All hikes travel through sacred places because the earth, no matter how man has desecrated it, is sacred. The word “sacred” as I’m using it here, has everything to do with universal laws, the energy that prevails and having respect for all.
Sacred places where marks are left behind by ancestors from long ago hold energy on stone.
Archeologists try to surmise how ancient peoples used sacred places based on knowledge of religions from another continent and it comes across as inaccurate. It seems to me they have not connected the right dots.
I can’t blame North American Shamans for keeping quiet how to work with energy, how to talk with trees, water, rocks and each other without opening their mouths.
Archeologists and shamans rarely talk to each other so a genuine understanding of sacred sites is still unknown to most. Until there is full understanding of the responsibility that goes along with having this knowledge – the wisdom to use it – there will not not be possession of it.
Al and I hiked to a sacred site this past weekend. It’s a cave a thousand feet up from the trail head, a slit on the side of a mountain. It’s hard work to get up there. There are 5 pictographs in the cave and as an artist I think the images were painted with finger tips not brushes. The lines are solid and endings rounded and the width of the lines are right. The pressure of a finger could push the pigment into the rock better than a brush, explaining how sharp and clear they appear today. They are red ochre and one is faded.
One has been marked in white by a disrespectful person.
There were two girls there with a insect whining drone. They were taking pictures of themselves at this ‘cool’ place and it felt rude to me, but I am sensitive that way.
Someone left an offering at the most faded pictograph, that was good to see. I smudged the cave with local sage. Strong emotions rose in me.
I was thankful to be there, to be with the residue of people made 8,000 years ago.
The trails we walk upon are sacred and when we are quiet, introspective and open we make way for deeper connections and understanding.
Mairi Budreau
MB taking photos of the pictos on the ceiling. Just beyond my feet the floor of the cave drops off.
Exploring Nature 