A SHAMANIC JOURNEY WITH JAMES ENDREDY (www.jamesendredy.com) By Ellen Hughes Over Labor Day weekend, Sissy and I went to Sedona for a mini vacation and to take a hike with shaman James Endredy.  I met James at INATS where he invited us to Sedona to take a shamanic journey with him. Join us as we explore the spiritual side of Sedona.  At 9:00 a.m. on September 5, James picked us up at the Baby Quail Inn.  We headed to the Enchantment Resort to pick up Aruna and Tilak, two other people going on the journey.  As he drove us to our destination, James pointed out different rock formations - Courthouse Butte (the largest rock formation), Chimney Rock (which James calls Eagle Rock), and Thunder Rock (it is struck by lightening at least 100 times each year).  It is bad luck to take rocks from Sedona. James told us of several people who had taken rocks, but later sent them back because they had bad luck.  We were sure not to take any rocks.

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When we got to the first destination, he parked the truck and we walked not more than 15 minutes.  James began to speak.

This whole area that we are in right now is what we call the Mogollon (pronounced muggy-owen) Rim.  It’s the end of the Colorado Plateau.  It runs from here all the way to the Rockies.  It’s one of the tectonic plates above sea level and it ends right here.  This is a transformational boundary of the earth’s crust, between the upper regions at Flagstaff and Denver and the valley of Phoenix below us.  This is where the transformation is happening right now.  These mountains are actually moving.  They predict that between 70 and 90 million years from now, all of this right here will be at the Grand Canyon. 

We are in a transformational zone of the earth’s crust. And we are part of the earth so that’s why people have transformational experiences here.  That’s why we have so many churches here.  (Note:  Population of Sedona is 11,000 and has over 700 places of worship including churches, stupas and ashrams.)  That’s why people come here.  Without even realizing it, they are in a transformational zone in the earth. 

James then led us to a majestic tree, which he called a Grandmother Juniper tree.  He continued his narrative, talking about one of his first experiences with vortexes.
 
I heard there were some pretty good petroglyphs here.  I was pretty much obsessed with finding ancient sacred sites that had ruins and petroglyphs and pictographs and things.  So I was there and I went into this bookstore.  It was one of the only stores in the whole place and I asked the guy and he was awesome.  He said, “Yes, I know right where to send you.”  He sent me to this canyon.  I am walking back in this canyon, sheer red rock walls all around me and this clear running stream coming down through. It was absolutely beautiful. It was exactly what I wanted. There probably wasn’t a person within 50 miles of me. I’m walking down this canyon and I get to this place where the canyon made a really sharp turn so the creek created this beautiful pool of water.  And it was a hot summer day and I was thinking, “Yeah, I’m going in there.” I took my clothes off, went in the water and had my dip.  And I look up and there’s this ledge above me.  I’m thinking, “I’m going to go up there.” 

I was a rock climbing guide back then.  It didn’t look very difficult for me anyway.  So I walk up there and look down at the pool.  I didn’t notice this before, but as I look down now from my new vantage point, I could clearly see that I had just walked up these ancient steps the Anastasia had put in that rock.  Even though I hadn’t found any petroglyphs yet, I was excited.  I had finally found something from the ancient people.

I am thinking this ledge must be a good place.  I am going to sit here for a while and meditate.  I’m looking down the canyon and I fall asleep.  I wake up but I’m still between sleep and awake.  I’m sitting up and looking down this canyon and I see this giant spiraling colorful movement of energy and matter in front of me.  My rational mind starts kicking in a little bit and I’m thinking, “Okay, am I supposed to go into this thing? Am I supposed to stay out of it?” I don’t know.  I really didn’t have a good feeling either way what I was supposed to do with that.  It was right there in front of me, but I really didn’t know what to do with it. 

Eventually I started waking up more and more and the spiral dissipated.  But I knew that I had to keep walking into that canyon because that’s where I saw…that.   I didn’t even know the word “vortex” back then.  But I saw it.  So I walked back in there, about half a mile or so and wouldn’t you know, right on the rock, the sheer cliff face, there are five giant pictographs of the spiral carved into the rock.  When I look back, I could see exactly where I was sitting when I saw it.  So I knew the ancient people saw exactly what I saw. 

But I still didn’t know why so I started researching it. This is the most ancient grounds that we have in the world.  There’s Newgrange (Ireland) and Chaco Canyon, which isn’t far from here.  If you go to those archeological sites, the spiral is all over them. I never really believed what people were telling me about the spirals. They were saying things like, “Oh, it’s the gestation period of a woman’s pregnancy.” Or “it’s some kind of a map or marker, you know, for a trade route or something.” 

