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A Holistic Vision of Nature, Art, and Spirit The primal potency of the earth. The beauty of art. The limitless possibilities of spirit. Our ancient ancestors understood the interconnectedness of these concepts, and built monuments — megaliths like those found at Stonehenge — to honor that connection. After centuries in which Western civilization has ignored or violated these relationships, in recent decades a growing number of artists and spiritual teachers have begun rediscovering them. In the 1970s, artists, searching for a definition of art larger than canvas painting, began creating “earth art.” Since then, a growing movement to construct spaces celebrating the sacredness of the earth has emerged. People are building megalithic monuments again. (A fascinating tour of contemporary megalith building is Rob Roy’s Sacred Circles: A Modern Builder’s Guide to the Megalithic Revival). A similar movement has brought renewed vitality to the ancient spiral path of the labyrinth. Here in the Puget Sound area, you can visit and be inspired by an extraordinary example of this movement to integrate art, earth, and spirit. Earth Sanctuary, a nature reserve and meditation parkland near Freeland on the south end of Whidbey Island, features megalithic monuments designed for meditation and connection with the earth. Earth Sanctuary’s labyrinth, stone circle, and dolmen bring together ancient art forms, contemporary ecological consciousness, and diverse global spiritual traditions. Even apart from its megalithic monuments, Earth Sanctuary is a remarkable place. Although much of it was logged twenty years ago, an innovative, ecologically sensitive, and holistically minded restoration, guided by a 500-year plan, is under way. The goal is to gently nurture the 72 acres back to health, providing habitat for all creatures of South Whidbey Island by restoring the integrity, beauty, and diversity of the old-growth forest, waterfowl ponds, wetlands, streams, and aquatic ecosystems. In this recovering landscape, the founder of Earth Sanctuary, Chuck Pettis, a believer in the power of meditation, has built the megaliths with the intention of supporting deep meditative practices that can transform and heal both humans and nature.
Earth Sanctuary’s stone circle is constructed out of striking slabs of a flat gray stone called Llenroc that are up to seven feet tall. Like its Neolithic prototypes, the circle is aligned to mark the summer and winter solstices. This megalithic observatory has special energetic properties. People accomplished in dowsing will tell you that a dowsing rod will dip markedly as one crosses the perimeter of a stone circle. The alignment of stones, bringing cosmos, earth, and human into harmony, generates a subtle energy that is palpable when you pass inside.
Earth Sanctuary’s dolmen is intended to serve as a meditation room, within which, surrounded by the strong vibrations of the lichen-covered Montana sandstone, you can center yourself and discover an intense, unmistakable connection with the earth. The dolmen represents, in the Hindu expression, the “cave of the heart,” a deep place of interior knowing that lies at the center of each of us. Like a womb, the cool, sheltering space of the dolmen provides a nourishing and protected place for reflection. (Dolmen photo © Peter Raulerson) The structures at Earth Sanctuary have been built by a man who has a special knowledge and understanding of the energetic power of megaliths. Chuck Pettis has spent decades learning from healers and teachers of various spiritual paths. He was a member of the Foundation of Light in Ithaca, New York, and had an early connection with the founders of the Findhorn Community. His meditation practices have ranged from those of Ananda Marga to Tibetan Buddhism. In Earth Sanctuary, he has tried to incorporate all that he has learned. His building in the service of earth-based spirituality began in the 1970s when he constructed the first energetically and astronomically aligned stone circle in the United States, the Ellis Hollow Stone Circle in upstate New York. Fascinated with the possibilities for design in the service of spirit, Chuck has visited and studied sacred spaces all over the world. His research in this domain is articulated in his book Secrets of Sacred Space: Discover and Create Places of Power. The mathematical and metaphysical principles that underlie Chuck’s approach to sacred space appear in an earlier (now out of print) book that he co-authored, Cosmic Geometry: Tantric Transformations. Chuck is deeply sensitive to earth energies, and has extensive experience with dowsing (detecting underground water using intuitive powers) and communicating with landscape devas (nature spirits). He is also adept at mapping leys, lines of energy that result from the connection between Earth and the cosmos, and which form the basis for the location of many ancient sacred sites. Utilizing this sensitivity, he created the Seattle Ley-Line Map in 1987, in partnership with the Geo Group. Most recently, Chuck has used his abilities to determine the sites of monuments at Earth Sanctuary, placing them in splendid harmony with the energies of the land. The design choices made at Earth Sanctuary are purposely aligned with the energies and