"God may have built the Grand Canyon, but He lives in Sedona" - Old Sedona Chamber of Commerce proverb.
Sedona has gained a worldwide reputation for spirituality, partly because of wide-spread belief that it has multiple Vortex meditation sites that provide mental, physical and spiritual healing powers. I personally have never felt the power of a vortex here, but I haven't given up hope. Various spas and lodges offer special help in taking advantage of the spiritual power in and around Sedona, despite the fact that one believer died in a "sweat purification" ceremony several years ago.
In a more traditional vein, Sedona provides a beautiful backdrop for some of the most striking churches found anywhere, starting with the chapel at Tlaque Plaque, and including The Church of Red Rocks, St. Luke's Episcopal and the most impressive of all, Chapel of the Holy Cross. This Catholic-affiliated church was built into a hillside of Coconino National Forest with a special use permit in 1956 at a cost of $300,000. It is considered to be a vortex site, as well.
Not related to spirituality, but to good old American success and excess, the home built on private land below the Chapel of the Holy Cross is an ostentatious display of Italian Renaissance style. I understand it has more than 8000 square feet, took nearly five years to build, and is owned by a man who holds several medical patents. It is truly a magnificent structure with equally magnificent grounds, and was once listed for sale at $29 million (apparently no takers)..
On this day, we also visited Palatki Heritage Site, which has its own spiritual feeling, having been the largest cliff dwelling site in this area between 1150-1350 AD. On he nearby cliffs are pictographs created by the residents of this ancient place.
Wrapping up our day, and the spirituality theme, we stopped at Red Rock Crossing State Park for photos of Cathedral Rock reflected in the calm waters of Oak Creek. Only problem was Oak Creek wasn't calm, it was raging due to recent rains and heavy snowfall in Flagstaff fifty miles upstream. This forceed us to look for reflections wherever they could be found, which turned out to be a couple puddles on a sandstone formation. Later we visited another vortex site, up on airport mesa, for sunset.
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