A few years later I am with my Huichol brothers in the Sierra Madre in Mexico. These people still live without roads or electricity, running water - nothing. They still live like they did when they lived here because they are the relatives of the people who lived here. They invited me to go on the pilgrimage to the peyote desert, which is completely on the opposite side of the country from where they live.  It takes two weeks to get there. You barely eat. You are fasting the whole time. You may have a little bit of corn tortilla and a little bit of water. 

So we get to the edge of the desert and it’s nighttime. The shaman says, “We have to clear everybody now.” He builds a fire and a big clearing ceremony goes on because they believe, and I do now, that when we walk into that desert, the peyote is so strong, the energy, that if you are not clean when you walk in there, everything inside your mind is amplified - especially your negative thoughts and negative past experiences. So you have to purge it with the fire. The shaman made a big fire and everybody purges everything. These people are used to it.  Not like us.  We are not used to talking to the fire. But they are. So they just dump everything in there. I mean, they are crying and yelling and laughing all night long. 

So the morning comes and we are about ready to go into the desert to collect the peyote and a bunch of the guys go off and I go with them. They collect this yellow root from the oshoe plant. They bring it back and the women take the root. Using gourds they have prepared, they chop it up and grind it. They add tallow and some water and some other stuff and make this beautiful yellow paint. Then they proceed to paint the symbol of the spiral on everybody’s cheek. 

So I’m standing at the edge of the peyote desert with these spirals on my cheek and I still don’t know why. (James laughs)  It wasn’t appropriate in that moment for me to ask them because they are all in a completely altered state of consciousness. So I went ahead and had my experience in the desert.  (Read all about this experience in his book Beyond 2012.

Anyway, so I had my experience in the desert and now we are back in the mountains. They are getting ready to clear this big field to plant corn.  That is what they live on.  Corn and calabasa and some beans.  But they don’t come in there like we do with bulldozers and chainsaws.  They have crude axes and machetes, right?  For them, this is a sacred thing because they have to take the lives of the trees and the plants and the animals and whatever else that lives on that hill.  So they have a big ceremony.  The shaman lights the fire.  He sings to the spirits of the place.  He asks for permission.  He makes offerings. This ceremony went three whole days and nights.  It was one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen in my life. 

The next day comes and we are ready to do our work now because the shaman got permission. A bunch of the younger guys went off and I went with them, because I was younger then, too.  We had an elder with us and we take down a big tree.  The elder is telling us how he wants the tree taken apart.  The main trunk is going to be a beam for a building; other parts are going to be for firewood, and so on.  We start taking the tree apart.  I’ve got these smaller branches coming off the side of the tree and I have my machete and I’m whack, whack, whack, this way and that way, trying to get a branch off. 

While I’m doing that, I notice that there is somebody coming over here.  It’s the old shaman who has been singing for the last three days and night.  To my mortal dismay he comes and stands right in front of me.  He looks me in the eye and in a really strong voice, he says, “Do you understand what it is that we are doing here, boy?”  He lowers his voice and says, “We have the fire going and I’m out chanting to the spirits.  This is ceremony to us because we’re part of the land and the land is part of us.  You are not there.  I want you to try to step through the neea yee ka.  (Neea yee ka is a Huichol word that means “spiral”, “portal”.)  I want you to step through the neea yee ka and adjust your perception of what you are doing right now – closer to what we are doing because we are still in the ceremony with this tree and you are not.”  He was asking me to get out of my Western American mind where I’m just hacking this tree branch off. 

Well, he could probably see that I didn’t completely understand what he was talking about.  In the next moment he grabs the machete out of my hand and in one swipe he takes that branch off.  This is still a miracle to me to this day.  He takes that branch and he puts it in my left hand like this so the cut part is facing me.  He takes my other hand, my right hand like this and he puts my palm facing me like this.  And he says, “Now you look!”  I saw.  And I have been there ever since.  Because what he showed me was the spiraling concentric growth of the tree limb was exactly what I have on every single one of my fingers.  Fingerprints. 

