mount shasta
California
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“Mount Shasta – a vision of immensity such as pertains to the vast universe rather than to our own planet.”
The Root Chakra is located at the base of our spine and is what grounds us. When it is in balance we feel strong, safe and committed.
The Earth's corresponding root chakra is the majestic Mount Shasta volcano in California's Cascades Range. Purple mist rise from below towards its snow-capped, sherbet colored peaks, and it tells about lost civilizations – regarded as the center of the universe by Native American tribes.
Mount shasta myths and legends
California's Mount Shasta has been the subject of an unusually large number of myths and legends. In particular, it is often said to hide a secret city beneath its peaks. In some stories, the city is no longer inhabited, while in others, it is inhabited by a technologically advanced society of human beings or mythical creatures.
According to local indigenous tribes, namely the Klamath people, Mount Shasta is inhabited by the spirit chief Skell, who descended from heaven to the mountain's summit. Skell fought with Spirit of the Below-World, Llao, who resided at Mount Mazama, by throwing hot rocks and lava, probably representing the volcanic eruptions at both mountains.Writer Joaquin Miller recorded various related legends in the 1870s.
Mt. Shasta Grizzly Legend
by Joaquin Miller
Before people were on the Earth, the Chief of the Great Sky Spirits grew tired of his home in the Above World because it was always cold. So he made a hole in the sky by turning a stone around and around. Through the hole he pushed snow and ice until he made a big mound. This mound was Mount Shasta.
Then Sky Spirit stepped from the sky to the mountain and walked down. When he got about halfway down, he thought: "On this mountain there should be trees." So he put his finger down and everywhere he touched, up sprang trees. Everywhere he stepped, the snow melted and became rivers.
The Sky Spirit broke off the end of his big walking stick he had carried from the sky and threw the pieces in the water. The long pieces became Beaver and Otter. The smaller pieces became fish. From the other end of his stick he made the animals.
Biggest of all was Grizzly Bear. They were covered with fur and had sharp claws just like today, but they could walk on their hind feet and talk. They were so fierce looking that the Sky Spirit sent them to live at the bottom of the mountain.
When the leaves fell from the trees, Sky Spirit blew on them and made the birds.
Then Sky Spirit decided to stay on the Earth and sent for his family. Mount Shasta became their lodge. He made a BIG fire in the middle of the mountain and a hole in the top for the smoke and sparks. Every time he threw a really big log on the fire, the Earth would tremble and sparks would fly from the top of the mountain.
Late one spring, Wind Spirit was blowing so hard that it blew the smoke back down the hole and burned the eyes of Sky Spirit's family. Sky Spirit told his youngest daughter to go tell Wind Spirit not to blow so hard.
Sky Spirit warned his daughter: "When you get to the top, don't poke your head out. The wind might catch your hair and pull you out. Just put your arm through and make a sign and then speak to Wind Spirit."
The little girl hurried to the top of the mountain and spoke to Wind Spirit. As she started back down, she remembered that her father had told her that the ocean could be seen from the top of the mountain. He had made the ocean since moving his family to the mountain and his daughter had never seen it.
She put her head out of the hole and looked to the west. The Wind Spirit caught her hair and pulled her out of the mountain. She flew over the ice and snow and landed in the scrubby fir trees at the timberline, her long red hair flowing over the snow.
There Grizzly Bear found her. He carried the little girl home with him wondering who she was. Mother Grizzly Bear took care of her and brought her up with her cubs. The little girl and the cubs grew up together.
When she became a young woman, she and the eldest son of Grizzly Bear were married. In the years that followed they had many children. The children didn't look like their father or their mother.
All the grizzly bears throughout the forest were proud of these new creatures. They were so pleased, they made a new lodge for the red-haired mother and her strange looking children. They called the Lodge - Little Mount Shasta.
After many years had passed, Mother Grizzly Bear knew that she would soon die. Fearing that she had done wrong in keeping the little girl, she felt she should send word to the Chief of the Sky Spirits and ask his forgiveness. So she gathered all the grizzlies at Little Mount Shasta and sent her oldest grandson to the top of Mount Shasta, in a cloud, to tell the Spirit Chief where he could find his daughter.
The father was very glad. He came down the mountain in great strides. He hurried so fast the snow melted. His tracks can be seen to this day.
As he neared the lodge, he called out for his daughter.
He expected to see a little girl exactly as he saw her last. When he saw the strange creatures his daughter was taking care of, he was surprised to learn that they were his grandchildren and he was very angry. He looked so sternly at the old grandmother that she died at once. Then he cursed all the grizzlies.
