On the Shoulders Of

By Chantelle Pence “That’s my land,” he said. I was traveling with my kin in the region where he was born. Where his grandparents and their grandparents were from. On paper, the land that he was referring to was “owned” by the National Park Service.  But he didn’t speak of it in the way most have been trained to think of real estate. He spoke as if he were calling his mother’s name. “That’s my land.”  Relationships can be shallow or deep, depending on our awareness and methods of relating. E3ecologic is a Crestone-based organization that is laying pathways for community connections...

By Chantelle Pence. It takes a hell of a lot of work to create heaven on earth. When Zuki Moon arrived in Crestone 25 years ago, she was under no illusions that it would be easy. She wanted to build a foundation for her young son, and raise him away from the city. She didn’t know that the mountain town she had chosen was a “spiritual vortex,” she just knew it was a place she was drawn to. She wanted to build a sustainable home, be as self-sufficient as she could be, and practice the science and art of midwifery....

By Chantelle Pence. “Define wild...” Carmin’s eyes twinkled when she asked me to go deeper into my inquiry about bison in the area. She sat near the door of her bookstore, and teased me into thinking.  I chuckled inwardly as I remembered that the animals don’t stray from their wild nature too easily. Man may have domesticated their own lives and homes, but bison live according to ancient codes, no matter the definitions we place on them. Ranches, refuges, and fence railings have no bearing on those who are tuned in to their natural instincts.  Growing up on a farm in the...

By Anya Kaats. “The vision was to call forth our students’ very best,’’ explained Dan Retuta, founder and co-steward of the Crestone Healing Arts Center. For the past 27 years, Crestone Healing Arts Center hosted a 12-Week, 630-hour Massage Certification Program, offering a unique in-residence intensive training in massage therapy and restorative arts, which included Kundalini yoga and qigong.  In Dan’s words, Crestone Healing Arts was an “immersion pressure cooker,” or what his students might call “spiritual boot camp.” Admittedly, starting a traditional massage school was never what Dan had in mind. “I take my primary directives from Spirit, and those...

By Anya Kaats. Early one morning at The Bistro, the restaurant most recently known as the Desert Sage, Christine Canaly was baking loaves of sourdough bread to distribute to retailers throughout the San Luis Valley. It was 1989, and Christine, better known as Chris, was in her early 30s, having recently moved to Crestone and taken over her friend Margot Williams’s bread business.  On this particular morning, a young man walked in whom Chris didn’t recognize, and they got to talking. “I’m Alex Crutchfield,” he said. “I’m the vice president of American Water Development and we just applied in water court...

By Chantelle Pence. It’s about the land. The rocks. The trees that stand tall and straight beneath the towering cliffside. I felt the sacred quality of the place that sits at the base of the mountains, beyond the town of Crestone. The steady hum of North Crestone Creek was audible. I paused for a moment, not sure if I was hearing water or wind. My senses knew it was the stream talking, because of the feel of the air around me. Cool. Sweet. But it took a second for my mind to label it.  The Sacred Land Sanctuary is a sensory...

By Chantelle Pence. There are many different versions of Crestone. There is the surface layer that one experiences as tourist or newcomer. The obvious beauty. Dirt streets. Festivals and fun events at local establishments. The hippy vibe. 420. The vague overlay of spirituality. A growing population of residents who are attracted for common and diverse reasons. But under the surface of what can be seen is one woman and a dream. Hanne Strong came to the San Luis Valley in the 1970’s with her late husband Maurice Strong, a diplomat and global leader in sustainable development. Their story is widely known...