A little bit later on I finally realized why the ancient people are making the symbol of the spiral – the vortex.  In my 2012 book (see biography below) or you can go on-line and see this – our NASA’s latest depiction of what our galaxy looks like – it’s a giant spiraling movement of energy and matter.  Our puny little solar system is on the fourth ring out.  At the most macrocosmic level you could ever imagine – we live in a vortex.  When you think about what our science tells us, what makes us who we are – is our DNA.  How do we map that?  Double spiraling helix.  Once you get to the level of realizing the macrocosmic and the microcosmic level of the reality, you see it everywhere.  What happens when you flush a toilet?  Hurricanes.  Tornadoes.  Seashells.  Sunflowers.  I had a piece of salmon the other night and it was going like this - spiraling. 

The reality is that we live in the vortex. 

James shifts his attention back to the juniper tree.

So what is so special about this tree?  I can give you my opinion.  I think it has to do with perception.  We all perceive everything we are doing and feeling right now at different levels.  Because of our history, our education, experiences, everything.  I am experiencing more right now about this place than you are. Not because I’m smarter than you are. But because I know this place. If my dog was here, if there was a javelina anywhere around, she would smell it and she would know right away – javelina. If your dog was here, if you have one, they might smell it but they wouldn’t know it was javelina because they don’t have it in their inventory of their consciousness. So we are all perceiving at different levels. I believe that that also extends not just to human beings and animals, but also to trees and plants. This tree perceives at a higher level than any of the other trees around it. This is a shaman tree right here. This tree actually perceives the fact that we live in a vortex.    (Tree is picture on right)

And I don’t think that there is any doubt that you can say that it’s not because look at it. There are two things about Sedona that a lot of people don’t realize.  They completely overlook it. And they are like the simplest things of all. I have already told you about is the Mogollon Rim.

The other is when you are outside like we are right now, we are always seeing red. And we are always seeing green. And 95% of the time, we are seeing blue.  We are not seeing too much blue today. Red, green and blue in a super-saturated way. Three of the primary, main colors that our retinas were designed to see. And if you are not used to it, that can effect your perception deeply. Also, the iron content of the rock – what makes this rock red?  Iron, oxidized. There is magnetism that happens between the formations. That’s why the people call them the vortex. Because they feel the magnetism of the rock formations interacting with each other and within the big formations you feel different air currents, different barometric pressures, all kinds of stuff and that’s where they come up with the whole vortex thing. 

I don’t call them vortexes. I call them power spots. This is a power spot. This is where they had the fire where they heated the lava rock for the sweat lodge. And the sweat lodge is right back there. They picked this spot because look, you can see almost everything around Sedona from here. 

Just remember that because in a minute I’m going to tell you something else about the other place which is very similar. Stop here just for a second.  The energy of this place is very powerful. But powerful in a way that’s very peaceful. I haven’t taken you to any of the really super-harsh ones. What I want you to realize about this sacred place is that we have a combination of two mingling energies going on here. First of all, we have the power of the spot. I think we would all agree is a powerful spot. I mean, if you want to talk about where vortex energies lie, look at this hill right here. We have the whole thing right here.  This is where an energy vortex would actually create itself. 

What is going to create an energy vortex up there? We are at the base of Thunder Mountain. It’s the biggest mountain in the whole area. The energy here is powerful because of that. And then we have the human energy factor.  Because this place has millions - and that is not an exaggeration – but millions of human prayers put into it for one specific reason. (He is referring to the stupa here which will be discussed later.)  I don’t care if you are Catholic or Jewish or Hindu or Christian or anything.  Anybody that comes here with the feeling of peace in their heart is welcome. So, when we go around the corner right up here you are going to feel it. 

We went around the first corner and sat in a cave.  James called this Vision Quest.  We sat there while we looked out on the trees below.  There he drew circles and talked more about vortexes.  He talked about centrifugal and centripetal forces.

Then, one by one, we went around another crevice.  In that area there was an opening in the rock or “window” to look out of.  He said that’s what they called their “movie” theatre.

He led me to the “movie theatre” first and had me sit there.  James said the aura pulls in on itself so everything becomes clearer to a person.  He said, “Your energy field contracts, making everything more vivid.”  I FELT THAT.  I understood about my lungs and that instead of feeling like I needed to kill or get rid of nodules/bacteria in my lungs, they had grown in there and now I could just turn the process around with love and turn them back into nothing. 

He came back and got me after about 5 minutes.  He took me around another corner.  I had to put my left hand in a specific crevice in the rock and place my right foot in a specific place and then swing myself around the corner.  It was really quite exhilarating.  Then when I was around the corner he told me to walk back into the “shaman’s  cave”.   I walked through a narrow canal into a cave, which James called a “shaman’s portal”.  In this cave, James said the aura would expand to include many things. 

