For many travelers heading west on U.S. 24 up Ute Pass from Colorado Springs, the unincorporated town of Crystola is nothing more than a blip on a map. The Crystola Roadhouse which sits on the south side of the road is probably the town’s most famous landmark.

But more than 100 years ago Crystola was a haven for the occult, con men, and those seeking their fame and fortune in nearby hills. Psychics and spiritualists were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. What the settlers of Crystola lacked in development, expertise and financial backing, they more than made up for in visions, wizardry, chicanery and optimism.

Crystola came into prominence when Henry Clay Childs, Speaker of the House of Representatives from Illinois, headed for Colorado in 1872 with his wife, Catherine, on the advice of a seer. He settled in the valley known as Trout Park.

There had been other settlers in the area prior to the Childs’ arrival, such as the Benedicts, Sharrocks, Scotts and Talcotts. Childs built a frame house and raised cattle and sheep, as well as operated a small lumber and milling business close to home. The Childs often referred to the area as their “crystal ball.” They entertained visiting mediums in their home and conducted séances with friends and neighbors.

It was at one of those séances that the revelation of gold in the area was proclaimed. “Ores and Metals,” in its June 1900 publication, credited Mr. Childs with discovering gold in Cripple Creek as early as 1878. If he had discovered gold there — and he didn’t mind you — then why did he not mine it? Instead, he chose to build a laboratory near his Crystola home and began the study of metallurgy and mineralogy.

Then came along visiting medium Professor Kimball. Kimball claimed he could witch gold. He prompted Childs and other spiritual brothers to form the Brotherhood Gold Mining and Milling Company in 1897. Thus began one of the outstanding stock selling schemes (a Ponzi Scheme if you will) in Colorado’s rich mining history. More money was invested in the Crystola area — with no return — than anywhere in the region.

One early brochure reported: “In some cases the prospector is saved the trouble of locating a mine by an accommodating wizard who, instead of locating the future bonanza for himself, will locate it for anybody who will put up a sufficiency in cash in advance.” Among those who fell for the scheme were the Green Mountain Falls Town Company and Woodland Park. Even Victor, which was at the heart of Gold Camp, has investors eager to strike it rich in Crystola. But alas, no clairvoyant could summon up the richness of gold ore.

In 1899, the town of Crystola was formed and laid out in the canyon. A gold processing mill was built, as well as the Hotel Abbot. Workers and psychics overflowed the hotel. Soon, a railroad station, grocery store, newspaper office and post office were built. Gold fever was the fuel for the fire.

However, when the search for gold didn’t pan out, the town soon became almost deserted. It is quite amazing that the mystics failed to foresee this downward event.

By 1910, Mr. Childs was a widower as well as a constant companion of Duffy’s Malt Whiskey. Upon his death, he willed 2,000 acres of his land to form a school of spiritualism.

Reverend Hiram Vroom, a psycho-scientist and head of the Liberal Congregation of Denver and Correspondence School of Rational Religion in Portland, Ore., attempted to carry out Mr. Child’s wishes. He undertook the establishment of a psychic research school at Crystola under the name of the Crystola Cooperative Association. The last spiritualists reportedly left the area in the 1930s.

More In Health & Fitness

‘); $(‘#ody-nextstoryslider’).append(‘Read More‘); return; } var _art,_right,wpElem; var _beenzagged=(function(){ var _u = GEL.env.user; return(_u.state || _u.yob || _u.zip )?true:false; })(); var _laststate=(function(){ var _t = new GEL.util.Cookie(‘GCIONSN’); var _closed = _t.getValue(‘lastNextStoryState’); return _closed; })(); if(!_beenzagged){ getContent(); var _slidestate=_laststate==’false’?’handle’:”; _art=$(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article’); _right=$(‘.ody-skin .ody-aside’); wpElem=_art.height()>_right.height()?_art:_right; var slider=GEL.widget.slider(wpElem,’ody-nextstoryslider’,{ close: ‘ ‘, closeCallback: function(){ var _t = new GEL.util.Cookie(‘GCIONSN’) _t.setValue(‘lastNextStoryState’,’false’) }, direction: ‘right’, handle: ‘ ‘, openCallback: function(){ var _t = new GEL.util.Cookie(‘GCIONSN’) _t.setValue(‘lastNextStoryState’,’true’) }, offset: function(){ var offSet=$.waypoints(‘viewportHeight’)-($(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article .ody-article-bodytext’).height()-$(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article .ody-ob-taboola-wrapper’).height()); if(($(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article .ody-article-bodytext’).height()-$(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article .ody-ob-taboola-wrapper’).height())

