Pre-Dawn Dreaming Chaco Canyon Medicine Journey
Spring Equinox, March 20-21, 2010
Keeper Log – Written by Dreamweaver
With a small group, we started the first of the Ancestral Winds eco-touring series. The Spring equinox is a time for Mother Earth to take off her winter robe and let the ground start to breath again. After preparing for weather temperatures that would have a 30 degree range and gathering the appropriate camping gear the day before, we headed out on an early morning departure at 3:30am. Sipping coffee from the travel mug while scanning the road from side to side for the many deer that were greeting us as they ate in the crisp morning air, we arrived at Chaco with plenty of time before the 7:00am sunrise. We were to be witness at the ancient archeoastronmical site of Casa Rinconada what the Chacoan ancestors witnessed from 850 A.D. to 1150 A.D. on the sunrise of the Spring equinox.
The experience would stir our memories. The temperatures were in the teens, and a crowd of 25-30 seekers had made their way to the northern antechamber doorways of the Great Kiva that holds the east-west alignment to the Sun on the equinox. Using the bluffs in the distance as a marker, the Sun rises exactly half way between the two bluffs and through the two doorways. The Sun makes its journey into the morning sky and peeks over the bluff. The shadow of the two doorways line up exactly to each other on the Spring equinox. It is an incredible site to be standing at a moment in time that has been recording the equinox for centuries. We were being part of a movement and experiencing the measurement of time. The opening was made for this journey as the ancestors would be speaking to us about the connection of the stars, suns, moons, and planets to the movement of time.
A fabulous hike on the South Mesa Trail that led us to Tsin Kletzin gave us magical views of the alignment of the distance Great Houses and how the alignment to time was being done in the complete natural order contained in the architecture. A medicine discussion takes place while we have lunch in the Kiva that helps us all Dream and recapitulate with the possible roles we’ve played in the past, and also how it relates to our roles in our current lifetime. The breathtaking views were unbelievable of the South Gap giving us a chance to be completely on our own hiking in the expansiveness of this magical place. The Ravens speak to us, and a herd of Elk all stand listening as medicine songs are sang in their honor as we finish a wonderful day hike that will provide lots of activity in the night dream.
The night sky brings awareness of how small we really are when looking out into the Cosmos and having it look back at us. Chaco Canyon is one of the darkest night sky’s in all of the U.S. We see the space shuttle pass overhead and a shooting star. We get to witness the Orion nebula through the observatory, showing the birthing of the youngest stars in the Milky Way. The night temperature drops and we find ourselves in the 13 degree nighttime. Mother Earth was allowing us to take the information deep inside by having to bundle up to stay warm. Sleep comes easily. The mystery of this journey reveals our relationship to time and how we experience it; the natural way of being in alignment and relationship with Nature, the way Chacoan people experienced it, and how in our modern lifestyle we place time on an artificial measurement. Without the use of a watch, or a written language, the Ancestors were able to exist with a relationship to time without the need of a translation to it. The knowledge we gained on this journey is taken into the dream time to integrate into our daily lives and start preparing us for our next journey to be with the natural arches, bridges, and fins.
