Like many spiritual practitioners, I chose to engage in a ritual to honor the numerologically auspicious date of 11\/11\/11 .\u00a0 As timing would have it, I happened to be in Sedona, Arizona on Friday. In the midst of\u00a0the Red Rocks\u00a0vortices, which are said to amplify energy,\u00a0 it seemed like Divine Timing. As much as it may\u00a0appear to\u00a0be\u00a0‘cosmic foo-foo’ \u00a0to some, I have discovered that in the process of awareness of vital life force, I am strengthened and my intentions are magnified.<\/p>\n
I had heard that there was a labyrinth walk near the home of the friends with whom I was staying, which felt like an immediate YES! to this fast paced soul who had dramatically slowed down in my week there. Driving on the main thoroughfare of Rte 89A, I turned into the parking lot of St. Andrews Episcopal Church.\u00a0 I walked to the site, joining the growing gathering of gracefully aging hippies like myself; many enwrapped in colorful garb; works of he(art) themselves. The first person I noticed had a familiar face and with arms outspread, big grin across his face. I realized it was my friend Larry (a.k.a. Hugman) who had moved to Sedona a few years ago from Maine, but I met him 14 years ago in Pennsylvania when, as a clown, I entertained at his son Gabe’s 6th birthday party.\u00a0 He pointed to the hat perched on his head and I recognized it as one my husband had made long ago. He called them Heavenly Headwear: Hats\u00a0For People With Heads\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(the tag line came from a question asked by a friend…”who are they designed for?”, to which Michael had answered “People with heads.”) \u00a0 Now nearly 13 years after his death, Larry still wears Michael’s creation. It is a blue and white batik design with a sun face in the middle. I smiled in remembrance since 11\/11\u00a0 was also the day that he had entered the hospital in a coma while awaiting a liver transplant. Five and half weeks later, he made his transition. This year, there is nary a twinge of sadness. I send him a blessing to wherever in the Universe he is at the moment.<\/p>\n Drums and other percussion instruments were made available to us and of course I indulged in this since it is one of my favorite activities, as we slowly encircled the painted blue design modeled after the labyrinth in Chartres, France.\u00a0 We entered one by one, sent on our way by a woman who offered each of us the blessing of remembering who we truly are, as she invited us to gaze into our own eyes in a mirror that she held before us.\u00a0 Slowly step by step, I moved through the winding path, at home in my own heart and mind for the first time in quite awhile. Quieting the chattering monkey mind that would have liked to have skipped through the path, instead I took step by step as if pulled along a stream. I was able to pause (of necessity actually) since the man in front of me slowed his pace, and not feel impatience, as if somehow I needed to move on to my next activity. This moving meditation moved me from the inside out.<\/p>\n As I reached center of the design, a yoga mat had been lain\u00a0there and I felt called to place myself in child’s pose with the thought of the Rumi quote:<\/p>\n “Today, like every other day As I walked out the other side of the labyrinth,\u00a0I felt a deep sense of peace\u00a0wash over me and I knew I had indeed moved\u00a0through\u00a0a portal into a\u00a0new state of being. Will the world change as a result of the\u00a0numerical synchronicities?\u00a0\u00a0 Seems to me that more likely,\u00a0it will shift because we are willing to\u00a0do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nI wake up empty and frightened.
\nDon’t go to the door of the study
\nAnd begin to read a book.
\nInstead, take down the dulcimer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nLet the beauty of what you love
\nBe what you do.
\nThere are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”<\/p>\n