A Sanctuary to Call Home
Our search for the perfect sanctuary covered many years and many miles. In 2003 we finally found the perfect piece of land in the Mendocino hills, nestled in its private valley with large meadows and surrounded by magnificent oaks and towering Doug fir trees.
Unlike many of our neighbors, we did not see it only as a place to cultivate cannabis. We saw it as a sanctuary.
After living in India for several years, our collection of very large statues had outgrown living in San Francisco and required a private and natural place where they could be installed and honored properly.
A place where spiritual seekers could gather to meditate, worship and dance, as well as get their hands dirty in the soil working in the garden.
Of course infrastructure was key, so we set about building housing, installing a solar power system, developing our spring, and creating a garden. But equally important was deciding where to place our one-ton black granite statues from India, along with many other smaller ones of deities from many spiritual traditions around the world. The message was to share the space with all kinds of gods and goddesses to show that if they can all get along, so can we, the humans.
A name was needed for this sanctuary.
A name that was not specific to one tradition but encompassed them all.
At a communal gathering we tossed around many possibilities but one clearly stuck: Turtle Creek Ranch.
The Turtle is a symbol of longevity, meditation, Mother Earth, stability and protection in cultures all across the globe. Plus, turtles actually live here, both on the land and in the creeks and pond. It was perfect.
Our first gathering of like minded friends was shortly after we moved in. We set up tents, altars, made food together in a simple kitchen, walked and explored the land, played music and danced until dawn. The earth under our feet shared stories about the native people who had, for thousands of years, likewise danced here, in this rare meadow in the mountains.
We said prayers and offered thanks to those who came before us, and apologized for their mistreatment and banishment. We welcomed their spirits to join us now. We introduced them to the new deities coming to the land to play with us all.
Over the years, a community developed as our clan came to know this special place as a true sanctuary, where they were protected and free to follow their hearts.
We have opened it up to several groups to come and dance and experience the peaceful blessing of being held in the gentle hands of Mother Nature. A small temple to our family deity, the devi Sri Mukambika from India, was built and properly inaugurated. It now also houses the ashes of some of our community who have departed who chose to have a part of them always remain here.
Over the past 23 years, we have watched the trees grow, the creeks change course, new wildflowers sprout in the meadow, wild animals visit us, and our hair grow grey. It is an honor to age together with the land, and to realize we are all really timeless.
This land has been sacred and it will always be sacred.
We feel honored to be the current stewards, to have guided it through this time of transition, as it both maintains its natural treasures and instinctual knowledge and greets the new millennium.
As our footsteps layer upon the ancient pathways of those before us, we say Thank You every day.
