Sedona – The Healing Capital of the World

We are staying in Sedona, Arizona which must be the ‘wellness capital of America, if not the world!

The town is nestled under enormous red sandstone formations that create a sense of awe and make for a wonderful landscape. The town attracts spiritual seekers, artists and healers from all over. Many New Age believers think that this area is the centre of strong vortexes (not ‘vortices’ as would be grammatically correct), that radiate the earth’s power and heal all manner of things. The town is full of wellness centres, Reiki Healing Places, clairvoyants and all sorts of crystal, rainbow and spiritual centres. Apparently Cathedral Rock is the only vortex in the area that emits female energy. I guess that I should start referring to this feature now as ‘she’.

 
These vortexes are popular spots for meditation, yoga other strange rituals. I thought of trying out a vortex to see what would happen, but my heart was already beating quickly seeing that i was with Jill. At my age, I couldn’t afford to risk the additional impact of any other form of sensory power or psychic vibrations. However, I can report that none of my old age ailment have improved from the dynamics of the atmosphere in this area.

After breakfast, we headed towards Oak Canyon to see some of these impressive rock outcrops but every parking spot was already taken by day hikers and there was nowhere to stop. Instead, we decided to drive on to the town if Jerome, an old mining town and now a ghost town. We would come back to the canyon view points in the afternoon, anticipating that car parks would open up later in the day when hikers returned to their cars. On the way to Jerome, we stopped at one of the state parks to replicate one of the much publicised iconic photos of the feminine Cathedral Rock.

Jerome is located high on top of Cleopatra Hill and was a copper mining camp, growing from a settlement of tents to a roaring mining community. Founded in 1876, the town was once the fourth largest city in the Arizona Territory. The population peaked at 15,000 in the 1920’s. World War II brought increased demand for copper, but after the war, demand slowed. The mine closed in 1953. The remaining 50 to 100 hardy souls promoted the town as a historic ghost town. Today Jerome is a thriving tourist and artist community with a population of about 450.

Jerome sits above what was the largest copper mine in Arizona and produced an astonishing 1360 tonnes of copper per month. Men and women from all over the world made their way to Arizona to find work and maybe a new way of life. Today the mines are silent, and Jerome has become the largest ghost town in America.

There were no ghosts there today. The town was busting with tourists and it took us two laps of the narrow main street to find somewhere to park our car. We found a little cafe, in a steep street, for lunch that was underneath what ws originally the largest gambling hall in the town.  It actually had a very nice menu no burgers1 and had some great music from the 60’s playing..

Many of the original buildings still stand and are now used as cafes, galleries and artists residences. I guess that most  artists cannot afford expensive houses so the old inexpensive ones at Jerome, fit the bill perfectly. 

I didn’t notice it until we were leaving, but there is apparently one person in town who has a soft spot for Australians. If I had seen this before, I would have taken advantage of the parking space.

We headed back to our hotel, stopping at the overlook by the airport and then the various scenic views that had no parking roomie the morning.