SEDONA: PART IV



I got to Ravenheart Coffee a little before 7:00 and Debra arrived shortly after, along with her husband, Tom, another woman named Tessa, and a cheerful black dog (I'm trying so hard to remember its name -- Annie, maybe?)

We all climbed into Tom's Jeep and drove out to a trail called Soldier's Pass. It was a beautiful hike - one of I've made sure to take each time I've been back. We passed "Devil's Kitchen" - a giant sinkhole, and came upon the seven sacred pools. They pointed out the different trees and cacti, and talked about the rock formations and how they had each gotten their name.

Along the way, Debra and Tom talked about Sedona, about how they came to settle in there, and about spirituality. I learned that Tessa was a British journalist and had come to Sedona to do an article about it.

The hike itself wasn't strenuous, and was just the right length to make me want more. I was overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding me and the positive energy that just seemed to radiate off of everything. It was almost as if I was on some sort of drug -- complete sensory overload!

When we got back, Debra told me that they had scheduled me for a "sound healing" later in the day, and that I should meet my guide - a shaman - here at the same coffee shop. I spent the rest of Saturday morning driving around Sedona, getting familiar with where things were.

In the early afternoon, I headed back to Ravenheart and waited for my guide. I wasn't sure what to expect. What the hell does a shaman look like? I pictured some crusty old Indian, like the guy in the 1980's water conservation commercial.

About ten minutes after our designated meeting time, a beat up station wagon pulled into the parking lot and my shaman - a really cute, long-haired guy in his early 30's - bounded out.

"Be right back," he called as he passed me by. "Gotta pee..."