March 13 2009

Walking the Land: ISIS Rock Part II – Marty Rienstra

Isis Rock by Marty Rienstra

After our experience last week at Grassy Knolls, I was excited about the prospect of hiking and doing our next “Holy Play” at the Crown Chakra in Long Canyon at a magnificent red rock formation sometimes called Isis rock, or “The Three Sisters,” on hiking maps. This place is part of the Chakra formation which geomancer Nicholas Mann discovered years ago when he did his groundbreaking work for his book “Sedona: Sacred Earth.” Following his lead, Eileen and I have been going to the Chakra sites he identified. We began at Rainbow Bridge, the Throat Chakra, then spent several sessions at Grassy Knolls, the Third Eye/Brow Chakra. At each of these places, we had incredible experiences as we worked together to awaken the energies of each place and offer gifts of gratitude and healing. What lay ahead for us at the Crown Chakra?

In preparation for our excursion, I re-read portions of Nicholas Mann’s book. I was especially intrigued by the material on the Yavapai stories of creation and emergence. The Yavapai were a tribe of Native Americans who lived in this area for a long time, and it seemed to me that part of honoring and restoring the land was to recall and honor the “ancestors,” the people who once lived here, and the stories they told which gave their lives meaning.

The Yavapai story is that a world and its inhabitant previous to this one was destroyed by a flood. The people chose a woman, Komwida pukwia (roughly translated as “Grandmother White Stone with big stone medicine power) to be saved from the flood by putting her in a hollow log sealed with pitch. With her they put seeds so she could replant the earth, and birds. They told her to stay very still in the log until she felt the log stop floating. Then she could get out. The flood waters lifted her up and floated her away. Finally her log came to rest on the highest point in the Sedona area. When First Woman (as she is also called) came out of the log, she sent out one of the birds, a dove, who returned with a piece of plant in its beak. So she knew the waters were receding. She went out into the world, planting seeds, and creating all that is part of our present world. But there was no one else to help continue the human race. So she went to Mingus mountain at sunrise, and the sun entered her womb. Then she went to a cave where there was constant dripping water, and let it fall into her womb.

Thus, she became pregnant and bore a daughter. When she grew up, Komwida pukwia urged her daughter to become pregnant in the same way. It was difficult, but this was finally accomplished with Komwida’s help, and her daughter had a baby boy. Unfortunately, when he was still a baby, his mother was killed by an eagle. Komwida had to raise her grandson by herself. She taught him everything about creation and medicine, and all he needed to know to eventually teach the people who were to come. When he grew to be a young man named Skatakamcha, he wanted to visit his fathers, Sun and Cloud, up in the sky. After much trial and difficulty, he succeeded in doing this, and convinced them he was their son.

They showed him how to descend back to earth on four flashes of lightning, two on the right for the Sun, and two on the left for the Cloud. But the medicine power he had gotten from his sojourn with Fathers Sun and Cloud made him so big his body stretched from one end of Red Rock country to the other. He knelt on the earth, and where his hands and knees pressed the soil, wonderful medicine plants grew up. He taught shamans how to gather and use them for healing. Both he and his grandmother, as First Woman and First Man, sang powerful songs that taught important truths about creation and life. They told people that singing these songs would help life to flourish for them and the land and its inhabitants.

“Through remembering the ancient legends, we bring the world to life. If the songs are not sung and the myths are not told, then the land will die.” (Nicholas Mann, “Sedona: Sacred Earth, p. 20)

Those words resonated with my heart, and I determined to put the songs the author records in his book into a form I could sing, so that they could be part of what Eileen and Ramona and I were doing as catalysts for awakening and renewing the spirits of the land in this area.

I will give the words of the songs later in this story, but for now, it is important to note that the ancient legend says that Grandmother White Stone/ First Woman/ Komwida pukwia, shakes her rattle and from its power it becomes white all over the world—the white of dawn. This was called “White Morning Road.” It was also said that Her grandson, First Man/ Skatakamcha, picks up the white dawn powder of the White Morning Road and makes a cross on his chest and calls it the Morning Cross. He does this as he walks and sings. Then the rain comes, the earth has dew on it, and all over the world, people feel happy.
As I have allowed these ancient legends and songs to live in my consciousness, I have noticed that the figures of First Man and First Woman, Komwida pukwia, and Skatakaamcha, can be seen in rock formations in many places in Red Rock Country.

