Stepping on a rattlesnake is an experience that burns into memory with laser like intensity. I only did it once, but I have total recall of feeling the sudden squish underfoot while hearing the rattle and then finding myself standing 20 feet away looking where I had been.
That moment gave me a wholly new comprehension of the Zen concept “when the cow becomes lightning” referring to action without thought.
The rattler turned out to be a large snake with eleven rattles on its tail. This reinforced my growing realization I had totally botched listening to my own intuition.
I had come home after dark and decided to walk around the outer loop of my figure eight driveway to go in the house. I felt oddly nervous about it, and was busily lecturing myself about relapsing into a child’s fear of the dark when I stepped on the rattlesnake.
That was a lesson to remember.
Practicing Intuition
I learned a lot about trusting my intuition while I lived in that little house in the Goldfield Mountains bordering on the Tonto National Forest in Arizona.
I often hiked across the desert from the house to the power line. The power line had a four wheel drive dirt track leading to the road that went to the radar station on top of the small mountain above my home.
The top of the mountain was a lovely knob of rock punctured with caves. Sometimes I sat in a cave and watched the afternoon monsoon blast across the valley, roaring with thunder and lightning over the mountaintop as the rain passed. When it was gone, I hiked home again.
I progressed to hiking at night in full moon, which was an amazing experience. The Goldfields formed a ridge separating the Valley of the Sun sparkling with myriad city lights from the Tonto National Forest with no man made lights at all. The view from the little mountaintop was spectacular.
In the heat of summer, the rattlers sleep all day and hunt at night. The cacti have those nasty spines day and night. I had to be extremely careful with the nighttime hiking.
I discovered I had a great sense of when it was ok to go and when it was not. The nights it did not feel right I did not set foot off the patio, having learned my lesson well with the big rattler.
Pushing the Limits of My Intuition
I kept pushing my limits as the hike up the mountain was a great cure for my frequent insomnia. Soon I was hiking with less and less moonlight. I never took a flashlight as it felt alien and wrong for these nocturnal jaunts.
I remember the first time I hiked with no moon at all and a heavy cloud cover. I actually held my hand in front of my face and the night was so dark I could not see it. For some reason, I just wanted to know if I knew the way well enough to go with no light at all. I did not move as fast as usual, but I made it to the top and back undamaged.
By now my neighbors thought I was quite crazy. I noticed they got bit by rattlesnakes and I did not, so I did not worry about their opinions. Instead I experimented with hiking directly up the mountain off the radar station road itself.
An Intuition of Being Followed
One pitch dark night I was on the four wheel drive track going through the little hills and I had the feeling that I was being followed. Apparently I still had the “Didn’t you get over being afraid of the dark when you were eight” lecture handy because I started giving myself the business with it.
After all, no one could possibly be out there to follow me and even if anyone was, they would at least be using lights. I knew the feeling had to be utter nonsense.
On cue, I heard a yip off to my left. Another to my right. Then the whole pack of coyote began yipping at one another from all directions around me. I was encircled by a hunting pack.
Evidently they were as surprised to find a lightless human on the track as I was to encounter them. After the flurry of yips, I did not hear another sound from them until they were well over a mile away.
The Aftermath
I no longer live near that wonderful little mountain so I can’t practice my intuition hiking it in the dark anymore. But the lessons gradually learned there have stayed with me through the years.
In a more immediate benefit, all that crazy hiking prepared me to deal with a major health crisis when it arrived in my life. Life is full of surprises indeed.
And as one final little surprise, when I went back to the Goldfields to visit a few years ago, I discovered the path I wore from my home to the power line is now being used as a horse trail. I rather enjoy that thought.
Note: This post is now featured on the Personal Development Carnival. It is definitely worth visiting to read the other articles in this edition!
Note: This article has been included in the Doing It Differently Blog Carnival. Have a look at the intriguing selection of articles there!
Copyright © Lexi Sundell 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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Glad it was coyotes and not a mountain lion!
Me too!
Once I went for a walk one moonlit night camping with friends up on the Rim in Arizona. I went quite a ways up a wash and when I turned around to go back to camp, I saw big kitty footprints along with my own in the sand, which were not there before. I decided to go straight back to camp!
A beautiful story, and so refreshing to read. (I found it via the blog carnvial Doing it Differently).
I’m looking forward to reading through more of your site.
Much joy,
Kara-Leah
Kara-Leah,
What a pretty name! Thank you for commenting on the article, I hope you enjoy the rest of the writings as well.
Lexi, what a wonderful way to learn to listen to your intuition. I am not talking about the rattlesnake. I have seen how fast a person can move away from a snake. The mountain trails, as any of my experiences with nature, helped you to reconnect with Mother Earth/the Universe/God.
Patricia,
Yes, for me mountains in particular are an excellent place, which is why I live here in Montana.
Lexi
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Wonderful story Lexi, despite the rattlers, it sounds like a beautiful place you were living in, especially if you were surrounded by the red rock (I love it although I’ve never lived out west).
JoLynn,
It was a beautiful place, but not red rock country. I used to live back east and cannot imagine not living in the Rockies now!
Rattlers have their place in the scheme of things, the best thing is just to avoid conflicts with them!
Lexi
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I had many such experiences living in the desert of southern Utah. I loved sensing the stone beneath and around me as well as all the hidden life that the desert houses. I have not thought of those after dark hikes in a long time, thanks for sharing yours and consequently reminding me of mine!
My pleasure. 🙂
Hi,
I was raised as a Rosicrucian (set of teachings not a religion) so I learned about intuition when I was 8 years old. I’ve been using it ever since. I came online today to see what new info is out there and landed on your page. Great story and congrats on pushing your intuition to the limits by dark hiking….
Namaste
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