Introduction

For me the most magical place on earth is not Disneyland, although I have been there quite often in my lifetime and it was pretty amazing. No, the place I found magical and to strike instant yearning in my heart is a place called Mesa Verde. As mentioned in a previous post I am one quarter Hopi and another one quarter is Apache. The Apache lineage can be traced back to The Ancients.

You maybe have heard The Ancients called the Anasazi by archeologists, and another common name is the Ancestral Puebloan. To my people we are called The Ancients.

The Ancients: A Short History

The Ancients lived in small houses, larger structures that held house clans, large pueblos, and cliff dwellings. May believe that The Ancients had a large network that stretched across Colorado linking hundreds of communities. There are ties to a celestial science found in the architecture and Kivas that held sacred space. The Kiva is circular in shape, ranges in size, is used for ceremonial purposes, is the center of the community gatherings and worship.

Archaeologists debate when The Ancients came to the area known as the Four Corners. Currently, archeologists agree The Ancients can be traced back to the 12 century B.C., an Early Basket Maker II Era classification using the Pecos Classification.

Architecture

Many of the structures still in place consist of structures made from stone, adobe mud, and other local material, or were carved into the sides of canyon walls. Once upon a time, the towns and cities had many stories and outer buildings surrounding plazas. The population consisted of hundreds to thousands and these population hosted cultural and civic events and infrastructure that supported regions hundreds of miles away linked by roadways.

The Ancient's towns and villages were built in defensive positions, for example, on high, steep mesas such as at Mesa Verde. The road system was a religious one, providing pathways for periodic pilgrimages and gatherings for seasonal ceremonies. There is evidence of astronomical observations, solstice markings, and agricultural cycles.

The Ancients believe the North Road leads to the place of origination and a place where the spirits of the dead travel. This road represents the connection to the sipapu, the place of emergence of the ancestors or a dimensional doorway. During their journey from the sipapu to the world of the living, the spirits stop along the road and eat the food left for them by the living.

Many ceremonial structures are built along a north/south axis alignment. They serve as central places for ceremonial journeys. Isolated structures located on the roadsides, as well as on top of the canyon cliffs and ridge crests, have been interpreted as shrines related to these activities.

Long, linear grooves are cut into the bedrock along specific roads, but do not seem to point in any specific direction. These grooves are a part of pilgrimage paths followed during ritual ceremonies.

Visiting My Ancestral Home

After I came to a realization to my path, I was told by my father that I needed to go home to visit my ancestral lands. I had been waiting over five years before I was able to go to Mesa Verde. The experience was a homecoming. When a high sensitive does what is needed there are many rewards. For one, a feeling of completeness overcomes the soul. Tears of joy and a feeling of exaltation vibrate through the body. The birds are singing and animals that are not a typical siting appear out of nowhere.

On the day I visited my ancestral home I saw the land as it used to be. Water was flowing everywhere and the lands were covered in greenery as far as the eye could see. I spotted every sacred site visible by the eye. I felt like I could run for days and never get tired. The experience was one I will never forget. There are hundreds of miles to visit and I more than likely will never walk those miles in this human body but that is okay. I will visit other sacred places around the area and that will be enough in this life.

Conclusion

If you are in search of your ancestral lands and you feel a deep inner calling to make a visit, I urge you to take the time to go. You will never regret your choice to listen to your 'soul yearning' for its home. Peace.

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Camera: iPhone 6+
Photographer: @eaglespirit
Location: Mesa Verde, Colorado, USA
Date: May 31, 2017

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