My feet took me to a hillside strewn with boulders large and small, and the prevailing stone energy was so soothing that I sought an appropriate place to sit and center. Guided to a large, peaceful boulder, I sat in yogic cross-legged style in a cubbyhole at its base and entered into meditation. Very soon a firm, gentle stone energy drew me deep down into the middle of the earth where I felt comforted and safe, surrounded by many of the stone spirits of that location. When I came back up, all my energies were at peace, and I was filled with renewed strength to go forward.
Grandfather Rock
I had been led to sit at the base of Grandfather—the head of the extended family of rocks that spread out over an acre of land. Grandfather made me an honorary member of his family, and over the rest of that visit and for many years after, I would return, first during the yoga conferences and then just to say hello. A huge photograph of Grandfather now rests over the door to my rock shop.
Snake Altar
When a site has at least one strong image in a tree or rock—such as Grandfather—I will usually find many other images, or energies, also present. The site serves as a portal between the two worlds of nature and humanity. The variety of forms in that area depends on the energy it is holding; it could be connected to sites in other parts of the globe, or to a particular aspect of human energy that resides there now or did so in the past. If the spirits find you worthy and in resonance with them, such a place is a good one in which to interact in a communal fashion. The rock spirits of that area adopted me into their family, and over time I got to know many of them. They include a protective grandmother and her mischievous grandchild, a cranky old chauvinistic bird rock and his abused wife, a handsome hero, and elephants, birds, animals, and fish.
There is also an abandoned Native American altar in the area and another one at the base of the hill. The altar at the base of the hill borders a rushing stream and has a snake-energy head, as do many of the old Native American altars. The nature spirits of that area asked me to help them by cleaning natural debris that had settled there. On my subsequent visits, I always made certain to do a bit of altar cleansing, as an offering to spirit. For many years, I wondered why these altars would show a snake with only one eye. Finally a Native American explained to me that one eye indicates the snake has one part of its consciousness on earth and the other in spirit; it therefore serves to transport someone or something from earth to the realm of spirit.
This is an excerpt from my book Nature Spirits, Spirit Guides and Ghosts: How to Talk with and Photograph Beings of Other Realms. It describes a visit to my stone friends in Estes Park, Colorado.