As I sat there by myself I felt a presence – images of an Indian or cave dweller came to me.  And feathers, lots of feathers.  After the images of the cave dweller in animal skins passed from my consciousness, I stood up and walked to the opening that served as a window to the forest down below.  The rain started slowly at first and then picked up speed.  Soon it was coming down in torrents, slicing through the air and the trees. 

As I watched, I became acutely aware of the wind blowing the rain sideways and the trees drinking in the rain and the clouds overseeing it all.  I felt like I was witnessing for the first time how nature works together in harmony. 

I started to feel anxious as I watched the rain darken the red rock, knowing that navigating back on slippery rock was going to make the trek back a little more daunting.  I started back through the canal, when I heard Tilak coming toward me.  Understand, it was pitch black through the canal and you had to feel your way through it.  I figured that if James had sent Tilak through, then I had nothing to fear on the way back.  Next Sissy came through and joined us in the shaman’s portal.  (Aruna had already pushed her comfort level as far as it could go and she kept vigil back in the Vision Quest area.) 

We three sat in silence, experiencing everything the cave had to offer – both past and current.  After about 15 minutes, James returned and talked to us about the cave.  He pointed out the roots of the Grandmother Juniper tree had grown through the ground and had pushed out into the cave.  He then led us out through the canal - he referred to it as the “birth canal” - and that we were being re-born.

Once we were above ground, he had us stand right above where the shaman cave was and pointed out that the Grandmother Juniper tree was with us above ground and below ground.

Filled with our new-found energy and knocking off as much of the red rock dust from our shoes as we could, we piled back into James’ truck to visit the 36-foot Amitabha stupa.  It is dedicated to world peace, environmental stability and the end of suffering.  The Amitabha Stupa is considered to be especially powerful, as Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, vowed to respond to the prayers of all who call upon him. 

Once James stopped the truck, it was a short walk to the stupa.  We came upon the Medicine Wheel first, but James directed us to the stupa and we returned later to the Medicine Wheel.

I said there were millions of prayers that built this place. They actually are prayer scrolls. Similar to the flags that you see here with all the prayers written in them.  But there are hundreds of scrolls that have written prayers on them and put inside there and then hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of little miniature stupas that have prayer offerings inside. The whole stupa is filled with them. 

There are different places in Sedona but they aren’t near the ancient medicine wheel. And the medicine wheel is right there. That’s the oldest one in Sedona that I know of. And look at the symbolism. When you walk the Medicine Wheel, you are walking in a circle. When you walk in the stupa, you do the same thing.  See the arrow on the rock over there? That’s showing you the direction of walking clockwise around the stupa when you make your prayers. 

And look at the significance of the stupa, the structure. It’s got four corners and the center. Same as the medicine wheel. And on the stupa, there is a giant crystal at the top. That’s spreading the prayer of everybody like an antenna. 

The way the Buddhist use the stupa - I am in their sacred spot so I use it the way they do. We’ll walk the circle. And we say our prayers for peace, gathering our prayers for peace with all the prayers that are inside so it comes out through the top.

The monks told me when I was here one time, “Look, this is not just a one-way movement of energy.  It’s a two-way street.”  You can touch the stupa. You are allowed. I always touch the corner.  You can touch whatever part of it you want.  But as you are walking, not only are you putting your prayers into the stupa to be sent out through it, you can also collect the peaceful energy. They usually do circuits of seven. Seven, fourteen, forty-nine, sometimes all day long – circuits of seven. For me, I use five because I see the symbolism of five here and at the Medicine Wheel. The invitation here is, if you want to is to go to the stupa, say hello and then do your five or seven circuits or however many you want to do.  And say your prayers for peace and collect energy from the place as well because it’s really set. That thing is so powerful. And when you touch it you collect it as well.

The mantra here is peace. So this place is Om , written on the rock. Om manay paday om. And when you have fifty or sixty people walking the circle going ‘Om manay paday om’, this place is energized and you can actually see it. It’s incredible. It’s like energy shining off all these flags. Especially when the sun is shining.

We walked the stupa, giving peace and gathering it.  We visited the mini stupa which was a few yards away and sat in silence for a while, reflecting on our own thoughts.  It began to rain a little and James decided it was time to visit the Medicine Wheel. 

