The Sacred Mount Shasta – Source of all Earthly Creations
Sacred Mountains | April 16, 2010As introvert as god and as white as a winter moon, Mount Shasta is the second highest peak in the Cascade Range in northern California. Hidden in glaciers and unveiling grand lenticular cloud pattern, Mount Shasta is the young stratovolcano that is evident from its sharp conical top. Shaped like a four cones piled upon each other among the southernmost volcanoes in the Cascades, its largest subordinate peak is Shastina that is also the third highest pinnacle in the range. With the last eruption recorded in 1786; the sulphur springs next to its pinnacle does now allow one to ensure that it has become dormant forever.
Its fame is spread far and wide such that it was judge against Mount Fuji of Japan on the basis of its permanent magnificence and holy significance. Worshipped by the Native Americans living in the area, the mountain is believed to be the hub of creation from which other creatures on the planet came into existence. Besides this ancient identity, it has also obtained the followers of the New Age according to whom the mountain is a centre of magical power.
Ancient Significance
Inhabited at least from 2500 B.C, Mount Shasta was a protective frontier for four Native American folks – the Shasta, Modoc, Ajumawi/Atsuwegi, and Wintu. For them, it was the mountain that was first created by the Great Spirit by letting down ice and snow from a hole located in the heaven. He used the mountain to step on the planet and subsequently created trees, streams by asking the sun to melt the ice, birds by breathing on the leaves, fishes by breaking and throwing small twigs into streams, and animals by throwing branches.
The Great Spirit lived on the mountain itself from where once his daughter fell and was brought up by the bears. Then, she married to one of their tribe and first humans were born. As a punishment, the Great Spirit slammed the bear so that he could not walk on four legs and sprinkled the children across the globe.
Even today, the descendents carry out ancient rituals among which the Wintus call the spirit through ritual dances to ensure permanent run of the sacred springs.
New Age Beliefs
Mount Shasta is now regarded as a holy centre of harmony and peace. By some of the groups, it is said to have been a UFO landing spot, a centre of magic crystals, and one of the Seven Holy Mountains of the Planet. In the 20th century, the Rosicrucians proclaimed it to be the abode of the Lemurians who are spiritually uplifted humans such that they can alter themselves into anything. Detailed as tall and graceful with bigger heads and larger foreheads, Lemurians were the original inhabitants of Lemuria, a hypothetically lost continent off the Pacific coast due to volcanic explosion.
In 1930, Guy Ballard shared that he greeted the Ascended Master St. Germaine on Mount Shasta’s slopes, a group of people who are spiritually advanced.
Activities
- Trekking:
A highway is used to climb the Mt. Shasta’s slopes and only half of the aspirants reach the peak. The trekking provides some spectacular views along with the four waterfalls namely, Whitney, Coquette, Mud Creek and Ash Creek. The Mount Shasta Ski Park has 1,400 vertical feet of descent that is experienced by chair lifts. - Mount Shasta City:
Located at 3,500 feet, this is the head office of New Age religious movements. There are many study centers where you can discover mystical teachings about the mountain along with bountiful shops of crystals and other New Age items.
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Naturalist and author John Muir said of Shasta:
“When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since.”
Theodore Roosevelt said:
“I consider the evening twilight on Mt. Shasta one of the grandest sights I have ever witnessed.