A large grandmotherly figure with a child near her can be seen keeping watch over most of the Jim Thompson trail (that Eileen and I had hiked earlier in 2008). The figures of a man and woman back to back can be seen in the saddle of Cathedral Rock. Of course, such formations can be discerned and identified in different ways, but to me, to imagine them as the Grandmother and Grandson of the ancient Yavapai creation legends, and then to sing their songs in the places they are said to have walked and sung, created and lived, seems most fitting.

I have related all this because it is important to know as a context for the places we have already worked with, the things that have happened there, and the story of our experience in Long Canyon, which I will now tell.

When Eileen picked me up to go to lunch prior to our hike, she told me Ramona could not come because of a last moment snag in her plans. She would, however, be with us in spirit. It turns out it was a good thing. Getting to our goal today would be a lot tougher than we anticipated. As we drove, Eileen told of finding pieces of dry wall on the road as she started out “on her drive.”

Once again, as last week, she got out of the car and cleared the white plastic coffee pots and pear-shaped glass pieces off the highway, noting that there was white powder where they had lain. Click! The words from the Yavapai creation myth about white dawn powder and the White Morning Road sprang to mind. I shared this with Eileen. “It gets better,” grinned Eileen. “I brought special white powder with me from the Grandmother’s Cave in Boynton Canyon. These seven grandmothers have a cave that women are only allowed into. At the back of the red sandstone cave leaks white ‘milk’ from the wall. This white milk is their breast milk spilling into this world. The last time I was there, I asked permission to get a zip lock bag full and they gave me permission. That’s what I brought today.” I grinned back at her. “And I brought two of the four medicine gifts First Man gave to the Yavapai: turquoise, and white stones, which were for the women. The other two medicines were cattail pollen and a healing black root.”

Eileen began to laugh. “I just happen to have those two things in my medicine bag,” she chortled. We looked at each other in amazement. Eileen hadn’t even read about those being two of the four original good medicines told of in the creation myth! And she had brought sacred pollen from the four corners of the North American continent and Central America with her. Cattail pollen is sacred with many Native American tribes and a friend of hers gifted her with a bag of it many years earlier. And, she had brought along a black root known as Osha that is used to this day by many tribal nations.

This was a promising beginning for our day’s Holy Play! Over lunch, we looked more closely at Nicholas Mann’s account of the early legends, and his description of the place to which we were going. “He says it’s a long way in,” I remarked. “And he says it’s an initiation to get to the Crown Chakra. I wonder what he means by that. “

“We’ll find out,” replied Eileen, “but I am pretty sure it means this is not going to be easy. It’s already past noon. We better hurry and get there so we have enough time to get to the Crown chakra, offer our gifts, do our ceremony, and drum and flute and sing.” I nodded my agreement as I rose from the table, and before long, we were in the car and on our way to Long Canyon. We found one of the last available parking places at the trail head, shouldered our backpacks, strapped on Eileen’s precious Tibetan drum, and started down the trail. We stopped first to look at the large map posted at the trail head, and noticed that the Grassy Knolls were noted on it (something many maps do not do) and that the name “Three Sisters” appeared at the place we assumed was Isis Rock, the Crown Chakra of the Sedona Red Rock Temple. As we walked along, we noticed the soft sand path was lined on both sides with beautiful manzanita bushes in full bloom.

“White flowers!” Eileen. “Perfect for the path to Isis Rock, which I like to think of as Grandmother Rock.”

Again, WHITE was the keyword. As well as TRIANGLE that had been repeatedly shown to us at the other places we’d worked with the chakra energy. “Yes,” I added, “Grandmother White Stone. She is here, and so is her grandson. I am sure we will see their forms in the rocks around here. Eileen nodded as we kept walking, looking up at the towering cliffs and buttes around and ahead of us. “Look,” I exclaimed, pointing upward to the right at the edge of a butte of white stone. “Doesn’t that look like the silhouette of an ancient man’s face?” Eileen took out her camera and snapped a shot. “Yup. Plain as day.” “I think it’s Skatakamcha,” I said. “I love it!”

As we hiked around the profile of Grandmother Komwida looked like the sphinx–check it out!

