Just below timberline on Mt. Shasta is the holiest site on the
mountain. Native peoples of several
tribes have worshipped here over thousands of years, and newcomers arrive often
to meditate in the spiritual richness of this sacred place. Some call Mt. Shasta one of the seven holy
mountains, right up there with Kilimanjaro, Fiji, Mt. Kailash in Tibet, and Israel’s
Mt. Sinai. But the natives seldom climb to its difficult top,
finding all the spiritual benefit they need here at 7,400 on its southwest
flank in place called Panther Meadow.
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| Panther Meadow today |
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| Panther Meadow in summer (not my picture) |
The picture on the left is mine from today, but since the
meadow is mostly snow-covered, I include on the right a summertime picture (not
mine) when the meadow is most appealing and most visited.
The spiritual appeal of Mt. Shasta has attracted a large
number of religious groups who consider it a shrine; but following the native American
example, they have built no structures here, considering the mountain itself as
shrine enough. They come from all over the world for workshops, gatherings, and
to spend time on the mountain, praying or meditating.
Most people feel compelled to express their feelings upon
seeing Mt. Shasta. Mysterious powerful
energy seems to radiate from the mountain.
I am no exception, having become so enthralled with its grandeur and
beauty that I am spending a month in its vicinity.
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| A snowment rill |
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| Ice cracking on a little pond |
I came to Panther Meadow to drink its spring water, which is
supposed to enhance the spiritual experience.
I listened to the babble of rills carrying new snowmelt. I watched ice cracking on a little pond, and
listened to birds in the nearby forest.
I considered the crooked fir tree beside me, bent over each winter by
moving snow, but always straightening up before the next winter. I felt the warm sun as it rapidly rejuvenates
this place into its most appealing season.
I was the only one here. Beauty
and peacefulness surrounded me, and a sense I often have in lovely places of
unity with nature. The place inspires soft
words—Lemuria, Allah, Alleluia. But I did
not feel anything I can describe a spiritual experience. Perhaps I am not capable of that.
The only shrine should be the poem in a poet's head unless it is biodegradable. Biodegadable poetry? :-) Carry on, but don't carry on! and never carion. Silly me. :)
ReplyDeleteAbeautiful experience and something I'd wish I woke up to. That is...my desire to live in nature, as many of us have simply to feel this deeper sense of connection not only with the earth but one's self. Thanks Sharon.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice for us too to drink the spring water of Panther Meadow. But we just have to be satisfied both physically and spiritually with white or red wine.
ReplyDeleteWho knows how one feels when having a spiritual experience ? I heard about GRACE which sounds enough for me .
Love,
Susan
Yes Zsuzsi!!! We do very well the the whites and reds for insight and inspiration! Let's all have some together soon. Maybe Sharon will bring a little bottled Spring to compare the effects. Sharon will give a program after Friday Poetry July 6 at our home salon if all goes as planned, so we will see-- or taste is probably the better word.
ReplyDeleteLove the meadows in Spring... From what I can see the name "Panther"-- is claimed to be something metaphorically implied by a seer who told someone what to do... and he named it that-- but I don't know if the story is true. I think it is because of those napping rocks that might turn into wild animals.
I also found some nice information Sharon you may know all this -- "The Shasta Indian name for Mt. Shasta, Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki, is the same as the name for the Shasta Creator. This name, meaning to "walk around and around, but never on top," should be repeated twice anytime the mountain comes into a Shasta person's vision. The area above the tree line on Shasta has been reserved for the "Gods," and therefore, is not a place a Shasta person would travel except under special circumstances." Now we know the reason most people keep or are kept off the top!
Also "Many Wintu are concerned about the intrusion of non?Indians on the mountain, and especially at Panther Meadow. It is unpleasant for them to walk through areas of nudists, and other strange groups, especially while on spiritual quests. People have planted flowers around their sacred spring, caved in its sides, and others have stuffed it with crystals. In addition, large numbers of outsiders trample the area ruining its natural condition." ... so be careful. That's what i told you before you left!
Well what could be sweeter than for me to find a meeting of Lois, Zsuzsi, and Sharon here tonight and join in! Red wine I say!!! xoxox you all!
"Beauty and peacefulness surrounded me, and a sense I often have in lovely places of unity with nature...But I did not feel anything I can describe as a spiritual experience."
ReplyDeleteMy dear Sharon.....you just did!
Thanks, L.P. Jones, zsuzsi, Kathabela, and Stevie. I usually answer each comment individually, but since you four have a conversation going, I’ll just join in.
ReplyDeleteLois opens with a funny/half-serious thought about what should and should not be brought into a spiritual site, and what should, should-not be carried away. Then in a somber mood, she returns with a longing, partly satisfied, “to feel this deeper sense of connection not only with the earth but one's self,” feelings often expressed in her choice of photographic scenes and in her poetry.
Then comes a new one to commenting on blogs, the elusive zsuzsi, whom if she wishes to remain undercover, is welcome using that name here, a name which may be older than the one by which we know her well, perhaps older than her art which, though established in oil and watercolor, has branched of late, like a spring bud, into the New World of computer enhanced photography. Yes, zsuzsi, I will return with a bottle of that life-enhancing spring water for all of us to compare with the benefits of white and red wine. “Who knows how one feels when having a spiritual experience?” And how GRACE affects it?
Next to join our circle at the shrine of Panther Meadow, comes the prolific Kathabela. As she mentions, there are no Panthers there, and everything in the literature about the place seems metaphoric or connected to legend. Native Americans say the Creator built a fire in the center of Mt. Shasta, and some of the elders have witnessed its fumes still emanating from near the summit. More recent visitors claim that Lemurians from the lost continent of Mu still live in a golden city inside its ominous rock. Others say that Atlanteans, survivors of the lost continent of Atlantis, live in there someplace; and Yaktavians, the greatest bell makers in the world, their city Yaktavia inside the mountain. It must be quite a scene here in late summer when all these sects arrive in their circles of serious spiritual speculation. Competition for space and use of sacred ground must be intense. But yesterday there was only me, and now just us five.
Finally, Stevie, the hummingbird photographer arrives. She pictures many natural scenes in seemingly miraculous ways, and would do so here at Panther Meadow too, if physically present. Instead, she gives the insight that to be here and feel these things in this close and meaningful way is, “My dear Sharon.....you just did!”
Thanks to all of you for joining me here in this spiritual place.
Love, Sharon