One fine day in 2006 my good friend Ramin decided that it was time to take a road trip to Mount Shasta in northern California. He had made a fresh batch of bio-diesel for his older diesel powered Mercedes and seemed to have an urge to burn a bit of it up, and to visit one of the spiritual centers of California at the same time. Ramin, Adriana, Eva and I piled into the tempura smelling car and headed north.
We settled in for the three and a half hour drive up Interstate Highway 5, talking, joking and generally having a good time. Once we got to the foot of the mountain, we started up its western flank to see how high we could drive. I think part of the purpose of this was to test out the new fuel made from deep-fry residue, which worked splendidly – with only a slight smell of tempura in the exhaust. We easily went to the end of the road, which is about 2/3 of the way up the mountain at around 10,000 feet elevation. We were not prepared for the long hike required to go the rest of the way, so we stopped at the parking lot at the trail head.
The first order of the day was to refuel the car using the five gallon containers of fuel Ramin had thoughtfully stowed in the trunk. We could have put regular diesel in the car, but that would have spoiled the adventure of traveling on used cooking oil.
We decided to follow the trail into the woods. We walked through beautiful old growth Douglas Fir trees, and came upon a wonderful high-mountain meadow. There were interpretive signs telling us to stay on the trail, and that the area was a special spiritual place used by the local Native Americans. It was understandable why they felt it was a powerful place, the meadow was full of bright green grass, tiny little yellow flowers, and rivulets of crystal clear water flowing under the mossy grass land. The colors, smells and sounds were transfixing.
We all felt the power and spirituality of the place and broke up to wander and sit by ourselves for a bit, soaking in the magic of the atmosphere. I found myself in a very meditative state, just sitting and feeling the breeze, while listening to the birds and sounds in the forest.
After awhile we gathered back together and started to follow Eva, who evidently wanted to lead us somewhere. She led us back down the trail a little ways, and then just turned off into the forest were there was no sign of a trail. As we followed her into the woods, I found myself wondering what was going to happen next – it was clear that Eva either had a plan, or was being led. In any case, it felt like we were going to do something extraordinary.
After walking a few hundred feet, we came to another small clearing located on the edge of the meadow. In the clearing were five large rocks, arranged in the four directions, forming a circle that was about 25 feet in diameter. A large, flat rock was in the center of the circle, additional large flat rocks were located at the four directions (north, east, south and west). Obviously, Eva had led us to a location that others had used for spiritual purposes. I was rather dumbfounded that she led us so directly to this spot, as if she were being drawn by the energy of the place. This was the first that any of us had visited this location.
She then had Adriana stand on the center rock, facing south. Ramin was on the western rock, I was on the eastern one and Eva stood at the south. We were all facing toward the center, facing Adriana. Eva then spontaneously began a ceremony of healing for Adriana. My energy was drawn by her words and actions. I felt that my role was to be a protector of the sacred spirit which was working within our circle. I can’t really describe what happened that day, except to say that we all fell into a sort of trance, we melded our energy with the energy of the forest and the meadow, using it to bring healing and personal power to Adriana. I felt like I was holding a very large ball of energy within our circle, and protecting us from intrusions from unfriendly outside energy if there was any around. While that is what I felt like I was doing, I was unaware of any hostile energy – it felt like the whole area was just full of positive, loving energy that day.
Afterward we did not talk about the experience, so I have no way of knowing what others experienced, other that I am sure that Eva was a very powerful and loving channel of energy for Adriana. I could see that Adriana was deeply moved and impacted by the ceremony and the power of the intent from us all. However, it did not seem appropriate, or necessary, to talk about it afterward.
We then headed back home. We felt energize, laughing and skipping down the trail to the car. The four hour trip home seemed to fly by because I was still in a state of bliss from the ceremony. I am sure that I witnessed, and was part of, a powerful healing associated with connecting our energy to the energy of the mountain. I don’t know exactly what happened, but for some reason that day, and that event in particular, seems to have somehow changed my view of the world. Its effects are very subtle, but nevertheless important. If nothing else, it was a moment of feeling connected to the others, to the mountain and to the universe. It was a melding of our energies that reminds me that we are not separate, but are all one.