A short time later, Eileen pointed upward to our left. “Look there,” she said, “doesn’t that look like Grandmother’s face? And to the left of it is the face of a hawk, looking towards the hawk’s head we saw at Rainbow Bridge, which was facing this direction!” She took out her camera to record this remarkable sight. “Marty, when something important is going on, you get these kinds of repetitions of shapes in the rock. So we must pay attention!” We rounded another bend in the path, and I stood still. Up ahead in the cliff face of what is called Maroon Mountain was the form of a large arch high up. A few bends in the path later Eileen stopped and pointed with excitement. “Marty—there, to the right of the arch, a huge red rock snake’s head! And it is looking right at Grandmother/Isis Rock!” Not only that, in front of the snake’s head was a beautiful sandstone arch! Just like the one we’d seen at Rainbow Bridge. Replication. Again. We discussed that the arch was actually a portal or gate where spirits came and went to and from our world–just as they did at Rainbow Bridge. She took several pictures of this remarkable scene before we continued. The path began a descent to a wash, where there was a smooth large platform of red rock. “

Let’s do some Sufi whirling here,” I said. “It gets all the chakras opened and up and running, and since we are in a chakra area, that seems fitting.”

Here, Marty, who is an interfaith minister, showed Eileen how to whirl like a Sufi. By whirling, it opens up one’s chakras.
“Okay, show me how, “ answered Eileen. I did, and we both took turns whirling in that marvelous energy, with our left hands up to receive blessing, and our right hands facing down to give blessing to the earth. It was just right. Donning our backpacks, we continued on our journey, We had gone only a short way further when suddenly we stopped.

There was a huge energy shift, as if we had stepped through a thin place in the veil between dimensions. A few steps further revealed that we were directly in line with the energy field of the towering cliffs where Grandmother Rock stood! But we had a problem. There seemed to be no way to get near her. A large boulder-strewn wash with steep sides and thick brush separated us from where she stood. As we walked along, we looked for signs of a path that might take us across the wash but saw nothing promising. We kept walking further into the canyon, hoping the path would double back towards our goal, but it did not. We finally decided the only thing to do was to find some way of crossing the wash and bush whacking our way toward Grandmother Rock. By now, we had been hiking at a strenuous pace for almost an hour and a half. But we were determined to make it to our goal, so we plunged ahead, fighting our way through tangles of manzanitas, piles of rocks, stands of prickly pear cactus, menacing Spanish Sword plants, thorny cats claw bushes, and more. It was very, very tough going, and we often had to help each other up or down a slope.

We ran into dead ends, had to double back, and find a better way up and over. Bruised and bleeding, we continued, and finally, made it up to the red rock “skirts” (some call them benches or scallops) below Grandmother Rock.

Here are beautiful manzanita flowers along our way but the bush will do you in!

“This was the initiation,” said Eileen grimly as we paused to rest on the smooth red rock ledge. “It was a test to see how much we are willing to endure to serve the land and offer our gifts to do our part for Mother Earth.” I got it! We had spent nearly an hour bush whacking and struggling and were now grateful to have found easier going. A bit of exploring led us to the perfect place for our “Holy Play”—a spacious flat platform of red rock from which we could look directly at Grandmother/Isis Rock, and out over stunning views. From this vantage point we could clearly see Pyramid Mountain, which was in direction alignment with where we stood, and the Crown Chakra. Beyond it to the right was Thunder Mountain, and in between, we knew, was Rainbow Bridge. We could also see parts of the Grassy Knolls, and even Lizard Head, way off in the distance.

I turned to see Eileen creating a beautiful altar on a big flat rock near where we stood. She laid out the gifts she had brought to offer, and I added mine. Of course, four of those gifts were the ancient medicines we realized earlier we had with us, to our amazement. There they were: yellow cat tail pollen, black root, white stones, turquoise, plus objects that meant a lot to Eileen and to me–gifts from the heart. Then we offered prayers and did an anointing ceremony with special oils and powders brought for this sacred purpose. Finally, we carefully placed three beautiful wrapped crystals in a special hidden place, as gifts for Grandmother: one crystal from Eileen, one from me, and one from Ramona, who was with us in spirit for sure. “Now, Marty, sing the songs of First Man and First Woman as I offer the pollen and white powder,” Eileen said. Here are the songs I sang as she threw her gifts into the wind.