"Get down on your hands and knees. From this moment on all grizzlies shall walk on four feet. And you shall never talk again. You have wronged me."
He drove his grandchildren out of the lodge, threw his daughter over his shoulder and climbed back up the mountain. Never again did he come to the forest. Some say he put out the fire in the center of his lodge and returned to the sky with his daughter.
Those strange grandchildren scattered and wandered over the earth. They were the first Indians, the ancestors of all the Indian Tribes.
That is why the Indians living around Mount Shasta never kill Grizzly Bear. Whenever one of them was killed by a grizzly bear, his body was burned on the spot. And for many years all who passed that way cast a stone there until a great pile of stones marked the place of his death.
Federally Recognized Tribes
Federal recognition confers specific legal status on tribes and imposes certain responsibilities on the federal government, such as an obligation to provide certain benefits to tribes and their members.
55 tribes in California lack federal recognition. California has the largest number of non-federally recognized tribes in the United States.
A Painful History and Present
Conflict between Indigenous peoples and federal, state and local governments over tribal cultural and environmental resources have played a major role in the history of the Western Hemisphere since Europeans first stepped onto the lands of the Americas. While tribes recognized by the U.S. government have more than three centuries of federal law to back them up, non-federally recognized tribes by and large lack the legal authority to step in when a local ecology or cultural area is threatened by development or resource exploitation.
On the state level, California has had the dubious distinction of being one of the worst offenders in historically opposing the rights of both recognized and non-recognized tribes.
Shasta tribes
(Federal)
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Hoopa Valley Tribe
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Karuk Tribe
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Klamath Tribe
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Pit River Tribe
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Quartz Valley Tribe
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Redding Rancheria
Shasta tribes
(Non-federal)
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Winnemem Wintu
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Tsnungwe Tribe
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Nor-Rel-Muk Wintu Nation
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Wintu Tribe of Northern California and Toyon-Wintu Center
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United Tribes of Northern California
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The Shasta Tribe Inc.
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Shasta Indian Nation
learn more
Introduction to Mount Shasta
10 Reasons to Visit Mt. Shasta
Situated less than 50 miles south of the Oregon border and dominating much of the far northern California skyline, 14,179-foot Mount Shasta is the second tallest volcanic peak in the Cascade Range and a stunning stand-alone peak to behold.
The mountain encompasses a massive volume with a circumference of slopes that draw in an eclectic mix of climbers, skiers, artists and those with more spiritual inclinations. Reverberating outward from the mountain in all directions is a sea of volcanic buttes, sub-ranges, lakes and rivers that provide a diverse backdrop of outdoor venues and experiences, a backdrop nearly as grand as the mountain itself.
Protect Mt. Shasta
How you can help
Primary climate risks in Siskiyou County:
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Dwindling snowpack, rising snowline and melting glaciers
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More frequent and extreme droughts
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Increased incidence of catastrophic wildfire
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Increased damage to infrastructure from floods and erosion
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Warming rivers
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Invasive species
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Lengthening of the active season of pest infestation
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Increased forest morbidity
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Crop yield reductions
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Keystone species extinction
You can help the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center by donating to one of their projects. Memberships start as low as $1/month. By donating you can help projects that protect Mt. Shasta and the bioregion, Headwater Springs and Panther Meadows.
There are also ways to volunteer here.
Function of the root chakra
The root chakra is responsible for our safety, security, and raw material needs.
As the base chakra, it also sends roots into our heritage to serve as a foundation of our personal identity.
The word Muladhara breaks down into two Sanskrit words: Mula meaning “root” and Adhara, which means “support” or “base.”
This is the first of the chakras of matter. Balancing the root chakra creates the solid foundation for opening the other chakras above.
The root chakra is comprised of whatever grounds you to stability in your life. This includes your basic needs such as food, water, shelter, and safety, as well as your more emotional needs such as letting go of fear. When these needs are met, you feel grounded and safe, and you tend to worry less day to day.
Root Chakra Element: The earth
The energies of the Root Chakra helps in recognizing our strong connection to the Earth.
Keeping us rooted to our inner self spreads positivity and happiness in life.
It relates to our basic, primal needs of survival, stability, and support. It also represents the structure of our body, bones, flesh, and skin.