More In Health & Fitness

‘); $(‘#ody-nextstoryslider’).append(‘Read More‘); return; } var _art,_right,wpElem; var _beenzagged=(function(){ var _u = GEL.env.user; return(_u.state || _u.yob || _u.zip )?true:false; })(); var _laststate=(function(){ var _t = new GEL.util.Cookie(‘GCIONSN’); var _closed = _t.getValue(‘lastNextStoryState’); return _closed; })(); if(!_beenzagged){ getContent(); var _slidestate=_laststate==’false’?’handle’:”; _art=$(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article’); _right=$(‘.ody-skin .ody-aside’); wpElem=_art.height()>_right.height()?_art:_right; var slider=GEL.widget.slider(wpElem,’ody-nextstoryslider’,{ close: ‘ ‘, closeCallback: function(){ var _t = new GEL.util.Cookie(‘GCIONSN’) _t.setValue(‘lastNextStoryState’,’false’) }, direction: ‘right’, handle: ‘ ‘, openCallback: function(){ var _t = new GEL.util.Cookie(‘GCIONSN’) _t.setValue(‘lastNextStoryState’,’true’) }, offset: function(){ var offSet=$.waypoints(‘viewportHeight’)-($(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article .ody-article-bodytext’).height()-$(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article .ody-ob-taboola-wrapper’).height()); if(($(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article .ody-article-bodytext’).height()-$(‘.ody-skin .content-container .ody-article .ody-ob-taboola-wrapper’).height())

DECATUR – When Sister Anna Phiri led her first spirituality workshop at St. Mary’s Hospital, she invited a small group of community leaders. Since being opened to all who are interested, the series have attracted a wide following.

Phiri’s last offering, which focused on quenching one’s spiritual thirst, attracted nearly 100 people, said chaplain Mary Handley. Many of those who attended past sessions have been asking about the next one.

Phiri, of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, is getting ready to begin a new six-week series called, “Listening to God with our Whole Being.” The theme grew out of participants’ experiences in past sessions.

“We want people to know that we can listen with our whole being, because we are listening human beings, so to say,” Phiri said. “… We listen with everything that we are.”

Sometimes, in this busy world, people miss out on engaging their whole selves, the women said.

“I think we select what we want to listen to,” Phiri said.

“I think we get so busy now multitasking that we forget to access our senses,” Handley said.

The sessions will incorporate exercises and discussions about the ways in which God speaks to people and will help participants more fully experience the spiritual messages one encounters in daily life.

People can benefit from focusing on the present moment instead of dwelling in the future or the past, said Phiri. “When we focus on what is before us, then we are able to pay attention to what is going on.”

The Rev. Nick Husain, a Catholic priest who serves as the hospital’s executive director of Mission Integration and Spirituality, said the idea of listening is often described as an act of doing, but there are many aspects of listening that come from just being.

“You hear more not because you want to hear but because you become present,” he said.

Phiri’s sessions will culminate with a daylong retreat at the Chiara Center in Springfield. Participants will practice different forms of prayer and have other opportunities on the grounds.

