Mount Shasta One

I took this photo last June at Mt. Shasta in California, in a truly magical place called Stewart Mineral Springs. I had been stealth camping and housesitting my way up through California, exhausted after my farm failure and needing to spread my wings. I went to Stewart Springs to experience the healing mineral baths and springs. Many guests believe that the mineral waters flowing there are the most powerful healing waters on Mother Earth. They are very similar to the waters in Glastonbury, UK which is said to be the heart chakra of the earth. Mt. Shasta is said to be the root chakra of the earth. I had been toying with the idea of selling my farm and visiting all the chakras of the earth.

When I arrived at the rustic bathhouse, the aroma of smoking sage and palo santo (holy wood), soft music and candles in the dimly lit baths immediately set my soul to peace. A lovely woman poured me a hot mineral bath that felt like slipping into a silk glove. She advised me not to stay longer than ten minutes because of its deeply purifying properties, then recommended I follow with ten-minutes in the dry wood-fed sauna, an icy dip in the lovely natural rock pool where the spring waters gather. I did and then finished by resting on the wooden deck gazing at the sacred mountain. The entire experience was intoxicating.


The springs have a rich Native American history and are on sacred ground at the

foot of Mt. Shasta (which I will tell you more about in subsequent blogs). When I took the photo of the Columbine flower, I was sitting on a rock in the middle of the stream very near where the red springs (female) and the white springs (male) converge with the fresh water off the mountain. It was a single flower growing from the rocks in the stream. To me, the moisture orbs create a beautiful visual image of the Divine Feminine and Sacred Masculine coming together in one. Listening to the Pele' Report for this week (link below) made me think of this. While giving the report Kaypacha was wandering up a stream and said, "Oh, look at this now. It's a confluence. The confluence for the Native Indigenous people is always a sacred place where two become one. And that’s what Libra and Scorpio are all about." It reminded me of the confluence in Shasta and made this a fitting story for my new blog.

Anyway, after repeating the living water mineral bath mantra at the bathhouse two more times that day, I didn't want to leave. I couldn't bear it. It was as if the rocks were magnetically holding me there (more about the magic of the mountain later). I asked about camping options and they told me I could camp back towards the spring in the medicine wheel for $35 a night, which was the same as the cost to use the bathhouse. Even though I had planned to head north that evening for Oregon, I knew I had to stay another night.

When I woke the next morning gazing through the pines towards the stream, I saw four hands moving in universal waves. I realized they were doing Tai Chi and said aloud "I want to do Tai Chi." I got up and dressed. As I stood brushing my teeth in my campsite a lovely couple walked by and greeted me. Laughing and spitting, I said "I saw you doing Tai Chi. It was lovely" and they replied that the next morning I should join them. Their names were Corey and Debra Sue and they had married there at the springs and had been coming back twice a year for the past 15 years. Sadly, I told them I was leaving that afternoon and went back to the bathhouse for my water ceremony.

The second day was even more intoxicating, so I was totally bummed when I had to go back to my car and pack up my things to go. I was jonesing to spend more time on the mountain. I got everything packed up and then couldn't find my keys. I looked everywhere and retraced my steps. I told the people in the bathhouse and walking back, the couple I had met gave me a holler from the deck of their cabin and asked what I was doing. At that point, the manager of the place walked up and said if I didn't find them, just to stay another night and he would bring his metal detector the following day.

Corey and Debra Sue promptly put their tennis shoes on and we headed back to the stream where I had taken the picture. Contorting ourselves to look under the big rocks and into the crevices positions splashing in and out of the stream, we created a million new poses and called it Wet Rock Yoga. We played and laughed, them teaching me Tai Chi and me teaching them yoga, but we didn't find the keys. They invited me to their cabin for dinner, which was great because a lot of the food I had brought required fire, which wasn't allowed on the property.

Walking into their cabin was like walking into home - the scents of essential oils, a fire in the stove burning and garlic cooking. (My kids and grandkids always love to sniff me when I hug them and remark that I "smell like Grammy's". When I ask what it smells like they say "garlic, herbs & essential oils".) I discovered that Debra Sue was a Chinese Medicine Doctor and Corey had an inspirational radio station called World One Radio and taught children broadcasting. These were my people. They spoke my language spiritually, too. Debra Sue was as much of a travel pack rat as me. She had schlepped all her personal touches, like pillows and woobies (blankies). And, loads of amazing food which combined with mine made a yummy, healthy feast. It was like we had known each other forever, part of the same tribe.

When I left that evening, Corey kissed me on the head and Debra Sue gave me one of the most wonderful motherly hugs I have ever received (and my mother gives VERY good hugs). I realized then that I was experiencing the pure embodiment of Divine Feminine and Sacred Masculine combined in the partnership of these two kindred Spirits, laughing, loving and playing together.

The next morning I took my car apart, scouring every nook and cranny for my keys, but no luck. I sat down under the pines to rest and saw the manager, who will remain nameless cause I can't remember his name, walking towards me empty-handed. When I asked about the metal detector he said everyone had talked about it and that my missing keys were a sign that I was just supposed to stay a while, to use the bathhouse as much as I liked and not worry about paying them anything. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and knew he was right. The mountain was holding me there, not done with me yet. And, the generosity was overwhelming and very much appreciated, as a failed farmer, my funds were very low.

I ended up being there for almost a week, sneaking into the stream naked early mornings, playing and making food with my new friends. One evening leaving Corey and Debra Sue's cabin they hugged me and said: "You know we've fallen in love with you don't you?" Of course, the feeling was very mutual. My heart aches for those hugs and kisses now as I write.


That last morning I woke with a different feeling, knowing the time had come to leave. I had made a commitment to head back to Kansas and house sit in the Flint Hills so I could be close to my family for my birthday. I walked towards the A-frame that had housed a bunch of yoginis on a retreat the previous three days to fetch some water. I had been making this trek several times a day since I had gotten there. I stepped over a stone ring lining the boundary of the yard and looking down saw something shiny. It was my keys. The mountain had given them up. It was time to leave and it was the only place I have ever cried when I left. But, I keep the memory and magic of the waters, the mountain, the people and the beautiful confluence that happened in me and all around me there, deep in my being. Someday, I will return.

PLEASE SHARE your stories about Mount Shasta here on this post, too!!

Dr. Masaru Emoto, the eminent water scientist photographed water samples taken from where the springs converge with the water coming off the Mountain. 

http://www.stew artmineralsprings.com/nodes/springs/

Corey & Debra Sue
http://worldoneradio.org/founders/
https://www.facebook.com/Healthy-Chi-Chinese-Integrative-Medicine-303108883041244/ 

http://newparadigmastrology.com/october-18-2017-pele-report-astrology-forecast/