From the root chakra we learn:
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Balance
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How to be appreciative
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How to be free
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How to be happy
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How to accept the body
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How to accept the contrasts of life
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How to connect to the Earth
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Sharing
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How to give and receive
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How to let things go
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How to love ourselves
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How to be in Divine love
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Unconditional love
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Vision, knowledge and wisdom to help ourselves and others
healing the root chakra
Whether or not you feel secure now often has less to do with what you have at your disposal and more to do with how safe you felt as a small child.
When you consider psychologist Erik Erickson’s stages of development, the first stage—trust versus mistrust—is closely related to your root chakra development. As infants, if your caregivers readily gave you what you needed to survive with consistency, you felt secure in the world. You felt that the world was a place that could be trusted to provide your basic needs. Yet, if your caregivers withheld or delayed in giving you what you needed, or if that giving was inconsistent, you may find yourself with first chakra blockages.
If there is an imbalance in the root chakra you may experience anxiety disorders, fears, or nightmares. Physical imbalances may manifest as problems in the colon, with the bladder, with elimination, or with lower back, leg, or feet issues. In men, prostate problems may occur. Eating disorders may also be a sign of a root chakra imbalance.
The positive archetype is: the mother, the maternal energy of love, nourishment, and compassion.
The negative archetype is: the victim, whose self-pity draws others into a web of manipulation.
Related diseases:
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Hemorrhoids
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Constipation
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Sciatica
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Fibromyalgia
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Chronic fatigue
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Eating issues
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Arthritis
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Skin issues
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Disorders of the bone
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Disorders of the bowls
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Disorders of the lower spine
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Addictions
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Terminal illnesses
While meditation does connect you to a higher spiritual plane, it also serves to ground you. You may not always be able to trust that the world will give you what you need to survive, but connection to your higher self and trust in a power higher than yourself will give you what you need to feel safe.
It does not matter if you call that higher power Consciousness, Mother Nature, God, or Spirit. Connection to universal energy will bring you a sense of peace and stability. The animals in the forest have no idea if and when they will find food each day, yet somehow they trust in nature to provide for them.
Women can also practice Kegel exercises, and both men and women can do Bandha yoga—where you lock or tighten certain areas of your body—to help bring strong energy and strength to the area of the first chakra.
Childhood in the 1960's
Pregnant Women Smoking and Drinking
Mothers everywhere may have been decreasing your oxygen and brewing fetal alcohol conditions while you were still in the womb. If you made it out in one piece, you probably later found yourself sitting on mom's lap or crawling around under the table while she was having an afternoon swig and a smoke with a friend, while pregnant with your little brother. Of course, our mothers weren't trying to hurt us, but no one really knew the damages these things could cause.
Smoking Was Emulated and Encouraged
Cigarettes hung from adult lips everywhere—in stores, on planes, on television, and at the kitchen table. Aside from being constantly exposed to secondhand smoke, it was modeled as healthy. Cigarette ads featured babies and parents together. Mom and Dad thought it was adorable to pose toddlers with unlit cigarettes or pipes in cutesy photos. Teen smoking was sometimes considered a sign of maturity. Kids were routinely sent to the store to buy cigarettes for their parents, and no questions were asked.
Chewing Sugary Bubble Gum
Sugary gum and candy were a '60s childhood staple. And blowing bubbles so big they break over your nose was a big thing. Sometimes kids had bubble blowing contests. The bubble would break and you'd start on a new piece. Gum was not allowed in school but you'd sneak it in anyway, and if you brought enough for other kids you'd make new friends for life. Cavities ensued!
Cereal with Lots of Sugar
Cereal was breakfast. It came in multiple forms of wheat, corn, or oats. Some cereal was pre-sugared, like Trix and Cap'n Crunch. Others, like unsweetened corn flakes, needed vast amounts of spooned sugar to taste good. The sugar bowl sat on the table and you could probably spoon in four tablespoons before Mom warned you about getting a bellyache.
Drinking from Garden Hoses
Bottled water wasn't even a thing in the '60s unless you had a canteen. The hose, yours or a neighbor's, was how children stayed hydrated while playing outside. Hoses were not regulated the way drinking water inside the home was, but no one ever dreamed that unsafe levels of lead were coming through. (Also, the brass nozzle was a danger because it could leach lead.) It was also common to drink from public water fountains, which were later determined to be more of a health hazard.
Coming Home to an Empty House
The '60s introduced a generation of latchkey kids, as more mothers entered the workforce. Helicopter parents were a thing of the '50s. Kids came home and had to fend for themselves—and if had an older sibling to watch you, your parents probably weren't in any rush to get home.