Every person has a sense of spirituality regardless of his or her faith background, said Handley, adding that a part of the hospital’s mission is to touch and heal the spirits of the people within the community. One goal is to make Phiri’s seminars available and accessible to people of all faith backgrounds or no faith background, Handley added.

agetsinger@herald-review.com|421-6968

 

We become skillful actors, and while playing deaf and dumb to the real meaning of the teachings, we find some comfort in pretending to follow the path. ~Chogyam Trunpga Rinpoche

Given that global culture has been turned toward materialistic values in a way unprecedented in human history, it is inevitable that this same ethic would infiltrate our approach to spirituality. We live in a culture that values accumulation and consumption, and it is naïve of us to assume that simply because we are interested in spiritual growth that we have relinquished our materialism — or even that we necessarily should.

There is nothing wrong with having an “om” symbol on your t-shirt or being an avid practitioner of meditation while also enjoying moneymaking and big business, but it is useful to explore, understand and check your integrity in relationship to your choices. Spiritual materialism is not a matter of the things that we have, but of our relationship to them.

We all resist seeing the ways in which we deceive ourselves on the spiritual path. It is an embarrassment to ego, though not to who we really are, to look in the mirror and see ourselves dressed in spiritual drag. Yet we allow ourselves to be exposed for the sake of greater freedom and to become more expansive through recognizing how we are limiting ourselves in the name of spirituality.

We also use spirituality to gain power, prestige, recognition and respect, and even to avoid our own troubles. And we misuse the very teachings, practices, and all the spiritual things we do and think to increase our awareness to avoid a deeper intimacy with the truth we seek. We use our practices, paraphernalia, and concepts to support ego rather than truth. Even a monk on a mountaintop can be attached to his robes or begging bowl as a way of creating a false sense of spiritual security.

The ego wants to think of spirituality as something it can “have” once and for all, and then we do not have to do the continual work of showing up and practicing moment after moment for the rest of our lives. The ego creates a whole identity around one’s spiritual self. This is part of what we all do on the spiritual path, but it is helpful to learn to see it in ourselves.

There are many forms in which spiritual materialism may manifest:

The spiritual resume refers to the list of important spiritual people we have met, studied with, done a workshop with. At times we might find ourselves reciting our spiritual resume to impress ourselves or somebody else.

Spiritual storytelling takes the form of reciting narratives about our spiritual experiences. While they may be interesting, we often hide behind our stories to shield ourselves from the vulnerability of deeper human connection.

The spiritual high often manifests by going from workshop to teacher to beautiful place in order to stay on a perpetual high and avoid our own shadow, which is a different form of spiritual bypassing.

“Dharmacizing” refers to using spiritual jargon to account for our confusion and blind spots and to avoid relationship. If we’re a dharmacizer and someone tells us they feel tension around us, we might counter with a truism such as, “It’s just a passing phenomenon. Who is there to experience tension anyway?”

Spiritual shopping sprees are characterized by accumulating initiations, empowerments, and blessings from saints the way others collect cars, yachts, and second homes. We need to feel that we are always getting somewhere — that we’re becoming richer and better. Some people unconsciously believe that if they collect enough spiritual gold stars to become enlightened, they don’t have to die.

The spiritualized ego imitates, often very well, what it imagines a spiritual person looks and sounds like. It can create a glow around itself, learn eloquent spiritual speech, and act mindful and detached — yet there is something very unreal about it. I remember going to hear a particularly well-known spiritual teacher talk. He was trying too hard to act and talk spiritually–saying profound things and wearing a certain “knowing” smile — yet his message was empty of feeling and dimension. His ego had integrated the spiritual teachings, but he had not.

The bulletproof ego has assimilated constructive feedback and integrated it into its defense structure. If someone shares an opinion about us we may say, “I know it appears that I’m being lazy and selfish, but I’m actually practicing just ‘being’ and taking care of myself.” A spiritual teacher with a bulletproof ego may justify verbal abuse or economic extortions from his or her disciples by saying he or she is trying to cut through the egoic mechanism or trying to teach them they must learn to surrender all they have to the divine. The problem with people who have spiritualized and bulletproof egos is that they are extremely slippery and difficult to catch — and it is particularly difficult to see how this spiritual defense mechanism operates within ourselves.

