Into The Maelstrom - On the Peculiar Vibrations of the Sedona Vortexes

"Mysteries abound were most we seek for answers" - Ray Bradbury

Maps are a curious thing.

They can tell us where we are, or point us in the direction we wish to take. They can warn of sea monsters or dragons, whirlpools that drag the unsuspecting seafarer down to Davy Jones’ Locker under the sea. They can tell us about what we already believe to be true, or illustrate gaps in our understanding of the world. Maps are peculiar; they are two-dimensional representations of landscapes that exist in three.

On the subject of maps, expert Joni Seager writes that “While one map might provide a simple portrait of place and a record of the contemporary landscape, another will be intentionally designed as a commercial census of the people and resources of a place. Yet another offers a glimpse into the fanciful imagination or the great artistry of the mapmaker." Maps have a way of telling stories, and the story depends largely on the subjectivity of the storyteller.

Sometimes, maps can lead us to places that defy explanation.

Once, many years ago, I lived in a canyon surrounded by cliffs the color of old blood. People would travel from the far corners of the globe to gawk and marvel. Snapping pictures, speaking a myriad babble of languages, and seeking fortune-tellers to read their palms.

That’s right. Palm readers, psychics, mediums, shamans, and healers from as many disciplines and backgrounds as there are colors in the sky at dawn or twilight. They flock to this place because of the magic embedded in the rust-colored earth.

I am talking, of course, about Sedona, Arizona.

Sedona is known for her red rocks, her southwestern art, her reputation as a place of spiritual growth. Sedona also enjoys a certain notoriety as a New Age hotspot that nevertheless relies on the cultural appropriation of Indigenous spiritual practices and sacred traditions of the Navajo, the Hopi, the Yavapai, and the Apache. Beneath this thin veneer of spiritual openness is a dark truth of colonization, stolen land, and exploitation. But ask any crystal-clutching white woman why she loves Sedona, and she’ll probably tell you about the vortexes.

A map of the Sedona Vortexes

There are as many as five famous energy vortexes in the Sedona area, places where those who are sensitive to such things can identify powerful vibrations that enhance the inner strength of spirit of anyone who might wander across their path. The energy from a vortex is said to be akin to the energy found in each person’s innermost self, which is why many who visit Sedona’s historic sites claim to be able to sense the vibrations of a vortex. Sedona vortexes are purportedly natural geomagnetic points that create a swirling energy center radiating from the earth’s surface. Many people have reported feeling inspired by these beneficial spiritual energy sources, which are also said to enhance intuition and a sense of well-being. People come from all over the globe to experience this strange and powerful phenomenon.

I once visited the vortex on top of the Airport Road Mesa, as a thunderstorm rolled in over the rust-colored flatiron mountains like a bruise spreading across the sky. I didn't know it at the time, but I was falling in love again for the first time after losing someone important to me. My heart had gone dormant, but it was coming back to like with an agonizing tingling, like a limb that had gone to sleep. This awakening was painful, and I was terrified.

Lightning spiderwebbed, flashing as the air grew electrically charged. I held my hands out, closed my eyes, and tried to sense the energies surrounding me.

What I felt was a delightful, terrifying, supercharged chaos - pure energy, whether it was the storm threatening to break or the electromagnetic force of nature that we humans barely comprehend or perceive, I still am not entirely certain. What I do know is this:

I was looking for answers, like a place on the map that would guide me to where I wanted to be. But all I found were more mysteries. Many people come to Sedona looking for catharsis. They seek healing on a spiritual level for psychic or psychological traumas.

A massive thunderclap slapped me around the ears, left them ringing as the raindrops began to pelt down from the furious clouds. As I ran for the shelter of my car, I felt like something inside me had changed.

Before, I had been out to sea, trying to navigate by the light of unseen stars. Now, I at least had a map, with a glimmering star bravely proclaiming you are here. In his essay, "Narrating Self and Other: A Historical Overview," Casey Blanton writes that “As every travel writer knows, maps and books can tell only part of the truth. By what process, using what models, does the traveler presume to describe, to interpret, to represent people and places who are other to him?”

I know why I was drawn to Sedona, and why so many people who are seeking answers or healing gravitate toward this complicated and problematic place -

we are all of us storytellers, and all of us are trying to tell a paradoxically untellable truth about ourselves and how we relate to others.

Works Cited:

Blanton, C. (1997). Travel writing: the self and the world. Twayne.

Seager, J. (2005). World History Sources - Maps. https://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/unpacking/mapsmain.html.

https://visitsedona.com/spiritual-wellness/what-is-a-vortex Retrieved May 14 2021

https://www.sedona.net/vortex-map Retrieved May 14 2021

https://detoursamericanwest.com/where-to-find-an-energy-vortex-in-sedona/ Retrieved May 13 2021