Mercurochrome
This dark pink, over the counter antiseptic went on every boo-boo. It stung, it smelled, and it stained. It was in every medicine cabinet until FDA started looking more closely and figured out that drugs containing mercury can be harmful and if you use enough of it could affect the brain, kidneys, and babies in utero.
what is epigenetics
and how does it affect mothers and their children?
Your genes play an important role in your health, but so do your behaviors and environment, such as what you eat and how physically active you are. Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.
Gene expression refers to how often or when proteins are created from the instructions within your genes. While genetic changes can alter which protein is made, epigenetic changes affect gene expression to turn genes “on” and “off.” Since your environment and behaviors, such as diet and exercise, can result in epigenetic changes, it is easy to see the connection between your genes and your behaviors and environment.
Nutrition During Pregnancy
A pregnant woman’s environment and behavior during pregnancy, such as whether she eats healthy food, can change the baby’s epigenetics. Some of these changes can remain for decades and might make the child more likely to get certain diseases.
Example: Dutch Hunger Winter Famine (1944-1945)
People whose mothers were pregnant with them during the famine were more likely to develop certain diseases such as heart disease, schizophrenia, and type 2 diabetes. Around 60 years after the famine, researchers looked at methylation levels in people whose mothers were pregnant with them during the famine. These people had increased methylation at some genes and decreased methylation at other genes compared with their siblings who were not exposed to famine before their birth. These differences in methylation could help explain why these people had an increased likelihood for certain diseases later in life.
source: https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/epigenetics.htm
Prenatal Stress During Pregnancy
Maternal stress during or after pregnancy has been repeatedly associated with subsequent psychiatric problems and non-coding 'epigenetic' DNA changes during childhood. Results from research implicate maternal prenatal stress as a source of epigenetic mechanisms that affect fetal brain development and program risk for emotional dysregulation and mental disorders over a lifetime and across generations.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30454636/
Mount Shasta Self-Guided Retreat
Day 1: Learn about Mount Shasta/Reflect on "Home"
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Check-in at the Inn at Shasta Lake where you get breakfast prepared for you every morning. Traveling with a group? Try Mount Shasta Ranch. If you prefer a hotel try the Inn at Mount Shasta which has beautifully renovated rooms.
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Mount Shasta Sisson Museum: Adjacent to the fish hatchery, the Mt. Shasta Sisson Museum has permanent exhibits about the history of the area, lenticular clouds, the railroad, the mountain, and changing exhibits in the Events Room.
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Afternoon coffee? Try Yak's Koffee Shop + Cafe.
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Curious about shamanic healing? Contact Alan Waugh one of Mount Shasta's famous healers. Curious about how Traditional Chinese Medicine can be used to heal the past? Contact Anca Sira at Ama Wellness Center.
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Evening meditation/self-workshop. Please bring a journal to write answers to important questions related to the root chakra. You are writing without judgement. There are no right or wrong answers. Just answers. Be truthful so that you can use your answers to develop a plan for continued healing of your root chakra after you leave Mount Shasta.
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Tonight you will think about yourself as one of the trees in the forest around you. Close your eyes and picture the tree and its roots. How deep are your roots? Does it support the tree above? Do your roots look strong and healthy? Is the soil rich and nurturing? After thinking about this draw a picture in journal. Use an entire page.
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Now write or think about your feelings regarding your home. Download the PDF to get the full list of journal questions.
Day 2: Learn about Mt. Shasta's Waters/Reflect on "Water"
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Morning meditation in nature. Try a quick 45 minute walk around Ney Springs and Faery Falls. This is a 1.3 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail that features a waterfall and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for hiking and is best used from May until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail. Find a spot to sit that is near water. Close your eyes and imagine that you are a fish in the water. What does the water feel like? What other creatures do you see in the water? Where are you going?
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Visit Soul Connections bookstore. Contact Catherine to set up a sound healing demonstration at the store.
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Have lunch at Pipeline
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Head down to the Headwaters of the Sacramento River before sunset to try out your new instruments. The crystal-clear water flowing through the park begins its journey high on the snow-covered peaks of majestic Mt. Shasta before making its way to the headwaters area. Visitors often come to this spiritual spot to drink the water, which is said to have healing powers. A variety of spiritual retreats include a stop here.
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Evening meditation/self-workshop: Journal about your feelings around water.
Day 3: Learn about Mt. Shasta's Abundance/Reflect on "Abundance"
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Today grab breakfast at Seven Suns Coffee and Cafe.
