Summer 1991
Chuck Pettis

I had returned to Ithaca, New York to attend my 25th high school reunion. Arriving early for a visit with my friend and teacher, Kate Payne, I drove into the parking lot of the Foundation of Light. I got out and looked at the stone circle I had built with Mike Sweeney and the Foundation's Cosmic Monument Study Group in 1977.

While I hadn't been back to the stone circle in ten years, it is a place I always feel connected to. I can close my eyes and be there, in spirit, anytime. This place has power for me.

I walked toward the ring of small stones that enclose and encircle a seven foot standing stone and a large recumbent sitting stone. At the ring, I stopped and bowed just as I had learned to do in karate class when entering the dojo. It is a gesture of respect and acknowledgement of a special and sacred place. Then, I walked in and sat down on the recumbent stone for a meditation.

This stone circle is designed for meditation and spiritual experiences. I go into meditation quickly and deeply. Legs crossed, hands clasped and eyes closed, I enter another world. There's a buzz sound, rapid eye movements, goosebumps. I surrender. The ancient ones are here. The landscape angel manifests above me and lowers herself down so I am inside of her glittering light. My little self begins to feel merged with a larger Self, which I call Supreme Consciousness.

The wind begins to blow. I hear the leaves moving in the wind. The level of chi--life energy--rises. I can feel the nature spirits running, dancing around and between the stones. There is twinkling light. The wind picks up and clouds move in, rapidly. The energy of the wind and gathering clouds fills the space between my cells. I am seven miles high and seven miles wide. I am the landscape. The landscape is me. I am.

I unclasp my hands and open my arms in front of me, slightly up toward the sky. Gathering the chi energy between my open arms, I bring my hands down together in front of my navel and send the chi out to the landscape as a love blessing. Then, I put my hands palms up on my knees and breathe, in and out, with my eyes open. The power, the sense of oneness with nature, is incredible. More wind. More clouds. Thunder. Big drops of rain begin to fall, making wet spots on the stones and my clothes. I make my hands into a bowl and imagine my self, the totality of my feelings at that moment, as a flower, and offer that flower to the Supreme Consciousness. "Thank you." I get up, as the rain starts to fall in earnest, walk out just past the stone ring, turn back toward the center, and bow. Then, I walk to the car, slowly, feeling very happy.

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