Markham first mentioned the Ring of Fire Eclipse back in February. He always loves the celestial bodies so he was the perfect travel companion. He brought along information and tools for viewing and photographing the event. Searching out the central path of the eclipse lead us down to Chaco Canyon. It is in the Four Corners area. There is a butte that houses an ancient Sun Dagger Solstice Calendar. It is one of the most accurate calendars on the earth because it marks a 19 yr. lunar cycle. The night viewing of the sky there is amazing! The ancestors came from as far away as the Baja to trade and do ceremony.

It was the perfect place to view the eclipse. It was an immense joy for me to pray for future generations while watching my son Joshua, now 23yrs, with his girlfriend Casia, get excited about this natural wonder. It is called the Ring of Fire Eclipse because it was an annular eclipse. The moon covered all but a thin ring of sun making it look like a golden band in the sky. Josh took wonderful photos of the ring at the peak. Truly there was a sense of awe as the moon moved across the sun. It was powerful to be in a place where our ancestors could have been doing/feeling the same thing a thousand years ago. Touching the walls as we ascended natural stairways up to the mesa was like literally touching the past, and seeing the rock art they left behind was like listening to the ancient stories of everyday life.

The life spring of the area was short lived, beginning 1,100 years ago, but lasting only 300 yrs. A Pueblo woman expressed it beautifully. She explained, “It is the way of our people to move on like the clouds. We move into the future taking the past with us as our guide. We stay connected to our ancestors by drumming, singing and doing ceremonies. These things give us our sense of place. Chaco was like a great thunderstorm of activity. It blew up like a billowing thundercloud that rained down its gifts for a while and then rolled out to the four corners of our Sacred Mountains. New people with new ways emerged from this place.”

I built a Medicine Wheel at the top of the mesa overlooking the largest intentional living community of the Southwest. I prayed for all of my loved ones and their loved ones. I know that the ripple effect will create positive changes. I sang the Honoring song to the ancient ones who built this incredible place. I chanted Washna Ate (Everything under the sun is abundantly good) and the Pilahmaya song, which blesses everything that has happened in our lives that has carried us to this NOW moment. I prayed that the birthing of a new way of being would be smooth and supported by our thoughts and prayers.

It is so significant to participate in acknowledging this connection between earth and sky. We enliven the ancient energies when we make the effort to hold the celestial events in our conscious awareness. It helps us to recognize both the insignificance and grandeur of our existence in the cosmos. There are many shifts happening on all levels of creation these days. We are at the apex of an evolutionary impulse. Prophecies of the past can only be fulfilled through our actions in the present.

The journey to enlightenment and liberation is the one we are all on. The next step is directed by our intentions and determination to live in harmony within ourselves. The peace we find within is the song of our soul and what we have to contribute to the natural harmonic of the universe. Centering and elevating our frequency by finding the highest and best in every circumstance is how we offer ourselves to the wholeness and well-being of all. The bigger picture of the ordinary world is impossible to grasp. We can no longer look the other way when considering the condition of our mother earth, but we can choose to stay steady in the midst.

Each of us can focus our capacity to effect the change that is within our reach.