It is important to understand that spiritual materialism is less about the “what” and more about the “how” of relating to something — whether it’s a teacher, a new yoga outfit, or a concept. It is not a question of wealth or money but rather of attitude. I have encountered numerous sadhus, or holy men, in India who live as renunciative beggars, yet waved their fists at me when they felt the donation I gave them was insufficient or others’ attachment to the pilgrim’s staff they carried was as prideful as many bikers are about their prized Harley-Davidsons.

As we penetrate deeper into the layers of our own perception, we discover that the origin of all forms of spiritual materialism rests in the mind. We find that we can relate to information, facts, and even profound understanding in such a way that it precludes the emergence of deeper wisdom. At this most subtle level, in which even knowledge itself becomes a barrier to wisdom, our sword of discernment — the deep desire to see ourselves clearly and the willingness to take feedback from others — can cut through our confusion.

When we were studying the subject of spiritual materialism in a graduate school psychology class I was teaching, a young student raised her hand and said, “I know I am really drawn to spiritual life, and somehow what stops me is this really cool black-leather jacket I bought in Italy. I think that if I really give myself to spiritual life, I will have to give up my jacket, and I know it sounds ridiculous, but it really holds me back.”

My student’s leather jacket was a material possession, but we all have something — a reason, possession, or something we tell ourselves that prevents us from looking at ourselves more deeply — that can keep us away from the path for our whole lives. For many of us, in spite of our best intentions, our spirituality itself becomes one more layer of subtle armor behind which we shield ourselves from deeper truth.

[Adapted from Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path, Sounds True, 2010]

 

What is the Spirit saying to churches?

That was the theme Sunday at the opening of the International Assembly of the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, a gathering of nuns from across the globe who are in the Buffalo Niagara region for the next few weeks.

“It’s such a crucial question for lay [leaders] and for religious, to discern what is the Spirit saying to us in this violent and broken world,” said Sister Caroline Smith, of Buffalo.

The assembly opened in Buffalo with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec in the St. Mary Center on Lafayette Avenue.

In honor of the international makeup of the attendees, the Mass featured multilingual music, and many of the sisters dressed in the habits worn in their native countries.

“I’m delighted to be here,” Kmiec said before the Mass. “It’s very important to begin with prayer and to thank the Sisters for their ministry.”

About 100 people attended the Mass, and 13 leaders of the Sisters of St. Mary are expected to participate in the three-week-long gathering, which will continue today when representatives from 11 countries where the Sisters live and minister — including Belgium, England, Canada, Congo, Rwanda and Brazil—will gather at the Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara in Lewiston. There, each provincial representative will give an overview of the challenges and strengths of her local church.

“We feel so honored to be chosen as the hostess province,” Smith said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for us, being an international community, to get to know each other better, to understand their lives

and their ministry.”

“It’s always wonderful to come together,” said Sister Maureen Quinn of the Eastern Province, which includes Buffalo. “Many of us have known each other for a long time. It’s a little bit of fun, it’s a lot of work and it’s a joy to see the Sisters.”

Quinn said one of the goals of the assembly is to look at what’s happening elsewhere and to learn from it.

“It’s a moment of education for what’s happening in churches in different countries,” she said. “It will help us to see what what works and what we need to look at.”

One of the attendees, Sister Immaculee of Rwanda, said she was “very excited” to be at the gathering.

“I’m very happy to meet everyone,” she said.

In addition to the Mass, Sunday’s events included a multimedia presentation about the founding of the local order — which took place during the Civil War—and a thanksgiving dinner.

“We wanted to show our gratitude,” Quinn said.

Sister Lori High said the Buffalo sisters feel a great sense of joy.

“We rejoice to be together,” she said. “[We’re] many people embracing one another after many years of distant ministry.”

hjones@buffnews.comnull

What is the Spirit saying to churches?

That was the theme Sunday at the opening of the International Assembly of the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, a gathering of nuns from across the globe who are in the Buffalo Niagara region for the next few weeks.

“It’s such a crucial question for lay [leaders] and for religious, to discern what is the Spirit saying to us in this violent and broken world,” said Sister Caroline Smith, of Buffalo.

