The History of New Age Sedona



Publicity Triggers interest in the Vortex Sites
 

I'm told that channels and mediums of Sedona's early days were aware of the vortex energy but did not publicize it.

It wasn't until Dick Sutphen's 1978 book Past Lives, Future Loves that knowledge of Sedona's unique energy became widespread. In it he described an experience with the vortex on Airport Mesa. As a result, he says, "people began writing me from all over the country asking how to find the vortex...The idea of a vortex that could enhance psychic ability had a life of its own. Interest exploded."
 

Airport Vortex (in the saddle of the rocks)
 

In the book, Sutphen wrote, "For many years Arizona has been the rapidly developing psychic center of the country and now far exceeds Virginia Beach in the number of organizations and activities. This psychic concentration is within a one-hundred-mile circle that includes Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sedona and Prescott. .." Speaking of Sedona, he said, "there is more psychic activity per capita here than in any city in the country..."

Sutphen wrote a more complete account of his experiences in  Sedona: Psychic Energy Vortexes (1993). [There is local disagreement on the correct spelling of this word. When not quoting someone else I use vortices.]   He began by quoting biologist Lyall Watson, in The Romeo Error:
 

Navigation is bedeviled by the fact that the earth's magnetic field is riddled with local deviations and irregularities. These faults have been very carefully plotted and the most persistent of them have become quite notorious.  One of these lies off the Bahamas Islands (the Bermuda Triangle), another in the English county of Sussex, and a third near Prescott in Arizona.



 


Subsequent research led Sutphen to believe that the last mentioned area was Sedona. Supporting his conclusion is a quote from Heather Hughes article "Religion of the Red Mountains" which was published in Sedona Life magazine.

She wrote:
 

Indian legend tells us that there are four places in the world designated as "power spots" and that these four are broken into two plus two--two positive and two negative, or two "light" and two "dark."  It is believed that the two positive places in the world are Kauai, an island in Hawaii and Sedona, both red-rock country. Sedona and Kauai, the Indians say, are vortexes of energy in which the Great Spirit gives birth to rainbows.


Indians tell us that the towering crimson peaks stimulate sensitivity and that here a man realizes his true dreams and ambitions.  They also say that the mountains are like a great magnet and that people are drawn to them because it is the home of the Great Spirit. Amid red-rock country, it is said that man comes face to face with himself and the potentials of his nature.

Sutphen's visits to Sedona began in the late sixties and have continued to the present day. He and his wife conduct Psychic Seminars in Sedona every year.
 
 


Page Bryant, an internationally recognized psychic, author and lecturer, also publicized the vortices. She lived in Sedona for ten years before her move to North Carolina in 1990. Page spoke about planetary changes, sacred sites, ancient wisdom and general metaphysics. She was the first in the United States to host a purely psychic/New Age talk show.

Dick Sutphen's books and those of Page Bryant triggered a lot of interest according to Christopher Jelm, founder of the original Center for the New Age in Sedona. He says the explosion of people coming to live in Sedona started in the mid-to late 70's.

Pete Sanders, who came to Sedona around the same time as Page, also publicized the vortices in his Scientific Vortex Information materials. An honors graduate of M.I.T., Pete offered a scientist's view of the local energies.

There are many books and pamphlets available locally regarding the vortex energies. The best known vortex sites are Bell Rock, Boynton Canyon, Red Rock Crossing (Cathedral Rock) and Airport Mesa. Local author, Richard Dannelley has published two popular books about them: Sedona: Beyond the Vortex and Sedona Power Spot: Vortex and Medicine Wheel Guide.
 

Bell Rock
 

Cathedral Rock (with vortex next to it on the creek)
 

Another publication, The Sedona Vortex Guide Book contains channeled material from Lyssa Royal, Robert Shapiro, Lorraine Darn and Jananda as well as Page Bryant, all of whom have lived in Sedona or still do.
 
 

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