The native people of North America
knew about the powers of sacred places long before the continent was invaded by
Europeans. Some of the sacred sites of the continent's First Nations
are identifiable by great mounds, cliff dwellings and rock art. Other
undeveloped sites, such as special mountains and forests, are known to
be sacred through traditions passed down for many generations.
The
largest pyramid mound in the USA, the Cahokia Mound can be found
about twelve miles from Saint Louis, near the Mississippi river.
Covering sixteen acres, the sacred mound was originally over 35 feet
high and more than four city blocks long. At the top, a priest lived in
a wooden shrine, dedicated to the sun god. The Great Serpent Mound, in
Adams County Ohio, is one of many sacred places associated with ancient
wisdom identified by the serpent symbol. Snakes and dragons are said to
have originated on now-lost continents in the Atlantic and Pacific and
spread all across the Earth. In North Salem New Hampshire is America's
Stonehenge, a site where 40-60 ton megaliths are aligned to
solstices and equinoxes. Aztalan Wisconsin is believed to the
site of an ancient city where citizens from Atlantis mined copper and
shipped it to Europe. An ancient pyramid may lie submerged nearby in Rock
Lake.
The
Four Corners area of southwestern USA, the meeting point of Utah,
Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, is rich with sacred sites. According
to Hopi traditions, Sunset Crater in northern Arizona is a sacred
mountain where angry gods once threatened to destroy evil people with
its volcanic fire. Legend tells that mysterious "roads" near
Chaco Canyon in New Mexico are tunnels used by "Ancient Ones"
long ago. A small adobe chapel in Chimayó, NM is known as the
"Lourdes of America" because of the countless miraculous
healings attributed to its power. The area near Utah's Canyonlands National
Park is renowned for its petroglyphs (rock carvings) as well as
ancient pueblos and arch-shaped rock formations. Mesa Verde
Colorado is a World Heritage Site where visitors can learn how the
society and religion of ancient cliff-dwellers developed into ways still
followed by contemporary native people in the area. Sedona,
Arizona, called the New Age capital of the USA, is where at least
four major energy vortexes have been identified.
The
energy of Mount Shasta, in northern California is so powerful
that it has been called the "Epcot Center" of sacred sites.
Purification rituals and sweat lodge ceremonies are still held at
Panther Meadows on the mountain. A variety of sacred sites can be found
in nearby caves, springs and dormant volcanoes. Mt. Tamalpias,
north of San Francisco, and Big Sur on the Monterey Peninsula are
also noted for their powers to heal, purify and inspire the imagination.
Some
other acknowledged sacred sites in the western USA include Zion
National Park and Indian Creek Canyon, Utah; Canyon de
Chelly, Wupatki Ruins and the San Francisco Mountains
in Arizona; Indian Hot Springs, Texas; Pyramid Lake,
Nevada; Mt. Hood and Crater Lake, Oregon; Mt. Rainier
and Mt. Baker, Washington; and Mt. Baldy and Joshua
Tree in southern California.
Hawaiian
sacred places include Haleakala and the Iao Valley on
Maui, and on the "big island" of Hawaii you can find the
Hill of the Whale, City of Refuge and Kilauea, the
home of the fire goddess, Pele. In Alaska the Tena people considered Denali
(Mt. McKinley) to be sacred.
On
the west coast of Canada, not far from Alaska, is Haida Gwai (the Queen
Charlotte Islands), where Ninstints, on Anthony Island, is a
designated World Heritage Site containing the largest remaining grouping
of "totem poles." Also in British Columbia, the Stein
Valley is a traditional vision quest site, where hikers can still
see faded rock paintings from spirit visions of First Nations youth. One
of North America's largest medicine wheels is in Majorville,
Alberta, near Calgary. Dreamer's Rock, on the shore of Lake
Ontario, is sacred to the Ojibway nation, and in Peterborough, Ontario
is a marble slab with over 900 Algonkian petroglyphs, some of
which are remarkably similar to ancient native art found in Scandinavia.
There are few sacred sites in
Mexico north of Mexico City, and the greatest concentration is in the
Yucatan peninsula, which is technically part of North America but is
listed on these pages with Central America. On the outskirts of Mexico
City is the ancient Aztec pilgrimage site of Teotihuacan, where a
vast complex of pyramids was built. The largest, the Pyramid of the Sun,
was built over a holy cave. Nearby is the Pyramid of the Moon, and the
plaza they dominate is called the Avenue of the Dead.