When you are walking the medicine wheel, you are walking around the points of each direction - north, east, south, west and then the center. Personally, I love to walk so I don’t usually spend a whole lot of time in each one. When some people walk the medicine wheel, they stop at each direction, which is fine. That is fine with me. But for me, what I do, I stop at each one the first time around and then the other four times I just walk. I don’t stop. But if you want to stop, go ahead. 

Now, what do you do when you stop?  What I do, what the Huichol do, is when you go to the east, you remember things from the east.  You relive your experiences from the east.  What does the east mean to you?  To mean, it means Pennsylvania, North Carolina, the ocean, the snapper and the white-tailed deer. And when I go to the south I am with my brothers and my Huichol Indians in the mountains in Mexico. And when I go to the west I see the Pacific Ocean and the whales. So in each direction I see all these different things and they come to me and they come back to me. What is really cool is the more times you do this, the more you experience stuff that you forgot you even knew. Most of the times when I walk the wheel, it’s my relationship with nature. Sometimes when I walk the wheel, I get people. And when I walked the east the last time I was here, I had my Dad come to me. He had been dead for 27 years now. 

We followed James around the first time, stopping at each of the four points. Then we walked around the medicine circle four more times. He said it was symbolic that we had 5 people - 5 points – 5 people. The next four times we walked around, we didn’t stop at each point. The second time around James shook a little hand drum.  The third time around, he handed it off to Tilak and Aruna. Tilak shook it. The next time I shook it, then Sissy shook it as we walked around the medicine wheel.

When we had gone around five times total, we went to the center of the medicine wheel and thanked it for everything - for being there, for our lives, for nature, etc.

We then returned to the truck.  By then we were all pretty well soaked from the rain so we warmed up with margaritas and fajitas at the Javelina Cantina.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

 
General Notes on Sedona

Coconino National Park
Sedona is located in Coconino County and the Coconino National Park.  Coconino is the word the Hopi use for Havasupai and Yavapai Indians. The Coconino National Forest was so named because it is located in the central portion of Coconino County.

West (Hollywood) Meets East
We stayed at the Baby Quail Inn in Sedona.  It is a quaint place with 12 units, huge bathrooms, a Jacuzzi outside under the stars, and very affordable.  It is owned by Dick and Misty Curtis, a friendly and fun couple.  Dick entertained us with stories of his acting days in Hollywood with Mary Tyler Moore, Paul Lynde, Jack Nicholson, Jonathan Winters and other famous entertainers.  http://www.babyquailinn.com/
If you are looking for something more upscale, check out the Enchantment Resort in Boynton Canyon.  http://www.enchantmentresort.com  

Commuting to Sedona
If you are going for a short visit, try to stay in Sedona, not Flagstaff, especially a holiday weekend.  I have been told the road between Sedona and Flagstaff becomes a parking lot on heavy tourist weekends.

Chapel of the Holy Cross
This is a must-see site in Sedona.  It is said that Marguerite Brunswig-Staude first conceived of building a chapel when she observed the newly-constructed Empire State Building in 1932. She wanted to build a structure that would glorify her Creator and in thanksgiving for all that her family had received.  While she and her husband Tony traveled through Sedona, she was struck by the beauty of the area and decided that this chapel should be built here. . “This would be a monument to faith, but a spiritual fortress so charged with God, that it spurs man's spirit godward". 

Javelina
Sooner or later when you are in Sedona, you will hear of the javelina.  We heard it was everything from a member of the pig family to a deformed anteater.  It is neither.  It is a member of the peccary family and not too pretty.  We didn’t see one in person, but saw many made out of iron, wood and pinecones. 

Biography:

www.jamesendredy.com
James is a teacher, mentor and guide to thousands of people through his books and workshops.  For over 25 years he has learned shamanic practices from all over the globe, while also studying with kawiteros, lamas, siddhas, roadmen and leaders in the modern fields of eco-psychology, bioregionalism and sustainable living.   James also worked for ten years with Mexican shamanic researcher Victor Sanchez learning to share shamanic practices with modern people.
James is the author of: Beyond 2012, Shamanism for Beginners, EcoShamanism, and Earthwalks for Body and Spirit.  In the meantime, he continues to develop The Earth Spirit Foundation.  Additionally, James will be included alongside such celebrities as Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Andrew Weil, Prince Charles, Eckart Tolle, Carolyn Myss, Larry Dossey, and many more in an anthology called Peak Vitality.

To contact James, call 928-202-8888 or visit his website to e-mail.