Crestone

True, Crestone is a place, not a gem or crystal. However, the land and Mountains around Crestone were created by the same types of geological forces that produce gemstones. There is an undeniable energy and ancient memory about this area that feels much like the Power I perceive in stones.

Crestone sits at the foot of the Sangre De Cristo (Blood Of Christ) Mountains in South central Colorado. Humans have visited, hunted and done Vision Quests in these Mountains for the last 11,000 years. The Apache, Commanche, Jicarilla and Ute were the first to travel here.

Eventually the Spanish, French and finally Anglo ancestors found their way to these Sacred Mountains. Their current name, Sangre De Cristo were given by the first Spanish explorers through the region. The Mountains range from the Arkansas River in Colorado to the Glorieta Pass in New Mexico, across 200 miles. It is one of the longest Mountain ranges in the world, with five peaks over 14,000 feet, and several others over 13,000 feet.

Over 300 million years earlier, the peaks and ranges around Colorado looked very different and a vast inland Sea lapped against their base. Three uplifts shaped this primal Colorado. Geologists have named these faults the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. The borders of these lifts formed the Colorado Trough, where the Sea flowed in. As streams tumbled out of these ancient Mountains, stoney debris would accumulate in sedimentary formations called alluvial fans. These fans spread out along the foot of the Mountains and into the Sea.

This eroding and depositing continued peacefully for eons. Geologists estimate that around 65 million years ago, something triggered the faults along the Ancestral Rockies and the Sea bed was heaved towards the Sky. In some areas displacements of over 6700 feet occurred. The stone bed and boulders now found on the tops of peaks like Crestone Needle were once the bottom of the prehistoric Sea.

Volcanos sprung up spewing lava, incandescent ash, magma and various molten mixtures throughout the region. Then, just a mere two million years ago, glaciers advanced and retreated, etching the modern version of the Rocky and Sangre De Cristo Mountains that you now know.

One of the most dramatic results of these geological events in a totally unique stone called the Crestone Conglomerate. You can see pictures I took of some Conglomerates and also the Mountains at http://www.ozarkrockexchange.com/crestone.html

The Crestone Conglomerate is usually a medium to gigantic boulder. It looks like someone has taken dozens of different stones and rolled them together in concrete. Except the process was a little more tedious than that. First you take a few hundred million years of erosion, add gooey volcanic ash and molten mixtures, shake violently, then compress for another million or so years using massive glaciers. Then you'll have a Crestone Conglomerate!

My experiences in Crestone at the foot of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains were very powerful. I received my first Vision, felt the presence of my Guides stronger than ever, felt the presence of Angels for the first time and got to spend a lot of time hiking in the Mountains.

Everyone arrived on Thursday afternoon. Shortly after unloading Gypsy Wind, I found the trail into the Mountains and began exploring. A few hundred feet up the trail, the sound of falling water danced faintly between the brush of wind against tree. Without a second thought, I left the path and followed the trail of sound. A perfect stream, falling quickly down the Mountain's side, splashing across boulders and fallen trees. Everyday I was in the Mountains, I stopped to visit my Stream, in fact, it became almost a ceremony for me.

Friday was our first full day together. That night we attended an extraordinary meditation at the Sanctuary House. A special Mantra meditation, I believed that was called a Dune, was promised to transport you to a heightened state of meditation. Since I have a very difficult time achieving anything other than calm in meditation, I was really looking forward to the event.

We learned the Mantra ahead of time, and were prepared mentally for our participation. They began the meditation with a prayer, then everyone started chanting, while drummers picked up the rhythm. Visualization has been, basically impossible for me. So, when I meditate, I visualize colors as I breathe through my Chakra which always brings me to a relaxed state and induces calm. That's as far as my meditations go.

While I couldn't keep up with the chanting, I found the colors I correspond with my Chakra came quickly and easily as I slipped into my meditation routine. When I reached the Crown Chakra, the color exploding out was brilliant lavender. All my Chakra now awakened and balanced, I started to breathe in through my Root Chakra and felt the rainbow build through each Chakra until I exhaled out the Crown. Again, the visualization came easy. On one of these breathes, the color of light exiting the Crown became pink, like Rose Quartz. The shaft of light crystallized, and I could see it split an ethereal image of myself, revealing my Kundalini (your inner Fire Snake of motivation) and it was the dancing Mountain Stream.

I was immediately awed at the intensity of the image in my meditation (definitely a first for me), but also grateful for the affirmation the image gave my path. I am a confirmed Child of our Earth Mother and am blessed to share the Songs my Relations sing to me.