sunset behind the mountains beyond. 

This is not the first time I have discovered a pair of masculine and feminine boulders in a ceremonial location.  Here is a link to my post on that, with a photo below. In that case, the feminine stone was short and squat, and the masculine stone was taller and pointier.  There was also a scoop on the top back side of the feminine rock where I left offerings each time I visited, as other people had been doing, too! 

As there are no coincidences, John Gray of Mars and Venus fame gave a free meditation that very afternoon after I got home.  Perhaps some of you participated.  Part of his theme was the balancing of the Masculine and Feminine energies within each of us.

 

Interesting that as I am writing this, a sublime and sacred energy is surrounding me.  That feels really good.  Perhaps you can tune into one of the photos and get a similar sensation.  I hope to get back there some time in the next week, and may have more to report.