For my West Coast friends who know Sedona and its alternative vibe, you’ll love this story. And for my East Coast friends who may not, I think you’ll get a kick out of it too (although you might decide to stay on your side of the Mississippi).

Sedona, Arizona is a beautiful, peaceful place. Marked by amazing red rock formations, it is regarded it as a nirvana of  heightened spiritual and artistic energies. And of course, there are the vortexes.

A vortex is a field of intense, spiraling, spiritual energy
(stay with me, it gets good, I promise). These energies can be aggressive (masculine) or healing and nurturing (feminine) and interact with the inner selves of those sensitive to such things. Twisted juniper trees mark the site of some of these vortexes; believers will tell you that the trees have been twisted by the energy fields.

We visited Sedona on our way to Taos (road trip!) and felt compelled to do a vortex visit. Not that we were believers; we were just curious. The vortex we chose was centered around a pile of rocks, surrounded by twisted junipers. Here’s where it gets weird. The day was not overly hot, the rocks were not challenging to climb. But somewhere between the ground and the few strides up to the top, my personal energy spiral began.

At the top, I thought I was going to die. We’re talking a dizzy, shivering, can’t-feel-my-arms-or-legs, insides-churning, I-feel-like-I’m-about-to-be-swallowed-up kind of death. B. had me sit down, put my head down, drink water — but nothing helped.

And then, the shaman. From out of nowhere an old-hippie type walked over to offer his services. He explained that he was a healer and gave me a crystal to hold, telling me to visualize the crystal acting as an anchor to center me to the earth. Right.

Are you picturing this? Ms. City Girl in the middle of cosmic nowhere holding a crystal and depending on Mystical Man to keep me from swirling off into the sunset — just shows you how awful I felt to go along with this one.

But you know, it worked. The bad stuff went away, and I was left feeling calm — no shaking, no churning, no thoughts about dying. But still not believing.

Until the shaman told us that this was a masculine vortex. And that its energy had overwhelmed my energy, bringing on the whole experience. He also told us that the crystal had rebalanced my energy, making it stronger.

Say what you want. I know it sounds a little touchy-feely. I thought so too. That is, until I had the desire to crack open a Bud, order a huge steak, and tell off the rude waiter.

Between you and me, I knew I could take him.

© 2012 Claudia Grossman