Another Magical Night

 

It was quite warm and breezy with temps in the mid 80’s.  Last night I drove over to the Parowan Gap sacred site to view the Summer Solstice sunset through the gap.  I got there early, about an hour before sunset, as I was not sure about where the best viewing spot would be.  No one else was there.  Yet!  I thought I would have the place to myself.

Not so fast!  I had parked in the regular parking lot which is near the rock art and informational signage.  As I walked down the road east and away from the site, more and more cars began to arrive, park in the dirt near the road, and set up a viewing location with folding chairs.  A lot of the people knew each other, and a party atmosphere was happening. 

I was far enough away from the regular parking lot, that I didn’t see that many more cars were parking there as well.  So we had quite a crowd.  The official Solstice was the night before, but the skies were cloudy, hence the bigger crowd last night, on the 21^st. 

As the cars full of people were gathering, I took a few photos from the road and then went up a hill and sat observing the scene while waiting for the sun to go down.

I had brought a small stone with me to leave as an offering, and I energized it with gratitude and appreciation for the Pachamama and Inti Tayta as I waited.  I also brought in the energy of rain that is so desperately needed in the southwest right now.  That stone was left under a juniper tree. 

At the right time, I went back down to the road, and took this fun shot. 

Here is the progression of the sunset.  I was actually walking back towards the gap through a field and to my left to get the right angle as I took these photos.  There is a small stone circle set up to mark the best spot to stand, and I was heading right for it.

It may not look like it here, but as the sun reached the hills on the far horizon, it looked really big.  This is when I stopped and pulled in all of that fabulous energy from our Father Sun. 

The parking lot that was empty when I arrived had filled up completely.  People were milling around, socializing, and walking over to look at the rock art before it got too dark.  A nearly full moon was rising in the east at the same time.  I suspect that a lot of those attending stayed on until it was pretty dark.  It was time to head home for me!