The assembly opened in Buffalo with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec in the St. Mary Center on Lafayette Avenue.

In honor of the international makeup of the attendees, the Mass featured multilingual music, and many of the sisters dressed in the habits worn in their native countries.

“I’m delighted to be here,” Kmiec said before the Mass. “It’s very important to begin with prayer and to thank the Sisters for their ministry.”

About 100 people attended the Mass, and 13 leaders of the Sisters of St. Mary are expected to participate in the three-week-long gathering, which will continue today when representatives from 11 countries where the Sisters live and minister — including Belgium, England, Canada, Congo, Rwanda and Brazil — will gather at the Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara in Lewiston. There, each provincial representative will give an overview of the challenges and strengths of her local church.

“We feel so honored to be chosen as the hostess province,” Smith said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for us, being an international community, to get to know each other better, to understand their lives and their ministry.”

“It’s always wonderful to come together,” said Sister Maureen Quinn of the Eastern Province, which includes Buffalo. “Many of us have known each other for a long time. It’s a little bit of fun, it’s a lot of work and it’s a joy to see the Sisters.”

Quinn said one of the goals of the assembly is to look at what’s happening elsewhere and to learn from it.

“It’s a moment of education for what’s happening in churches in different countries,” she said. “It will help us to see what what works and what we need to look at.”

One of the attendees, Sister Immaculee of Rwanda, said she was “very excited” to be at the gathering.

“I’m very happy to meet everyone,” she said.

In addition to the Mass, Sunday’s events included a multimedia presentation about the founding of the local order — which took place during the Civil War — and a thanksgiving dinner.

“We wanted to show our gratitude,” Quinn said.

Sister Lori High said the Buffalo sisters feel a great sense of joy.

“We rejoice to be together,” she said. “[We’re] many people embracing one another after many years of distant ministry.”

hjones@buffnews.comnull

The five-day mega carnival is being organised by the state tourism promotion board in collaboration with the Dev Sanskriti Vishvavidyalaya to promote tourism in the state.

The state tourism board has been organising yoga festivals under the aegis of Parmarth Niketan Rishikesh every year after the creation of the state to develop Dev Bhoomi Uttarakhand as a tourism destination.

Inaugurating the festival, state Tourism Minister Madan Kaushik said the state ranked seventh in the country as a tourism destination.

As per the statistics of the Union Tourism Ministry, nearly three crore tourists, who stay for more than one day, wend their way to the state. This is significant for a state whose population is only about one crore.

“If we include the number of pilgrims congregating at Haridwar and Rishikesh, the figure touches the eight crore mark. The number of the foreign tourists and devotees flocking to the state is 1.5 lakh per year,” said Mr Kaushik.

The state government was making all out efforts to develop Uttarakhand as a tourism hub, including wildlife tourism, adventure tourism and water sports destination, he added.

“The state has a vast potential to be developed as a global hub of tourism.

“We have chalked out an ambitious project to develop 10 tourism circuits, as many tourism destinations and 10 tourism centres and have earmarked Rs 50 crore, 10 crore and five crore respectively to develop rail, road and air connectivity and create infrastructure including roads, water and electricity supply,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Chancellor of the Vishwavidyalaya and the chief of the All World Gayatri Parivar Pranav Pandaya suggested the government should focus on developing the state as a prime destination for spiritual tourism.

Delivering the key note address in the inaugural session, Gayatri Devi of Italy (original name Emy Blesio), president of the international confederation of yoga said the seed of yoga was sown in India but the flowers and fruits of this tree are being reaped in the western countries.

“In the west, mostly people take yoga as physical exercise.

However, in the true sense, yoga has physical, spiritual and emotional dimensions and leads to not only physical and mental fitness but also spiritual bliss and tranquillity,” said Ms Devi.

Besides delegates from different states of the country, more than 160 experts of yoga from 16 other countries are participating in the mega event to deliberate on the different aspects of yoga, culture and spirituality and train the learners in the yogic exercises and meditation.