September 29, 2012
The first part of this day was long and arduous. The entire morning was consumed by another very intense conversation between Ricardo and me as we tried to figure out our situation once he relocated to San Francisco. The conversation took several interesting turns before we finally decided to end it. We both concluded that the upcoming separation would not be easy for us, and it was best to deal with the situation one day at a time.
Once we moved on from that conversation, I had to figure out where I would perform my meditation for Day 52. Since Ricardo and I needed to spend the day together, I also had to figure out a way to include him.
While I searched for inspiration, I reflected on my labyrinth walk at the Franciscan Renewal Center the day before. I thoroughly enjoyed that exercise and thought it would be fun to do that again but at a different location. I searched for labyrinths in the Phoenix area, and that’s when I discovered the website Labyrinth Locator.
Within this website, I found a small labyrinth at a healing center north of Phoenix in New River, Arizona. Once I clicked over to the healing center’s website, I read the following statement regarding a ceremony scheduled for later that evening:
“Every month on the full moon, the Peaceful Spirit Labyrinth hosts a walk that is both introspective and spiritually uplifting. A diverse and fun group gathers under the desert full moon. We are drawn together for this walking meditation that solves problems and clears the mind, calms the soul, mends the heart, and heals the body.”
Since it was the Harvest Moon, I was extremely interested, so I called the number on the site and left a brief message asking for directions and details. Since the town of New River was located north of Phoenix and in the same direction as Crown King, I thought it would be fun for Ricardo and me to return to the place we visited a week after meeting in October 2010. After discussing things with Ricardo, we agreed it was a great idea.
With several hours of sunlight remaining, we headed north on Interstate 17, towards New River and Crown King, Arizona.
After exiting Interstate 17 and driving onto the dirt road to Crown King, the owner of the healing center returned my call with directions and details about the full moon ceremony scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM. That gave us 3.5 hours to complete everything. I thanked her for returning my call and told her we would do our best to arrive on time.
We arrived at our first destination a few minutes later, at approximately 4:15 PM. This magical place was located at the following coordinates: 34°15′ latitude, 112°18′ longitude, slightly north of the 33rd Parallel.
With no time to waste, we parked the truck, and I began searching for a place to perform my meditation. I was instantly led to a group of large boulders on a nearby hill. I hiked up to the top of the hill and took a moment to gain my bearings. Looking around, I could see Ricardo’s truck to my south (circled below)…
and Ricardo, standing next to his favorite rock to my north. (circled below)
While I was photographing Ricardo standing next to the rock, he took this photo of me standing on the mound.
Ricardo took the photo.
Once I settled into position, I began my meditation. While facing east, I invoked the “Passion” angel between 4:46 and 5:06 PM.
While performing my invocation, I saw several tiny butterflies and hummingbirds. No sooner had I acknowledged these small, beautiful creatures than I noticed a telephone pole off in the distance that looked like a cross. Coupled with the wisdom the butterflies and hummingbirds offered, I could feel Christ’s Consciousness all around me.
The First Cross
Afterward, I gathered my things and began my descent from the mound. I hiked over to where I last saw Ricardo, and when I learned that he wasn’t there, I returned to the truck to wait for him. While Ricardo was off taking photographs, I found the following stick lying on the ground. It was the second cross that I witnessed in less than an hour.
We arrived at the healing center at 6:55 PM. We spent the next few minutes meeting the owners and some of their friends. We were then instructed to write the things we wanted to harvest or manifest in our lives on flash paper. Once everyone finished writing on the paper, we gathered around a small fire, introduced ourselves, and said one or two words expressing our feelings. As we started going around the circle, an owl made itself known by sounding off with a quiet, subtle hoot. The owner of the healing center acknowledged the owl, and then we continued with our exercise. When the circle came around, I used “Unconditional Love.” Ricardo chose the word “Warm.”
After everyone had introduced themselves, we were then instructed to walk over to the labyrinth in a single file to begin the ceremony, which was located on the 33°55’48” parallel.
Google Maps 2012
The owner saged each one of us as we approached the entrance to the labyrinth and gave us a warm, gentle hug. Then, one by one, we followed the path to the labyrinth’s center, taking the piece of paper we had written on earlier.
Once we reached the labyrinth’s center, we were asked to pray and then offer our piece of paper to a slow-burning flame on a table. Once the piece of flash paper disappeared entirely in the blaze, we were invited to take a small stone from a basket next to the fire on the same table. Each stone had a word written on it, symbolizing our journey. I closed my eyes, reached into the basket, and retrieved the following stone.
Ricardo’s stone read, “Love.” With the stone in hand, we were asked to pray gratitude and exit the labyrinth.
Once we made our way back through the labyrinth, Ricardo and I returned to the healing center to look around and visit with some of the other attendees. One of the employees once asked me how I had discovered the healing center. When I told her about the Labyrinth Locator website, she asked me if I had ever walked the labyrinth at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Phoenix. I said that I had not, but I knew right then and there where I would perform my meditation for Day 53.
Ricardo and I said goodbye and left the healing center around 8:30 PM. That evening, as Ricardo was showing me his photographs, I saw something exciting in the photo below:
The Third Cross
Ricardo’s photo was utterly fantastic. I was once again blown away by the divine guidance and spiritual messages that continued to come through in my journey. I couldn’t help but wonder if the three crosses had something to do with the location of my next meditation, which was scheduled to take place at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Phoenix.