Sedona Story

By Tonya Whelan

Yolessa and I asked people on the street “What Does Energy Mean To You?”

Here are some of the answers we received.

By Tonya Whelan

A woman told Yolessa and me about her experience the day at Oak Creek Canyon had recently inspired her by helping her to find solutions to major issues in her daily life.

As she left she told us that a little meditation and yoga also helps.

By Tonya Whelan

Sakima Bluestar tells us her story, and enacts a tale from the past.

By Edwin Kim

Few things tell Sedona’s stories better than nature. Well… here’s a little bit of nature that man had a hand in shaping. I wake up every morning and start my day with the water lilies awakening in my pond here in Sedona (Village of Oak Creek). This was my first HDR time lapse test, for those of you who know what that is. I hope you enjoy!

Here are the runners up in the Audio/Video Category of our Sedona Storyfest Contest:

Birds of a Feather by Carl Bring
“Birds of a feather is an original song that I wrote while hiking around in the Red Rocks in Sedona on Marg’s Draw trail. I stopped to rest and take in the beautiful inspiring surroundings and noticed Ravens flying all around above me like they usually are here in Sedona. Well on this particular day they were extremely loud and insistent with there crowing or squawking, and I wondered what it must be like to sail on the wind like a crow or an eagle. The lyrics to this song came to me almost instantly! And within the last month I just finished recording it, which is amazing. What started as a lil’ melody in my head is now a beautiful piece of music for all to hear and take in just like I did on that day in the beautiful red rocks of Sedona under the spell of The Raven’s crowing.”

My Sedona Story by Margaret Emory
“Rain?  Snow?  Sedona?  You don’t normally hear those words together.  But on a weekend in February of this year, the participants of the Tao Meditation Tour in Sedona enjoyed a very different Sedona experience.  We were reminded that the precipitation was good for the Earth. It was a blessing. After all, deserts get thirsty too. This was my first trip to Sedona, my first visit to Mago Garden.  I sincerely hope you feel the beauty, majesty, warmth, peace and love of Mago through these images recorded with my trusted Kodak EasyShare. I stayed an extra day and the sun came out.  It was indeed a blessing to connect to the Earth’s energy and soul.”

Leaping into the Unknown, Improvisational Poems by Elizabeth Martina Bishop
“The video describes a pilgrimage towards the soul. Poetic, improvisational vignettes are composed to galvanize the awakening of the heart. The harpist is the master coaxing the poet to have no fear and to reach a mystical vortex of romance, Sedona style.”

Profile By Diana James

Gently & powerfully, song reaches into the depths of my heart, echoing off the ancient walls of red rock canyons. Coyotes call while birds soar overhead. Ocean waves dance with the wind and thunder. Whales move in silent power & grace beneath the surface, while the far-away cry of an eagle is heard. A feeling of profound connected-ness to all that is, permeates my being as the music ends, and the simple prayer is heard, ‘Peace to your journey, love & light to your path, one in spirit, journey well’. This whole experience of sound & Spirit, is produced by one man sitting quietly, in the center of a musical vortex & colorful imagery, playing his own hand-crafted bamboo flutes.

The story of my friend & brother of the heart Jesse, is a story of Spirit, finding joyous expression in the life-paths of individual human beings, who have actualized their dreams. As a native chamorru of the Mariana Islands, Jesse lived his early years on a tropical territory of the U.S. in the orthern pacific. Jesse remembers playing in his village bamboo grove as a child at the age of 4, and being treated by his native elders with herbal & natural medicines whenever he was ill. It was then, he began to hear the melodies within, that ‘danced in his heart’.

Jesse has lived and ventured in America, traveling through every state since 1976. The great vastness of the land, moved him to continue. Then in the red canyons of Sedona Arizona, Jesse felt he was finally home. His move to Sedona in June of 91, led to such profound experiences suddenly unfolding. That summer, yet to read or write music, his first time playing flutes,echoed in the heart of Boynton Canyon. In 92 with Sedona bamboo, he began making & naming his flutes to reflect, the inherent peace of the heart.

Then somehow, Jesse discovered wildlife calls and nature sounds through his flutes. Also, to sing in his native language, Chamorru. By 93, presenting his flute concerts locally in Sedona.

Then in 1994, began sharing throughout the U.S. & Internationally, his Heartfelt Presentation: with bamboo flutes, story, poetry & nature voices. In Jan. of 95, he was invited to share at a Yoga for World Peace Conference in Jerusalem, Israel. In 1996 through 2002, he toured several times in Austria, Germany & Switzerland. As he continues to present heart to heart, somehow he is able to play & create native american style flutes, from bamboo growing wild in Sedona.

Jesse has not trained nor understands technical music theory. Melodies from the heart, touchs his audiences in unique ways. Each flute has its name & song. Emanating through his hand-crafted flutes, are the wildlife calls of: doves, quails, loons, hawk, owl, seagulls, dolphins, whales, coyotes, wolf, elk & more. We attended Jesse’s flute concert in the Spring of 97, at a book store in Sedona. Looking out at red rock panoramas along with the music, evoking the ancient memories of gentle times living in creative harmony with nature & each other. I wiIl never forget my first experience with Jesse’s Art, and I’ve heard him play & sing many times since.

We ended up staying in Sedona, spending most of our time early on in Jesse’s home. He led us on countless walks on the land to secret & sacred places, always bringing one of his flutes along. We’d get to the top of an arduous climb, and he would disappear! Then we’d hear his enchanting music, echoing off majestic canyons, weaving songs of the land itself. For me, Jesse’s music is a bridge to many cultures, times & places. Yet, always centered Here & Now. I’ve experienced something different, every time I’ve entered the sacred space he creates.

E-mail: kalu@sedona.net
Phone: 928-204-1867
Click here to visit Jesse Kalu’s website.

By Tonya Whelan

Yolessa and I found one woman who had a particularly lovely experience to share with us at Bell Rock, and a way to help her deal with the death of a beloved pet.

By EJ Lim

Living in Sedona, I make frequent visits to Bell Rock, but until I met Ilchi Lee, I had never really thought about what kind of mindset I should have to climb up Bell Rock. Luckily, when I was climbing Bell Rock with Ilchi Lee, my spiritual teacher, he stopped at the entrance to talk about the mindset one should have when climbing Bell Rock. I feel that, now, I have a better idea of what attitude to have when addressing nature. This is my video interview of Ilchi Lee. Just as it was very helpful to me, I hope that his words and his wisdom are helpful to you, too.

By EJ Lim

It may not be as much as Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City, but like many other women, I have a considerable fondness for shoes. Even so, I’d never met anyone who actually made shoes with their own hands or heard about the shoemaking process until I met Jeremiah, and I thoroughly enjoyed my wonderful encounter with him.

Jeremiah is an artisan who has been making shoes for families for the past 30 years. He has a way of speaking that’s unsophisticated and honest, and his shoes seem just as down-to-earth but beautiful, and they looked soft and comfortable.

I met him at the Farmers’ Market in West Sedona. Meet Jeremiah.

By Tonya Whelan

People come to Bell Rock for so many reasons: the beauty, the energy, to experience the vortex, and to soak up the landscape. Here are a few things that people there told us when Yolessa and I last visited this popular vortex in the Village of Oak Creek on the outskirts of Sedona.