two visitors and a vortex...

Vortexes are areas of high energy concentrations, originating from magnetic, spiritual, or sometimes unknown sources. Anna Jones

As I have mentioned, I live in Tucson, Arizona for the winter. My daughter is visiting for a few weeks. She and a friend are going to Sedona tomorrow -- a place of red cliffs, mesas, and beauty -- which reminded me of my last trip there. I wrote the following a short time later.

My friend was treating my cousin and I to a tour of the Sedona vortexes. He had felt different energies on previous visits. I was skeptical.  Ten years ago, I dismissed the vortexes as a tourist-draw. A lot happens in a decade and now I was curious.

Walking the mile to the base of Cathedral Mountain -- supposedly a vortex location -- we came out of the trees and were dwarfed by mountain walls, brilliant orange-yellow wrinkled with purple shadows. At my feet a stream trickled over flat, red rock. Our hiking guide invited us to close our eyes and let the sun warm the morning chill. The air was pristine, the birds were waking.

After a while, my hands started to tingle. I wondered if this was the vortex feeling but thought not? We sat awhile in silence. I could feel the beauty even with my eyes half-closed. Then out of the corner of my mind’s eye, to the left, a figure caught my attention -- a native American.  I dismissed "the image" knowing these southwest areas are steeped in history. However, as I kept watching him, he seemed quite material as if resting or waiting on one knee. Oddly, one feather on the right side of his head was pointing down. Then looking closer with my inner-eye I saw another smaller feather sticking out behind the larger one. Why were the feathers pointing down? 

The guide interrupted my reverie, “We are now at the center of a vortex. Did anyone sense anything? Silence. My cousin said her hands were tingling. More silence. My friend observed he didn't feel anything, this time. Hesitantly, I related what I was seeing. The guide instantly asked, as if it was a normal observation, where "the visitor" was positioned? I pointed to the left of a small sand bar about twenty feet in front of me. Then, describing him, I told them about the feathers pointing down.

While I was talking my cousin puts her hand on my arm and whispers, “A yellow, black butterfly has been sitting on your shoulder since you began talking.” Without moving, I saw it’s wings fluttering. Then looking toward the sand bar, my visitor was disappearing. The butterfly stayed a little longer. As we left, I turned and waved good-bye.

Several days later my friend described my encounter to a woman of the Hopi tribe. Her initial interest was in the butterfly "lodging" on my shoulder. She asked, "Is her birthday in July?" (July 24 th) Seemingly satisfied, she continued to informed my friend the meaning of two feathers pointing down signified the "visitor" as a teacher.

Driving back to Tucson, I had difficulty dismissing the experience. A quote kept filtering through my disbelief, "When the student is ready a teacher appears."*

* A Buddhist proverb
Photo source: fotolia

(Basically, a writing from a decade ago which my daughter's visit reminded me of.)