THE SONG OF FIRST WOMAN, GRANDMOTHER KOMIDA PUKWIA (tune: O Great Spirit Chant) 

My talking and singing, they are Life. I speak for the Spirit’s life, all over the world.
I speak and all the world lightens, whitens up to heaven. Flowers bloom in the sky, as I sing the songs of heaven.
My songs are made and sung for the beautiful sky My words go into the sky. The world stands still.
A rainbow from heaven reaches down to this world. Everything grows still. My song changes everything.
This is the way I sang, when I was in this world Walking all around in Red Rock country. (adapted from Sedona: Sacred Earth)

THE SONG OF FIRST MAN, GRANDSON SKATAKAMCHA (tune: Beauty Way chant)
I descended to earth on flashes of lightening, Two on the left from Cloud, two on the right from Sun.
I arrived at Grandmother’s place, I knelt on the ground and pressed. Withy my hands and knees I pressed on the ground and sang:
When I lifted up my hands, medicine plants sprouted, Out of the earth wherever my body pressed.
I have made good things in this world. They are my heart and spirit. They are good medicine for all the people.
Open me down the middle, from my head down to my crotch. Turn me belly down on the ground, then sing around my body.
And you will get my songs, if you will sing my songs, You will keep alive with happy hearts.
Somewhere in heaven I will make new shamans, They will cure all disease simply by singing. (adapted from Sedona: Sacred Earth)

After I sung these songs out over the valleys and mountains, there was a wonderful, Spirit-filled hush. I looked and saw with my third eye a huge double rainbow stretching from Pyramid mountain to Isis/Grandmother Rock! Then Eileen offered me three pieces of white bread to honor First Woman Komida pukwia, her daughter who we named White Star, and her son, Skatakamcha. I faced in the three directions that opened out before us with my back to Isis/Grandmother Rock. At the edge of our sacred space, which definitely felt like the Crown Chakra’s energy, I threw the pieces of bread off the cliff on which we stood, with gratitude and awe in my heart.

Eileen began drumming on her marvelous old Tibetan drum, and I took out my turquoise inlaid double flute and felt the Spirit Winds blowing through me and it, creating beautiful music for Mother Earth and the spirits we were honoring.

Marty with her beautiful double flute standing near Isis Rock in Long Canyon.

I had never played my double flute this way before, and I knew I was merely an instrument for Holy Breath, just as the flute was an instrument for my breath. My eyes were closed as I played. I had a strong sense of a huge white bird hovering overhead, and I felt the wind pick up and start blowing quite strongly around us. We did three rounds of drumming and fluting, and once again, when we stopped, there was a deep, awesome silence. This was all the more extraordinary, because before I sang and we played our drum and flute, we had been assaulted several times as we conducted our sacred ceremony by the loud noises of helicopters flying overhead as they circled Long canyon. I had to really focus when this happened to not allow my irritation at this irreverent and careless disturbance of the beauty, silence, and peace of the Sedona Red Rock Temple to spoil my experience. I fervently prayed, envisioning the peace and quiet people come here for from all over the world to enjoy no longer being disturbed in this way.

Having concluded our Holy Play, Eileen and I enjoyed a drink of water and a snack as we told each other what our individual inner experiences had been. I was amazed when Eileen said she had seen the Grandmother release seven white doves which circled above us as we played. The rest of her story is hers to tell. She ended by saying that the spirit of Skatakamcha had spoken to her, saying it was very important that we continue our work with the land and spirits at the other Chakra centers which lay, as the legend said, along the length of his body from his head to his crotch. I remembered his ancient promise to the people and spoke it aloud. “Sing around my body, and you will live!” “That’s what we must do,” I said to Eileen. “It’s very important,” she replied, and with one last offering of corn meal on the altar and on the sacred platform where we had conducted our ceremony, we took up our backpacks and headed back for the trail out of the canyon. It was past 3:30 by now, and we didn’t know how long it would take to get out of the canyon. We didn’t want to be in it when the light faded out of it, so we wasted no time heading down hill. I had been dreading this part, for I had no idea how we would ever bushwhack our way down. It was hard enough coming up and going down steep slopes is even worse. I silently prayed for a sturdy stick I could use as a staff, since I had left the one I usually use at home. And I prayed even more fervently that we would find an easier way down. We did! Eileen guided us into the nearby wash, where I found a perfect stick to use for the descent, and with little difficulty, we followed the wash to a point where we could see people on the trail that led out of the canyon, only a short distance away! We had gotten from our ceremonial spot to the trail in a quarter of the time it had taken us earlier to get up to our vantage point at the Crown Chakra ! Needless to say, we were very grateful and said “thank You” aloud several times as we walked along the path out of Long Canyon.
As we sipped coffee and an ice cold soda at the Deelish Deli after our hike, continuing to reflect and compare notes on our experience, we both agreed that what we were doing out on the land for the sake of Mother earth was what anyone could do. We hope many of our readers will be inspired and instructed by our stories, and go out on the land wherever they live, and with gratitude and simple ceremony, give back to Mother Earth, and help awaken the marvelous spiritual energies that live on this gorgeous planet we are entrusted with to appreciate and tend.