healing powers of the natural world. For example, the dolmen is sited at the power center of Earth Sanctuary, where leys on the property intersect. Since work has commenced, additional leys have continued to appear, and they are creating a web of power linking the various structures. To introduce a greater sense of harmony and balance, Feng Shui expert David Rousseau was consulted during the design process. His understanding of natural energies has been used in designating the location of paths (our favorite: the “Celestial Path”) and establishing planting patterns. Collen Marquist, crystal expert and former New Times columnist, selected crystals and minerals to be buried in the vicinity of the sites. The goal was to reinforce the currents of energy above ground (see sidebar). These small stones were carefully chosen for their specific properties, and were “programmed” through meditation. What has made all this possible is not only Chuck Pettis’ vision, but also the loving intentions of his extraordinary team, including a wetlands ecologist, an award-winning landscape designer, and a green-building architect. They not only share Chuck’s passion for restoring the integrity, beauty, and diversity of the land, but also have a fluid, inspired, and honoring notion of the relationship between their disciplines and the realms of ecology, art, and spirit. The land is attracting spiritual leaders of many paths. Tibetan high lama H. H. Jigdal Dagchen Sakya has performed a fire puja (offering) on the land, blessing it and clearing it of negativity. Dorothy Maclean, a founder of the Findhorn Community, has also walked the land of Earth Sanctuary. Renowned for her ability to communicate with nature spirits, she commented that the devas are very happy there, especially because of the 4,000 plants, mostly native species, that are being planted in the first phase of the vegetation restoration. Vi Hilbert, a revered Upper Skagit/Salish Grandmother, teacher, and keeper of Native American wisdom, offered words of gratitude to the spirits of the megalithic stones of Earth Sanctuary’s dolmen. Thanking them for their strength and serenity, she added, “You will be here long after we have been gone. You will be here to do work for generation after generation.” Earth Sanctuary is clearly a work in progress, and will be for generations to come. The number of monuments for meditation and inspiration will certainly grow in the near future. Among the planned monuments: a larger stone circle, forty feet in diameter and made of standing stones ten to 15 feet high; a trilithon (arrangement of three stones), with upright stones and a lintel (similar to those at Stonehenge) designed to indicate equinoxes and solstices; and a chambered earth mound inspired by Celtic passage tombs built 5,000 years ago. This last project has powerful female vessel symbolism, and will offer visitors the opportunity to ritually experience a journey into the sacred space from which we are born and to which we return. It’s a memorable experience to visit Earth Sanctuary, meditate at its monuments, and take in its vision of humans and nature in harmonious balance. But it’s equally meaningful and powerful to define your own sacred space: with an open heart, try placing special stones in your own back yard; constructing an altar honoring the earth; or tuning in to the earth energies that are present among the rocks, plants, flowers, and trees in the area where you live. Earth Sanctuary’s vision offers us all an inspiring example of the important work that any of us can participate in: integrating earth, art, and spirituality in the service of planetary healing and blessing. A “Celebrate the Summer Solstice with a ‘Design with Nature’ Workshop” is scheduled for Saturday, June 22 and will include a tour of Earth Sanctuary. Earth Sanctuary House is available for retreats. For more information, to register for the solstice workshop, or to make a reservation for a visit or retreat, contact Chuck Pettis at (425) 637-8777 or visit <http://www.earthsanctuary.org/>. Victoria Scarlett and Joseph Anderson are the founders and co-directors of the Center for Sacred Art in Seattle. The Center is an interfaith organization dedicated to exploring the mind, heart, and spirit of the world’s sacred art tradition, and is particularly interested in the intersection of art and meditation. For more information, call (206) 781-8544 or send e-mail to <info@centerforsacredart.org>. |
One
of gentlest spots at Earth Sanctuary is the labyrinth, a spiral-shaped
meditation pathway. Located on a lovely peninsula extending into
a woodland pond, the labyrinth shows you ever-changing views
of woods and water as you wind through it. The hedge-lined path
is constructed of Pennsylvania bluestone; its simple three-circuit
plan is drawn from the most ancient of labyrinth designs, possibly
more than 4,500 years old. Walking Earth Sanctuary’s labyrinth
can be a powerful experience of connection with nature, and a
metaphor for the twists and turns of life’s journey. (Labyrinth
photo by Chuck Pettis)
The most
recent construction at Earth Sanctuary is a dolmen: a chamber
constructed of seven tall standing stones surmounted by a pair
of two-ton capstones. This dolmen is the first structure of its
kind to be created in the United States in modern times.