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Lake Siskiyou Trail is a 7.3 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near Mount Shasta, California that features a waterfall and is good for all skill levels. This hike takes about 3 hours to complete. Bring a small trinket of personal value to leave in the forest or in the waterfalls. It should be made of a natural element. Think gold, silver or crystal jewelry or metal coins. Think about Mt. Shasta erupting and giving her wealth to you freely and how you can return something of value to her. Feeling ambitious? Try a 2-day hike to the summit of Mount Shasta.
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Now that you've worked up an appetite try Mount Shasta Super Market for quick and easy refreshments before heading back to the hotel to rest.
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Evening meditation/self-workshop: Journal about your feelings around abundance.
Day 4: Learn about Mt. Shasta's Wildlife/Reflect on "Personal Safety"
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Morning meditation walk from Bunny Flat to Panther Meadow. This is a 7 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail that offers the chance to see wildlife and is good for all skill levels. There is a 1.354 ft elevation gain today. Panther Meadows is known as one of the most ancient outdoor temple sites on Mt. Shasta. Many Native Americans consider the springs that run throughout the meadows to be sacred power points. Find a spot to sit. Close your eyes and imagine that you are one of the creatures in this forest. What does the forest feel like to you as this creature? What are your strengths? What are you doing today?
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Book a massage. Try Will Cooper's therapeutic massage.
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Visit Shambhala Center and Crystal store. Susan is Keeper of the Maya 13th Crystal Skull. You may want to read her books and learn of Maya, Celtic, and Christian prophecies.
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Have dinner at Hariom Shri Ram restaurant.
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Evening meditation/self-workshop: Journal about your feelings around personal safety.
Day 5: Learn about Mt. Shasta's Food/Reflect on "Food"
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Today we harvest food from the earth and spend the day foraging for mushrooms. While many outdoor enthusiasts take to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest during spring to enjoy wildflowers, hunt, or fish, some venture out in search of wild mushrooms such as morels and boletus. Contact Kevin Rodericks to see if he is available to guide you on a mushroom hunt. Forest Service staff are available to discuss harvesting procedures and monitor harvesting activities in the field. For more information, please contact the McCloud Ranger Station at (530) 964-2184 or the Mt. Shasta Ranger Station at (530) 926-4511
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Spend the afternoon enjoying a mineral bath at Stewart Mineral Hot Springs which is the oldest hot springs in California. This unique retreat offering private healing mineral baths, massage therapy, a wood burning sauna and diverse overnight accommodations, including camping. Clothing is optional.
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Evening meditation/self-workshop: Journal about your feelings around food.
Day 6: Learn from Mt. Shasta's People/Reflect on "Cooperation"
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Morning meditation/healing circle. Invite someone new to breakfast or for a quick cup of coffee or tea. Share some of the things you've learned on your self-guided retreat. What are some of the things you are thankful for? What are they thankful for?
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Go on an energy tour with Shasta Vortex Adventures. This is a 4-7 hour tour to special vortex, portals and sacred springs in the area.
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Tonight hang out at Mount Shasta's Vets Club. Music begins around 10 PM. The theme tonight is to tap into your primal energy through dance. If you don't want to go out, invite some friends over and find a music streaming service that plays African music or Dance Hall music and let go! It is hard to imagine but Mt. Shasta was once unsuitable for life, with hot exploding magma spewing out of her from the earth’s mantle. Lucky for us, she has transitioned through time and is now a place with rich, fertile land. All of the elements around her are in perfect harmony. No other earth chakra has such a beautiful balance of earth, air, water, and fire (she is still considered an active volcano). She had to let go of the primal energy in her and transform into the world you see around her. Let go tonight! The challenge is not dancing, but dancing and/or communing until the sun breaks on the horizon.
Day 7: Getting ready to say Farewell
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You can't leave Mount Shasta without having breakfast at the original Black Bear Diner.
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If you want to take a final walk around Mount Shasta try the Horse Camp trail. This is a 3.5 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail that features a great forest setting and is rated as moderate and takes 1.5 hours to complete.
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If you have a long drive home, make sure you get some rest before you travel. Once you get on the road, stop at The Coffee Break, the only drive-through coffee house in Mount Shasta.
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When planning your trip, don't forget to call ahead to book your reservations with guides, hotels and restaurants. Be flexible. There are many alternatives on the internet if you are not able to schedule something on this list.
“Mount Shasta is so unique because no other earth chakra has such a beautiful balance of earth, air, water and fire (she's still considered an active volcano). And if we think about it, at one point in time, before she was all of these things, she was the ether.”
- Amanda V. Chance, MD
earthchakraretreat.com
