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| Bigelow Hot Springs |
I love to camp and shamanize. For the past week, I have been
camped on the McKenzie River near Bigelow Hot Springs, which is located on Deer
Creek Road about 58 miles east of Eugene, Oregon on Highway 126. Bigelow is one of the
few wild hot springs that you can still
enjoy without paying any kind of fee. It is a small thermal spring that pools
inside a beautiful riverside grotto. The spring emanates from the back of the
grotto, so it is the warmest part of the pool. The best time to use this pool
is when the river is at its lowest, during the summer and fall. The spring is popular on weekends, so weekdays are the best time to visit. Since it is a
day use area, it is open dawn to dusk.
I love soaking at Bigelow early in the day, near sunrise if
possible. I like to lie on my back in the back of the grotto and meditate to
the calming sound of the current rushing over the river rocks. I just allow the
current to carry me away on a journey into myself. It is a blissful place
to go. I get in touch with my spirit self and the spirit of the place.
Every place on the planet has a spirit. From the wildest of
forests to urban landscapes, every place has a spirit that oversees its life
force. Healing the land involves actively working with the spirits of the
Middle World in a collaborative way to clear negative energetic imprints, to
harmonize what is out of balance, and to restore energy and life force which
has been lost.
The energy of the place where I camp is balanced and harmonious,
making it a good place to do shamanic work. When I arrived at my camp this
spring, I discovered the claw marks of a bear on a cedar tree on the west side of
my campsite. I found bear tracks around the camp. I frequently have encounters
with bears at my medicine camps. I love bear energy and work with it often in
ritual and ceremony. I like to drum the bear-beat and sing a bear chant.
Whenever I call in my spirit helpers for help and healing, Spirit Bear comes
immediately.
Each morning, I arise early to greet the sun with song and
prayers. I then cook a simple meal of oatmeal with raisins and green tea. Throughout
the day I play flute, drum, and sing as the mood strikes me. After sunset each
evening, I begin another round of shamanizing. I open portals to the spirit
world with drum, rattle, and flute. I call in the spirits and improvise an
evening of shamanic music. I approach them with humbleness and humility,
becoming like a hollow bone through which their life force may flow to be used
as needed. Alone in a riverside camp, I offer myself as a vehicle of healing.
That is how I choose to relate to the spirit world.
At the end, after dedicating the power which has been
generated by the performance, I close the circle. I then crawl into my sleeping
bag; physically tired, yet spiritually vibrant. My heart is wide open and
blissful. Where the McKenzie River
