Ancient Trail near Native American Village Site

ONE PATH

Words and Music by Jim Robbins

Open music in a new window.

In the shade, the ravishing late spring flowers,
tier upon tier of Chinese purple houses, interwoven
with pink fairy lanterns, crowned by umbels
of evenly spaced Ithuriel's spears. Where

the embankment slopes steeply, I climbed
onto a rock by the rushing water. I felt dizzy,
leaning into poison oak. Women had ground acorns
in a stone at the confluence of those creeks.

I had never been there before, but I
somehow knew a path would lead me
to another rock with mortars above me
on a ridge. I found the path

a few feet away running below
the branches of a huge oak.
I don't know if we can return
to people and places we love,

but on that one path I was part
of tapestries forever changing,
the threads eternal,
not bound by time.

A kaleidoscopic blue and pink
and purple, the penstemon flower bloomed
where the path met with the other
village site, and I lost myself

in the shade, near
the pounding stone,
near the pounding stone.

Indian Pinks

ONE PATH

   I think relatively few people go out into nature anymore, even for fishing, hunting, or camping. Many children are terrified of anything natural, such as spiders or mice, and often react in a panic when they encounter unfamiliar creatures. I think people are afraid that they will find nothing but spiders and snakes and ferocious predators and dead animals in the natural world. In all the years that I’ve gone out into nature, I’ve seen only a few spiders and snakes and predators, and they wanted to have nothing to do with me. And it’s extremely rare to find a dead animal in the wild. But I have encountered ravishing beauty and awesome trees and sublime mountain peaks, and I have often experienced a shift in consciousness that enables me to experience the spiritual dimension.
   My theory is that the brain tunes to a vibration similar to the “Heartbeat of Mother Earth,” also known as the Schumann Resonance, which is on the border between theta and alpha brain wave frequencies. In other words, a person who is comfortable in nature shifts into brainwave frequencies which are produced when a person is meditating, using the imagination, daydreaming, experiencing a flow of ideas, or performing a repetitive task. Theta brain waves are associated with profound inner peace, mystical knowledge, symbolic visions, transformation of unconsciously held limiting beliefs, physical and emotional healing, inner wisdom, and psychic abilities, all of which I have experienced in nature.
   One such experience occurred in late spring when I went hiking along a creek in Watt’s Valley. After hiking for a mile or two in the heat, I was exhausted and plopped down on a stone by the creek. After a minute or two, I noticed cups in the stone and heard women laughing. No one else was in the area. I had plopped down right next to a Native American pounding stone. Suddenly I knew without a doubt that a trail would lead me to another pounding stone on a nearby ridge. I had no way of knowing this—I had never been there before. I scrambled up the slope and in a few seconds found the path. I followed it up the hillside and in a few minutes found the pounding stone on the ridge. As I walked on that path, I knew that the soul is not bound by time, that the spirit moves within fields upon fields of energy, forever changing but eternal. I felt sure that I had returned to a place that I had known in a past life.
   I do not mention it in the song, but I also knew without a doubt that I would find other pounding stones on the ridge across the creek. That day, I climbed the slope on the other side and didn’t find anything, but I sensed a strong presence. Disappointed, I headed back home as the sun was setting.
   I returned a few months later to the other ridge and discovered pounding stones and house pits that I had intuited were there. I didn’t find them the first time because of all the leaves and dirt and grass on top of the stones. Oddly, as soon as I found the pounding stones, I could see the house pits clearly as well, as if some inner sight had suddenly been granted me.
   Every time I return to the city, I feel my mind shift back into the beta brain wave frequency, and I start to doubt my intuitive knowledge. Only one brain wave frequency is acceptable these days in our society, it seems, and people have come to fear intuitive knowledge as much as they fear encountering spiders and snakes and ferocious predators and dead animals.