Writings

Chapter two – Rocks

The sign is chocolate brown with the image of a circle of standing stones in white. Relieved to find a sign I can read, and one that directs us to something I’m interested in, I pull off the exit and continue in the direction indicated. Soli is in the passenger seat now, pouring over notes on her laptop computer. I’m not sure what it is that a television producer actually does, but it obviously takes up a lot of her time and energy.

It is midday and the sun is bright and warm overhead in a postcard blue sky. A perfect day for riding in a convertible – but in our case, the red Mercedes station wagon will have to make do. “So – do you know where you’re going?” Soli asks, looking up from her computer.

“There was a sign for a stone circle. I thought it might be a good place for us to get a feel for sacred space.” Soli shrugs and drops her gaze back to the screen. The chattering of her keyboard joins the voice of the wheels on the road. It’s a strange sort of music. ...

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One of the most frequently asked questions about all this “Traveling” about in “other realms” in altered states of consciousness – loosely referred to as Shamanic Journeying – is also the most useless. It is the question: “Is it real?”

Imagine that you live and work in Cincinnati, and you take a month’s vacation to Tibet. While there you see all sorts of marvelous things that you never imagined existed, as well as some relatively familiar things that you might have seen “back home.” Now imagine that upon returning from your incredible journey all your friends want to know is, not how wonderful it was, not how strange and unusual the people and the scenery were, but “was it Ohio?” ...

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