“There are several ways to react to being lost. One is to panic: this was usually Valentina’s first impulse. Another is to abandon yourself to lostness, to allow the fact that you’ve misplaced yourself to change the way you experience the world.” ~Audrey Niffenegger, Her Fearful Symmetry

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things” ~Henry Miller

As I shared in my November newsletter, I was away this long weekend in Joshua Tree National Park, enjoying the high desert and breathing in the beauty and ancient energy there. The photos throughout are of my time spent there.

I mentioned that I’m going to be focusing on a lot more personal time and travels than what has become usual of recent years, which is why my work has been shifting focuses to incorporate more time and energy to do so.

This comes at a time when I’m feeling much more inner than usual and very much wanting to be in the silence within as much as possible to experience and delve into things in a new way for what I feel is to come.

Being in the desert was perfect for that.

I love the desert, having spent so much time in Palm Springs and Palm Desert when I was growing up and living in the high desert of Sedona and Reno, each for a couple of years. Everyone has their own preferences and conditions that make them feel good, but for me it is dry climates, as opposed to humid ones where I feel most suited. I prefer dry heat and dry cold over wet heat and cold for sure. That said, I do enjoy exploring everywhere, but I just know what works better for me for the long haul. I also happen to be a high altitude-kinda-gal. 😉

I hadn’t really spent much time in Joshua Tree before, only really remembering twice that I’d visited – once last year for Bhakti Fest and another time about three years ago when it was winter and quite chilly, and having not prepared for it, didn’t bode well for much exploring.

So, I was excited to spend more time and also to get the chance to visit the Integatron for a sound bath (please visit the link to learn about this amazing historical structure and see photos of the sound chamber). I had no idea that the Integatron was so well known around the world, but so many people I know all over the place have heard of it, if not in fact have visited it.

This sound chamber (also a whisper chamber where you can hear anything said, or any noise from someone directly across from you, as if it’s in your own head clearly) that you climb up vertical, ladder-like large steps to, one at a time, gave me chills throughout my body the moment I set foot inside and the crystal bowl sound bath received was like being in an energetic womb or cosmic journeying. I definitely didn’t want to leave and could have lingered in the vibrational frequencies indefinitely.

Lovely visions of ethereal faces and eyes came to me and at the end, while integrating the experience, a white owl just lingered with me, looking straight into me and then opened its wings.

Again, that white symbolism, like the white jaguar and the white conch from my dreams.

The way this white owl lingered so long and stayed with me (I get chills now writing about it) feels very important. I just briefly decided to look online if anything pops up around “white owl symbolism” and just stumbled upon this: Legend of the White Owl ~ Messenger of 911.

Along with embodying all of the general owl symbolism, white owls are also considered messengers of the gods or underworld, messengers of change and transition, appear as a sign of things to come, ability to see past illusion, to see in the “dark”, and see what is hidden to others, and can mean you’ve been given more wisdom and that you’re evolving/maturing.

Interesting things to reflect on indeed and grateful for the message.

But back to the Integratron – it is located 20 miles north of Joshua Tree National Park, in Landers on a beautiful piece of land that has an outdoor sanctuary space to welcome visitors while they await their time in the structure.

Please explore the links under “What is it” here to learn more: About the Integratron

I know I am still integrating this experience, as well as the all of the time spent hiking among the stunning rocks and Joshua Tree forests of the park.

I was even gifted some Coyote medicine, as you can see in the photo below, as one was crossing right while coming through. Such a sweet one he was, although with ears down, as I looked in his eyes, he was looking quite submissive.

There are some amazingly beautiful hikes throughout the park, each with different vegetation and terrain in many cases. I really loved Hidden Valley and could definitely spend a lot of time just “being” there on those rocks.

Other hikes explored included Barker Dam, where you also came across some cool petroglyphs in a cave (as seen in the photos at the end) and Lone Horse Mine (also seen in photos at end) and then some back trails to the park as well.

The higher elevations were definitely more abundant in varying vegetation, which was found on the longer Lone Horse Mine Trail, taking you through areas of lava rock and with view of a dormant volcano.

I did every hike, no matter length, in my flip-flops, which is my preferred method of hiking always unless it’s very cold and/or extremely challenged conditions. I find it a way to let my feet breathe, which is so important to a Pisces like me, as well as a way to feel the Earth more intimately when my feet get immersed in dirt and such. Fun!

The desert is rich with its own symbolism and felt to be a perfect place to be right now for me, having spent so much time at the ocean this year. I feel that I might possibly end up spending more time in the desert again this month because it is nurturing of my personal processes.

The desert feels like a place symbolic of:

• purification
• the sacredness of being alone as opposed to loneliness
• getting lost on purpose in order to change the way you perceive the world, your life, everything
• limitless possibilities and rewards that can be obtained through overcoming obstacles and challenging hardships
• survival and Root Chakra energy which is so vital
• brutal honesty and harsh realities when all things are stripped away (symbolic of the wide, more barren vistas) and you have your core soul revealed
• no distractions in the way of communing with your soul
• clarity
• purity
• a place for accessing divine revelation
• personal will
• wisdom
• enlightenment
• self-nurturing from the abundant well of life within self to support you
• simplicity
• barren lands that are so removed from the normal comforts of life that it then becomes almost holy and a place where it seems only the spiritually sacred is influencing things
• stripping down and nothing in the way of yourself
• a place or bridge to cross into a new way of life
• the promise of something more fulfilling or the manifestation of dreams – the process of the mirage actively “becoming”
• the raw beauty as you stand in the nakedness of your truth

Everything is always in divine alignment indeed. And I am continuing to slowly transition back from returning. Feeling a beautiful stillness inside and incredibly penetrating peace, despite, and because of, all the changes taking place inwardly.

It’s hard to tell in this last photo, but at the center of the sky appeared this rainbow in a completely vertical, short line on the last full day, as viewed from the dining table while eating a very late lunch. Perfect!